Low ABV question

[gcoyne]

Hi all

I'me very new to this with my first kit (a wherry) in the PB.

This may be a stupid question but I havent been able to find out any information about it.

There seems to be a lot about how to brew strong beers but I like weak beers around 3%.

How do I brew beers to be a low ABV like this? Can I amend kits to make them lower ABVs?

My favourite beers are very light coloured and fruity bitters. What kits would you recommend with these qualities?

Thanks in advance

Greg

[mickhew]

Add more water, this will weaken it. Or, if you do 1 can kits (Coopers etc) add less fermentables. I can't answer your other queries.
Cheers.

[cwrw gwent]

Burton Bridge Summer Ale may be what you're after - it's light coloured and somewhat fruity, I suppose. It has a fairly modest gravity too. Geordie Yorkshire Bitter might fit the bill too, although it has the traditional amber colour associated with English bitter ale. Use 100% light spraymalt with both brews for better body and less alcohol.

[potatoes]

Hi there,

I have just come across the problem and my solution was to try the Windsor yeast ( http://www.danstaryeast.com/products/windsor-ale-yeast ) with my kit. This yeast doesn't attenuate as much as other yeast so it leaves a higher gravity reading. This should, in theory, make the ABV lower. However, I am just a novice so don't take my word as gospel. I just put down a brew with Windsor yeast and the gravity reading was 1.050. I will let you know how much this drops when primary fermentation is finished.

Potatoes

[gcoyne]

Thanks for your help all and I will be interested to hear how the Windsor Ale Yeast turns out.
Greg

[potatoes]

Thanks for your help all and I will be interested to hear how the Windsor Ale Yeast turns out.
Greg

The ingredients were:

1.8 kg of Victorian bitter kit by brew makers (LHBS did not have muntons nut brown)
500 gram medium spray malt- Youngs
700 gram brewing sugar (200 grams extra by mistake )
11 gram windsor

Wort was filled up to the 20 litre mark on the FV.

Well I started the brew on saturday, it fermented like crazy for 3 days and has stopped now. The original gravity reading was 1.050 and now its at 1.012. This calculates to about 5.1% ABV Was expecting the gravity change to be less. Maybe the windsor yeast loves brewing sugar and with the 3 litres of water missing it pushed the ABV up....

Also on a side note, the yeast seems to have a very slight sulphur smell. Dont know if this is usual with this yeast or not? Will let you know how it tastes in 3 weeks or so...

[Cheshire-cheese]

I'me very new to this with my first kit (a wherry) in the PB.
This may be a stupid question but I havent been able to find out any information about it.
There seems to be a lot about how to brew strong beers but I like weak beers around 3%.
How do I brew beers to be a low ABV like this? Can I amend kits to make them lower ABVs?
My favourite beers are very light coloured and fruity bitters. What kits would you recommend with these qualities?
Thanks in advance

As others have mentioned, add less fermentables to one-can kits or water down two-can kits. You may want to add hops if you are watering down, boiled for bitterness or steeped for aroma. For fruitiness, as opposed to maltiness, your choice of yeast may have a key affect on this, as well as your fermentation temperature. Higher fermentation temperatures tend to give a fruitier beer. Have a look on the yeast section of this forum, here's one thread that mentions temperature and choice of yeast. Don't be put off by the title of the thread.

As for watering down kits, to help you know by how much to water down, have in mind your desired original gravity, say 1035 to give you a 3% ale (if the final gravity is 1012) and measure the original gravity from making up the kit, I'm guessing wherry is 1046. So for 23 litres, you want to find the amount of water to add to this, so use the dilution calculator here (third one down) and input the figures you know. The result will tell you how much to add, in this case 7.23 litres.