Extremely low gravity beers - anyone has experience brewing them ?

November said:

Here is my English style Tafelbier. I drink this instead of soda.

Upright Ale

OG 1.020
FG 1.005
ABV ~2%
IBU 11.7

2# Maris Otter
1# Victory
1# Crystal 90L
1/2oz Fuggle @ 60m
1/4oz Fuggle @ 10m
1/4 oz Fuggle @ 5m
1 Packet S-04

I recommend that you mash on the high side to encourage body.

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I have a very similar full strength pale ale. I may see what I can get out of my second runnings and try my first party gyle on it. should produce close to similar results.

I like the idea of having this on tap for week night consumption and in place of soda or big beers. how is the body on this recipe? does it need a touch of carapils or something similar to give some mouth feel? or does mashing high give enough body. If I do second run party gyle I may be tempted to add a bit of malto/dextrine for a bit more body... thoughts? You would probaby back off the carbonation and serve slightly less bubbly on this little beer correct?

BeerWars said:

Got a recipe for the Mini IIPA?

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Ideally in extract+specialty grains for me?

starrfish said:

Do you have access to argentine cascades?
http://ebrew.com/hops/cascade_argentine_hops.htm
they have a pronounced lemon grass thing going. I used them in a Lemon balm cream ale this summer. added the herb lemon balm from my garden to the last few minutes of the boil in combination with the argentine cascades and there was a nice lemonish thing happening through the finish on that beer. very nice will be doing it again this summer when my lemon balm comes back!

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sadly no. I'd like to buy some more hops but I just picked a bunch up, I can't justify buying more hops for such a piss-poor brew. I have heard sorachi ace also has a lemon thing going on. Maybe I'll just buy a lemon and see if it helps on a glass.

xxguitarist
Follow recipe above except use 2.5 lbs of muntons light dry malt extract in place of maris otter, and in place of the victory toast 1lb of victory malt in the oven at 350 until it starts to smell just toasty not burnt (kind of like baking bread smell. won't be quite the same but will get a nice toasty breadlike character like victory gives in the mash. split your dry malt extract in half first 1/2 boil for 60 min last half last 15. should keep it from getting too dark. Best sub for mashing victory malt I've found... more toasty than bready but similar for the extract /specialty guy. I some time still toast some grains before mashing just to recapture this unique flavor.

hope this helps.

JNye said:

sadly no. I'd like to buy some more hops but I just picked a bunch up, I can't justify buying more hops for such a piss-poor brew. I have heard sorachi ace also has a lemon thing going on. Maybe I'll just buy a lemon and see if it helps on a glass.

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what is sorachi ace?

if you do the lemon thing try just the lemon rind. cut a thin slice of lemon remove fruit give the rind a twist and drop rind in beer. like a martini with a twist. sometimes the oils from the rind will be enough, and not overpower the drink with too much citrus. just a thought
I did that with my lemon balm cream on days when I wanted even more lemon. just added a twist of the rind, no fruit.

starrfish said:

what is sorachi ace?

if you do the lemon thing try just the lemon rind. cut a thin slice of lemon remove fruit give the rind a twist and drop rind in beer. like a martini with a twist. sometimes the oils from the rind will be enough, and not overpower the drink with too much citrus. just a thought
I did that with my lemon balm cream on days when I wanted even more lemon. just added a twist of the rind, no fruit.

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just looked up sorachi ace never heard of that variety before, may go into next LBCA! thanks for the heads up!

I love Sorachi Ace! I use it in a lot of beers to add that lemon touch. It works great in the last 10 mins of a Hefe, or to add some goodness to a RPA. In my experience/palate it is very lemony, with much less of the grapefruit and orange type notes that other citrus hops have, and works well with some spicier hops, such as glacier.

trigger said:

I love Sorachi Ace! I use it in a lot of beers to add that lemon touch. It works great in the last 10 mins of a Hefe, or to add some goodness to a RPA. In my experience/palate it is very lemony, with much less of the grapefruit and orange type notes that other citrus hops have, and works well with some spicier hops, such as glacier.

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awesome! may try that in my summer lemon balm cream ale! my lemon balm was a bit wilted when I brewed the last batch in october. early summer batch was better. lol didn't stop my fishing buddies from killing a keg over the weekend! even the bmc lite guys loved it!

I find that just mashing high gives it enough body, but it certainly is still on the thin side. If you wanted it to have a little more, I would mash high and use a little malto dextrin. Due to the high percentage of the specialty malts, it certainly isn't watery though.

As far as the carbonation goes, It generally gets a little less than normal.

UPDATE: I bottled today and decided not to take a fg reading. The mash temp + flaked barley produced what I want in terms of body/dryness. I was supposed to bottle this earlier, but life/school got in the way.

I'll update again when the beer will have spent some time in the bottle. So far so good.

what is the color of your beer? like a brown ale i'm guessing?

Update on my little beer. I ended up dryhopping it and its decent. Still shower beer though. If i mix in 25% of porter i have in the other keg it becomes a pretty good amber ale. Which is actually pretty nice cause its like having 3 beers on tap.

I did a very small Belgian blonde as a partigyle to a Belgian strong ale I made. It came out ok. I probably would go a different route in the future with it.

On one of the brewing podcasts they talk about making session beers. Some of the tips they gave that I remember is to mash high and carbonate low, which I think have both been discussed. One other thing I would throw out there is to do a decoction mash. That will help develop flavor and body as well. You could adjust the decoction schedule to do a short sacc. rest in the low 150s and the rest around 158.

Turned out like a typical mild: almost black, but with redish hues around the edges.

9 days in, it is fully carbed (well, for a mild).

Appearance: Dark chestnut brown with a small, white, fluffy head. Completly clear. Head vanishes quicly, leaving only a small ring.

Aroma: Chocolate, tobacco and a hint of sweet malt. Roasty and nutty on the nose. Pleasant.

Taste: Dry and nutty with some astringent character. Some caramel sweetness, but not much. Not much roast either.

Mouthfeel: Thin and somewhat watery.

Overall impression, not a bad beer but not a very good one either. The Notthingham left this nutty aftertaste in the bottle that I liked in Bob's Mild, but in such a low gravity beer, it is somewhat gross. Some of the stuff is spot on, namely the hop bitterness and aroma, but the taste and mouthfeel are pretty bland uninteresting. Not impressed with the pale altough it has that smoky/tobacco thing going on in spades. Seems to be much more of an accent malt than a way to get your color/roast.

S-04 and regular chocolate would probably make for a much better beer.

Glad to hear some of you aren't as behind on their brew schedule as I am! I still have the ingredients for 2 more batches! I'm going to do one as soon as I free up some space... some of my big beers on tap can kick my butt if I'm not careful!


May tweak some things hearing some of this feedback... will post when I get there! Funny thing is next two after inventory of ingredients runs into tap will be this and an Imperial Black IPA!!! ("worst day since yesterday-Black IIPA" for all you flogging molly fans) at around 9% and 102 IBUs. Have feeling I may be mixing a more than a few in the glass on tap!

Starfish, I also brewed an ordinary bitter in the same timeframe (1.036 OG) and it is quite possibly the tastiest beer I have drank, let alone made. No astringency or watery mouthfeel here. The recipe is also a thing of simplicity:

For 5,5 gallons:
6,5 lbs Pale UK malt
12oz C-80
4oz Special Roast
A pinch of pale chocolate malt for color (less than an ounce)
Bitter to around 1.050 IBU/SG. I went with an ounce of Target at 60 min and an ounce of Willamette at flameout.

1275 Thames Valley

Aroma: Freshly cut flowers and strawberries (but not in a "fermented too high" way). Sweet malt, toffee. Squeaky clean and very, very inviting.

Appearance: Light copper (around 10SRM). Tight bright white head that sticks around for the whole pint. Ample lacing. Brilliant clarity.

Taste: Clean, clean, clean. No esters. Complex and tasty malt character with toffee and caramel. The bitterness is quite firm, but not harsh in any way and leaves a mouth watering aftertaste. No astringency. I know some people don't like Thames Valley has an English strain because it is a high attenuator and doesn't throw of the bready/fruity esters, but it works in this beer.

Mouthfeel: Smooth carbonation and a light, but correct mouthfeel. Goes down on its own.

Great idea and thread! Decided to make a mini stout (sort of dark mild, but with more roast character) for St. Patty's Day because of this thread. Figure then we can drink allllllllllll day. Plus I'll have some full strength green lager available too.

electric_beer said:

Great idea and thread! Decided to make a mini stout (sort of dark mild, but with more roast character) for St. Patty's Day because of this thread. Figure then we can drink allllllllllll day. Plus I'll have some full strength green lager available too.

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Great idea ! Post the recipe on here.

I just got this session beer on tap. 1.035 OG should put me around 3.5%. I used Vienna as a base to give it more body. I decided to make a run of session beers. This is #3 of 4.

Queen of the South

60m Boil
OG 1.035
FG 1.008
ABV ~3.5
SRM 6.82
IBU 30.4

6lbs Vienna Malt
8.0oz Victory Malt
4.0oz Crystal 10L

1/2oz Columbus(14.5%) @ FWH
1/4oz Willamette(4.8%) @ FWH
1/4oz Willamette(4.8%) @10m
1/2oz Willamette @ Secondary

Fermentis US-05

November, that recipe looks like it would also be good with half an ounce of Cascade at flameout.

jfr1111 said:

November, that recipe looks like it would also be good with half an ounce of Cascade at flameout.

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Probably would be good. I've had real good luck with flameout additions of Cascade, so I may try that next time. I have another session beer on tap that is kind of a cascade delivery system so I was trying to give it a break for a brew or two.

Wow, you guys are making me feel like an alcoholic. My definition of a "session" brew is 1.045 or so. Do you guys get any satisfaction out of a 2.5% ABV beer? I don't want to get hammered, but I do like to feel relaxed after 3 or 4. I feel like these wouldn't do much of anything for me, but maybe I'm wrong.

I like the taste of beer and I only bottle in bombers, so every time I crack one open, I'm actually drinking two beers. I'd say that when you stay above 1.032 or so and you take care of your mash temps, the difference between 1.045 and 1.032 is pretty damn small (except for the alcohol). The 1.036 bitter that I posted above can hang with much bigger beers: alcohol content doesn't always equal flavour.

It's when you go below 1.030 that you risk losing some of the "beery" feel and you have to work harder to come out with something great and satisfying. I drank another pint of my mild tonight and it's just not very good. Using Nottingham was a mistake since it'S way too attenuative/clean for a mild.

I basically scaled my usual dry stout down to an OG of 1.032 (which I know isn't as low as some people on here, but gotta start somewhere!)

5lbs 4oz 2-Row
14oz Flaked Barley
6oz Black Pat
6oz Special Roast

4oz Carafa III special (Capped the mash at the end)

Mash 151 (extended to 120 mins because I mashed while at church )

.50 Perle 6.7% @ 60
.50 Perle 6.7% @ 20
.25 Perle 6.7% @ 5

Yeast - US-5 (blond cake)

Sample tasted nice, so I think if everything goes well, it might become a repeat! Sucker too off like a rocket, even in an ice bath. Hopefully doesn't over attenuate. But I got enough flake I'm not too worried.

Talk about cheap. A dry stout for under $15!!

Nice ! I might just try something like that soon.

I drink my 2.5% stuff in the place of soda. I keep a wide range of ABV's on tap but the low session beers are handy when my first beer is paired with Captain Crunch at 0800.

jfr1111 said:

Using Nottingham was a mistake since it'S way too attenuative/clean for a mild.

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I would say this is a great word of caution for brewing low gravity beers. I've made quite a few now, and any yeast that has a high attenuation leaves the beer with a 'thinner' feel.

just ordered my ingredients for a 3% 1.031 mild

#4 maris otter
.5 victory
.5 simpsons dark crystal
.25 british choc malt
#1 flaked oats (full pound for mouth feel)
.5 fuggles 60 min
.25 fuggles 15min.

Wyeast thames valley

1031 OG
1008 FG
12 IBU
17 SRM
3% ABV

I'm going to use this a demo on teaching how to brew, to 2 new brewers using BIAB method. They will start as extract but will get a serious feel for steeping grains with this method.

If you want a nice lazy yeast that will leave your beer feeling fuller use Windsor. Granted its British so there is a slight character to it, but it won't attenuate like the others.

I almost wish I would have used it in my stout, but I couldn't pass up FREE.

starrfish said:

just ordered my ingredients for a 3% 1.031 mild

#4 maris otter
.5 victory
.5 simpsons dark crystal
.25 british choc malt
#1 flaked oats (full pound for mouth feel)
.5 fuggles 60 min
.25 fuggles 15min.

Wyeast thames valley

1031 OG
1008 FG
12 IBU
17 SRM
3% ABV

I'm going to use this a demo on teaching how to brew, to 2 new brewers using BIAB method. They will start as extract but will get a serious feel for steeping grains with this method.

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Thames Valley is probably too clean for such a small mild. I have used it recently in a bitter (see above) and it leaves the beer with a crisp, clean, mineral taste with some honey and caramel notes. The malt is vibrant, but it's pretty light and it doesn't finish sweet. When I think of a mild, I think of firm maltiness and a bit of sweetness in the aftertaste with a fuller mouthfeel. S04 can get you that.

Interesting. I'm pretty sure I have a pack of s04 in the fridge... thanks for the heads up.

You can always try it with the 1275, but I feel this beer is more bitter/stout material.

If you want malt and sweet, go with 1318. Please don't use s-04 in a mild...

bierhaus15 said:

If you want malt and sweet, go with 1318. Please don't use s-04 in a mild...

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Why not ? It might not be traditionnal, but it works if you ferment it low and take care to mash high. I do not get that fruity, estery plate and nose that some are experiencing. to me it's basically Nottingham with more body and a touch sweeter/maltier.

1318 is nice though.

jfr1111 said:

to me it's basically Nottingham with more body and a touch sweeter/maltier.

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It's no secret, I have no love for s-04. It's notty 2.0 in terms of flavor, malt, body, and really doesn't add anything to a beer that can't be better found elsewhere. Not to mention for most people it throws off bad esters if you don't have a pretty good handle on your fermentation. I'm not trying to be a smartass or anything, I just think if someone wants to make a good, authentic british ale, go with a good, authentic liquid british yeast and become a better brewer in the process.

Though I do love me some 1318...

To each their own I guess, but I very much doubt that it throws bad esters for most people: S-04 is recommended by a lot of the people on here, many who have commercial brewing experience (Bob, notably, seems to swear by it). I don't equate using liquid yeast with being a better brewer either... more tools in the toolbox, that's all. We all have our preferences.

Here's my latest attempt at a low graivity beer. It was the second runnings of a Barleywine with Maris Otter and 10% Victory. I capped the mash with the specialty grains and used a little DME to get it where I wanted it 1.030. AT 29 IBUs it'll be more of a small IPA. I used WLP320 because I know how it attenuates a bit low and it worked great, it finished @ 1.010. It also should add a little something to the brew. I could smell the centennial heavily as I tranferred to the keg tonite...mmm.

Centennial Mild
11-A Mild
Author: Joe
Date: 1/28/2011



Size: 3.5 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 67.2%
Calories: 101.66 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.030 (1.030 - 1.038)
|========#=======================|
Terminal Gravity: 1.010 (1.008 - 1.013)
|==============#=================|
Color: 17.1 (12.0 - 25.0)
|==============#=================|
Alcohol: 2.67% (2.8% - 4.5%)
|======#=========================|
Bitterness: 29.4 (10.0 - 25.0)
|============================#===|

Ingredients:
1.5 lb Maris Otter Pale
0.50 lb American Caramel 120°L
.5 lb American Caramel 40°L
1 oz 2-Row Chocolate Malt
1.0 lb CBW® Golden Light Powder (Dry Malt Extract)
.3 oz Centennial (8.8%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
.4 oz Centennial (8.8%) - added during boil, boiled 20 min
.5 oz Centennial (8.8%) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
.5 oz Centennial (8.8%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
0 ea White Labs WLP320 American Hefeweizen Ale


Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.12

holy huge font. if any BTP users know how to change that up LMK!:cross:

EDIT: ok fixed it manually, but still a PITA, any easier way to change the default sizing would be great

I do like milds, so I may brew one of these super low grav ones from the thread in the near future.

However, spring is here...warm weather approaching! When the temp goes up, I love Belgian wit. I was wondering if a wit might work as an extremely low gravity beer. They can already be on the lower side. Having a pleasant warm-weather beer at 2.5% alcohol is a mighty attractive idea - fewer calories [watching the waistline], and a super-session beer.

I'm all grain. Here's my question - do I just scale down all the fermentables down to reach the appropriate OG, or should I focus on one or two in particular. My wit recipe is a single infusion one [yes, I'm lazy] and has Belgian pilsner malt, flaked wheat, flaked oats, and sugar for fermentables.

I haven't played much with recipes in the manner we're talking about in this thread.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

one general concensus seems to be keep the unfermentables high. so you might want to lose the sugar, and mash high.