Low-Cal "light" Honey-Ale ??

[Mutilated1]

We want to brew a Light style low-calorie Honey Ale for National Honey Month ( Sept ). I want to brew tonight.

Here is what I'm planning.

5 Gallons

4.4 # Light LME
2 # Alabama Wildflower Honey
2 oz Grab-Bag Hops
7.5g Dry Ale Yeast ( BRY96 )

Trying to keep it simple, I was going to boil the honey and 1/2 the hops and add the LME as I was taking it off the heat and add the other 1/2 of the hops at the last minute ( or not just depending on how it looks/smells ).

Few of questions....

1. Do I have to much of anything considering I'm going for low calorie light beer ?

2. Any chance I'll be able to drink some of this in Sept ?

3. Anything else I should consider adding ?

 

[homebrewer_99]

How long is your boil? You'll need about 1 hour to extract the bitterness from them.

 

[BierMuncher]

Few of questions....

1. Do I have to much of anything considering I'm going for low calorie light beer ?

2. Any chance I'll be able to drink some of this in Sept ?

3. Anything else I should consider adding ?

1. Looks like about 150 calories per 12 oz serving (according to BeerSmith)
2. Definitely. Honey takes a while to ferment, but you've got 6-7 weeks before mid Sept. 2-3 weeks in the primary, 10 days in secondary and 3 weeks in bottles and you’re still within your schedule. Doesn’t sound like a beer that needs an excessive amount of conditioning.
3. What’s in your grab bag of hops? 2 Oz in that batch may push you a bit on the bitter side depending on the hops.

 

[Mutilated1]

How long is your boil? You'll need about 1 hour to extract the bitterness from them.

Well I was planning on putting the hops in when I put the pot on the stove, that takes about 20-25 minutes to get to a boil, and I was only planning on boiling it for 10 maybe 15 minutes with the LME/honey in it once it got to a boil. And I was hoping to add most of the LME after the boil.

3. What’s in your grab bag of hops? 2 Oz in that batch may push you a bit on the bitter side depending on the hops.

Unfortunately I do not know exactly whats in the grab-bag of hops. You think 1/2 in the water while it comes to a boil and during the boil, and then 1/2 right at the end will be too much ? I understand the bag of hops is supposed to be 6% AAU or something on the average.

This amount of hops is about half again as big as the last batch of hops I used and I'm going to be using them in the same way. The last batch wasn't that bitter, probably because I followed the same don't boil it too long kind of procedure.

I guess based on what you guys are telling me, that I might only use 1oz of the hops and then just make sure it boils for longer, and save the other oz for another day.

If you dont mind another question...

How much less honey or LME, or more water would I need to adjust to get the recipe down to say 110-120 calories ? My family are light beer drinkers and they wont drink it if its too filling.

 

[BierMuncher]

How much less honey or LME, or more water would I need to adjust to get the recipe down to say 110-120 calories ? My family are light beer drinkers and they wont drink it if its too filling.

4 # of LME and 1 # of honey should get you to an OG of 1.036 and an estimated FG of 1.009 and put you at ~117 calories per 12 Oz serving.

Now...that said...extract recipes are notorious for coming in short of their targets so take it with a grain.

I'm not suggesting you eliminate any hops...I just need to know what they are. A Saaz is going to do a lot less bittering than a Perle.

 

[Willie3]

Here is what I put into Beer Smith

Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.40 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 68.8 %
0.75 oz Ahtanum [6.00%] (45 min) Hops 16.5 IBU
2.00 lb Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 31.3 %
1 Pkgs SafAle German Ale (DCL Yeast #K-97) Yeast-Ale

And this is the results it estimates:

Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.0 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.6 %
Bitterness: 16.5 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 3.2 SRM Color: Color

That is a nice bang for the buck right there. Let me know how it turns out.

- WW

 

[FlyingHorse]

Here is what I put into Beer Smith

Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.40 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 68.8 %
0.75 oz Ahtanum [6.00%] (45 min) Hops 16.5 IBU
2.00 lb Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 31.3 %
1 Pkgs SafAle German Ale (DCL Yeast #K-97) Yeast-Ale

And this is the results it estimates:

Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.0 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.6 %
Bitterness: 16.5 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 3.2 SRM Color: Color

That is a nice bang for the buck right there. Let me know how it turns out.

- WW

Something wrong there...no way that's only 43 cal/pint, or 0.6% ABV. Probably the strange "measured" OG and FG numbers.

 

[Mutilated1]

That is a nice bang for the buck right there. Let me know how it turns out.

Sure will. Especially nice bang for the buck considering its all being made out of leftovers that I didn't manage to use somehow.

 

[Mutilated1]

OK I just everything cooked and in the fermenter, my Starting gravity was 1044

I was concerned that it wasn't high enough, but since I'm going for "light" I decided to just let it go at that and cross my fingers.

I let it boil a lot longer than usual, and used two ounces of hops just judging by the taste and smell its not going to be too much.

 

[Ó Flannagáin]

I just noticed you had no grains, isn't this gonna taste kinda... well, plain?

 

[Mutilated1]

I just noticed you had no grains, isn't this gonna taste kinda... well, plain?

Possibly, some people would think so. So far I've liked all the beers I've made with just extract only.

 

[Mutilated1]

Well I'm going to bottle some beer tonight and put the honey ale in the secondary. I'm pretty sure the fermentation has been done for a couple of days now.

I think possibly I did a better job controlling the temperature with this beer, because it tastes a bit better than my previous batches. Maybe I'm getting better at this. Or possibly its just the fact that I used a different kind of yeast that I've not tried before.

 

[Mutilated1]

I tasted the first carbed and chilled one of these last night, it turned out really well. I think lately I've developed a taste for more hoppy/bitter beers so if I make it again I'm going to try it with some more or stronger hops. Overall I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, I'm surprised that it didn't taste as much like honey as I was expecting it to though.

 

[Yooper]

I'm glad it turned out so well! Honey doesn't really impart a honey taste to beer, since it ferments out.

Next time if you want more honey taste, try steeping some honey malt first and then doing your boil. I've never done this as I don't care for sweetness or honey flavor in beer, but others have and said it was really good!

 

[MikeRLynch]

I've done this recipe almost exactly, having never read this post I used 3 lbs light DME, 2 lbs clover honey, 1.5 oz cascades, and changed it up a little with 1 oz sweet orange peel and 1 oz crushed coriander seed, also used nottingham dry yeast.

My previous honey beer used an additional lb of honey, but it fermented out way to dry. It was at least at .995. Anyone deal with this before with honey? I'm thinking I'll try to backsweeten if it gets too low, but I don't want bottle bombs.

mike

 

[broomdalf]

Depending on what kind of honey was used (how light/dark it is) will have an effect on the honey flavor in the beer, with darker being more pronounced. Boiling the honey will also reduce the floral esters, destroying some of the flavor. If you want more flavor, mix the honey with some water and add it to the wort after the boil. If you're worried about contamination from yeast/bacteria in the honey, campden tablet or pasteurize it, but boiling is overkill.

Furthermore, nearly 100% of the sugars in honey are highly fermentable, and will likely ferment before the maltose in the extract.