Light Beer?

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smmcdermott

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Hey guys, I am fairly new to brewing and was just thinking about all the light beer that I drink when I am out partying. I have no intention of making a light beer but was just curious as to how one was made. If there is already a thread on this please point me in the right direction. Thanks.

Sean
 
Why don't you have any intention to make one? They are typically lagers and made with about 60% US pale malt and 40% rice or corn. Bitter them to about 10 IBUs and keep it under 1.040 OG so it doesn't get too strong, the idea is to be able to drink it all night. Pitch big and pitch cold, you want these really clean.
 
Tonedef131 said:
Why don't you have any intention to make one? . . . ..
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Have you ever heard of a "light" wine, or a "light" champagne?

I personally avoid drinking anything with the word "light" in it - it is an insult to the complex, wonderful, flavorful and historic drink that we all love. Making a "light" beer puts it in the same category as soda and all that other crap, which it certainly is not.


Go Sean for knowing to avoid such blasphemy in your brewing!
 
Sorry, didn't mean to come across as a jackass in my post - it just hit a sour note, I despise all BMC beer with a passion :)
 
corvax13 said:
Have you ever heard of a "light" wine, or a "light" champagne?

I personally avoid drinking anything with the word "light" in it - it is an insult to the complex, wonderful, flavorful and historic drink that we all love. Making a "light" beer puts it in the same category as soda and all that other crap, which it certainly is not.


Go Sean for knowing to avoid such blasphemy in your brewing!
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Have you ever tried brewing one? They are incredibly difficult and some people enjoy the challenge.

I don't know why for a beer to be a legitimate style it has to have a wine counterpart.
 
I was just curious on how they get teh calories so low. I have no idea how many calories are in mine, but a typical light beer is around 100 I believe. I am assuming most homebrews are a lt higher than this. Am I wrong?
 
smmcdermott said:
I was just curious on how they get teh calories so low. I have no idea how many calories are in mine, but a typical light beer is around 100 I believe. I am assuming most homebrews are a lt higher than this. Am I wrong?
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You are correct, most of them have calories further broken down by enzymes and the like. There is no simple way to make beers as low calorie and they do. Their consistency is achieved by always brewing to a higher strength then adding water to achieve their desired abv, they can add more or less water depending on the OG and FG of that specific batch.
 
From what I've read every percentage point abv in a 12oz beer is equal to 3.75g of alcohol/beer. Each gram of alcohol is 7 calories. So a typical 12oz 5% beer has about 130 calories just from alcohol (never mind remaining sugars, etc.)

The main way to get calories down is to reduce alcohol content. The lite beers have low alcohol content. Thats why they are low in calories. Plain and simple.

Side note: This is why MGD64 can't have more than 2.4% ABV
 
I agree with tonedef131. Most people who talk so much trash about "light" beer have never brewed one. They are incredibly hard to brew. Moreover, there isnt a man on HBT that doesnt drink light beer/BMC on at least a semi regular basis weather it be at a friends house or out at dinner. Light beers are pretty difficult to make and have them come out spectacular. Reason being is they hide no flaws. If you dont brew them well you will be able to tell by the taste.......Ok on with light beer brewing. Light/BMC are all lagers so you will have to have that capability to even attempt a light beer. You dont have to use adjuncts at all. Infact there are a ton of light lagers that dont use corn or rice. I recommend that if you want to brew a light lager do a search of the recipes on HBT and go from there. Also Im not the least bit embarrased to say ive brewed probably ten batches of light lagers. That being said if you need any help feel free to email with any questions.
 
one of the things they do its to mash on the cool side and for a little longer
BCM has there own barley grown and thay know the exact diastatic power of the malt and will even add more enzymes after the boil to turn all the dextrins in to fermetable sugars , so that all most all the the carbs have been turn to alcohol
the other trick to lite beer is adjuncts
and thoes are non barley sources of fermentable sugar
in the case of bcm lite they use Flaked Corn and Flaked Rice
flaking it like what has been done to Oats to make oatmeal, the process gelitinzes the starch in the grain with heat and moister, that is important becase
it does not have to be malted, its just put strate in to the mash and the extra diastatic
enzymes of the barley convert the geltinzed starch in the fermetable sugar.
thats why we mash at 150 to gelatinze the barley starch for convertion too.
 
Light beers use aggressive enzymes, like alpha galactosidase, to completely break down all complex sugars. There are few, if any, remaining carbohydrates. This maximizes the amount of alcohol in the ferment. So, you have a beer that is low-carb, low-calorie, low-alcohol and FNW. And highly profitable.

Much more complicated than watering a 'regular' fermented beer.
 
I would suggest reading the latest Zymurgy that has a bunch of session ale recipes. They are not going to be tasteless like a BMC but isn't that why we are here?
 
JustARogue said:
Can't you just take a 5 gal recipe and top off to 7-10gals? I'm only half joking.
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When light--as in low calorie--beers first came on the scene, Joe Ortlieb issued his version of light beer by placing three bottles of Ortlieb’s Premium into a six-pack along with three bottle of water. This was his idea of a do-it-at-home light beer kit.

Most people didn't quite get Joe's half-serious jab at light beer marketing.
 
humann_brewing said:
Why not just add ice cubes to your beer?
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I'm unclear as to what you're getting at. I was actually saying that adding water would be a horrible thing to do. My swmbo enjoys bmc's, and there's nothing wrong with that. She also enjoys making beer with me, and I often craft a lite type brew so she can more enjoy the end result. Its certainly nothing like adding ice cubes to my beer.
 
i'm happy to admit that i still drink light beer on a fairly regular basis. i love homebrew and craft beers, but i'm just not able to drink that many of them in a row. that said, i've recently taken to this recipe thread to attempt my own version of it: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/miller-lite-really-triple-hopped-123937/

it came out really good and i have no problem drinking many of them in a row. amalayse enzyme is used (you can get it at the HBS) to break down the dextrins (as was mentioned before) to lower the carb content and also allowing you to start with a lower SG as the enzyme will get you down around 1.000 for a FG.

i know a lot of people say brewing a light beer is difficult as there is nothing to hide by products, but I think this beer comes out spectacularly clean, there is just a hint of fruity esters, but it does use an ale yeast. i think if i had the capabilities to ferment at lager temps, it would be even cleaner... making it not THAT difficult to do but not all together easy either i guess.
 
Back in January I brewed an American Pal Ale that is reasonably close to Bud in taste. It’s simple if anyone wants the recipe.
 
Bigmorg said:
Was slumming around the miller coors site and found this for you. You were pretty darn close!

http://www.millercoors.com/our-beers/great-beer.aspx

Says its about 2.8%ABV.
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I have tried it before. It's amazing how little taste is actually in there, and I would really like to dilute an MGD with carbonated water... Just to see if you can get the same result. I'm really surprised people pay the same price for these "half" beers.
 
corvax13 said:
Have you ever heard of a "light" wine?
Click to expand...

Well the alcohol content on wine can vary quite widely, from just north of 10% for some rose or white wines to 16% or higher for bigger reds. It's perfectly common to choose a wine based on food pairing and occasion; I don't see any reason why the same shouldn't be true for beer. I might enjoy sipping an 8% winterfest beer sitting in front of the fireplace on a cold winter's evening, and pound back four or five 4% lagers on a hot summer afternoon at a BBQ.
 
It is astounding to me that some people drink light beer for the purpose of getting drunk. You have to drink TWO mgd64's to get the same alcohol as a regular beer, AND you are probably close to or over the calories because you had to drink two to get the same effect.
 
I don't think it's about drinking to get drunk. It's about drinking to drink. Getting drunk, however, is a side benefit. :drunk:
 
Light beers are great for beer pong since they're cheap and easy to drink a lot of. We use Coors though. I think mgd64 must be for people on diets and girls who don't like light beer
 

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