Low ABV "IPA" Anyone nailed it?

[Sadfield]

Which Earl Grey you use will affect the aroma massively I would have thought. The current Twinings is not a patch on what it was. I am now using 'clipper' in my cafe as it has a good bergomot twang..I am sure there is better available.

Thanks, Micmacmoc, I used Twinnings as it was readily available, but will definitely be looking out for alternatives as this beer will be brewed and improved (hopefully) in the future.

[Hanglow]

Not all munich malts are created equal either, the british munich is very different from the german ones, and there are usually two types from each maltser too, of the german ones at least

[Charles1968]

I'm brewing this today. Not sure if it's an IPA or just a pale ale, but it's 40 IBU and about 3.2% abv before priming. The Munich gives malt flavour, the Caramalt gives body and some sweetness. The high mash temp should cut attenuation by about 10% to leave a higher FG and plenty of body.

Mosaic Pale lite (10 litres)
A low abv hoppy pale ale with high mash temp for body.

FERMENTABLES:
1.25 kg - United Kingdom - Maris Otter Pale (80%)
156 g - United Kingdom - Munich (10%)
156 g - United Kingdom - Cara Malt (10%)

HOPS:
7 g - Magnum, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 17.3, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 33
10 g - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 7
10 g - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13, Use: Boil for 0 min
15 g - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13, Use: Steep 80 °C
15 g - Mosaic, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 13, Use: Steep 60 °C

MASH GUIDELINES:
Infusion, Temp: 71 C, Time: 90 mins. 10 litres mash liquor

YEAST
Not sure yet whether to use harvested Kolsch WLP029 or dry Danstar Nottingham. Will probably go for the Kolsch as I've got to reuse it within a week or so.

[seymour]

That sounds like it could be a masterpiece, especially with your Kolsch yeast. Can't wait to hear how it turns out!

[Charles1968]

I will keep you posted. One of the nice things about low abv is quick turnaround - I will probably bottle tomorrow after 7 days in the FV at around 14 Celsius. It smells very promising at the moment.

[Mr. Dripping]

My tips for low ABV IPA's.
Include 5% carapils and 5-8% munich malt. Mash at minimum 66 degrees.....66, 67, 68 degrees are all good.
Mash for 45 minutes only.
Load two thirds / three quarters of the IBU's at 10 minutes boil or less.
Use a clean yeast, but one that doesn't over attenuate......MJ Workhorse is excellent, BRY West Coast, WLP005

Got one that has just about finished fermenting at the moment - OG 1040, FG will be 1013/1014......abv 3.4 - 3.5%

[Barley Water]

If you want quick turnaround I'm not sure I would use a kolsch yeast. The kolsch strains are famous for not being terribly good floculators however they are good attenuators (many times there is an inverse relationship between floculation and attenuation). If you want to make a low gravity beer taste bigger one of the tricks you can employ is to use a less attenuative yeast strain. Besides leaving the beer with a bit more body they also tend to drop out quickly (although with many you need to be careful about diacetyl if you pull the beer off the yeast too soon). Also, I see one of the previous posters recommending WLP05. It's a great yeast which will make really nice tasting beer however be warned that strain is notorious for causing problems. Many over here are afraid of it because if it is not handled correctly it can throw diacetyl like the big dogs. Also, it can start slow on you, make sure if you use it you oxigenate the wort really well before pitching. Right now I have an English Summer Bitter and and English IPA I fermented with that stuff and I really like the results so I'd say go for it but be careful.

[Charles1968]

The Wyeast 2565 kolsch is the poor flocculator, but Whitelabs WLP029 drops out quickly and doesn't over attenuate. Fortunately that's the one I had.

I bottled the mosaic pale yesterday. FG was 1012, OG was 1032, so abv comes to 2.6%. It should be about 3% after priming (I like fizzy beer) and might attenuate a bit more in the bottle as it only spent 7 days in primary. It tasted great at bottling.

Looking at Jamil Zainasheff's low alcohol Scottish ales, I see he keeps body up by using around 25% crystal malts (OG 1038, FG 1013) but with normal mash temp. Looks an interesting approach, though with only 15 IBUs it definitely isn't an IPA and might be a bit cloying.