Low alcohol beer and how to brew advise required (Diabetes)

[The Baron]

After reading Rod's thread about his Diabetes diagnosis it made me wander if lower alcohol brewing would be the way to go for him and it seems quite a few other members.
I have been pondering if it is possible to brew a beer then after it has fermented boil it to drive off some of the alcohol. I know that this method is likely to remove most hop flavour but with the new style hop additions(Spectrum and Incognito and the likes) this could be added after the second alcohol boil off.
So this is only a idea and would the basis of it work and would this oxidise the beer by boiling after fermentation.
Or do we go down the just brewing a low alcohol beer as per standard methods i.e high mash temp etc.
Has any member used the low fermentation yeasts that can also be used to do it a more traditional way and where can you get them?

 

[Redgrave_3]

I’ve had precisely one attempt so far and it wasn’t particularly successful if your goal is get a true LA beer (<0.5%). The result, I thought, was very refreshing and pleasant to drink but not a like for like replacement for beer either.

You can see what I did here - Low alcohol partigyle - thoughts welcome

Others in the thread seem pretty pleased with David Heath’s LA recipe so if I was just trying to produce a standalone LA beer I would be tempted to try something along those lines with a high mash temp and lots of unfermentables.

On your question re. boiling off the alcohol I’ve never tried but I’ve also heard the issue is the introduction of oxygen.

Good luck and look forward to any feedback on results if you do try anything. I’d love to find a decent recipe method that’s not too arduous so I can keep drinking on nights off.

 

[Foggie]

Read a posting somewhere - can't remember, but notes were

Diabetic beer(Std 4.2% type kit)

• Brew your beer.
• Add beer enzyme to the brew to convert unformentable sugars to fermentable ones.
• Clear beer by cooling and racking.
• 50% brew – remove alcohol by gentle warming to 80C in bath water for 30 mins.
• Once beer @ 20C return to fermenter to combine the beer.
• Taste. – add splenda tablets if sweetness required.

Using this method you reduce beer to 3.2% with 12 Cals for sugar.

 

[peebee]

I think I've expressed my thoughts about "boiling beer" to remove alcohol, so I'll remain dumb for this

But someone do explain how they'll get all the alcohol to let go of the rest of the beer using just heat? (It don't work!).

 

[peebee]

Others in the thread seem pretty pleased with David Heath’s LA recipe so if I was just trying to produce a standalone LA beer I would be tempted to try something along those lines with a high mash temp and lots of unfermentables.

David Heath is to be applauded for his efforts to publicise the (very) high temperature mash technique ... but he shouldn't be credited for coming up with the technique (that was someone else).

Keep promising myself to try the method ... but haven't yet.

[EDIT: Not sure how safe to end-result is for diabetics though?]

 

[The Baron]

I thought the re-boil method may be a no go for the homebrewer myself so I personally would try the usual low alcohol of high mash low attenuation yeasts to get a 2% up or down.
I have brewed many Bitters/Ales/Mild at around 3% and they have been very good especially the Milds but never gone as low as the 2%.

 

[peebee]

I thought the re-boil method may be a no go for the homebrewer myself so I personally would try the usual low alcohol of high mash low attenuation yeasts to get a 2% up or down.
I have brewed many Bitters/Ales/Mild at around 3% and they have been very good especially the Milds but never gone as low as the 2%.

[but ... the (very) high temperature technique - 79-80°C - should obliterate any beta-amylase enzymes nearly instantly; I reckon they are relying on fermentable sugars already present in the grain to produce very low-alcohol, perhaps 0.3-0.5%, and the remaining starch is converted to unfermentable dextrin by the alpha enzyme which stays active for a few minutes at that temperature.]

 

[brewSJ]

Not sure how to scale down to homebrew sized batches, but over here there a few companies making commercial low- or non-alcoholic beer using reverse osmosis. You use RO to extract most of the alcohol and water, leaving behind hop and malt flavors, then re-hydrate with distilled water. I've only had one and it was very hoppy -- I'm not sure if that is to mask the lack of malt or because IPA's are all the rage; could be both. It does avoids all the problems with heating the beer though...

 

[Caramel Ox]

If you do a high temperature mash are the sugars left in the beer indigestible to humans as well as yeast?

I think commercial low abv. Beers often boil off the alcohol at a low temperature by reducing pressure in the headspace to lower the boil point.

Can behavioural tricks work? Like only bottling in 330ml to restrict what a single serving is?

 

[The Baron]

Do not quote me Caramel but I think they only boil the no alcohol beers usually below 0.5%.
As regards answering your question fully not sure on the sugars that are left on a low ABV beer.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

Can behavioural tricks work? Like only bottling in 330ml to restrict what a single serving is?

I'd end up having two, because, well, they are only little.....

 

[MashBag]

I have been wanting to tinker with this for a while. I had a look at this a couple of years ago. You need a pressure vessel & a vac pump. The alcohol will evaporate at 35c, not really affecting the favour.

 

[The Baron]

Thats interesting Mashbag never heard of that one

 

[MashBag]

It's the reverse of a pressure cooker. We all accept that boiling point is relative to altitude. Pressure cookers increase the pressure thus raise the boiling point.

So if you lower the pressure (vac pump) you lower the boiling point. And alc was only 78c to start with. Either that, or brew underground.

ThIs the sort of thing..

https://m-uk.vevor.com/vacuum-pump-...e&utm_medium=cpc&utm_id=19169636092&utm_term=

 

[MashBag]

Just seen it's 12litres. That's a nice size.

 

[dtashmore]

too the best of my knowledge alcohol is not a carbohydrate so like vinegar is not bad for diabetes, I am diabetic and brew my own, after a couple of brews my sugars measure much lower. high temperature mashing is bad as it leaves a lot more sugar in the end product so I brew at a lower temperature and live with a dryer ale, it still turns out good.

 

[MashBag]

You are right, Alcohol isn't a carb, but it's often counted as one.... Bit like hardness expressed as CaCO3.

"not bad for diabetes" but needs consideration/balance.

Can anyone else hear PeeBees footsteps heading this way...

 

[peebee]

Bit like hardness expressed as CaCO3.

I can see a windup easy enough.

 

[peebee]

too the best of my knowledge alcohol is not a carbohydrate so like vinegar is not bad for diabetes, I am diabetic and brew my own, after a couple of brews my sugars measure much lower. high temperature mashing is bad as it leaves a lot more sugar in the end product so I brew at a lower temperature and live with a dryer ale, it still turns out good.

Humm ... I was wondering about that.

But I don't know a lot about the ins-and-outs of diabetes, so just went along with the low-alcohol trend. So, alcohol isn't a problem? (Beyond too much being a problem for anyone!). I bet the subject of @the baron's opening post in this thread will be pleased about that!

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Diabetics don’t need low alcohol they need low carbs. 40% spirits are much better for diabetics than pretty much any beer - from a carbs perspective at least!

Mashing high to produce low alcohol beers, or using the new range of low alcohol yeasts, leaves lots of residual sugars in the beer - I think mostly aimed at increasing body to overcome the watery perception. In both cases you are aiming for low-attenuation.

Diabetics need high-attenuation so dry wines and beers (saison?) are the best brews. Low mash temps and high-attenuating yeast are good. Adding sugar to your mash in place of some of the grain will help because the simple sugar is easy to ferment. Adding sugar is good for diabetics? Ironic eh?