Good flavor light beer?

I was thinking off the top of my head that if you took a small grain bill and messed with the mash temp to get a full body you could add more hops and have decent balance with a low calorie count.

sounds possible but that would also leave you with a very low ABV. It'd be like a hoppy mild I suppose.

Erroneous said:

I was thinking off the top of my head that if you took a small grain bill and messed with the mash temp to get a full body you could add more hops and have decent balance with a low calorie count.

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What kind of calorie count are you looking for?

Just looking for as low as I can go and still have decent beer. For instance, can I make something that tastes like an IPA but has a lower abv than IPA guidelines allow for? This is more of a thought experiment than anything else. Personally I prefer the biggest beer I can get.

I don't know, but I'd just like to offer encouragement- there's nothing wrong with the idea, even though we know how awful BMC is. I'd love to see a recipe for a good light beer, with more flavor than the norm.

The reason I ask what calorie count you are looking for is because i believe that there are many "light" beers that taste great and have a low calorie count. An example would be something like a Saison.

How does this sound?

Saison
IBU:37.8
ABV: 5.31
Cal/pint: 43

indeed. I wonder what kind of data I'd need to figure out to get the science right and figure out just how much grain I'd need at what temperature to get a certain body.

Of course the other thing is would it detract from the esters and flavors that yeast provide? Less food = less yeast poop?

ThickHead said:

How does this sound?

Saison
IBU:37.8
ABV: 5.31
Cal/pint: 43

Click to expand...

Impossible.

You need to enter your gravity measurements to get the proper calorie estimate in Beersmith. How accurate that estimate is is another question, since the human body tends to excrete intermediate alcohol metabolites, i.e. it gets rid of much of the ethanol before it has a chance to release all of its 7 calories per gram.

ThickHead said:

The reason I ask what calorie count you are looking for is because i believe that there are many "light" beers that taste great and have a low calorie count. An example would be something like a Saison.

How does this sound?

Saison
IBU:37.8
ABV: 5.31
Cal/pint: 43

Click to expand...

Interesting, I wonder what contributes to the calorie count. I figured it was just alcohol since there's no simple sugars, oh and unconverted starches.

EDIT: After some googling it seems that it is the alcohol and carbohydrates that contribute to calories. The lower the OG or FG the lower the calories and carbs according to http://www.mrgoodbeer.com/carb-cal.shtml. So how do you get that high ABV in saison with that low calorie? I know BeerSmith will be way low unless you give it both OG and FG

ArcaneXor said:

Impossible.

You need to enter your gravity measurements to get the proper calorie estimate in Beersmith. How accurate that estimate is is another question, since the human body tends to excrete intermediate alcohol metabolites, i.e. it gets rid of much of the ethanol before it has a chance to release all of its 7 calories per gram.

Click to expand...

Haha! Opps...I completely forgot to do that. In all honesty I have never, ever looked at how many calories were in a pint of beer before. Disregard that 43. It's really more like 250.

My bad guys....

The lowest calorie count beer I have brewed is around 200 calories/pint.

a hoppy cream ale?