Low alcohol full flavour beer

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

wbosher

Well-Known Member
Joined
20/8/12
Messages
1,331
Reaction score
132
Hi guys,

Been doing a bit of research on this subject for a little while and have come up with this recipe for a good session beer. Let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions or criticisms.

Not sure about the mash, I figure 70 is a good temp to keep the alc down, but not sure about the time. I've got 60 mins, but I think I read somewhere that at that temp, it should be a lot shorter, like 30 minutes or something.

Cheers.


Recipe: My Session Beer
Brewer: Wayne
Asst Brewer:
Style: Mild
TYPE: All Grain
Taste:

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 34.07 l
Post Boil Volume: 26.00 l
Batch Size (fermenter): 23.00 l
Bottling Volume: 21.00 l
Estimated OG: 1.036 SG
Estimated Color: 36.8 EBC
Estimated IBU: 19.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 76.1 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2.50 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 61.7 %
1.00 kg Amber Malt (43.3 EBC) Grain 2 24.7 %
0.40 kg Caramunich Malt (110.3 EBC) Grain 3 9.9 %
0.15 kg Chocolate Malt (886.5 EBC) Grain 4 3.7 %
30.00 g Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 5 13.0 IBUs
15.00 g Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 15.0 Hop 6 4.6 IBUs
15.00 g Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 5.0 Hop 7 1.9 IBUs
1.0 pkg Windsor Yeast (Lallemand #-) [23.66 ml] Yeast 8 -


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 4.05 kg
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 36.55 l of water at 73.4 C 70.0 C 60 min
Mash Out Heat to 75.6 C over 7 min 75.6 C 10 min

Sparge: Remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
 
Interesting read, a little over my head in parts though. A short mash time at 70 would certainly make brew day a lot shorter, I'm also considering dropping the 90 min boil to 60.

According to Beersmith, the alc/vol should be about 3.1%, that's pretty much what I'm after. Most of my AG brews to date have been in the 5.5% - 6.5% mark, nice drop but can get a little much on a school night.
 
I mash my mild at 69 for 30 mins, mash out at 78 for 10.

I only use 250g crystal in 18 L final volume and get plenty of body.

Never used amber but 1kg of that plus all the german cara might be a bit much.
 
So maybe a little heavy handed with either amber or cara, or both? I've increased the pale malt to 3kg, and decreased both cara and amber to 300g each. Or should I perhaps drop the cara altogether?

The estimated OG remains about the same and the alc also the same according to beersmith. How does this look?

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3.00 kg Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (5.9 EBC) Grain 1 80.0 %
0.30 kg Amber Malt (43.3 EBC) Grain 2 8.0 %
0.30 kg Caramunich Malt (110.3 EBC) Grain 3 8.0 %
0.15 kg Chocolate Malt (886.5 EBC) Grain 4 4.0 %
 
Never used amber myself but looking better as far as I can see. The high, short mash will give you something with body, even though it is low alc so you just want a contribution from the spec malts rather than a reliance on them to carry the beer.

Brew and see how she goes, tweak next time if needed.
 
Which Pale Malt (2 row) UK are you planning on using? I would go for Marris Otter as it's quite pronounced and covers up the reduced grain bill.
 
Yep I was thinking MO, I've got quite a bit left over from my last IPA. :)

Thanks Manticle, might just give it a go.

One question on the yeast, never used anything but us-05, Windsor an ok yeast?
 
No idea, never used it sorry.

You don't want a crazily attenuative yeast with this kind of beer though so if Windsor fits that profile then go for it.
 
I want to try an English dry yeast, the only choices are Danstar Nottingham or Danstar Windsor. Seem pretty similar, but I think Nottingham is more attenuative, so will probably go with Windsor. This is what it says on the retailers website:

Use Danstar Windsor dry ale yeast for authentic English-style ales.

Windsor British Ale yeast originated in the United Kingdom and is used
by a number of commercial breweries to produce different types of ale.
The propagation and drying processes have been specifically designed to
deliver a high quality beer yeast that can be used simply and reliably
to help produce ales of the finest quality. No colours, preservatives or
other unnatural substances have been used in its preparation and it is
GMO- and gluten-free.



Windsor ale yeast is a true English strain that produces a beer which is
estery to both palate and nose with a slight fresh yeasty flavour.
Beers created with Windsor are usually described as full-bodied, fruity
English ales. Brewers choose Windsor to produce beers that range from
pale ale to porter with moderate alcohol levels and the flavour and
aroma characteristics of the best traditional ales.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top