lowering alcohol

[dje.ellsworth]

I've been all grain brewing quite a few years. I've Chocolate Porter recipe I've been playing with a couple of those years and it's getting pretty close. But I'd like to lower the alcohol without losing body.
The ways I can think of doing it are less 2H, more water, or increasing the mashing temperature. Or a mixture of the three. The last could be difficult figuring. Complicating the problem is I add in about 1.5 liters of Vodka that has 2 kilos of nibs that have been infusing for 3 days before production. It sounds a lot but it's a 3 bbl batch. Any suggestions from anyone having done this.

 

[Alan Reginato]

I've been all grain brewing quite a few years. I've Chocolate Porter recipe I've been playing with a couple of those years and it's getting pretty close. But I'd like to lower the alcohol without losing body.
The ways I can think of doing it are less 2H, more water, or increasing the mashing temperature. Or a mixture of the three. The last could be difficult figuring. Complicating the problem is I add in about 1.5 liters of Vodka that has 2 kilos of nibs that have been infusing for 3 days before production. It sounds a lot but it's a 3 bbl batch. Any suggestions from anyone having done this.

Cut the base malt (2H), but try it in a small batch before. And about the nibs, put them in the end of boil or whirpool. They don't have much of temperature sensible volatiles. They had been in the oven eventually, at higher temperature.

Here is an interesting article about using cocoa in beer.

 

[AlexKay]

Not a lot of folks brewing at that scale around here!

There will always be a sensory impact to lowering alcohol, because alcohol both has a distinct taste and because it affects our perception of other tastes. But keeping most of the taste and body while modestly reducing alcohol isn’t an unreasonable goal.

The standard answer is to mash hot, 160 F. And/or to use yeast that doesn’t ferment maltotriose. Recipe adjustments could be another way to go. If you are up to adding rye, a pound of flaked rye probably contributes more to body than several pounds of base malt. Flaked barley isn’t quite as good as rye, but could still work.

A slightly less established approach, though there’s definitely literature supporting it, is to mash very high, like 170+ F. And/or add maltodextrin.

I’ve been experimenting with adding inulin to beer for body, but there’s virtually no literature on that.

 

[dje.ellsworth]

Cut the base malt (2H), but try it in a small batch before. And about the nibs, put them in the end of boil or whirpool. They don't have much of temperature sensible volatiles. They had been in the oven eventually, at higher temperature.

Here is an interesting article about using cocoa in beer.

I've been putting the nibs and vodka in the primary. We're also chocolate producers and we buy actual cacao from our local farmers and do all the processing ourselves. We roast the cacao at about 130C. We sell some but mostly use them for our own chocolate. And the porter...
I've been worrying if I cut much 2H I'd lose body. I like the following suggestions about either temperature or compensating with rye. I've a bunch around from a rye beer i have made.

 

[dje.ellsworth]

Not a lot of folks brewing at that scale around here!

There will always be a sensory impact to lowering alcohol, because alcohol both has a distinct taste and because it affects our perception of other tastes. But keeping most of the taste and body while modestly reducing alcohol isn’t an unreasonable goal.

The standard answer is to mash hot, 160 F. And/or to use yeast that doesn’t ferment maltotriose. Recipe adjustments could be another way to go. If you are up to adding rye, a pound of flaked rye probably contributes more to body than several pounds of base malt. Flaked barley isn’t quite as good as rye, but could still work.

A slightly less established approach, though there’s definitely literature supporting it, is to mash very high, like 170+ F. And/or add maltodextrin.

I’ve been experimenting with adding inulin to beer for body, but there’s virtually no literature on that.

Love your suggestions. Probably because they match what I've been thinking. Though the rye is a new idea. I've got some here. I'll try it next time. As I recall it mashes with a lower temperature so wouldn't produce atenuable sugars at my normal mash for this beer. It seems a combination of normal mash temperature, adding maltodetrin and/or rye while reducing the 2h might be the ticket to keep body and reducing alcohol. Thanks for the suggestions.

BTW. We've a small hostel/cafe so I produce for our clients and we sell some barrels to a couple of local bars. I got the fermenters and a chiller cheap during the pandemic and just went for it. I'm in a country and city with mostly no regulations so I can do what I want.

 

[day_trippr]

I'm in a country and city with mostly no regulations so I can do what I want.

Brigadoon?

Seriously, where is this mythical place? And does it support tourism?

Cheers!