# Tips On How To Brew Light Beer



## Gout (12/1/10)

Strange but true - i think i want to try brew a light beer. I decided to cut my drinking right back this year, and was thinking a light beer would be nice for the hot days after work - without the struggle to get up the following morning.

Does anyone have some advice on how to get some flavour and body, while keeping it light in alc. say 2.5% - 3%

I was thinking, all malt (AG), and reduce the hopping and bitterness on a full strength recipe by the same % as the reduced alc. mash high to keep some body, and some crystal to add flavour

I plan to try a summer ale style(us ale and cascade), and also a bitter (whitbread ale and goldings)

does anyone have some pointers that i have missed

cheers
G


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## barls (12/1/10)

mash high for body and low fermentability


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## Adamt (12/1/10)

Use low attenuative yeast strains. Look for the thread on English Milds in the flavour of the week forums... I think I remember reading some good ideas there.


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## NickB (12/1/10)

Yep, definitely mash high. Last batch of my mid-strength I mashed at 70C. I also used a fair whack of crystal malts (around 10% in total of CaraRed and Medium Crystal). Will update on how that turned out in about a weeks time. Batch prior to that was mashed at 68C, and was a little thin bodied, but was mainly BB Ale malt and a small amount of Wheat.

I've also found, that if you work on the high side of hop flavour and aroma for style, the beer tends to taste a lot less like a light or mid-strenth


Cheers


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## Bribie G (12/1/10)

barls said:


> mash high for body and low fermentability



_Exactement _ B) I've done several UK style dark milds, mashed at 70 degrees for 50 minutes (but do a starch test to ensure conversion) and ended up with OG of 1045 but FG of 20 and alcohol in the 3% domain. This should work nicely with pale beers as well, and as suggested above use a yeast that also attenuates quite high, a good one being WYeast Ringwood for bitters.

Edit: and for light coloured beers - including fake lagers - 300g Carapils would hit the spot as well for mouthfeel and body.


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## pokolbinguy (12/1/10)

So in general to get a low alcohol beer that still displays body and flavour the key is to mash at a high temp (e.g. 70deg)??? I thought about this the other day that it would be good to make a decent flavoured beer (e.g. Dr Smurto's GA) but as a lower alcohol....hmmm interesting

Pok


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## Bribie G (12/1/10)

pokolbinguy said:


> So in general to get a low alcohol beer that still displays body and flavour the key is to mash at a high temp (e.g. 70deg)??? I thought about this the other day that it would be good to make a decent flavoured beer (e.g. Dr Smurto's GA) but as a lower alcohol....hmmm interesting
> 
> Pok



I remember reading early last year, may have been Thirsty Boy, posted a graph on the forum about how the commercials do Mid and Light beer, they mash high, brew overgravity then water down the resulting brew, but it ends up with almost the same body and mouthfeel, due to the remaining dextrins etc, but of course less alcohol, than the full strength versions.


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## Fourstar (13/1/10)

As everyone has put it, a high mash temp, low attenuative yeast along with increasing the unfermentables w/ specialty malts like crystal and carapils aids in keeping the malt flavour/aroma up like a full strength beer and the alcohol % down.

By having a higher mash temp you are limiting the amount of maltose (fermentables) in your final wort. I would also suggest highly of doing a mashout before sparging too to stop the enzyme process.

I have made an oath this year to always have a light beer in the fridge. my 1st two i have brewed via traditional methods (standard mash temps, just a smaller grain bill) and the beers have turned out great. I can taste it isn't full strength just by the body being almost spritzy and malt flavour being quite subdued. Although any of my mates who drink it, think i tastes like a full strength OR a beautiful exception to having a full strength beer. Personally, for this hot weather, there has been nothing better than these beers!

So far i have done a light APA (Baseballers light) and a 'Blonde/Aussie Ale w/POR and perle' (Cricketers Light). Both are fantastic. If you want to give them a go by using traditional brewing methods and just a smaller grain bill i have attached the recipes below.

Baseballers Light 
American Pale Ale 

Type: All Grain
Date: 29/11/2009 
Batch Size: 23.00 L
Brewer: Braden 
Boil Size: 30.90 L
Boil Time: 60 min 
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 

Ingredients
2.50 kg Pilsner, Malt Craft Export (Joe White) (1.7 SRM) Grain 75.8 % 
0.40 kg Munich, Light (Joe White) (8.9 SRM) Grain 12.1 % 
0.30 kg Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 9.1 % 
0.10 kg Crystal (Joe White) (34.2 SRM) Grain 3.0 % 
30.00 gm Centennial [8.70%] (20 min) Hops 20.1 IBU 
10.00 gm Centennial [8.70%] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 12.2 IBU 
20.00 gm Centennial [8.70%] (0 min) Hops - 
2.00 gm Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min) Misc 
6.00 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc 
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale 

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.031 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.008 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 3.0 % 
Bitterness: 32.3 IBU 
Est Color: 4.1 SR

Mash Profile
Name Description Step Temp Step Time 
Mash In Add 9.24 L of water at 69.7 C 64.0 C 60 min 
Mash Out Add 6.60 L of water at 97.7 C 77.0 C 10 min 

Notes 
CaCl into mash.
CaSO4 into boil. 


Cricketers Light 
Australian Pale Ale 

Type: All Grain
Date: 19/10/2009 
Batch Size: 23.00 L
Brewer: Braden 
Boil Size: 30.90 L
Boil Time: 60 min 
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 

Ingredients
2.50 kg Pilsner, Malt Craft Export (Joe White) (1.7 SRM) Grain 75.8 % 
0.40 kg Munich, Light (Joe White) (8.9 SRM) Grain 12.1 % 
0.30 kg Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 9.1 % 
0.10 kg Crystal (Joe White) (34.2 SRM) Grain 3.0 % 
15.00 gm Super pride [15.10%] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 31.7 IBU 
30.00 gm Super pride [15.10%] (0 min) Hops - 
2.00 gm Calcium Chloride (Mash 60.0 min) Misc 
6.00 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc 
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale 

Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.031 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.008 SG 
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 3.0 % 
Bitterness: 31.7 IBU
Est Color: 4.1 SRM

Mash Profile
Mash In Add 9.24 L of water at 69.7 C 64.0 C 60 min 
Mash Out Add 6.60 L of water at 97.7 C 77.0 C 10 min 

Notes
CaCl into mash.
CaSO4 into boil.


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## Barry (13/1/10)

Also I have had good results for low gravity beers using 1/3 more malt and only collecting 20 L and add 10 L of sparge water. This gives you 30 L to boil. This gives a much better malt character. Also mash high as advised above. Now I do this for beers such as 60/-, sthern browns and milds. If you were going to brew a blond ale use the grain you would use for an OG of 1.054 but only collect 20 L and add 10 L of sparge water. This should give an OG 1.036. It does use more malt but you could collect the other 10L, boil it, and save for yeast starters. I hope this helps.


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## BjornJ (13/1/10)

I have done the same thing that BribieG says,


mash high (69-70 degrees)

low attenuation yeast (WLP002 if English Mild @ 67% attenuation and the only *Ultra* flocculent whitelabs yeast)

Quite a bit of carapils/crystal/dark grains to help create a lower fermentable wort
This way you can aim for a lower OG if you want.

I made an English Mild that turned out qute ok with OG 1.032 and FG 1.014.
The high FG leaves a bit of mouthfeel and this gives 2.3% alc plus bottle conditioning = 2.8%.

A nice, easy session beer.
It would probably taste even better if you increased the OG to over 1.040, but I quite liked it as a light beer  

thanks
Bjorn


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## Barry (13/1/10)

The high gravity boil that BribieG mentioned is also a good idea. Have not tried it but it has given me ideas. Boil treated water, let cool then add it to the fermenter in the amount to get the OG you are after. If you brewed a 30L (25L finished) batch at 1.070+ you could end up with 2 x 20+L in the fermenters at 1.030+.


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## Gout (13/1/10)

awesome, thanks for all the ideas lads. 4**** i will give your beers a brew (or very similar) in 2 weeks when the fermenters are free. 

Hearing that others have brewed light beers and they turned out well gives me the confidence to get some brewed and on tap

thanks


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## Fourstar (13/1/10)

Gout said:


> awesome, thanks for all the ideas lads. 4**** i will give your beers a brew (or very similar) in 2 weeks when the fermenters are free.
> 
> Hearing that others have brewed light beers and they turned out well gives me the confidence to get some brewed and on tap
> 
> thanks



You may note the malt bills are exactly the same ofr both my beers. i can say the hops make all the difference to the final product. If you wanted to go the high mash and low attenuation you could scale this up to around 5KG of total grist and mash hot (70-73deg) to get the dextrin count high and maltose low. The worst that can happen is as bribie noted, you have to water it down to 3-3.5%~. I'd proabably do this with degassed soda water.


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## Swinging Beef (13/1/10)

Fourstar said:


> I'd proabably do this with degassed soda water.


Why?
What does this do?


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## Fourstar (13/1/10)

Swinging Beef said:


> Why?
> What does this do?



or you could use cooled boiled water. Basically so you are not oxidising your beer.


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## komodo (13/1/10)

This is really interesting - something I've been keen to give a go for a while as my grandfather loves my beers but only drinks one schooner compared with two stubbies of his preffered commercial light (he is 89 after all - plus he has these before dinner then has a glass or two of red with his dinner.) I'd toyed with the idea of making a light beer but really had no idea how to do it. I was thinking of making a full strength then just purely watering it down but when I tried this initially it tasted very very "light" for want of a better description. 
Definately on the to do list - perhaps a bit higher on the list than some of the others on that list too.


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## gjhansford (13/1/10)

This is a great little thread for January ... there's another thread about having a dry month and I kinda felt guilty drinking away while others were going cold turkey ... but now I can apease my guilt with a couple of full flavoured lower alcohol beers ... thanks for all the ideas ... can't wait for Saturday ... Brew Day!

One question ... I get the feeling from what I've read here that it's okay to water down the wort PRE BOIL but not so good to water down the after boil wort ... it terms of making sure I don't get that 'watered down' taste. Is that right?

ghhb :icon_cheers:


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## HoppingMad (13/1/10)

BribieG said:


> I remember reading early last year, may have been Thirsty Boy, posted a graph on the forum about how the commercials do Mid and Light beer, they mash high, brew overgravity then water down the resulting brew, but it ends up with almost the same body and mouthfeel, due to the remaining dextrins etc, but of course less alcohol, than the full strength versions.



+1 check TB's thread it was very good. Have a VicBrew 2006 recipe book and in the Light Beer Category the winners appear to have watered down their beers and still maintain flavour (enough to impress a judge), so that's worth looking at. I got this book from Ross at Craftbrewer and it has a good one in it by brewer Michael Guenzel.

Hopper.


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## Gout (13/1/10)

I just got back from the doc, where she asked me to go light on the alc for a while ( just had food poisoning and the liver/gut was very inflamed) 

so the light beer is now even higher on my list! no drinking during the week and a few lights on the weekend should be a huge improvment over 6 full strength beers each night and a larger sesh on weekends

With respect to hops, i assume the bitterness should be about the same ratio as it would in a full strength (half the alc(or gravity) - half the IBUs?) but maybe with the flavour and aroma hops say 75% the rate of hops to maintain an interesting beer?


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## Adamt (13/1/10)

If you're planning on adding a lot of specialty malts, you might need a little more than just scaling down the IBU levels.


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## drsmurto (13/1/10)

I like to brew a light to mid strength beer on a regular basis.

During the cooler months its a dark mild based on Warren's "Just a Trickle Dark Mild"

In summer its a Little Creatures Rogers type beer, basically an american amber ale but with an OG of 1.040 of below and lower IBU. Cascade, amarillo and nelson sauvin.

Both around 3, occasionally 3.5%. Both mashed at 69-70C, both fermented with Wyeast 1187 - ringwood which is a low attenuator.

The other light beer on my list to brew is Ross' crazy 1.7% megahopped beer.

Can't find the recipe at the moment but he did post it in the 'What are you brewing II' thread.

I didn't like the look of it on paper thinking Ross was having a seniors moment :lol: but i did have the opportunity of tasting it in his shop and it changed my mind immediately. Tasty, tasty beer. :chug:


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## Screwtop (13/1/10)

Don't know if it has been mentioned yet but a low OG is the starting point. No real need to mash high IMO, you don't want a cloyingly sweet beer for a low ABV drop. Start with a low OG and a low attenuating yeast such as Windsor. Important aspects with any beer - yeast esters, hop bitterness and flavour, and malt profile are even more so with low ABV beers. Malt profile is more difficult to achieve so caramelising wort or the addition of cara malts or even adjuncts can be useful. All beer styles are a balancing act, low ABV beers even more so.

For a great small beer I use a clone recipe for Samuel Smiths Old Brewery Bitter, a great beer and only 3.25%ABV. Pretty sure I've posted the recipe, a search for "Samuel Smiths" filter by member name Screwtop and show results as post should turn it up. 

Screwy


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## beers (13/1/10)

Screwtop said:


> No real need to mash high IMO, you don't want a cloyingly sweet beer for a low ABV drop. Start with a low OG and a low attenuating yeast such as Windsor.



I was under the impression that a higher mash temp won't enhance sweetness, but they will increase dextrins? If anything I thought a low attenuating yeast would increase sweetness?

Dr Charles Bamforth mentions mashing up to 72c on the Brewstrong Q&A podcast.. has anyone tried going this high?


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## MarkyMark (13/1/10)

If you wanted to do an extract version of a low alcohol beer, would you use dried corn syrup to add body and decrease the fermentables?

Cheers

Mark


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## Fourstar (13/1/10)

beers said:


> I was under the impression that a higher mash temp won't enhance sweetness, but they will increase dextrins? If anything I thought a low attenuating yeast would increase sweetness?
> 
> Dr Charles Bamforth mentions mashing up to 72c on the Brewstrong Q&A podcast.. has anyone tried going this high?



that is correct. i remember him saying if table sugar is 1 sugar unit, maltose is .7, and maltodextrin is like .01 or something to that effet.


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## Tim (13/1/10)

This is timely as I was about to brew a lower alc beer. I was planning to brew something along the lines of an Asian lager.
3kg of Pilsner Malt
SA-1 (Chinese Saaz) to 25 IBU's.

I think it would be roughly similar grain bill to a Kirin, Asahi or Sapporo clone without the rice.


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## Fourstar (13/1/10)

Tim said:


> This is timely as I was about to brew a lower alc beer. I was planning to brew something along the lines of an Asian lager.
> 3kg of Pilsner Malt
> SA-1 (Chinese Saaz) to 25 IBU's.
> 
> I think it would be roughly similar grain bill to a Kirin, Asahi or Sapporo clone without the rice.



looks the goods to me! nothing better than a simple grain bill! B)


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## Asher (13/1/10)

AG'rs - Watch you don't oversparge & sponge out to many tannins.

I usually add around 20% of my sparge water direct to my kettle bypassing the tun. Then fly sparge to required pre boil volume as per usual. This method is repeatable & accountable re. efficiency


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## Fourstar (13/1/10)

Asher said:


> AG'rs - Watch you don't oversparge & sponge out to many tannins.



Is this so much an issue with batch sparging?


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## barls (13/1/10)

heres the one im brewing on saturday


Recipe Overview
Target Wort Volume Before Boil: 54.00 l Actual Wort Volume Before Boil: 54.00 l
Target Wort Volume After Boil: 40.00 l Actual Wort Volume After Boil: 40.00 l
Target Volume Transferred: 40.00 l Actual Volume Transferred: 40.00 l
Target Volume At Pitching: 40.00 l Actual Volume At Pitching: 40.00 l
Target Volume Of Finished Beer: 38.00 l Actual Volume Of Finished Beer: 38.00 l
Target Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.026 SG Actual Pre-Boil Gravity: -No Record-
Target OG: 1.036 SG Actual OG: -No Record-
Target FG: 1.010 SG Actual FG: -No Record-
Target Apparent Attenuation:: 70.4 % Actual Apparent Attenuation: 0.0 %
Target ABV: 3.3 % Actual ABV: 0.0 %
Target ABW: 2.6 % Actual ABW: 0.0 %
Target IBU (using Tinseth): 11.5 IBU Actual IBU: 14.6 IBU
Target Color (using Morey): 20.4 SRM Actual Color: 20.4 SRM
Target Mash Efficiency: 80.0 % Actual Mash Efficiency: 0.0 %
Target Fermentation Temp: 18 degC Actual Fermentation Temp: 18 degC


Fermentables
Ingredient	Amount	%	MCU	When
Australian Traditional Ale Malt 4.190 kg 71.0 % 3.0 In Mash/Steeped
German Carahell 0.571 kg 9.7 % 1.2 In Mash/Steeped
Australia Joe White Choc Chit Malt 0.571 kg 9.7 % 32.2 In Mash/Steeped
Australian Crystal 140 0.571 kg 9.7 % 8.8 In Mash/Steeped


Hops
Variety	Alpha	Amount	IBU	Form	When
super pride 15.1 % 7 g 8.9 Loose Pellet Hops 60 Min From End
Slovenian Styrian Goldings 2.3 % 29 g 2.6 Loose Pellet Hops 15 Min From End
Slovenian Styrian Goldings 2.3 % 22 g 0.0 Loose Pellet Hops Dry-Hopped

and heres the one im brewing tomorrow

Recipe Overview
Target Wort Volume Before Boil: 56.00 l Actual Wort Volume Before Boil: 56.00 l
Target Wort Volume After Boil: 42.00 l Actual Wort Volume After Boil: 42.00 l
Target Volume Transferred: 42.00 l Actual Volume Transferred: 42.00 l
Target Volume At Pitching: 42.00 l Actual Volume At Pitching: 42.00 l
Target Volume Of Finished Beer: 42.00 l Actual Volume Of Finished Beer: 42.00 l
Target Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.028 SG Actual Pre-Boil Gravity: -No Record-
Target OG: 1.037 SG Actual OG: -No Record-
Target FG: 1.010 SG Actual FG: -No Record-
Target Apparent Attenuation:: 72.9 % Actual Apparent Attenuation: 0.0 %
Target ABV: 3.6 % Actual ABV: 0.0 %
Target ABW: 2.8 % Actual ABW: 0.0 %
Target IBU (using Tinseth): 31.3 IBU Actual IBU: 40.2 IBU
Target Color (using Morey): 10.3 SRM Actual Color: 10.3 SRM
Target Mash Efficiency: 80.0 % Actual Mash Efficiency: 0.0 %
Target Fermentation Temp: 18 degC Actual Fermentation Temp: 18 degC


Fermentables
Ingredient	Amount	%	MCU	When
Australian Traditional Ale Malt 6.000 kg 94.0 % 4.1 In Mash/Steeped
Australian Crystal 140 0.140 kg 2.2 % 2.1 In Mash/Steeped
Australian Dark Crystal 0.140 kg 2.2 % 3.1 In Mash/Steeped
Australian Chocolate Malt 0.100 kg 1.6 % 7.6 In Mash/Steeped


Hops
Variety	Alpha	Amount	IBU	Form	When
UK Golding 5.5 % 74 g 30.0 Loose Pellet Hops 60 Min From End
US Cascade 4.5 % 90 g 1.3 Loose Pellet Hops 1 Min From End


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## Screwtop (13/1/10)

beers said:


> I was under the impression that a higher mash temp won't enhance sweetness, but they will increase dextrins? If anything I thought a low attenuating yeast would increase sweetness?
> 
> Dr Charles Bamforth mentions mashing up to 72c on the Brewstrong Q&A podcast.. has anyone tried going this high?




Like all things brewing.............it depends. What yeast are you using, what malt, what OG do you intend for your beer. In some cases 72 may be required using the house yeast strain. Mashing high for dextrinous wort means that some unfermentable sugars will be left in the beer, these don't necessarily taste sweet. Using a low attenuating yeast leaves some fermentable and unfermentable sugars in the beer, so in the case of two beers finishing at 1.010 one mashed high and the other fermented using a low attenuating yeast, the latter would appear sweeter but both have the same amount of residual sugar. While not being as sweet, dextrinous wort that finishes high after fermentation ceases, still tastes sweet. The important thing is to have a low OG, to ensure the beer finishes dry but with just enough body and mouthfeel for it to be drinkable/sessionable, that is the forte of the small beer..

Cheers,

Screwy


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## Gout (24/1/10)

well i have my first Low(er) alc beer almost ready to drink. I did not mean this beer to be as low but as it turns out its coming along very well.

1099 Whitbread yeast, SG 1045 FG 1017 hoped with EKG. (i wanted a lower efficency and in turn lower starting Gravity and finishing)

it has a bit more body than i expected and i will try and lower this and maybe in turn lower the alc.

currently its 3.4% Alc ( mid strength) hopfully i can get in the high 2% and still taste nice next brew

50Lt
8.00 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 92.0 % 
0.50 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 5.7 % 
0.20 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2.3 %

75.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [8.90%] (60 min) Hops 36.2 IBU 
35.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.80%] (10 min) Hops 3.3 IBU 
35.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [5.00%] (0 min) Hops -


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## Nick JD (24/1/10)

I've found mixing beer with lemonade makes something for the ladies. I hear it's called a "shandy" and get's them all giddy.

Perhaps try this.


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## Gout (24/1/10)

oh yuck! unless you like sweet water like beer - i wouldnt advise


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## Henno (24/1/10)

The best lower alcohol beer I have ever had is AndrewQld's Oliver Cromwell Bitter. It simply has a lower grain bill and therefore an of of 1.037 and should finish at 1.090 or so. I can't find it in the DB though so it may be secret squirrel.


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