Low ABV summer (lawnmower) beer recipe/ingredient ideas

[tennesseean_87]

It's been a while since I've done this, but I posted a recipe for a session saison that I've brewed quite a few times. Since 3711 attenuates so well, I go for low OG and high mash with some pretty flavorful malts. You could sub Belle Saison, too. Probably similar idea to the patersbier, but darker.

Something else I did last year that will probably be an annual summer beer is Berliner Weiss. I mashed Pils, 30% wheat, and I think some flaked oats, soured in an old, scratched fermenter near 120 until tart (about a week in my case), boiled 15 min (literally 1 hop pellet/gallon), then fermented with US-05. It wasn't as sour as a true berliner, but the kicker was adding a bunch of citrus zest at flameout of the priming solution at bottling time. I used orange, lime, and lemon, and it blended well with the tartness of the beer beautifully. At 2.5%, it was a real quaffer!

I am going to try a couple of low ABV beers for the summer. First will be a rye/wheat with Nelson Sauvin at FO. This is extremely low abv at 2.8% but wit good mouthfeel being reported. The other is the Patersbier being discussed currently. The LHBS had no Trappist liquid yeast but I did pick up a pack of Danstar Abbaye dry that the owner said should work ok. We shall see.

I've used T-58 yeast which has a decent Belgian profile but is lower attenuating--perfect for trying to get a session beer's lower ABV and keeping the body intact.

I just brewed this but subbed in Mosaic for the final hop additions

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=449595

Post#94

Just FYI, you can click the little 94 in the corner of the post and it'll open up a separate page for just that post. It's nice to use in situations like this so you can link directly to the post you want.

 

[ktblunden]

I brewed a Scottish 60-/ that's a perfect lawnmower beer. 3.1% and malty, but very dry and refreshing.

OG 1.032
IBU 12
SRM 13

5 lb 8 oz Golden Promise
8 oz C60
6 oz C120
4 oz C40
2 oz Chocolate Malt

.65 oz EKG 4.8% @ 60

WLP005 British Ale

Mash at 158° for 60 min

Ferment at 64°F

Mine fermented out and dropped crystal clear in 6 days. Fastest I've ever gone grain to glass.

I have that one and BM's Centennial Blonde on tap right now and they're both fantastic for the hot weather.

 

[Tobinn]

I've been using rye quite a bit over the last year - I love it - but I've not seen any ABVs below 5.2 from what I've brewed. I've called low alcohol beers small beers but, after a little search on the Googlebox I see that Session Beer is the same thing. I too am interested in small beer brewing because, like the starter of this thread, I've come in from mowing, edging, leaf blowing, power washing the house and the driveway, applying my "keep the palmetto bugs out" solution and some weed preventor, took in a couple of Saisons, felt an odd breeze, looked down and am now wondering where the hell my pants are...Anyway, I quite like this thread and plan on trying out some of these small beers as soon as I sober up...So thanks to everyone who's posted. Wonderful discussion!

 

[z-bob]

I bought a couple of pounds of caramel wheat and caramel rye malt last year because it sounded interesting. Haven't used it yet 'cause I'm not sure what it's good for. Maybe for adding character and body to a small beer?

BTDT with the pants

 

[Nichols2127]

When I think about Lawnmower beer a low ABV Kolsch comes to mind. My all time favorite beer. Recipes all over the place but just simple 90% pilsner and maybe a little Munich or a small amount of wheat. That's it. 60 minute 1 oz Hallertau or any other German Noble hop and 1 more about the 30 minute mark. Hit it with a Kolsch yeast and ferment at 63-64. 2 weeks fermentation then cold crash 2 weeks. Transfer to keg and while still cold crashing hit it with about 16 psi of gas for a week at about 38 degrees. Easy peasy and a delicious result!! Good Luck.

 

[Olaf_Deathbringer]

I use Maris Otter for lawnmower beers. You can crank out 4% beers that still have awesome malt character. 3.5% shouldn't be a problem either.

 

[shoreman]

Petite saisons, grissette, bitter, mild - look to England & Belgium for your sub 4% beers. It's about 90% of my recipes these days.

 

[Khelmstetter]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned any sours for lawn mower beers. Maybe it's just me, I was raised with a constant source of lemonade in the summer.

Anyways, I make a Berliner Weisse that is 3.6% abv, medium-light bodied, and with a flavorful but extremely clean tartness to it. Credit to Devil's Backbone "Berliner Metro Weisse"

3.8lb German Pilsner
3.8lb white wheat
4 oz acidulated
4 oz flaked barley
Rice hulls if your into that sorta thing

Mashed at 148 @15min, 152 @45min
No hops, 10 minute boil
Sour with wyeast 5335 (L Brevis), WL 677 (L delbrukii), and if you have a whole foods, toss in a shot of mango goodbelly probiotics ( L Plantarum). Kettle sour for 2 days.
Reboil for 60 min, Saaz hops: 1oz @ 60, 0.5 @ 20, 0.5 @5.
Pitch with German yeast WY1007, or just 2 packs of S-05. The acidity makes this wort a little more inhospitable, treat it like a high gravity and overpitch.

The key is to pitch clean tasting bugs, and attenuate like a beast to keep this as clean as possible. For any light bodied low abv beer, any slight mistake will show up. Cheers!

 

[Jim311]

I just brewed this one, and it's been a crowd pleaser amongst those who do not have an affinity for hoppy brews, and for me when I want something light and cold on a hot day. To me it doesn't taste like a Mexican lager at all, more like a macrobrew with better flavor.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WPL940 (Mexi Lager)
Yeast Starter: No
Batch Size (Gallons): 11
Original Gravity: 1.053
Final Gravity: 1.010
IBU: 15.3
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 3.3 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7 Days 52 Deg
Additional Fermentation: Lower temp 5 Deg/day till 32 Deg Lager for 6 weeks
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 6 days 62Deg

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Boil Size: 14.07 gal
Estimated OG: 1.053 SG
Estimated Color: 3.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes


Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7 lbs 12.8 oz Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 39.0 %
7 lbs 12.8 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 39.0 %
4 lbs 6.4 oz Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 22.0 %
2.10 oz Liberty [4.30%] (60 min) Hops 15.3 IBU
1.20 oz Liberty [4.30%] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep)Hops -
2 Pkgs Mexican Lager (White Labs #WLP940) (I actually used a 1/2 gallon starter that I stepped up from 1 vial)


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 20.00 lb
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 7.60 gal of water at 159.3 F 140.0 F 45 min
Step Bring temp up to 152.0 F 152.0 F 60 min

Primary fermentation: 7 days at 52 degrees
Diacetyl rest: 6 days at 62 degrees
Secondary/Lagering: bring temp down 5deg/day until 32 degrees is reached and lager for 6 weeks.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=30885

 

[kristiismean]

my summer "low abv" beer is a simple, and it's good, not OMG, not GOTTA have it, but a good hot day boating beer.
5 lbs 2 row, 1 lbs corn sugar
2.5 ML hop oil for bittering
1 oz citra flame out
1 oz citra 5 days
us-05

 

[bobeer]

I dig the centennial blonde that's on here. I do up the ibu slightly as well has dry hop it though. I've used Belgian ale yeast in it too without the dry hop and that also is a nice summer sipper.

One of my favorites is a kumquat wheat pale ale.
3.75 lbs Pale malt (41%)
4.6 lbs malted wheat (50%)
13 oz munich 20L (9%)

.25 oz amarillo @ 60 min
.5 oz amarillo @ 15 min
.75 oz amarillo @ 3 min
.75 oz amarillo @ Flameout
us 05/wlp001/etc...

2 lbs who Kumquats (about 48 or so) in secondary/in keg

OG: 1.052
FG: 1.010
IBU: 21
SRM: 52
ABV: 5.6%

mash @ 152 F for 60 min
prepare kumquats by slicing in half and remove the seeds. Allow 7-10 days of secondary (in keg or carboy) before serving/bottling.

You can dryhop with citra or more amarillo and leave out the kumquats, too, if you don't dig on fruit beers. Kumquats are very tart thus making this beer a very nice one to enjoy on a hot summer day.

 

[VipperOfVipp]

I brewed a Scottish 60-/ that's a perfect lawnmower beer. 3.1% and malty, but very dry and refreshing.

OG 1.032
IBU 12
SRM 13

5 lb 8 oz Golden Promise
8 oz C60
6 oz C120
4 oz C40
2 oz Chocolate Malt

.65 oz EKG 4.8% @ 60

WLP005 British Ale

Mash at 158° for 60 min

Ferment at 64°F

Mine fermented out and dropped crystal clear in 6 days. Fastest I've ever gone grain to glass.

I have that one and BM's Centennial Blonde on tap right now and they're both fantastic for the hot weather.

I was looking to make a Scottish ale for summer. What keg pressure do you carbonate them too and what serving temp?

I know usually they are warmer (55 degrees) and 1-1.5 vol of Co2, but didn't know if that changed when serving for summer.

Thanks for sharing the recipe!

 

[goldenknotslim]

To avoid fizzy water try mashing hotter e.g. 154 and try about 5 percent Carafoam. That will normally work for converting an existing recipe to a lighter version. Lower ABV with better body and head retention.

 

[hbhudy]

I agree with the idea of Belgian Table beer.. For mine I try to go 50-50 Pils and Vienna and use Perle hops.. Yeast is either WLP530 or Wyeast Abbey.. Mash high at around 155.. I also like a summer saison with Lemon and Grains Of Paradise.. This one gets Pils- Vienna- FlakedWheat at 70-20-10% ratio and use French Saison yeast.. Mash high at 158 as th yeast will eat everything no matter what..

 

[Norselord]

Have you considered a Berliner Weisse?
Here is my take on the style. The tartness adds a very refreshing character that is supported by the Mandarina Bavaria hops. This comes in at a shallow 3.3% ABV.

60% German Wheat Malt
30% German 2-Row Pilsener Malt
6% Carapils
4% Acid Malt
30 minute Mandarina Bavaria addition to get 6.5 IBU
5 minute Mandarina Bavaria addition to get 1.5 IBU
Pitch WLP630 - Berliner Weisse Blend and ferment between 65F and 70F depending on the amount of phenolic you want.

1.030 OG
1.005 FG
3.3% ABV
8 IBU

 

[Morrey]

Have you considered a Berliner Weisse?
Here is my take on the style. The tartness adds a very refreshing character that is supported by the Mandarina Bavaria hops. This comes in at a shallow 3.3% ABV.

60% German Wheat Malt
30% German 2-Row Pilsener Malt
6% Carapils
4% Acid Malt
30 minute Mandarina Bavaria addition to get 6.5 IBU
5 minute Mandarina Bavaria addition to get 1.5 IBU
Pitch WLP630 - Berliner Weisse Blend and ferment between 65F and 70F depending on the amount of phenolic you want.

1.030 OG
1.005 FG
3.3% ABV
8 IBU

Absolutely! I tend to forget the Gose styles I make and keep on tap year round are quite low ABV% . Great point. Mandarina Bavaria sounds interesting....new hop to me.

 

[ChemistBrewer]

I like the Kentucky Common, Centennial blond is also a good one.

 

[Rush]

I've never made a "lawnmower beer" like this before, so I figured this would be a great time to use some 34/70 dry lager yeast I've got stashed.

What does everyone think of this recipe? Trying to keep it relatively simple, but still flavorful. Trying to aim for a lawnmower Oktoberfest-ish style beer.

5.5G batch
Original Gravity: 1.038
Final Gravity: 1.007
ABV (standard): 4.07%
IBU (tinseth): 21.51
SRM (morey): 3.35

Fermentables
Amount Fermentable PPG °L Bill %
5 lb American - Pale 2-Row 37 1.8 66.7%
2 lb German - Vienna 37 4 26.7%
0.5 lb American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt) 33 1.8 6.7%
7.5 lb Total

Hops
Amount Variety Type AA Use Time IBU
1 oz Tettnanger Pellet 4 Boil 60 min 16.91
0.75 oz Tettnanger Pellet 4 Boil 10 min 4.6