Making good beer from N/A beers

[Rend]

hello everyone
i live in a "dry" country and i been making beer for a number of years now from n/a beers if you can call it that cause they don't actually ferment them they just make the wort, carbonate it and then bottle it. although they make it with real malt and hops (not extracts) but because it will not gonna be fermented they make it with low sugar levels. the brand im using has around 20gr per liter (written in the back of the bottle not sure if its accurate). so if you ferment that you will get around 1% abv which sucks so to make it more i add around 70-80 gr of white sugar per liter to make it around 5-6%.

but the taste...is easy to drink it and it goes down smoothly but its feels really dry and thin and doesn't have any mouthfeel. i wasn't really concern with the taste (we mostly chugg it in some corner or someone car ) until recently my buddy got me a box of heineken cans as a gift. that was game changer man i never knew what real beer taste like and i really enjoyed it while it last. after i drink all of it and had to go back to my own stuff i was like wtf is this i am not drinking this is terrible sooo thats why am here sorry for boring you with the long post but do you guys any have suggestion to make it better???

keep in mind that i cant boil stuff more then a 2-3 of liters (small stove and i dont have big pots) but i have access to hops (but not a lot cause its expensive) roasted barley and i might get my hands on some home made malt maybe even on some of those dark chocolatey ones if i am lucky

much appreciated

 

[bracconiere]

home malting isn't that hard. do you have a livestock feed store around? you'd need access to bags of whole barley for malting.

as far as your N/A conversion, could try boiling some rice to add 'some' body to it. or just steep the rice in hot water just below the gelling temp...add your sugar.

Do you have access to amylase enzymes? you obviously have the internet...

edit: also be a good idea to check out the cider forum here....

 

[RPh_Guy]

I'm confused, why don't you just brew beer yourself?

You can make 1 gal batches in the stove with minimal investment, extract or all grain.

You can order supplies online.

 

[bracconiere]

i live in a "dry" country

not sure if morebeer ships to saudi arabia, or the like.....

( i believe the punishment for having a beer after work is flogging also)

 

[RPh_Guy]

Thanks @bracconiere
Sorry, I misread. If you did mean "country", I could see how supplies like malted barley or barley malt extract would be difficult to obtain.

Still, as mentioned by @bracconiere you can malt your own barley, or you can make wine/mead/cider since you can still get honey and juice. ... Or you could make liquor by distilling any fermented sugar. Not that I condone any illegal activities, of course.

I've made wine out of candy, raisins, and bread yeast... It wasn't great though, but maybe by adjusting some things it could be good.

 

[bracconiere]

I've made wine out of candy, raisins, and bread yeast... It wasn't great though, but maybe by adjusting some things it could be good.

lol, he was adding sugar to N/A beer...said he just didn't like the mouthfeel, and Heineken was great. i'm sure raisins would be 'premium'..no offense to Original Poster....

And i've also made Wheat germ sugar washes, that i've drank straight, mixed with coke. But i think we could both agree Cider is the winner in this type of situation....

 

[Rend]

home malting isn't that hard. do you have a livestock feed store around? you'd need access to bags of whole barley for malting.

as far as your N/A conversion, could try boiling some rice to add 'some' body to it. or just steep the rice in hot water just below the gelling temp...add your sugar.

Do you have access to amylase enzymes? you obviously have the internet...

edit: also be a good idea to check out the cider forum here....

-yes i have access to raw barley but i don't have a oven and the burner on my stove is small and i cant boil any thing more then a couple of liters . i should have this earlier this is budget operation i just moves out my parents house and dont wanna spend a lot of money for equipment

-could you explain a little more

-i think i could find some

thanks

 

[Rend]

not sure if morebeer ships to saudi arabia, or the like.....

( i believe the punishment for having a beer after work is flogging also)

i am not in SA but i cant order from most of these sites cause of sanctions also i presume shipping cost its too high

yes 80 lashes for first and second time you are caught death penalty for the third time

but they don't really inforce it any more and even if you get caught you could just bribe them and they let you go

 

[Rend]

I'm confused, why don't you just brew beer yourself?

You can make 1 gal batches in the stove with minimal investment, extract or all grain.

You can order supplies online.

Thanks @bracconiere
Sorry, I misread. If you did mean "country", I could see how supplies like malted barley or barley malt extract would be difficult to obtain.

Still, as mentioned by @bracconiere you can malt your own barley, or you can make wine/mead/cider since you can still get honey and juice. ... Or you could make liquor by distilling any fermented sugar. Not that I condone any illegal activities, of course.

I've made wine out of candy, raisins, and bread yeast... It wasn't great though, but maybe by adjusting some things it could be good.

1gal doesn't gonna cut it i make two 5 gallon batches each month and still get short sometimes.

yes i did mean country what did you though i mean?

for now i'm trying to make the beer ok if didn't work i might try cider (i have made it before)

 

[Rend]

lol, he was adding sugar to N/A beer...said he just didn't like the mouthfeel, and Heineken was great. i'm sure raisins would be 'premium'..no offense to Original Poster....

And i've also made Wheat germ sugar washes, that i've drank straight, mixed with coke. But i think we could both agree Cider is the winner in this type of situation....

why is Heineken a shi ty beer? compring to what i make its sure tasted good
and i don't just dislike the mouthfeel. i don't really like anything about it except the alcohol and how easy it is to drink it (comparing to hard liquors)

 

[RPh_Guy]

yes i did mean country what did you though i mean?

Misread it as county. We have some "dry counties" here in the US.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Blink three times if you're in Alabama.

Seriously, google "prison hooch" and go from there. If you thought heineken was great, you might could use just about any grain as a starting point and if you can get amylase enzyme, turn that grain into fermentable sugars. How is it again you can get hops? Imho, hops are not totally necessary to make something drinkable. Try wines and meads, and experiment with date syrup as a fermentable sugar along with honey. Good luck brother, and be careful.

 

[FatDragon]

The reason many people here consider Heineken and the like to be crappy beer is because we have access to endless varieties of beer. Heineken is very low in flavor compared to many of the beers we can buy or make. There's nothing wrong with a beer like that stylistically, but it's not very interesting to experienced craft beer drinkers.

Be careful with anything alcohol-related, whether brewing or consuming. Extreme laws like that are often enforced by occasionally making an example of someone rather than nabbing every offender. Just because most people get away with it doesn't mean nobody gets the lashes or worse. Keep it on the down-low as much as you can. Beer's nice, but it's not worth risking life and limb.

 

[bracconiere]

Beer's nice, but it's not worth risking life and limb.

hmmm...

-yes i have access to raw barley but i don't have a oven and the burner on my stove is small and i cant boil any thing more then a couple of liters . i should have this earlier this is budget operation i just moves out my parents house and dont wanna spend a lot of money for equipment

-could you explain a little more

-i think i could find some

thanks

i'll post my pictorial on how i malt when i get back from work today. you would need a cooler though. but i've gotten away with not boiling my rice beer, and just dry hopping...

(sorry if this doesn't sound coherent still on my morning coffee)

 

[bracconiere]

just so you know, this would have been a typical batch for me a few years back, the "Flaked, wheat" was actually just a bag of white flour thrown into the mash...was a lot better then most people here would give it credit for....

you wouldn't need the enzyme, it just makes it light beer....and as stated above, you could just dry hop it...

 

[bracconiere]

So here goes a pictorial of how I malt whole barley from the feed store...

Starts with a soak in the spare tub, really anything you can drain, and keep in thin and wet in will work. Soak it for 1-2 hours, then drain. Give it 1 5-10 min soak everyday after that. (Don't listen to them saying soak it overnight, i always get rotten kernels that way. And give it a stir once a day also, to keep the rootlets loose)

Then when the acrospires are mostly just showing themselves out of the husks, usually 3-4 days... Drying is the next step. This is how I do it.

(Those are sweater drying racks, with a box fan blowing on the barley sprouts. Do this until kernels are fairly hard to the squeeze, usually 2 days)

With this next step you'd have to get creative, I've heard of people using light bulbs in boxes to do this. But I have an oven.

(12 hours at ~150f-200f, depending on what kind of beer your making)

Then comes the PITA part! Deculming...Agitate the now bone dry kernels till the rootlets break off. Then pass it back and forth in front of said box fan, till it blows clean. You now have malt!


edit: I should say that's 20lbs of finished malt. Enough for a 10 gal batch.

You can find all kinds of ways to make a desert syrup with it on this site, and NEVER EVER add yeast to it!

I don't know any other way to make beer if you can't buy malt....

 

[Rend]

@bracconiere: thank u very much sir. i thought it was way harder to do it. i would definitely give it go when i got the equipment to use malt (a big stove and a condenser) . still need to buy or make some equipments but that light bulb in the box was a great idea and also the dry hop thing didn't know you could do that.

but can i use it now with my current setup?

(i buy n/a beer from store which are in 1 liter bottle and the i dissolve and boil the sugar in couple liter of n/a beer itself and then cool it with ice bucket and add it to the 20 gal water jug with rest of the stuff and then add the yeast which i have rehydrate it and i boil couple of crushed brewer yeast tablet for yeast nutrition which is something i heard don't know if it has any effect (i was surprise when i find them they are made in us and they sell them for gaining weight) and put airlock and wait around three weeks and 2 weeks more if carbonate them and of course sanitize everything with betadine - and sometimes i after the primary fermentation i siphon the beer into a second container)

and what a about the rice thing you said? when should i do it or how considering my process ?

thank u

 

[bracconiere]

@bracconiere: thank u very much sir. i thought it was way harder to do it. i would definitely give it go when . still need to buy or make some equipments but that light bulb in the box was a great idea and also the dry hop thing didn't know you could do that.

glad i could help, keep me posted on what you come up with that works for you.

 

[Rend]

How is it again you can get hops?

it used for medicine purposes i think they make tea with it

prison hooch

that looks horrific but good info if i endup prison

 

[bracconiere]

i think they make tea with it

lol, (with no artificial sweeteners)

 

[bracconiere]

@bracconiere: thank u very much sir. i thought it was way harder to do it. i would definitely give it go when i got the equipment to use malt (a big stove and a condenser) . still need to buy or make some equipments but that light bulb in the box was a great idea and also the dry hop thing didn't know you could do that.

but can i use it now with my current setup?

(i buy n/a beer from store which are in 1 liter bottle and the i dissolve and boil the sugar in couple liter of n/a beer itself and then cool it with ice bucket and add it to the 20 gal water jug with rest of the stuff and then add the yeast which i have rehydrate it and i boil couple of crushed brewer yeast tablet for yeast nutrition which is something i heard don't know if it has any effect (i was surprise when i find them they are made in us and they sell them for gaining weight) and put airlock and wait around three weeks and 2 weeks more if carbonate them and of course sanitize everything with betadine - and sometimes i after the primary fermentation i siphon the beer into a second container)

and what a about the rice thing you said? when should i do it or how considering my process ?

thank u

that post grew! i'll have to wait till' the suns up for me, but as far as mouthfeel and rice. just cook some rice and add the leftover water to your beer, before adding the yeast...

 

[dwhite60]

Think I would be making mead. Costs more but easier to get what you need to make it.

Think I heard about date wine once. I know you can make raisin wine.

I once made a "mead ale". Apparently the British used to make it for the India back in the 1800's market. Rumour has it there was once a mutiny because the latest allotment got delayed and the troops were upset.

From Dave Miller's "The Complete Handbook of Home Brewing".

For ~5 gallons
6 pounds honey
6 AAU hops
Ale yeast
1/2 cup corn sugar for priming. I'd just use honey.

Boil honey and hops together in four gallons of water for one hour.

You will need to add something to this for the yeast to eat as honey has almost no nutrients for the yeast. You could actually boil a couple packs of bread yeast in the brew.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[bracconiere]

Think I would be making mead. Costs more but easier to get what you need to make it.

Think I heard about date wine once. I know you can make raisin wine.

All the Best,
D. White

he said he's made cider. i think he likes beer, wants to make his own....

 

[Saunassa]

How about a braggot using honey, hops and the NA instead of water?

 

[bracconiere]

i had another idea about improving motuhfeel...you could make a small amount of crystal malt, and do a partial mash with some....

 

[Mumathomebrew]

We used to be given malt extract as children for cold prevention. It might still be available for that in chemists. Some extract might boost mouthfeel. Ours used to have cod liver oil in as well so I'm not sure that could help beer flavours but it might not hinder. Make sure the chemist doesn't clock you buying gallons of it and wonder why.

 

[bracconiere]

@Rend have any luck with malting or anything? progress at all?

 

[Rend]

@bracconiere hello sir!
then i thought i skip malting until i build a mash tun but i made crystal malt though from malt i got from a friend to use for steeping, but now it looks like i don't need to do any maltin. i found a legal site selling a all kind extracts and malts and special malt under the label of "Islamic Brewing" they have kits, hops even oak chips but unfortunately no yeast

and after experimenting with a lot of stuff from steeping roasting Barley and crystal malt, ME and Maltodextrin with no real satisfying result (although a lot better from what i started with) i think the fault lies on the bread yeast.

for my last batch which is not done yet i tried a couple of things to minimize its effects:

first thing i did which i think it might make a bigger impact was to make a starter and just keeping the yeast and then throwing out the beer on top which contains the off flavors of the side products and also i moved the beer (rack) after primary fermentation into secondary fermenter to separate it from the yeast cake

what do you think?

 

[bracconiere]

i've tried using baker's yeast, it doesn't flocculate...(settle out) but if you can get just one pack of ale yeast, you can repitch it almost indefinitely......