Help with low alcohol hoppy beer

[delboy]

Title says it all really, i've always made beers in the 4-6 % range, these aren't always appropiate for a school night, i want to try my hand at a lower alcohol hoppy beer for supping during the week.

Any tried and tested recipes or hints/tips/suggestions would be welcome.

If left to my own devices i'll probably go with getting all the bitterness from massive late hopping (all the hops in at 15-20 mins) which in my experience gives a lot of hop character with out harshness.

[mysterio]

Try the Slovenian hops, Bobek, Aurora, nice and hoppy but not harsh, citrussy or biting and work really well in low alcohol beers... C hops don't work very well in low alcohol beers IMO.

If you're using US-05 or Nottingham to emphasise the hops use loads of Caramalt.. 7 or 8 % at least, works to counter the drying effect of these yeasts, or go with a liquid yeast.

Agreed about the massive late hopping, thats how I do my session beers now, for a 5 gallon batch 50g in at 10 mins then again at flame out and nothing else. Drink it fresh and young.

[delboy]

Try the Slovenian hops, Bobek, Aurora, nice and hoppy but not harsh, citrussy or biting and work really well in low alcohol beers... C hops don't work very well in low alcohol beers IMO.

If you're using US-05 or Nottingham to emphasise the hops use loads of Caramalt.. 7 or 8 % at least, works to counter the drying effect of these yeasts, or go with a liquid yeast.

Agreed about the massive late hopping, thats how I do my session beers now, for a 5 gallon batch 50g in at 10 mins then again at flame out and nothing else. Drink it fresh and young.

I've got some bobek in the freezer

I was thinking of trying one of the yeast from brewlabs to inject some flavour into it, maybe TV3 although it might end up swamped by all the hops so maybe US-05.

Having looked around a bit, i was thinking maybe something along the lines of
2. 5 Kg of MO
0. 15 Kg crystal
0. 15 Kg carahelles
0.15 Kg chocolate
0.15 Kg wheat
Mash at 67-68 C

Hopped to about 30 IBU with bobek (all late hopping).


How does that look?

[mysterio]

Looks good, I would be tempted to bump up the carahelles/crystal if you're using US-05, probably no need with a Brewlabs strain though I would have thought.

[boingy]

How low strength are you looking for, delboy?
I've found it can be really hard to get enough flavour into beers once you get below about 3% to 3.5%.

[Deebee]

Something along the lines of this one might be an idea.

93% pale
7% crystal

hops target and goldings added at 3 stages.

equal amounts by weight at 60 ( most ibu here)
equal amounts by weight at 10
equal amounts by weight at FO.

This is actually a recipe from an brewery at one of the BIG breweries in the UK although i romised him i would not divulge name of brewery or beer.

It will be around 3.4-3.6 % and is a cracking pint.

i'll be making this in the not too distant future for a nice light drinking tasty summer beer.

[Barley Water]

I just finished drinking a clone of Dogfish Head 60 which I really liked. The only problem with that beer is that it is fairly alchololic which can be inappropriate at times. Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to dumb that down to roughtly a 40. So the name of the game would be to formulate a beer with an O.G. of 1.040 that is roughly 40ibu's, continusly hopped for 40 minutes. The hops involved would be Warrior, Simcoe and Amarillo plus of course you also get to dry hop. The grain bill is easy, mostly American two row and just a little amber malt. I really like WLP02 when doing the lower gravity beers as it does not attenuate as well as other strains and I like the flavor (although you really need to watch out for the diacetyl). Anyhow, just another idea for you to think about, I have not yet had a chance to try this one out but I think it could be interesting.

[WishboneBrewery]

I've been thinking about doing some 2.8% beers, something to keep me enjoying my flavour experiences without actually drinking too much alcohol

First off...

Code: Select all

F and G 2.8

Fermentable	Colour	lb: oz	Grams	Ratio
Maris Otter	4.25 EBC	4 lbs. 6.5 oz	2000 grams	67.8%
Munich Malt	20 EBC	1 lbs. 6.9 oz	650 grams	22%
Crystal Malt	120 EBC	0 lbs. 7.0 oz	200 grams	6.8%
Wheat Malt	3.5 EBC	0 lbs. 3.5 oz	100 grams	3.4%

Hop Variety	Type	Alpha	Time	lb: oz	grams	Ratio
Fuggle	Whole	4.9 %	60 mins	0 lbs. 0.7 oz	19 grams	24.2%
East Kent Golding	Whole	5.8 %	60 mins	0 lbs. 0.6 oz	18 grams	23.4%
Fuggle	Whole	4.9 %	10 mins	0 lbs. 0.7 oz	20 grams	26.3%
East Kent Golding	Whole	5.8 %	10 mins	0 lbs. 0.7 oz	20 grams	26%

Final Volume:	23	Litres
Original Gravity:	1.029	
Final Gravity:	1.007	
Alcohol Content:	2.8%	ABV
Total Liquor:	31.3	Litres
Mash Liquor:	7.4	Litres
Mash Efficiency:	75	%
Bitterness:	33	EBU
Colour:	15	EBC

and this...

Code: Select all

CNC 2.8

Fermentable	Colour	lb: oz	Grams	Ratio
Maris Otter	4.25 EBC	4 lbs. 6.5 oz	2000 grams	66.6%
Munich Malt	20 EBC	1 lbs. 6.9 oz	650 grams	21.7%
Crystal Malt	120 EBC	0 lbs. 7.0 oz	200 grams	6.7%
Wheat Malt	3.5 EBC	0 lbs. 3.5 oz	100 grams	3.3%
Chocolate Malt	940 EBC	0 lbs. 1.8 oz	50 grams	1.7%

Hop Variety	Type	Alpha	Time	lb: oz	grams	Ratio
Centennial	Whole	10.5 %	60 mins	0 lbs. 0.2 oz	5 grams	11.1%
Cascade	Whole	5.7 %	60 mins	0 lbs. 0.2 oz	5 grams	11.1%
Nelson Sauvin	Whole	11.3 %	60 mins	0 lbs. 0.2 oz	5 grams	11.1%
Centennial	Whole	10.5 %	15 mins	0 lbs. 0.4 oz	10 grams	22.2%
Cascade	Whole	5.7 %	15 mins	0 lbs. 0.4 oz	10 grams	22.2%
Nelson Sauvin	Whole	11.3 %	15 mins	0 lbs. 0.4 oz	10 grams	22.2%

Final Volume:	23	Litres
Original Gravity:	1.029	
Final Gravity:	1.007	
Alcohol Content:	2.8%	ABV
Total Liquor:	31.3	Litres
Mash Liquor:	7.5	Litres
Mash Efficiency:	75	%
Bitterness:	33	EBU
Colour:	30	EBC

I just feel a bit sorry for the mash tun, it not having enough malt in it!!

[StrangeBrew]

Hi del, I'll be having a bash at the 3.5% recipe below in a couple of weeks time with the idea of creating a house session beer to match a pump clip I bought on eBay with my family name on.
It's for Nicholson's Best Bitter. I don't know how it'll turn out as I've not done this before and not sure if the hop additions will be too much for a session ale so fingers crossed!

Opinions, thoughts & criticism welcome.

Fermentable Colour Grams
Pale Malt 4.25 EBC 3500 grams
Munich Malt 20 EBC 200 grams
Crystal Malt 120 EBC 200 grams
Wheat Malt 10 EBC 120 grams
Black Malt 1100 EBC 50 grams

Hop Variety Type Alpha Time grams
Challenger Whole 5.6 % 90 mins 15 grams
Fuggle Whole 4.8 % 90 mins 15 grams
Fuggle Whole 4.8 % 20 mins 20 grams
Golding Whole 4.5 % 20 mins 20 grams
Golding Whole 4.5 % 5 mins 30 grams
Golding Whole 4.5 % (20 mins 80c steep) 20 grams

Final Volume: 25 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.036
Final Gravity: 1.009
Alcohol Content: 3.5% ABV
Total Liquor: 34.6 Litres
Mash Liquor: 10.2 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 31.9909498868844 EBU
Colour: 30 EBC

[Rookie]

I have a ordinary bitter (1.035) recipe that I try to brew every aug/sept to make use of the goldings from my backyard fresh off the vine. The hoppiness is great.
I do brew it somtimes with dried hops and it is good also that way.

[Deebee]

Hi del, I'll be having a bash at the 3.5% recipe below in a couple of weeks time with the idea of creating a house session beer to match a pump clip I bought on eBay with my family name on.
It's for Nicholson's Best Bitter. I don't know how it'll turn out as I've not done this before and not sure if the hop additions will be too much for a session ale so fingers crossed!

Opinions, thoughts & criticism welcome.

Fermentable Colour Grams
Pale Malt 4.25 EBC 3500 grams
Munich Malt 20 EBC 200 grams
Crystal Malt 120 EBC 200 grams
Wheat Malt 10 EBC 120 grams
Black Malt 1100 EBC 50 grams

Hop Variety Type Alpha Time grams
Challenger Whole 5.6 % 90 mins 15 grams
Fuggle Whole 4.8 % 90 mins 15 grams
Fuggle Whole 4.8 % 20 mins 20 grams
Golding Whole 4.5 % 20 mins 20 grams
Golding Whole 4.5 % 5 mins 30 grams
Golding Whole 4.5 % (20 mins 80c steep) 20 grams

Final Volume: 25 Litres
Original Gravity: 1.036
Final Gravity: 1.009
Alcohol Content: 3.5% ABV
Total Liquor: 34.6 Litres
Mash Liquor: 10.2 Litres
Mash Efficiency: 75 %
Bitterness: 31.9909498868844 EBU
Colour: 30 EBC

Looks great!

I'll look forward to brew day oictures, updates smellyvision and tasting notes.

Goldings and fuggles are fantastic together.!

[delboy]

Thanks for all the ideas guys, much appreciated, seems im not the only one intersted in a flavoursome low alcohol beer, i'll be sure and report back on my findings