Under 3% ABV hop forward session ale recepie

I'm trying to make a beer that is hop forward, malt balanced, and very low ABV (was hoping for 2.5-3%).

Here is the recipe I am thinking, hoping for some feedback.

4.25 LB Munich 10L
1.25 LB Victory
1 LB Crystal 10L
.5 oz Centennial- 60 min.
.5 oz Centennial- 10 min.
.5 oz Chinook- 10 min.
.5 oz Citra- 10 min.
.5 oz Centennial- Flame out
.5 oz Chinook- Flame out
.5 oz Citra- Flame out
1 oz Chinook- Dry Hop
1 oz Citra- Dry Hop
.5 oz Centennial- Dry Hop

This gives me an estimated 1.033 SG, 1.010 FG, 3.0% ABV, 38 IBUs, 10.3 SRM.

Was planning to mash at a normal 152 or so, maybe this should be adjusted along with some grain bill adjustments?

I was thinking that maybe removing the Chinook hops would be better. Seems like it may be a bit too much hops forward...

Any feedback would be appreciated!

I'm curious to see what you come up with. I'd probably dial the hops down a bit. Between the low OG and the amount of hops it could end up thin and bleachy. Maybe consider removing the 10m additions completely? Also, if the Victory stuff is like Biscuit malt, I'd use less of it and replace it for a second, darker crystal malt (40L?).

Another thing you could try is to use a yeast that attenuates less. Increase the size of the grist correspondingly. Some people are getting attenuations around 60-65% with the Mangrove Jacks Newcastle Dark yeast, and that might come in handy here to get some body.

I love the toasty flavors of victory malt, but I think that's too much of the grainbill in this case.


I"d reduce the bittering hops just a tad, to have IBUs of 30 or so for the OG of 1.033.

How about some melanoidin malt,to give it some backbone?

Thanks for the replies everyone.

So I'm going to tweak things a little bit. Based on other hoppy session ales out there, I was shooting for 35-40 IBUs. Many of the 3.8-4.5% ABV ones out there have in the 45-60 range, I thought with the drop in ABV, dropping the IBUs fairly proportionately was a good place to start. It is hard to argue with anything Yooper says though. Should I reduce some?

Based on the other suggestions (and a few crazy thoughts in my head), here is where my recipe stands.

3.5 LB Munich 10L
.75 LB Victory
1 LB Crystal 10L
1LB Melanoiden
.25 LB White Wheat
.5 oz Centennial- 60 min.
.5 oz Centennial- 10 min.
.5 oz Chinook- 10 min.
.5 oz Citra- 10 min.
.5 oz Centennial- Flame out
.5 oz Chinook- Flame out
.5 oz Citra- Flame out
1 oz Chinook- Dry Hop
1 oz Citra- Dry Hop
.5 oz Centennial- Dry Hop

These changes would keep me at 1.033 OG, and still 38.7 IBUs. I added a little bit of wheat because I've had good results in the past on IPAs to help with head retention and add a bit of maltiness. Maybe with the Crystal involved this is unnecessary/redundant?

I was planning to uses a standard Safale US-05, although I do have some S-04 on hand I could use.

Have you ever drunk a dark mild? It might give you pointers on what to expect body-wise.

You know what? I like the look of that.