Low alcohol IPA straight from the bottle for easy summer drinking.

[Richie_asg1]

This is my goal anyway.
In the summer I tend to buy small bottles of cheap french lager just for something to drink in the afternoon. It's horrible!
Alcohol content isn't the issue - it's just a cold low alcohol beer that hits the spot after I've been mowing the grass or similar. Usually in small bottles too.

I would really like to make a low alcohol IPA and bottle it, but how do I achieve this?
All the beers I have bottled so far have sediment from bottle conditioning, so would need to be kegged to condition first then bottle I would think.

As I would really like to achieve this what equipment would you recommend, and if any kits would provide a good starting point for a low ABV IPA, or would you go straight for extract or AG?

Thank you for any advice.

 

[MickDundee]

I would have thought the costs (if you don’t already own a corny set up) would far outweigh the benefits of being able to drink a beer straight from the bottle.

Also, if it was an IPA you would miss out on the aroma is you didn’t pour into a glass first

 

[Hoppyland]

I totally agree with Mick. If you don't already have a "Corny keg" system, then maybe get one - but if you do, then forget the bottling and just pull yourself a half or a pint as you fancy.
However, if you don't have one, and don't fancy the expense, then the short answer is yes. You can bottle a fairly low-alcohol beer without much sediment in the bottle. I used to do this. It does take time, though.
What I used to do is to fully ferment the beer, dry hop if you want, then transfer it to a plastic drum/carboy. To speed things up a bit, fining it with gelatine at this stage is useful. Thoroughly purging the airspace in the carboy with CO2 is a very good idea, both to avoid infections and to prevent oxidation. (But the most sensible way to do this is using a large CO2 cylinder - so you're already half-way down the road to kegging!). Then leave the beer for a couple of weeks or so, until it's pretty well clear, then bottle. There will be enough yeast cells left in suspension to ensure that bottle carbonation will take place. But it might take a month. In my experience, you'll end up with an excellent beer, but with little sediment. I've never done it, but you can also speed up clarification by cold-crashing.
I have to say that I've pretty much given up on bottling - but I do still use the plastic carboy. It's just that I now wait until the beer is pretty clear and then keg it.

 

[Sandimas]

I'm bottling more and more of my beer in those 33cl bottles these days. Tend to buy a case of bottled San Mig at the height of summer and re-use the bottles for homebrew.

Can't you just pour it in a glass to avoid the sedement? Can't think how you'd do it otherwise, as you'll have to get gas into the bottled beer somehow and that would produce sediment.

Tiny Rebel Cwtch is a great IPA-style kit so I'd be tempted to do that, or one of the Youngs kits - I loved American Amber Ale when I made it.

 

[Hoppyland]

Yep, I agree with darrellm that bottle fermentation will inevitably produce sediment - but I think you'll be surprised how little it is possible to achieve. If you bottle a pretty much clear beer then there isn't much material (yeast or otherwise) left to settle out. But, if you prime an unpasteurised, unfiltered beer with sugar and then leave it long enough then in my experience it will carb up. Don't chill it, but leave it at room temperature. It might take a month or so, but it will happen! Basically, there is hardly any yeast left in suspension, and there should be very little oxygen for the yeast cells to multiply, so what remains will take ages to chomp through the priming sugar. But, bugger all yeast means bugger all sediment. Bear in mind, though, that a long time in bottle means you're going to need a lot of bottles!

As to what to brew, then it seems to me there are 2 obvious ways to get a lower-alcohol beer.
1. Buy a single-can kit, that needs quite a bit of sugar to hit the intended SG. Use a lot less sugar, and you automatically get a lower SG, and therefore less alcohol.
2. Brew All Grain, or a custom extract recipe. But tweak your recipe so that there is a lot less malt in relation to the volume of water. Again, you automatically get a weaker beer.
It would be a bit more problematic with more expensive kits, that might use 2 cans of hopped extract and no sugar. Your only option here would be to use more water, to dilute the kit. But this may end up with too much volume for your equipment. Ditto a partial-mash kit not requiring extra sugar.

 

[Clint]

this is a 4% ish IPA kegged in a standard plastic pb..primed with 90g of sugar then further gassed with the small bulbs through the valve on the lid. Kept on the work top in my garage it's been totally fine if a bit flat towards the end. Going forward a fridge for the use of would be a great idea...a double fridge even better for double kegs!

 

[Richie_asg1]

All useful information gratefully received. Thank you. I seem to remember someone posting here that he was chasing the low alcohol beers.
I like the idea of a can and kilo kit and just hold back on some of the kilo for a lower OG. Just need to sort out getting very good carbonation to start with I think then bottle from keg to be able to leave enough in the bottle.

Quite a lot of vids out there of beer guns etc all doing basically that with expensive gismos. Ultimately you are going to remove whatever device is used to get the cap on!

I agree the simpler approach would be to clear the beer and then condition for longer leaving only a trace of yeast in the bottle.


Pint looks lovely Clint

 

[Slid]

This is my goal anyway.
In the summer I tend to buy small bottles of cheap french lager just for something to drink in the afternoon. It's horrible!
Alcohol content isn't the issue - it's just a cold low alcohol beer that hits the spot after I've been mowing the grass or similar. Usually in small bottles too.

I would really like to make a low alcohol IPA and bottle it, but how do I achieve this?
All the beers I have bottled so far have sediment from bottle conditioning, so would need to be kegged to condition first then bottle I would think.

As I would really like to achieve this what equipment would you recommend, and if any kits would provide a good starting point for a low ABV IPA, or would you go straight for extract or AG?

Thank you for any advice.

One plan could be this idea from Craig, who is a great source of info on (mainly) kit brewing.



Basically this is the Dom Perignon method for beer, with fancy caps.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

@Slid - I remember watching that video a while ago but unfortunately after searching i couldn't find anywhere that stocked them.

.

 

[Austin]

I accidentally made a lower alcohol brew of 3%ABV by using London ESB yeast with a very low attenuation.
You really wouldnt know because the recipe i used had plenty of body, mouthfeel, flavour and aroma, as well as some extra sweetness from the sugars the yeast left behind .

The only nuisance is that yeast is very slow to clear so theres loads of sediment in my bottles. Grr.

 

[Slid]

@Slid - I remember watching that video a while ago but unfortunately after searching i couldn't find anywhere that stocked them.

.

I didn't ever look. Drinking from the bottle was never my thing.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I didn't ever look. Drinking from the bottle was never my thing.

I guess if you (like Craig in the video) want to take your beer camping take a glass along problem sorted (cheaply)

.

 

[Richie_asg1]

Found this of an alternative bottle filler design -


The main difference between this and a beer gun is that it has no tube to the base, and is in a soda stream style protective case during pressurising.
It should be possible to vent the foam via the top so little is wasted if a catch bottle is used for it.
I like the idea of the fixed top and a moving base to seal the bottle for filling.

Bought an IPA kit from The Range today...for better or worse, to try out.

 

[bobukbrewer]

I took some beer bottles with sediment in the boot of my car 300 miles to Cornwall. When I unpacked, the bottles were still crystal clear - the yeast cake never moved !

 

[Clint]

Done this myself...I expected cloudy beer when we arrived but it was,as you say, crystal....

 

[Hoppyland]

Aye, the type of yeast will influence this - some stick to the bottom of the bottle, whereas some are more "powdery" and easily re-suspend