All-day drinking beer kit?

[alfajerry]

Is there a kit which gives a beer under 3%?
Or, if I brewed a kit with twice the water would I get twice as much beer at half the stated ABV?
Or would the taste be weak as well?

 

[Dicko]

Try a wherry. Brewed to instructions that doesn't come out much more than 3.5%.

Cheers Dicko

 

[clib]

You can actually brew kits 'long' or 'short' to vary the ABV. A lot of brewers brew 23 litre kits short, like 18-20 litres, to increase the ABV a bit. You can do the opposite. The Cooper's website even has some low ABV suggestions in its recipe section, making 23 litres with just the one can and no added sugar or malt extract. The Nelson's Light and Zephyr Light give you an idea. I'd be in favour of adding hops to up the flavour, as with the Nelson's recipe. The crystal malt steep is a good idea too, to add body and flavour. Any one can kit would work.

https://us.diybeer.com/brewing-info/recipes/non-alcoholic-light-recipes

 

[Random Badger]

Using sugar (Typically 1KG) with a kit just adds alcohol rather than body and taste, so leaving it out would seem a good option if you want a weaker but still tasty beer. I wouldn't just double the amount of water as the result could be very thin and, well, watery.

 

[alfajerry]

Thanks guys.
So if, for instance, I brewed the Young's American IPA without using the bag of sugar in the box, that might do the trick?

 

[clib]

I think the Young's IPA has 3kg malt and 1kg sugar? If so, and you use the malt extract only, and fill to 23 litres, you are going to get a beer around 3.8 to 4%. Stretch it to 25 litres and it's more like 3.5/3.7%

 

[Random Badger]

It looks as though fermenting 1KG of sugar should add 2.6% alcohol to a 23 Litre brew according to Calculate Potential Alcohol Percentage From Fermentation

So in theory if you make a 23 Litre kit but leave out 1KG of brewing sugar that the instructions say to include, you can knock 2.6% off the expected ABV.

Youngs American IPA is advertised as being 6.5%, so if we fire up the super computer and crunch the numbers using our cutting edge algorithm 6.5% - 2.6% = 3.9%.

 

[Scottyburto]

+1 to the idea of a one can kit and no sugar.

 

[Didge]

I agree with the above but you could end up with loads of spare brewing sugars that you've obviously paid for.

Alternatively, I would suggest the Mangrove Jacks Craft range. These all quote abvs around 5 to 6% but this is based upon adding extra fermentables. If you were to use these kits without buying the extras then you should achieve 3 to 4% beers at a very reasonable cost.

The MJ range is good quality and quite extensive, their Grapefruit IPA and MJ Juicy IPA are highly commended here.

 

[Scottyburto]

Wilko and range do one can kits without the added sugar. Brew2bottle strike me as having the lowest priced one can kits. I can't vouch for quality and you'll have to factor in delivery.

 

[Scottyburto]

Wilkos start at £12 if you have one nearby.

 

[alfajerry]

Thanks for all these suggestions, chaps.
It certainly begins to look like I can have a decent tasting beer that I can drink more of, for longer.
Excellent!

Jerry

 

[Cwrex]

Try a wherry. Brewed to instructions that doesn't come out much more than 3.5%.

Cheers Dicko

And its a lovely beer too. I brewed a full batch of it for my Sister-in-law's Christmas pressie. A kit arrived done to here last week from her with a request for another batch!

 

[abacab666]

Try a wherry. Brewed to instructions that doesn't come out much more than 3.5%.

Cheers Dicko

Not according to woodfords themselves...Wherry kit should brew to 4.5%

 

[Cwrw666]

Get a one can kit. Brew it short - eg. to 4 gallons instead of 5. But either miss out the sugar, or much less than the 1 Kg that's normal. That way you'll end up with a weaker beer but it'll be more flavoursome than if made normally.

 

[Dicko]

Yes it does but it never seems to reach 4.5%. Going off notes I made when brewing the wherry the best I achieved was 3.9%. Others may have been more successful.

Cheers Dicko

 

[Random Badger]

Yes it does but it never seems to reach 4.5%. Going off notes I made when brewing the wherry the best I achieved was 3.9%. Others may have been more successful.

Cheers Dicko

3.9% was the wherry best you could do?

 

[Dicko]

3.9% was the wherry best you could do?

It was indeed. After reading the thread on the wherry I feel lucky to have achieved 3.9%.

Having said that I still enjoyed the brew and at 3.9% it ment I could have a few during the week whilst watching the football.

Cheers Dicko