How low can you go!

[mcdonald_ajr]

My eldest daughter is having her 21st birthday party with 40 guests, mostly students, in June this year at our house. I want to brew something for them to drink, and am looking for an AG recipe that results in a fairly low alcohol brew for obvious reasons!

I usually brew bitters, and was thinking of a Summer Ale style. Something light, refreshingly hoppy, but palatable to lager drinkers, as I suspect most of them are.

I'll put it in a Cornelius keg, and pop that into the fridge the night before, as I also suspect they don't drink anything unchilled.

The question is, how low alcohol can I go, and still brew something nice? I did wonder about a Mild, but that might be too much of a shock to the lager drinkers!

Would I be better to abandon my principles and brew a lager? Or can a light Summer Ale fit the bill?

Thanks, Anthony

[DeGarre]

A daughter, house party, alcohol...oh dear...

I think in the latest Northernbrewer video they brewed a "lager" with ale yeast (us05) - fermented cooler than usual...they got a very clean taste.

Anyway, if you trust your daughter, aim for 4.1-4.4% and hope for the best...(otherwise, 2% table beer might be best...)

100% pilsner or pale ale considering the target group (perhaps add something to give a reddish hue)
25 ibu
cherries in the FV

[boingy]

Don't aim too low. I find it difficult to brew anything nice below about 3.5%. No idea why but it just seems to be difficult to get enough flavour and balance when I go lower.

[dave-o]

I'd probably do something like this:

(23l)

3kg lager malt
500g caramalt/light crystal
About 20IBU of cascade/first gold/bobek/aurora, some of it from late additions.
S05/Notts

mash high-ish

The cara should give it some taste and body without adding so much alcohol. The hops should be tasty enough without being too bitter for the poor wee mites.

[mcdonald_ajr]

Thanks guys. That recipe comes out at about 3.3% which would be low enough to keep the party in control, yet still worth drinking! By mashing at a higher temperature, I guess it would be a bit sweeter, which they would prefer.

What temperature would you ferment it at?

The cherries idea might be worth a shot. A Kriek style. Do you need to prepare them? Sterilise in some way? How much to add? They would raid the alcohol level as well, so I may need to account for that.

Thanks, Anthony

[dave-o]

temp - 17-18c

Fruit beers are quite a hassle. You need legendary quantities of fruit (4-5kg for 23l) and of course this adds a lot of alcohol.

I would say your best bet would be to get some cherry syrup - that Lowicz stuff that you can get in Polish shops or some supermarkets - and add half a shot of this to the glass before filling it up. It will give you plenty of cherry and a bit of sweetness without any alcohol. It also means that you don't have to do the whole batch cherry.

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/ ... =263204472

[mcdonald_ajr]

With the ingredients in my cupboard, I could try this. Any comments? There is only a little Crystal Malt to keep the colour light, but would I be better investing in 500g light crystal malt for flavour and reducing the Pale Malt? (I hate paying mail order delivery charges on small orders, so was trying to stick with what I've got!) Will 750g Wheat Malt cause too much of a haze? I had that much to try to get that clean, crisp taste. The hops are just what I've got left. I like the idea of the cherry syrup. The girls can drink it with the cherry in. The boys will probably not find this too much different from lager (especially if I serve it cold) and I can drink whatever's left over!

Cheers, Anthony

Fermentable Colour Grams Ratio
Crystal Malt 130 EBC 200 grams 6.4%
Pale Malt 5 EBC 2200 grams 69.8%
Wheat Malt 3.5 EBC 750 grams 23.8%

Hop Variety Alpha Time Grams Ratio
Target 10.7 % 90 mins 9 grams 31%
Challenger 8.2 % 30 mins 6 grams 22.3%
Northdown 6.6 % 10 mins 7 grams 23.8%
Golding 7 % 0 mins 6 grams 22.9%

Final Volume: 21 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.034
Final Gravity: 1.008
Alcohol Content: 3.3% ABV

Bitterness: 20 EBU
Colour: 14 EBC

[dave-o]

I think your recipe looks fine, and let's be honest - was anyone a beer connoisieur when they were a teenager themselves? I think my checklist at the time was roughly:
1) Free?
2) Contains alcohol?

750g of wheat should be OK. The beer may be a bit thin so as before, mash high. You may need to fine it and preferably chill for a couple of weeks to get it lager-clear.

[mcdonald_ajr]

Thanks Dave, much appreciate your help.

Mash high, say 68 degrees C?

As you say, may be a bit thin. Perhaps I should increase the ABV to 3.6% and add a little water to the Cherry Syrup! Do you think then I'd enjoy drinking the
leftovers!

Thanks, Anthony

[dave-o]

Yeah 68 should be OK.

How are you planning to increase the abv?

I think it'll be drinkable for you!

[mcdonald_ajr]

Bump up the pale malt to 2500g? Also I assume mashing at 68 degrees will bring the ABV back down a little?

[dave-o]

Oh, i thought you were using loads of wheat malt because you didn't have enough pale?

[mcdonald_ajr]

No, I've got plenty of pale malt. I was adding the wheat to lighten the flavour. Would you use a bit less wheat?

Anthony

[Barley Water]

How about doing an American Wheat ale? They can be turned around very quickly since you don't need to worry about it clearing and many are made with say 20-25IBU's so the "lager types" will enjoy it as well. If you use American ale yeast, the fermentation will be pretty clean so the beer won't be overrly flavorful which of course we just can't have. If you use as much wheat as you have indicated in your formulation, you are going to have haze problems, why not just kick it up a bit a go for the haze instead? If you make a beer that has an O.G. of say 1.045 or so and mash on the hot side, you will have a quaffing ale which should not hurt anybody too badly (plus mashing hot will make the beer drink "bigger" than it really is).

Not to preach but mashing hot will not give you sweet beer per se. What happens if you mash hot is that you generate dextrins which have no flavor. Preceived sweetness in beer is a function of attenuation as well as hopping. If you want a beer that is more on the sweet side, select an ale yeast that does not attenuate that well (many British yeast strains fall into that category). Alternatively, you can reduce your hopping rate which will allow the malt sweetness that is left after fermentation to shine through. Pitching rate also affects attenuation, try underpitching a lager sometime and you will know exactly what I am talking about (not recommended by the way). Another thing I have noticed is that many people confuse malty beer with sweet beer, malty good, sweet, not so much. Anyhow, I bet your guests (as well as yourself) will enjoy your beer more if you go ahead and dry it out but keep the bitterness and hop flavor and aromas down, let the wheat flavor take center stage.

[far9410]

Hi, I would just brew something nice and tasty, regardless of alcohol content, 40 odd guests, ,one corny, they'll all end up drinking white cider or summat like anyway!