Full flavored, low ABV IPA, need help.

[jaybo]

Ok guys, I have a friend that loves double IPA's but wants to cut back on the amount of alcohol he's drinking. He has tried session IPA's (founders all day IPA, etc) and says they're too light. Is there a way to get the flavor/mouthfeel from a 8+ percent beer into a 4 percent beer without losing too much? He absolutely loves my Zombie Dust clone, but it's a 7% beer. I might experiment with more un-fermentables (flaked oats, flaked barley, etc) in the mash, and see what I can come up with.
Has anyone come up with a recipe that can get me close? Thanks!

 

[shoengine]

Best way would be to drink half as much.

 

[ProblemChild]

I really find that a mid 5% can be done well with MO and Carapils. Add white wheat if you like.

Try this (simple, easy, tasty)

5.5 gallons

9 lb M/O
2 lb Malted White Wheat
.75 lb Carapils

Bitter to 30 IBU with something fairly neutral
Get 15 more IBU at 2 min with Citra

Chill to below 170°F and steep/whirlpool 2.5 oz Mandarina Bavaria and 1.5 oz Citra

Dryhop 3 days with 1.5 oz Mandarina Bavaria and 2.5 oz Citra

WY1056 will do the trick for yeast. 1.25L starter.

 

[jaybo]

Best way would be to drink half as much.

That's the goal. Baby steps...

 

[jaybo]

I really find that a mid 5% can be done well with MO and Carapils. Add white wheat if you like.

Try this (simple, easy, tasty)

5.5 gallons

9 lb M/O
2 lb Malted White Wheat
.75 lb Carapils

Bitter to 30 IBU with something fairly neutral
Get 15 more IBU at 2 min with Citra

Chill to below 170°F and steep/whirlpool 2.5 oz Mandarina Bavaria and 1.5 oz Citra

Dryhop 3 days with 1.5 oz Mandarina Bavaria and 2.5 oz Citra

WY1056 will do the trick for yeast. 1.25L starter.

That looks like it might work! I'm not familiar with the Mandarina Bavaria though. I'll look into them and see if it's the flavor profile I'm looking for. Thanks for the input.

 

[ProblemChild]

That looks like it might work! I'm not familiar with the Mandarina Bavaria though. I'll look into them and see if it's the flavor profile I'm looking for. Thanks for the input.

What flavor profile you are looking for?

This is my summer IPA that has more of an orange-tangerine-citrus thing going on

 

[jaybo]

What flavor profile you are looking for?

This is my summer IPA that has more of an orange-tangerine-citrus thing going on

That's very close to the profile I was going for, but without having used the Mandarina Bavaria, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'll definitely have to try that, and soon.

 

[ProblemChild]

It is the pairing of Mandarina and Citra that makes it work

 

[jaybo]

I WAS gonna give your recipe a go this evening, but it's been one hell of a day. I had to help a friend move into his new apartment, after thinking it was gonna happen tomorrow, and then I saw a high speed chase on the news, only to find out that it was a co-worker that had robbed a bank earlier today. Dude makes 80k a year and does that! Needess to say my head wasnt in it. I don't need to go anywhere near a mash tun, or brew kettle today.

 

[ProblemChild]

I WAS gonna give your recipe a go this evening, but it's been one hell of a day. I had to help a friend move into his new apartment, after thinking it was gonna happen tomorrow, and then I saw a high speed chase on the news, only to find out that it was a co-worker that had robbed a bank earlier today. Dude makes 80k a year and does that! Needess to say my head wasnt in it. I don't need to go anywhere near a mash tun, or brew kettle today.

Sorry to hear about your co-worker.
Most definitely, brewing should be fun - and since you are trying to do somehting well, you should be relaxed before you start.

I have the IPA version of this one on tap right now. Love it. I modded that recipe a while back for a pale and is still quite good.

One change is the addition of Apollo hops. It suits this flavor profile really well, I use that a lot for bittering and late addition as the citrus component is quite good. A little of thisone goes a long way. The beersmith steep/whirlpool for 0 minutes is actually my way of entering a sub-isomerization hop addition (below 170°F so as not to isomerize the alpha acids). I do this for 20 minutes

actual recipe below - 5.75 gallon batch at 72% efficiency

 

[couchsending]

If you want more flavor and body in your low ABV beer a high final gravity will help. Choose a lower attenuating yeast, mash high, and target around say 1.014ish FG. Also adding some
NaCl to your water will help with pallet fullness and potentially amplify flavor a bit. A more characterful base malt like MO (I’m not as big of a fan as I don’t like the biscuity flavor), or Belgian Pale Ale, or Golden Promise is another way to add some depth. As well as some Munich, I believe Easy Jack from FW has 10% Munich.

 

[thehaze]

Choose a flavourful base malt like Maris Otter, Golden Promise, any german / belgian Pale Ale malt or a combination of these and mash higher. Something like 154-156F. Skip the classic bittering addition at 60 minutes and add loads of hops in the last 15 minutes of the boil and perform a whirlpool with a healthy amount of hops ( whirlpool temp. should be below 160F - for me, that's the sweet spot ). Dry hop a bit to brighten up the aroma and you should be OK. IBUs... I would not go over 35 for a smaller beer. Water profile is equally important, so add a bit of sulfate, but make sure you also up the chlorides to taste*.