Mid Strength Low Carb - How ?

[Superoo]

I would like to do (all grain) a low carb mid strength of say 3.5% abv.
Is it as simple as using less grain, but use more flavourful grains such as munich and crystal etc, then mash at about 62 deg c to dry it out / reduce carbs ?
How would Hahn 3.5 get low alc with low carbs ?, drying beers out tends to increase alcohol ?
Any info appreciated...

 

[Rowy]

I would like to do (all grain) a low carb mid strength of say 3.5% abv.
Is it as simple as using less grain, but use more flavourful grains such as munich and crystal etc, then mash at about 62 deg c to dry it out / reduce carbs ?
How would Hahn 3.5 get low alc with low carbs ?, drying beers out tends to increase alcohol ?
Any info appreciated...

It's beer there is no such thing as low carb. It's about the alcohol content which means sugar in what ever form. 3.5% will have less carbs than 6%. It's also about marketing and weight loss. If you think I'm full of crap do your research...............Did I just sound like Silo Ted?

 

[Superoo]

Sorry Rowy, I am probably wrong, but I thought brewing the sugars out more (increasing alcohol) also reduced carbs ?

 

[Rowy]

Sorry Rowy, I am probably wrong, but I thought brewing the sugars out more (increasing alcohol) also reduced carbs ?

The more ABV the more carbs. Otherwise every super model in the world would be drinking Trippels and Russian Imperial Lagers. Sugar is the key.

 

[Superoo]

Whale oil be forked...

Thanks Rowy, I do need to do more research before I save the supermodel world with a new recipe...

 

[black_labb]

As suggested above, don't brew a beer based on what a marketing department is using to sell a beer. Low carb is a bunch of marketing shit. A dry beer will have less carbs.

To get "less carbs" and less alcohol I would use less malt and mash lower and possibly longer. Using more flavoursome malts for a low carb beer seems a bit counter productive to me as they will often produce slightly less fermentable worts. I would also suggest that they might taste like something, which is also counterproductive if you want to make a beer that tastes like "low carb" beer.

Alternatively pour some soda water in a normal beer. It will reduce the carbs and alcohol per litre and you don't need to waste a brew day on "low carb" mid strength beer. You probably disagree considering you're asking though.

 

[Superoo]

Cheers Black,
I Dont disagree at all, simplifying the whole idea by 'thinning' a standard beer by blending with something else makes sense, if it tastes ok.

I might try that approach.

Love drinkin beer, just trying to weigh less at the same time.

Cheers,,,

 

[black_labb]

Alcohol metabolises into a carbohydrate in the liver. Going midstrength will help, making it a dry beer won't do too much. Why not brew midstrength but strong flavoured beers. The idea is that you sip it slowly. I tend to drink bland tasting beers quite quickly, where I'll feel more satisfied with a more flavoursome beer and not feel the need for a second right away. Brewing low alcohol beers with alot of hops and/or alot of malt flavour would be my choice.

I'd suggest getting some more exercise into your routine. tell yourself you're not allowed to have a beer until you've been for a walk/run whatever.

reguards the thinning beer, you could always dilute some of a batch of beer with water (and adjusting the priming sugar at the same time as if that water was just more beer) before bottling. This way you can do some of it with less alcohol.

 

[Nick JD]

Alcohol is not a carbohydrate, it's an alcohol. This is how they can get by calling a beer "low carb". Hell, you could make a low carb Barley Wine at 12%.

Low carb beers have very few unfermentable sugaz in them. A great way to replicate this is to use a lot of simple sugaz - dextrose is good.

I'd mash 3/4 of the grain bill at 62 for 90 minutes and then add the other quarter in dextrose.

You'll end up with a pissweak batch of swill that'll have you reaching for the vodka and tonic ... which is what anyone who wants to drink beer like this should be drinking. And reading Cleo.

Mid strength, low carb beer is the Tofu Sausage of BBQing.

Add enzymes to reduce any beer flavour to alcohol. Keep your sixpack if not your dignity.

 

[Superoo]

I walk a brisk 5 k's before work every morning,

Agree with your comments on adding hops / malts for flavour.

I have been stuck thinking i need to dry it out to reduce carbs,

Appreciate your feedback

 

[Steve@PMF82]

Or you could just forget about the whole low carb BS and if it worries you so, dont eat that piece of bread or pizza then brew yourself on of the many
great Mild recipes floating around 3 to 3.5%, aussie lagers fake and real, english based milds, or hoppy mild US style beers.

 

[mikk]

Here's a semi-interesting link to the Coopers 'nutritional info' page- http://coopers.com.au/media/38310/nutritio..._with_clear.pdf

The alcohol content & kJ/calories are fairly directly proportional, as you'd expect, but the amount of carbs contained in the beers isn't. ie, Coopers Premium Light at 2.9%(yuk) contains more carbs than Coopers Lager 4.8% (yuk), 62 pils 5% (big yuk), & Clear 4.5% (super yuk).

Personally, i'd rather drink one great beer than any number of supposed 'low carb' shitty tasting beers, so am the wrong person to ask how to make them! I'd be far more inclined to take the total energy contained in a beer as the indicator of how much more exercise i'd need to do to burn it off than how many carbs it contains. If energy you consume is equal or less than the energy you expend, you don't get fat.

As suggested above, full flavoured mid-strength english milds are a great summer drink.

A guy i used to know a long time ago (not me) would keep some 375ml bottles of soda water in the fridge, & water his beer down a bit, making a 375ml beer into a 400-450ml 'beer'. Lowers energy & carb consumption, assuming of course it takes longer to drink & you drink less of them...

 

[Dave70]

If it be a low ABV tasty beer ye seek, you could do a lot worse than clone this. There's actually plenty of low end beers that come out of Europe.
Like the ones we saw the bright blue bib & brace wearing council workers drinking in Dresden alfresco style - at 9 am.

It's about the best tasting mid strength I can think of and runs at about 3.8%. They sell it at Dans so you can try it on for size first.

I however prefer to bust my arse training three nights a week so I can 'carb load' on weekends..

 

[Muscovy_333]

I am a food Scientist.

If it helps...you can consider the energy density of "macronutrients" as:

Carbohyrdate (CHO) yields ~17kj of energy per gram (when consumed or burnt)
Protein " ~ 16kj per gram
fats and oils " ~37kj per gram
Alcohol " ~29kj per gram

Its almost double the energy density of CHO!

As soon as your body recognises it has the right amount of "energy" in your blood it takes the rest away for a rainy day.

The low carb label is most definitely marketing who ha.
But your mid strength theory is valid for reducing your energy intake...forget about the carbs, focus on the alcohol content.


+1 to increasing your non-fermentable adjuncts for flavour.

Middle age is a bitch..how dare it make us think about our health!

Good luck

Linky poo

 

[Superoo]

Thanks Muscovy and others...
Thanks also for the maths stuff Muscovy, (whatever the hell it all means)

I already do a 3.2% that is pretty tasty, was'nt sure on the connection between sugar / alcohol / carbs etc.

It appears the common thread here is that the low carb thing is marketing BS.

thanks again...

 

[Muscovy_333]

Thanks Muscovy and others...
Thanks also for the maths stuff Muscovy, (whatever the hell it all means)

I already do a 3.2% that is pretty tasty, was'nt sure on the connection between sugar / alcohol / carbs etc.

It appears the common thread here is that the low carb thing is marketing BS.

thanks again...

The Maths thing:

For every gram of alcohol you consume, your body will gain 29kilojoules of energy.

Alcohol is the second highest source of energy after fats and oils.

Every 100g of beer you drink, at 5% alcohol, will provide you with approximately 5g of alcohol = ~150kj of energy

Heaps of energy