Low alcohol beer

[SteveWTBD]

Hi folks

This is my first post, so please bear with me!

I would like to have a go at a low alcohol brew, such as Brew Dog's Nanny State, but I have no idea where to start.

Is there something in particular that you have to do differently to end up with a flavoursome low alcohol brew?

Can anyone recommend a good low alcohol craft beer kit or a good low alcohol recipe for a beginner?

All the best

Steve

 

[Fil]

No problem, google for free brewers software fwiw i use brewmate the comprehensive beersmith is free for 14days and its users swear by it,

with recipe s/w you can plug in different ingredients volumes expected efficiencies etc on the fly and tweak em and check the expected results at the click of a button.

However with a lower alcohol content than 3.3% abv (check that, I might be a tenth of a point or 2 out either way??) the alcohol will be too dilute to have any preserving effect and to keep any bottles longer than a week or so you may need to consider pasturising the brew after conditioning.

 

[SteveWTBD]

Pasteurisation sounds a bit complicated😉

 

[IainM]

BrewDog have released all their recipes, including nanny state, so that might be a place to start. I think it will be hard to get a decent low abv beer from a kit.

 

[Brewed_Force]

Plucked this off t'internet:

How to Pasteurise Home Brew:
To do this, you should have a thermometer that you can put into the water to measure the temperature, a pot for hot water, and some bottles of beer.

Heat the water.
When the water reaches 88 degrees Celsius, turn off the heat.
Carefully put the bottles into the pot.
Put the lid on the pot and wait about ten minutes.
Carefully remove the bottles with a kitchen tong (or a mitten).
Put them on the counter to cool until they reach room temperature.
Remember that the bottles are pressurised, so don't bang them while putting them in the pot, don't apply heat to the pot while the bottles are in there, etc.

 

[Sadfield]

However with a lower alcohol content than 3.3% abv (check that, I might be a tenth of a point or 2 out either way??) the alcohol will be too dilute to have any preserving effect and to keep any bottles longer than a week or so you may need to consider pasturising the brew after conditioning.

Really? I have done 4 batches of a 2.5% pale ale and have never had a problem with shelf-life, even past 6 months. The main reason brewers started to brew with hops is for their preservative properties, to allow low abv beers to keep.

All grain is ideally needed to make low abv beers as you need the tools to add body to the beer. With a kit you'll need to sweeten and add body by other means, like by adding lactose. Otherwise, you'll end up with thin and overly bitter hop water.

 

[MyQul]

Really? I have done 4 batches of a 2.5% pale ale and have never had a problem with shelf-life, even past 6 months. The main reason brewers started to brew with hops is for their preservative properties, to allow low abv beers to keep.

All grain is ideally needed to make low abv beers as you need the tools to add body to the beer. With a kit you'll need to sweeten and add body by other means, like by adding lactose. Otherwise, you'll end up with thin and overly bitter hop water.

Interesting. Got a recipe, plus the things you did to maintain body (mash temp, time,etc)

 

[Sadfield]

Not to hand, but basically mashed at 70 for just long enough for convertion (40 minutes).

The grist used 10% low colour Crystal (carapils or caragold depending on stock) to add body and then you need to look at ways to add flavour back depending on the style you're after, for example a good amount of Munich will make the beer taste maltier. Think, layers of flavour.

Then use low attenuating yeast. Stay away from really clean US yeast even if doing a hoppy APA.

 

[Fil]

Really? I have done 4 batches of a 2.5% pale ale and have never had a problem with shelf-life, even past 6 months. The main reason brewers started to brew with hops is for their preservative properties, to allow low abv beers to keep.

All grain is ideally needed to make low abv beers as you need the tools to add body to the beer. With a kit you'll need to sweeten and add body by other means, like by adding lactose. Otherwise, you'll end up with thin and overly bitter hop water.

Interesting, TBH my statement is more lore than law, and a wee google hasnt turned up much to support it, though i do have a very clear recollection of reading in one of my old brew bibles from the days when you bought or borrowed books, used the local library, or stood catching up in bookshops during lunch something along the lines of "Caution needs to be taken when brewing below 3.?%" followed by scary words like botulism etc.. Pasturisation was proposed as a solution And its stuck!! Probably from a C JJ berry book as i had a couple of his on the shelf..

 

[SteveWTBD]

Really? I have done 4 batches of a 2.5% pale ale and have never had a problem with shelf-life, even past 6 months. The main reason brewers started to brew with hops is for their preservative properties, to allow low abv beers to keep.

All grain is ideally needed to make low abv beers as you need the tools to add body to the beer. With a kit you'll need to sweeten and add body by other means, like by adding lactose. Otherwise, you'll end up with thin and overly bitter hop water.

A 2.5% pale would be great. Maybe that should be my aim.

 

[Simonh82]

This was a low alcohol recipe that I came up with a while ago. It worked out at 2.3%. I went for the lots of layers of flavours. It is quite bitter, like the Brewdog nanny state beer.

Edited so link works.

 

[AdrianTrace]

I did several batches of BBQ beer at around 2.8 - 3% last year (19 litre extract brews based around 1.5kg of DME and 250g carapils, plus hoppiness), and will do again this year. No problem keeping them in cornie kegs. They were good and refreshing, and keep us on the level until the kids are in bed.