alternatives to malt extract?

shafferpilot said:

Beer: What is it exactly?

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Good question. Clearly it's not what the OP wants to make, or at least didn't before the barleywine idea.

Beer to me is based on four main ingredients- Malted barley, hops, yeast, and water. I don't subscribe to the Reinheitsgebot religiously, considering that I've used honey, wheat, brown sugar, etc., but it is the necessary foundation for any real beer, IMO.

I have no choice BUT to make sorghum beers or anything that does not contain barley, wheat, or rye. Is this my ideal situation? NO. I used to drink good beer before I found out I was severely Celiac. Why do I try to brew "beer" with non-traditional "beer" ingredients? Because Beer is my drink of choice, and I want to have that again but can't in any traditional sense. So, we can get technical with the rules and regulations of ancient beer traditions, or we can call the drinks we spend the time to brew and enjoy to ourselves what we want. I prefer to call my brews "beer" even though some of you may frown on this. It is beer to me, thats all I care about.

Thats my rant.

My opinion on the OP's topic is that he is on a completely different level, and he wanted to brew ZIMA as others have said.

Okay. I give in.
The way to make a ZIMA.......or a Zero SRM Zero malt flavour alcoholic beverage.

Sugar
Water
Turbo yeast.
Ferment
Add passive charcoal
Leave to settle.
Filter.
Dilute with water to get from 20%+ ABV to 4 or 5% ABV
Add a flavouring extract.

Now if any one really believes that is beer then I have now wish to educate you further.
I do not dispute you can make a beer alternate with other ceral. I don note dispute there is a need for such brews.
This forum is not about brewing hooch type drinks and I do not believe it should be encouraged.

Zima; man I hate that stuff. I think I once drank about 6oz's I had to find a shrub to pore the rest out on.

here in Utah there is a limit on alcohol content in store bought beer, all my friends are used to beer with an alcohol content of no more than 3.2%.

What I really want to do is make some thing that i can give to the Mormon missionary's that pop in once and a while.

patpend3 said:

Zima; man I hate that stuff. I think I once drank about 6oz's I had to find a shrub to pore the rest out on.

here in Utah there is a limit on alcohol content in store bought beer, all my friends are used to beer with an alcohol content of no more than 3.2%.

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Isn't that 3.2% alcohol by weight? That would make it 4.2% ABV. Still pretty sad. You can only buy the stonger stuff in the very few state run liquor stores. SLC has some tasty brewpubs, though. Brewvies rules.

I'm confused now.

Can you give us a commercial example of what you are after?

orfy said:

I'm confused now.

Can you give us a commercial example of what you are after?

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+1
Zima sounded exactly like patpend3 originally described.

patpend3 you are going to have to give us more to go on than you have so far. Barleywine is about the farthest from a light flavored beverage you can make. Zima is a clear malt based beverage with little flavor. Your descriptions are becoming very contradictory. If you are interested in a beer go to this style guide and tell us which style best fits. If its not beer then give us some commercial examples.

Craig

patpend3 said:

Zima; man I hate that stuff. I think I once drank about 6oz's I had to find a shrub to pore the rest out on.

here in Utah there is a limit on alcohol content in store bought beer, all my friends are used to beer with an alcohol content of no more than 3.2%.

What I really want to do is make some thing that i can give to the Mormon missionary's that pop in once and a while.

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Ok, you can EASILY brew a lighter beer without going to the extreme of making a completely colorless and tasteless beverage. There are several basic recipes here that will lead to a nice, mild beer, with low alcohol and still be considered beer by everyone (although there will be some who would not consider it a very tasty beer).

If that is what you wanted to make, then you should have said so. Personally, I was interested seeing if anyone could come up with a recipe for this nothing beer, and seeing if anyone has ever tried it.

That all said, once you have the light beer for your buddies, make sure to let them taste your other beers and see what they think. There are plenty of people here that live within the areas where making beer or heavier beers is illegal. The consensus is that the authorities will leave you alone as long as you don't advertise.

Maybe try a Kolsch, or something (I'm not really up on the lighter stuff now). I like a belgian wit for a lighter beer, but it has spices like orange and coriander that some might not like.