The key to a great low-alcohol ale?

[haz66]

Step mashing is for malts which aren't fully modified, the majority if not all the malts available in the UK are fully modified and will not benefit from step mashing.
Lowering the temperature to prevent full conversion more than likely result in starch haze.

I just read an artical about low alcohol lagers and how they keep rasing the temp of the mash to stop the starch conversion,
i just presumed it was the same for all malts, my mistake

[dmonbeer]

Lowering the mash temperature by a few degrees will prevent some of the starch conversion to sugars. This will produce a bigger bodied, but lower alcohol beer.

It's the other way round - higher mash temp generally results in more body. Cooler mash favours the production of maltose by beta-amylase thus giving a more fermentable wort and thus a drier beer.

Thanks Graeme - you sent me back to my brewing books (Principles of Brewing Science by George Fix in particular) & you are quite correct.