# Brewing/ Making Low Alcohol Beer



## seehuusen (15/9/15)

G'day fellow brewers,

Starting off by saying, I've already laid the flame suit out on the bed, ready to put on in a hurry 

I have been brewing for a fair while now, and I do love the product that I'm capable of producing. To the point that I possibly consume more than a healthy amount of it. For me, it is all about the flavour/mouthfeel/ thirst quenching, rather that the buzz that you get from the alcohol it contains.

Don't get me wrong, I'll continue to drink beers with alcohol in them, but in order to curb my consumption somewhat, and still enjoy a good drop, I'm exploring this avenue.

The easiest method seems to be that which is described by this BYO article: http://byo.com/stout/item/263-brew-a-great-non-alcoholic-beer

A few other methods are described in this Gizmodo article: http://gizmodo.com/the-science-of-non-alcoholic-beer-509674407

I think I'll start off, by putting 7.5L (~10 PET bottles) of my next fermented batch into the BYO experiment.

I read, and can understand that the hop aroma would be gone, leaving primarily bitterness. So this makes me believe that the BYO method might not be best for a non-alcoholic APA.
So I ask you fellow brewers who might have explored this avenue, any tips on how to best go about this? (perhaps preserving or adding hop aroma back in, thinking hop tea might be worth a shot)

I'm looking through recipes that might suit, where malt profile is more forward than hop aroma, any suggestions on a good recipe?

Cheers guys,
Martin


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## RdeVjun (15/9/15)

Worthy pursuit in some respects, its a dilemma that many grapple with for a variety of reasons. However if NA proves too difficult or disappointing, perhaps try American Mild or more traditional lower %ABV English Mild styles that employ a large proportion of spec malts, smaller overall grain bill, quite a high sacc rest and low- attenuation yeast strains for a higher FG after a lower OG. If you go for American hops styling then as we commonly see, the sky is the limit and you're not vaporising those hard-won aromatics.
I realise that doesn't answer your query directly but worth putting it out there as an alternative.


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## MHB (15/9/15)

It's a prick of a beer to brew at home, before you invest a lot of time and effort in making something that you might not like even if you do it very well, try working your way through a slab of Coopers Birell.
It is to my mind one of the better dealcoholized beers on the market, It is I believe made by running beer through a revers osmosis filter, the other option being distilling off the alcohol (as per the BYO article), problem with distillation is that lots of chemistry happens really fast as beer gets hotter, commercially distilled reduced alcohol beers are usually made in vacuum stills (mostly falling film evaporators) low temperature distillation reduces the unwanted flavour changes.

I have spent the last couple of years tinkering with a <3.0% beer, the aim being a pilsner bright, full bodied low alcohol alternative. at present I am pretty happy with the beer at 3.5% but getting rid of that remaining 0.5% and keeping all the flavour and body I am looking for is a bitch.

Mind you its pretty easy to get behind a hell of a lot of good tasting 3.5% beers - great way to get rid of a whole unwanted Sunday afternoon while the footy is on.
Mark


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## seehuusen (15/9/15)

Yes, I saw the vacuum theory in that second link, seems slightly involved. I think for the first try, I'll just put a small portion (7.5L) aside and make a hop tea with the volume of water I need to replace the evaporated alcohol with.
I've made a couple of Carlton Mid styled brews, which were very nice in deed. Worst case scenario and the above doesn't work out flavour-wise, I was thinking of trying to apply that technique to make a extra-sessional APA.


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## super_simian (15/9/15)

Best 'NA' beer has to be BrewDog Nanny State. Hoppy malt soda. Or, dry hop 2 Birell in a Soda Stream bottle for an hour or two.

If you really want to brew your own and aren't interested in RO or vacuum distilling, this article may be of interest.


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## rude (15/9/15)

The only one I have tried as father in law bought it by mistake was Bitburger Drive

Pretty good for 0.0%


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## Blind Dog (15/9/15)

Agree with Mark that it’s a hard beer to brew, and maybe not worth it. Clausthaler Premium is probably the best one I've had, but it’s still not great and has that metallic twang and boiled honey aroma that they all seem to have

I have tried making a few. Best was a malty pale mild with JW trad ale (70%), Wey Munich (25%) and a bit of crystal (5%), mashed high (68) and brewed to 3.6% with 10 IBU of EKG. Post fermentation (US05) heated in a BM to 85C for 30 minutes to remove the alcohol and adding 25g of hops (cascade) 10 minutes before the end and then same again in the cube. Cubed, filtered, and force carbed. Wasn't bad and didn't have a noticeable metallic twang, but I have no desire to brew it again. Easier & cheaper to buy some berries / other fruit and make a syrup and add carbonated water. Tastes better too (IMO)

I’ve toyed with the idea of making a low ABV beer (around 4% seems to be a sweet spot) with lots of crystal and Munich, aggressively late hopped, mashed high for extra body, fermented with a low attenuating strain. Then dilute with carbonated water to lower the ABV and let it condition for a while before drinking. Always seem to have a better idea come brew day though


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## MHB (15/9/15)

Well just having a taste of the latest version of my lowish alcohol pale



Tastes pretty good, holding a head well enough - its getting its first commercial outing at a parlour gig on Saturday night, nothing really tell you how well you have done better than putting beer up at an open tap event and seeing how big a dent gets made in your stock.
Mark


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## seehuusen (22/9/15)

that looks like a great beer mate, what sort is it?


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## MHB (22/9/15)

Its technically a Mild - base malt is TF Mild and a fair slab of flake, so its a mild except clear and way to pale for the style. Might be a new style
Its a model for a beer that I want to brew commercially, I think there is a place in the market for a well presented flavoursome low alcohol alternative.
Here's hoping.
Mark


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## Danscraftbeer (22/9/15)

I'm tinkering myself with having the option of (keep drinking without getting wasted). Instead of the whole brewing efforts of light beer I'm trying this:
My 3.5 keg Kegerator shall have the three 18lt kegs with the beers or cider of my choices (4 to 8% abv). The 11lt keg is just Soda Water. You then shandy any drink accordingly. 
I have tried and to me its just like my beer with all the flavors, but lower ABV and callories etc. To me it tastes like my beer shandied with soda water. Duh!
I'm wondering if I should acidify the soda water. So Instead of the Soda water being ~PH 7.5. to equall to the beer PH that is around 5 it may help the flavour even more. Otherwise shandying with soda water is an easy solution to have lightened beer on tap only when you want it to be. :chug: B)


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## Danscraftbeer (22/9/15)

To add to that. Flavours are not lossed. In contrary highly carbonated mixer (soda water) can enhance it all. Maltyness, Aromas, they are all still there. Just a diluted drink.


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## panspermian (22/9/15)

I started a thread a while ago on brewed soft drinks. It was suggested that a different strain of Saccharomyces can ferment without the high alcohol output of the cerivisiae strain we use for beer.
That got me thinking, can we make beer flavoured soft drinks or would we have to adjust recipes to factor in the sweetness from all the sugars?

Lactobacillus from yoghurt culture can also ferment, makes drinks fizzy without producing alcohol.


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## MHB (22/9/15)

Danscraftbeer said:


> I'm tinkering myself with having the option of (keep drinking without getting wasted). Instead of the whole brewing efforts of light beer I'm trying this:
> My 3.5 keg Kegerator shall have the three 18lt kegs with the beers or cider of my choices (4 to 8% abv). The 11lt keg is just Soda Water. You then shandy any drink accordingly.
> I have tried and to me its just like my beer with all the flavors, but lower ABV and callories etc. To me it tastes like my beer shandied with soda water. Duh!
> I'm wondering if I should acidify the soda water. So Instead of the Soda water being ~PH 7.5. to equall to the beer PH that is around 5 it may help the flavour even more. Otherwise shandying with soda water is an easy solution to have lightened beer on tap only when you want it to be. :chug: B)


God I wish it was that easy.
Just add water - hadn't thought of that...
M


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## Fat Bastard (22/9/15)

Danscraftbeer said:


> I'm wondering if I should acidify the soda water. So Instead of the Soda water being ~PH 7.5. to equall to the beer PH that is around 5 it may help the flavour even more. Otherwise shandying with soda water is an easy solution to have lightened beer on tap only when you want it to be. :chug: B)


Yes, it makes heaps of difference! While I'm not brewing low alcohol styles, I've diluted a single keg batch from 9.7% to make 2 kegs of 5.4% Amber. The single biggest improvement came from acidulating the dilution water back to pH 5.3 with a bit of lactic. Adding salts to match the original brewing water helped, but the end result with the acidulated water really popped.


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## Danscraftbeer (22/9/15)

MHB said:


> God I wish it was that easy.
> Just add water - hadn't thought of that...
> M


Ha! yes then again you could just drink a pint of water after every pint of beer of coarse.

edit: that doesn't look so cool though.


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## rude (22/9/15)

Fat Bastard said:


> Yes, it makes heaps of difference! While I'm not brewing low alcohol styles, I've diluted a single keg batch from 9.7% to make 2 kegs of 5.4% Amber. The single biggest improvement came from acidulating the dilution water back to pH 5.3 with a bit of lactic. Adding salts to match the original brewing water helped, but the end result with the acidulated water really popped.


I thouhgt finished beer PH was 3.8 to 4.5 depending on type

Good idea though 2 from 1


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## Fat Bastard (22/9/15)

Most of the beers I've been bothered to measure have been between 4.5 & 5 with some outliers heading towards 4. It's a bit hard because you need to make sure they've completely de carbed first, and mostly I just get the shits with waiting and drink the sample. 5.3 seemed a good starting point, but I'm so pleased with the result I'm a bit afraid to change it! Got bigger fish to fry while I get the process process smoothed out.


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## Coalminer (23/9/15)

MHB said:


> Its technically a Mild - base malt is TF Mild and a fair slab of flake, so its a mild except clear and way to pale for the style. Might be a new style
> Its a model for a beer that I want to brew commercially, I think there is a place in the market for a well presented flavoursome low alcohol alternative.
> Here's hoping.
> Mark


Is that based on Brewbuilders Budget Blonde Mild?
I have brewed a heap of that and it is part of my staple diet


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## barls (23/9/15)

Danscraftbeer said:


> Ha! yes then again you could just drink a pint of water after every pint of beer of coarse.
> 
> edit: that doesn't look so cool though.


ahhhh the water wedge, a standard in the tropics


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## MHB (23/9/15)

Coalminer said:


> Is that based on Brewbuilders Budget Blonde Mild?
> I have brewed a heap of that and it is part of my staple diet


Well yes and no, the one in BrewBuilder is based on mine, its evolved since I put that one in BrewBuilder.
I have been playing around with the mash profile, trying to get as much B-Glucanase activity as possible, a fair amount of Proteinase then a jump to Alpha peak with the pH. optimised for Alpha and trying to do everything I can to kill off Beta Amylase, quite a novel mash programme but its getting there, a few minor tweaks and I think it will be ready to go commercial.
Mark


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## Coalminer (23/9/15)

thanks Mark
Food for thought


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## jimmy86 (24/9/15)

Mark, would you care to elaborate more on your mash schedule. Or am I prying to far into your commercial interests.

Cheers


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## drclaybro (24/9/15)

Hey there,

I brew a 2% ish beer regularly, started doing it for my breastfeeding wife. 
High mash temp, flavoursome base malt, lots of light crystal, some unmalted wheat or rolled oats, most of the ibus from lots of late hops, and a low attenuating yeast. I cube it strong, and dilute into the fermenter.

If i offer it to visitors as a 2% beer theres never any takers, but if i just offer them a beer and give them my 2%er, theres never any complaints.

Yeast is key, I usually use mangrove jacks m03 yeast, last batch i used us05 cos i wanted to use it as a big starter for some bigger beers; was a big mistake. Gave it some extra dry hops, but it doesnt cover up the thinnesss.


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## roastinrich (24/9/15)

Rye can make it feel a bit thicker adds an extra dimension too. Just have to watch for stuck spurges or use rice gulls.


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