Low/Alcohol Free Lager

[nev7n]

Hi,
does anyone know if it is possible to homebrew low or alcohol free lager? Had a look around the net and haven't found anything. From what I understand of how commercial breweries do this they brew the lager normally and then remove the alcohol afterwards.

Thanks,
nev7n.

 

[david_42]

You can do the same thing by heating your beer to 172F and boiling off the alcohol.

 

[GloHoppa]

couldnt you also freeze it? I mean this is theoretical but could you freeze it and pull off the liquid since the alcohol won't freeze?

 

[BierMuncher]

You can do the same thing by heating your beer to 172F and boiling off the alcohol.

I did that once. Turned out "okay".

The trick is to do it with a lighter, lower hopped ale because boiling off te alcohol will also drive off a lot of hop aroma.

Essentially, you take a completed beer (before carbing of course) and return it to the kettle. Heat it up to and hold it at...172 degrees for about 45 minutes. This is sufficient heat to drive off the alcohol...leaving behind the remainder of the ingredients.

 

[RodfatherX]

hmm.........huff the vapors coming out of the kettle did ya muncher?

 

[Donasay]

what you really need to do is collect those vapors and condense them into a liquid, then drink that liquid. I don't know what you would call that liquid though.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

couldnt you also freeze it? I mean this is theoretical but could you freeze it and pull off the liquid since the alcohol won't freeze?

Not really. The ice you pull out will have very little flavor, but the stuff left behind will be rather concentrated. The process is called freeze distilling and is technically illegal in most locales.

 

[GloHoppa]

Not really. The ice you pull out will have very little flavor, but the stuff left behind will be rather concentrated. The process is called freeze distilling and is technically illegal in most locales.

hm interesting. i could have sworn i read somewhere that there was a type of doppelbock that got its unusually high abv by this process...it was probably wikipedia though, so that might have been my first mistake

 

[BierMuncher]

hm interesting. i could have sworn i read somewhere that there was a type of doppelbock that got its unusually high abv by this process...it was probably wikipedia though, so that might have been my first mistake

No...you're right. What Yuri is saying is that if you harvest only the ice...you end up with essentially...water.

Ice brewed beers do the opposite. Freeze the beer until crystals of ice form...remove the ice crystals (and discard). Repeat until the desired concentration is achieved. Since alcohol has a much lower freeze point, you're essentially distilling the beer to a higher concentration.

 

[Scimmia]

No...you're right. What Yuri is saying is that if you harvest only the ice...you end up with essentially...water.

Ice brewed beers do the opposite. Freeze the beer until crystals of ice form...remove the ice crystals (and discard). Repeat until the desired concentration is achieved. Since alcohol has a much lower freeze point, you're essentially distilling the beer to a higher concentration.

There's a limit, though, to how much you can remove before it becomes illegal. I don't remember what that limit is, though.

 

[bringitonhome]

what you really need to do is collect those vapors and condense them into a liquid, then drink that liquid. I don't know what you would call that liquid though.

resident Appalachians, any help here? :cross:

 

[FlyingHorse]

hm interesting. i could have sworn i read somewhere that there was a type of doppelbock that got its unusually high abv by this process...it was probably wikipedia though, so that might have been my first mistake

You're thinking of eisbock, I think
http://www.germanbeerinstitute.com/Eisbock.html
http://***********/recipe/1450.html
http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style05.html#1d
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/style/36/