This is an attempt to brew a low ABV beer that tastes like a proper beer rather than a watered down version of a beer. My previous low ABV batch was a decent effort but a bit on the watery side despite being almost 4% ABV. Having tasted an Eddyline EddyLite which at only 2.5% tastes like a full proper beer, it inspired me to take another crack at low ABV brewing. My approach this time is to go with a fairly small grain bill and mash very high and ferment with a low attenuating yeast (Windsor), hopefully ending up with a low abv beer but with enough body left behind to make it taste and feel like a full bodied beer.
In researching low alcohol brewing, I cam across Lallemand’s article ‘Best Practices Low Alcohol Brewing‘. They recommend a mashing temperature between 82-86°C, but that is for targeting under 1% ABV and I don’t need to go so low (2.5-3.5% would be around what I’m hoping for). I would be inclined to suspect tannin extraction would be an issue when mashing that high. I played it safer and went with a less extreme mash temp of 75° which is still 5 or 6° higher than I’ve ever mashed before.
I also went with no sparge and a shorter 20 min boil. I could have got away with a short mash too but I was multi-tasking (cooking dinner) so it ended up been a longer mash.
Brew Notes
Strike water: 30L @ 78°
Mash: 75° (start) – 74.5° (30 mins in, after adding 1.5L boiling water) – let mash run for about hour and half
Sparge water: None
Vol in kettle after mash: 27L
SG after mash: 9 Brix, 1.036
20 min boil
koppafloc 1/8 tsp @12 min
Aroma Hops stand: added hops after flame-out, cool to 90°, stand for 25mins (to (73°)
OG: 9.5 Brix, 1.038
Cooled to 23.5°
Rehydrated Windsor yeast at 30°, cooled to 24° with wort before pitching at 21°
Set temp control to 19.5°
Day 1: Active fermentation next morning.
Day 2: Dry hopped (during fermentation)
After active fermentation subsided, allowed temp to rise to 21.5°
Day 9: Pressure at 17psi, looking murky. Started cold crash.
Kegged on 3rd Mar
Transfer to keg was a bit of a nightmare – bubbles in line, went really slow and stopped multiple times. Wouldn’t just keep going on gravity alone. Had to apply pressure from another keg to restart. Not sure exactly why had the problem this time, could have been the way the inlet was set up – had float attached to middle. It might be better to attach it to tube end and/or add a weight – need to experiment. Also had problem removing lid from Fermzilla when done – need to apply keg lube to seal next time.
Pouring from keg was also problematic – pouring very foamy and noisy. I now think the transfer issue was caused by the tap washer being deformed and slowing/blocking the flow. Had to open keg and replace tap washer, but still not pouring right. Maybe remove washer altogether or drill the hole bigger?
Style Information
Grains & Extracts
| Name | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maris Otter Malt | 1.2 kg | |
| Munich I | 1.2 kg | |
| Flaked Oats | 1 kg | |
| Flaked Wheat | 0.5 kg | |
| Gladfield Gladiator (Dextrine) | 0.35 kg | |
| Gladfield Sour Grapes | 0.15 kg |
Hops
| Name | Amount | Alpha Acid % | AAU | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zythos belnd | 0.02 kg | 10% | 0.2 | 20 | |
| Mosaic | 0.02 kg | 10.9% | 0.22 | 10 | |
| Mosaic | 0.04 kg | 10.9% | 0.44 | 0 | |
| Zythos belnd | 0.04 kg | 10% | 0.4 | 0 | |
| Mosaic | 0.04 kg | 10.9% | 0.44 | 0 | |
| Zythos belnd | 0.04 kg | 10% | 0.4 | 0 |
Adjuncts
| Name | Type | Use | Amount | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calcium Chloride | Water Agent | Mash | 4g | 0 | |
| Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) | Water Agent | Mash | 4g | 0 | |
| Koppafloc | Fining | Boil | 1g | 0 |
Yeasts
| Name | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Danstar Windsor | 1 pk | rehydrated |
Mash Steps
| Name | Step Type | Step Time | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saccharification Rest | Infusion | 90 | 75 C |
2 comments
Great stuff, just what I’m brewing although slightly different with centennial instead of Zythos, exactly the same mash temp but did do a quick sparge at 82, SG post boil 1.040, in fermzilla now with Windsor, hoping for 1.017 for 3%, also lactose in the mash for some body. Moreish and crushable hopefully
So following on from my previous post, mashed at 75 and sparged at 82 – still extracted tannins tho, its such a light hazy any slight tannin is very noticeable in the aftertaste. Very delicious tho up to that point, great aroma, mouthfeel is full, more like a 4.5% beer – came in at 3.0%, I can smash 8 of them and hardly feel a thing.