"Lite" Ale Recipe Help

I rarely do extract or kits but am brewing a "lite" ale for my Miller drinking friend at his request.

I ordered a kit and the OG listed in the directions just doesn't seem right to me. I punched it into Brewsmith and it's well below the listed OG in the kit.

I personally think 3lbs of DME just isn't enough to hit 1.044. But hey what do I know?

Anyways I want to try and hit the target OG. So before I randomly throw in some more DME I thought I would post here for possible suggestions and ect.

Brewsmith is telling me a target of 1.030

Recipe:

1lb Caramel 20
3lbs Pilsen DME
1lb Rice syrup solids
.5lb Maltodextrine
1oz Cascade
1oz Hallertau
Safale 05

You have a pound of rice solids there- what does Beersmith give for the ppg of that?

Yooper said:

You have a pound of rice solids there- what does Beersmith give for the ppg of that?

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I'm sorry I don't know what 'ppg' is.

I'm entering in Rice extract syrup as I don't have the option for Rice solids. Maybe it's under and add on but I can't find it.

stylus1274 said:

.
I personally think 3lbs of DME just isn't enough to hit 1.044. But hey what do I know?
Safale 05

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For a three gallon batch it is.

Steveruch said:

For a three gallon batch it is.

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Right. That is what I thought. But it's a 5 gallon recipe. Clearly they messed up.

stylus1274 said:

I'm sorry I don't know what 'ppg' is.

I'm entering in Rice extract syrup as I don't have the option for Rice solids. Maybe it's under and add on but I can't find it.

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I think the solids have more "points" than the syrup, since there is no water in it, but maybe 1.032 is a good guess.

You have 3 pounds DME, so that plus the rice would be about 1.033 in 5 gallons. Caramel malt should give you about 8 points, I think. Maltodextrine should give you about the same, but that's half a pound. So, another 12 points total, more or less. That is about 1.046. That seems about right to me. Without a partial mash, you should still get 1.044-1.046 since caramel malt is "premashed" so to speak.

Yooper said:

I think the solids have more "points" than the syrup, since there is no water in it, but maybe 1.032 is a good guess.

You have 3 pounds DME, so that plus the rice would be about 1.033 in 5 gallons. Caramel malt should give you about 8 points, I think. Maltodextrine should give you about the same, but that's half a pound. So, another 12 points total, more or less. That is about 1.046. That seems about right to me. Without a partial mash, you should still get 1.044-1.046 since caramel malt is "premashed" so to speak.

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Hmmmmm.......you make sense.

If you are correct then what Beersmith says about 1# of crystal is wrong. It more or less says it is accounting for next to nothing.

Also, it is saying the maltodextrine is contributing nothing. So if they are accounting for another 12 or so points then that's what is missing.

Damn Beersmith lol

Guess I will brew it and hope BS is wrong. Otherwise I will be one mad mothertrucker.

The rice should be about the same as DME. The maltodextrin will add little if any alcohol, but it will add body. 1.043 to 1.045 is about right.

What yeast did they give you? Nottingham? Some kind of lager yeast?

If you're concerned about the gravity, add a *little* less water. Maybe make 4.5 gallons instead of 5. Don't adjust it down much; you're closer to where you want to be than you think.

Yeah I thought the same thing about the dextrin but Yoop said otherwise so I trusted his assessment.

Safale is the yeast.

Be interested to see someone add the same recipe to their program of choice and post the results.

I punched it in last night and it predicted 1.043 for the OG. I didn't do the hops or the yeast so I don't know what FG or the bitterness are. (BTW, I think Yooper is a girl

Why in the world would anyone need maltodextrin in an extract beer, especially when brewing a light ale? Extract brews are not known for super fermentability. That pound of C20 sounds pretty high too. Ideally, those low Lovibond crystals (20 and below) should be mashed.

z-bob said:

I punched it in last night and it predicted 1.043 for the OG. I didn't do the hops or the yeast so I don't know what FG or the bitterness are. (BTW, I think Yooper is a girl

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You punched it into Beersmith? How did you enter in the Dry rice solids?

Sorry Yooper....oops!

punching it into brewersfriend as a 5 gallon partial mash I get an og of 1.040 or 1.033 as an extract batch.
either way I agree that this is not going to be light (bodied) with a lb of crystal + malto/ carapils.

z-bob said:

(BTW, I think Yooper is a girl

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Yep, I think so too!

meatcleaver said:

punching it into brewersfriend as a 5 gallon partial mash I get an og of 1.040 or 1.033 as an extract batch.
either way I agree that this is not going to be light (bodied) with a lb of crystal + malto/ carapils.

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Well, I guess the crystal is added for some residual sweetness, and the maltodextrine for body. Which is kinda weird, since you're adding rice solids for a lighter body.

I think it looks drinkable, though. I think I would enjoy it as a session type beer, but I'm not a Lite beer drinker as a rule so maybe I'm not a good judge of what a macro lager drinker would like.

meatcleaver said:

punching it into brewersfriend as a 5 gallon partial mash I get an og of 1.040 or 1.033 as an extract batch.
either way I agree that this is not going to be light (bodied) with a lb of crystal + malto/ carapils.

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But it is not a partial mash. You get 1.033 like I get in BS as an extract which it is.

IslandLizard said:

Why in the world would anyone need maltodextrin in an extract beer, especially when brewing a light ale? Extract brews are not known for super fermentability. That pound of C20 sounds pretty high too. Ideally, those low Lovibond crystals (20 and below) should be mashed.

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From what I understand and read people add the dextrine to extracts for body. Totally makes sense to me. However your point is well taken in reference to being a light ale.

Yooper said:

Yep, I think so too!



Well, I guess the crystal is added for some residual sweetness, and the maltodextrine for body. Which is kinda weird, since you're adding rice solids for a lighter body.

I think it looks drinkable, though. I think I would enjoy it as a session type beer, but I'm not a Lite beer drinker as a rule so maybe I'm not a good judge of what a macro lager drinker would like.

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Like I said, a friend wants it. I'm an AG brewer so my skills in the extract demographic are lacking to say the least.

I will throw this right into the keg. I can totally see my friends who only drink Millers, Yuengling and ect. drinking this.

But maybe I'm wrong lol.

Just to mention something I've read maltodextrine contributes next to nothing in terms of adding to abv.

I've read people saying the opposite.

So what is the truth on this stuff?

stylus1274 said:

Just to mention something I've read maltodextrine contributes next to nothing in terms of adding to abv.

I've read people saying the opposite.

So what is the truth on this stuff?

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It's mostly nonfermentable (but not entirely) contributing body and mouthfeel. It's a "thickener", basically.

It does add to the OG of the beer, but is only about 3% fermentable.

I don't use it, but we used to use it in root beer to provide some mouthfeel. One time my son over did it, and used more than usual (maybe a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon or something like that), and made root beer jello! It "glugged" out of the bottles and really grossed me out. That might have been the last time I had it on hand, maybe 10 years or so ago.

If you don't trust the recipe, and you're used to all-grain brewing, why not recycle the ingredients and do a partial mash? I don't have time right now to figure out a recipe (gotta run to church in a few minutes) but something like substitute a pound or so of 2-row or pilsner malt for the maltodextrin and half the C20 and do a small mash. Add the rice solids and malt extract, and you know what to do from there.

z-bob said:

If you don't trust the recipe, and you're used to all-grain brewing, why not recycle the ingredients and do a partial mash? I don't have time right now to figure out a recipe (gotta run to church in a few minutes) but something like substitute a pound or so of 2-row or pilsner malt for the maltodextrin and half the C20 and do a small mash. Add the rice solids and malt extract, and you know what to do from there.

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Sounds all good but the principal is to do the recipe. That's the idea here. I questioned the OG.

But the site where I got it from and others on this thread says the OG is right and don't worry what Brewsmith is telling me.

So that is what I will do.....ignore Beersmith

I had to report back on this.

As suspected this recipe is not a 1.044 with those fermentables at 5 gallons.

I hit target at a little more than 4 gallons so I left it there. Prefer to have the target over having more beer