Less Alcohol

[Knittycat]

I'm limiting myself to one annoying question per day

Ok, so I'm a lightweight. Frankly I kinda like being a lightweight because it makes getting totally smashed when I want to a much cheaper affair. It also means that I can drink MORE BEER!

So is there a way to limit the amount of alcohol produced when you brew? Does it affect the taste like boosting the alcohol can? I've read about cooking the alcohol out, and that it results in a very bitter beer so you have to severely limit how much hops you put in. I'd rather not go that route as I don't want no alcohol, just not as much.

And now, for a funny story:
I grew up in Utah. The law there limits the alcohol content in grocery store beer and been sold in restaurants to 3.2%. A few years ago I moved to Texas. I knew that other states had higher limits on their beer, but I never really internalized it. So, I went out to a lovely German restaurant and ordered a bottle of Celebrator Dopplebock to go with my schnitzel. It was so good I finished the beer before the meal got to me and ordered a second. The schnitzel arrived and I ate and drank. I finished off my second and ordered a third. No problem with 3.2 beer. I had a couple of swigs and had to go to the bathroom. I stood, and nearly fell over.

 

[TopherM]

You can either:

A) Add water to your wort.
B) Build up your tolerance.

I vote for B.

 

[kmos]

There are plenty of recipes for session beers out there, in a range of styles. AHS has a whole section devoted to them.

 

[DrummerBoySeth]

It is pretty simple to control alcohol content. If you are an extract brewer, then look for recipes with less than 5 pounds of extract in a 5 gallon batch.

a ROUGH guideline for 5 gallon batches is...

4 pounds = 3.31 ABV
4.5 pounds = 3.72 ABV
5 pounds= 4.13 ABV

Then all you have to do is control the bitterness level by increasing or decreasing the hops until the desired bitterness level is reached (brewing software is KEY here!)

Try beersmith or www.brewersfriend.com for assistance in calculating alcohol content and hops bitterness of a recipe.

 

[brewit2it]

Lots of english bitters are "small beers" or low alcohol. Basically you will have less alcohol by adding less fermentables. It's that simple. Check the recipe section for bitter, session beer, small beer, etc.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Take 'er upstairs guvner, she's ready now.

Sorry... couldnt resist.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Extract? Use less extract. Cut out any simple sugars (corn sugar, table sugar, candi sugar, etc). Use less attenuative yeast.

All grain? Mash higher. Swap out some of the base malt for specialty malts with more unfermentable dextrins, or just use less malt overall. Cut the simple sugars. Use less attenuative yeast.

Easiest way to do it is to just brew the smaller styles (lots of good English and Scottish session beers).

 

[Jayhem]

Tolerance to alcohol is amazing.

I used to get a nice little kick out of a miller lite if I hadn't eaten all day back in the college years. Now that I've been drinking craft and home brews for 10 years I have to drink at least THREE 7-8% home brews within 90 minutes to get a nice buzz going and I'm only 140 lbs.

Also it's not true that large (fat) people have a higher tolerance...sure they might have more places to store the alcohol for a short time but slow metabolism means when it hits you it really HITS you!

 

[Rbeckett]

What ABV is considered a "small" beer? Is there a lower limit OG/FG? I like low alky brews that are flavorfull and tasty that I can sip on all weekend without a headache or the quick steps on Monday. Input?
Bob

 

[Jayhem]

What ABV is considered a "small" beer? Is there a lower limit OG/FG? I like low alky brews that are flavorfull and tasty that I can sip on all weekend without a headache or the quick steps on Monday. Input?
Bob

Not sure if there is an official line between big and small beer but I draw my line between low and moderate at 5.0% and between moderate and big at 7.0%.

I tend to favor beers in the 4.5-5.5% range because I can drink several of them and not feel like sleeping.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Not sure if there is an official line between big and small beer but I draw my line between low and moderate at 5.0% and between moderate and big at 7.0%.

That's pretty much what I do too. Although I see the 4% cap for "session" beers pretty regularly. I'd say it's all pretty much subjective.

 

[Knittycat]

Excellent. Thank you all. Will using less extract affect the taste much?

 

[Yooper]

It depends on what you're making. If a recipe is designed for a 9% ABV barleywine, just cutting the amount of malt extract used will make a terrible beer.

Beer is all about balance, like cooking. Think of wort as spaghetti sauce for a moment. If you want to make less sauce than your usual pot, you won't just cut the amount of tomatoes used, you'd also cut the amount of onions, garlic, and oregano. Otherwise, your sauce would be unbalanced.

The same is true of beer. If you want to make a lower alcohol beer, it's best to start with a lower alcohol recipe right from the start. The hops bitterness (IBUs) needs to "match" the OG of the beer, so the whole recipe needs to be adjusted.

But........and this is the best part(!).........some of many of our favorite beers are wonderful low ABV beers.

As an example- a British mild. This is sort of a lost style, but it's a wonderful quaffable beer that is rich and easy to drink but a true session beer in every sense. I can sit down and have three, and still function!

There are many other lower ABV beers to make, with great flavor and designed to be drinkable.

There is a great mild recipe in Brewing Classic Styles. I can dig it up after dinner if you're interested.

 

[Varmintman]

I have been trying to brew beer consistently that is under 4%. Let me tell you it is dang hard to keep one batch tasting the same as the next batch. I am not complaining at all about the beer but just saying consistency is more difficult.

Matter of fact I wish I could replicate some of my mistakes because they turned out great.

 

[Knittycat]

It depends on what you're making. If a recipe is designed for a 9% ABV barleywine, just cutting the amount of malt extract used will make a terrible beer.

Beer is all about balance, like cooking. Think of wort as spaghetti sauce for a moment. If you want to make less sauce than your usual pot, you won't just cut the amount of tomatoes used, you'd also cut the amount of onions, garlic, and oregano. Otherwise, your sauce would be unbalanced.

The same is true of beer. If you want to make a lower alcohol beer, it's best to start with a lower alcohol recipe right from the start. The hops bitterness (IBUs) needs to "match" the OG of the beer, so the whole recipe needs to be adjusted.

But........and this is the best part(!).........some of many of our favorite beers are wonderful low ABV beers.

As an example- a British mild. This is sort of a lost style, but it's a wonderful quaffable beer that is rich and easy to drink but a true session beer in every sense. I can sit down and have three, and still function!

There are many other lower ABV beers to make, with great flavor and designed to be drinkable.

There is a great mild recipe in Brewing Classic Styles. I can dig it up after dinner if you're interested.

Thank you yooper! I am interested, but if you've been following any of my other posts you'll know I can't really start brewing until fall. So no rush on the recipe, but I would like it. Thank you again! I know I'm lower than a rank beginner at this point, but I like to know as much as possible before I even start.

 

[Yooper]

Thank you yooper! I am interested, but if you've been following any of my other posts you'll know I can't really start brewing until fall. So no rush on the recipe, but I would like it. Thank you again! I know I'm lower than a rank beginner at this point, but I like to know as much as possible before I even start.

I think you could brew sooner if you wanted (temp control can be done with a cooler, as we've "talked" about) but even if you want to wait until fall, it's always nice to have some recipes on hand that you want to try as well as soaking up any knowledge about yeast health and fermentation. It's one of those things that anybody can geek out over if they want, or be more casual if they want. It's a great hobby!

I spend the winters on the Gulf Coast of TX, and I have friends who brew extract there year round by ice baths/coolers. I brew with them in the winter, and we have a ton of fun!

Anyway, the mild recipe (from Jamil Zainasheff):

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
10-A Brown Ale, Mild

Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Extract (Lbs): 5.45
Anticipated OG: 1.036 Plato: 8.94
Anticipated SRM: 19.8
Anticipated IBU: 17.2


3.70 lbs. English Pale Ale Extract
0.50 lbs. Chocolate Malt - Light
0.50 lbs. Crystal 120L
0.75 lbs. Crystal 60L

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
0.70 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 5.00 17.2 60 min

Yeast
White Labs WLP002 English Ale

_________________________________________________________
I know this looks like gobblygook right now, but it's not!

You would steep the grains in a grain bag for 20 minutes or so at 150-160 degrees, then throw the grains away. Bring that liquid (now called "wort") to a boil, and add the extract. Bring to a boil again, and add the hops. Set your timer for 60 minutes. When the timer is done, cool the wort and pour into a sanitized fermenter. Top up with good water to 5 gallons. Add the yeast, and airlock. In a week, you'll have a tasty mild!

 

[Yooper]

Thank you yooper! I am interested, but if you've been following any of my other posts you'll know I can't really start brewing until fall. So no rush on the recipe, but I would like it. Thank you again! I know I'm lower than a rank beginner at this point, but I like to know as much as possible before I even start.

Oh, one more thing! I just got Northern Brewer's new catalogue today and I'm looking at the kits available. You may want to have them send you one- it's so awesome just to look at the beer style recipes and kits and think about what you want to brew. It's free, and so much fun to look at!

 

[Qhrumphf]

Aren't the BCS recipes formulated for 6 gallons of wort (assuming .5 gallons loss to kettle trub and .5 gallons lost from cake in the fermenter for 5 gallons final volume)? They're also designed for a full boil. At least, that's why my copy of the book says. If you brew 5 gallons of wort with a partial boil you'd end up with something slightly different.

 

[Knittycat]

Oh, one more thing! I just got Northern Brewer's new catalogue today and I'm looking at the kits available. You may want to have them send you one- it's so awesome just to look at the beer style recipes and kits and think about what you want to brew. It's free, and so much fun to look at!

I did that the day before yesterday It should be arriving any day now.

 

[aidan]

So is there a way to limit the amount of alcohol produced when you brew? Does it affect the taste like boosting the alcohol can? I've read about cooking the alcohol out, and that it results in a very bitter beer so you have to severely limit how much hops you put in. I'd rather not go that route as I don't want no alcohol, just not as much.

I highly recommend the BrewStrong podcast on session beers - http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/688 - they discuss how to make a tasty lower alc beer.

For my next brew I'm aiming to do a 3% beer because most of my beers average around 5-5.5% and a late night drinking session with my mates can lead to a bit of a hangover the next day, so I'd like to have a lighter option on the roster. I've found with 3.5% beers you could pretty much drink all day without getting too sloshed. I reckon at that level beer is hydration neutral so you don't get the de-hydration that leads to hangovers.

I posted my planned recipe here for feedback: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/light-session-blonde-ale-feedback-wanted-320570/
I'll probably brew it this weekend.