Made My Very First Neer-Beer Last Night...

[Evan!]

Well, I was up until 1am, but I got 7 whole 12oz bottles capped and ready to go. This is my first time doing this. I found a cool article from BYO about how easy it is to dealcoholize your beer...I always thought that the vacuum method that the commercial breweries use was the only way...but then I find out that, since ethyl has a lower boiling point than water, all you need to do is heat your beer to 173.3f for 30 minutes, and it will boil the alcohol out. So that's what I did last night. I took a little over 2 quarts from my Smoked Porter, which is currently in secondary, and stuck it into a 180f oven. Unfortunately, it took a really long time to get from 60f to 180f. So I was up very late. But I tasted a little bit at bottling...not bad. Much better than O'Douls, that's fo sho. The body is lacking now that the alcohol is gone...but this was something that I decided to do after I had already brewed the porter. Next time I do this, I'm going to make sure and add plenty of maltodextrin to the boil to compensate for the lack of alcohol....that's what the BYO article suggested. Not MD in particular, but just some kind of dextrose.

Anyway, if you're interested, here's the directions. It's unbelievably easy, and you can just do a portion of a batch if you want.

 

[debtman7]

I saw that article a while back, I've been contemplating it for a while since my sister is on medication that precludes any alcohol. Glad to know it works

 

[dougjones31]

Why in the world would anybody want to drink beer with the alcohol removed?

If I could not drink alcohol then I would chase other hobbies and drink Iced Tea.

 

[rdwj]

You mean - you made beer - giving life to a beautiful creation.

Then you tortured it stamped out it's soul?

Congrats???

 

[david_42]

Once it has re-carbonated, it will have more body. At standard priming rates, it will still be under 0.5%

 

[Evan!]

Why in the world would anybody want to drink beer with the alcohol removed?

If I could not drink alcohol then I would chase other hobbies and drink Iced Tea.

You mean - you made beer - giving life to a beautiful creation.

Then you tortured it stamped out it's soul?

Congrats???

Yes, congrats.

When I was a young'n (and before that too), my dad was a pretty bad alcoholic (not really a mean drunk, just drank way too much). Runs in our family. His mom was the same way. So about 20 years ago, he joined AA and gave up drinking...and hasn't had a drink since. But he still drinks commercial N/A beer, all of which is just slime. So this is my birthday present to him...I took 10% of one of my batches and made my dad some beer, something that I feel privileged to be able to do for him. I won't be drinking any of this myself...but I don't consider it "stamping out its soul". If my pops can drink some good beer after 20 years of drinking N/A slime, I consider that a good thing.

 

[rdwj]

Yes, congrats.

When I was a young'n (and before that too), my dad was a pretty bad alcoholic (not really a mean drunk, just drank way too much). Runs in our family. His mom was the same way. So about 20 years ago, he joined AA and gave up drinking...and hasn't had a drink since. But he still drinks commercial N/A beer, all of which is just slime. So this is my birthday present to him...I took 10% of one of my batches and made my dad some beer, something that I feel privileged to be able to do for him. I won't be drinking any of this myself...but I don't consider it "stamping out its soul". If my pops can drink some good beer after 20 years of drinking N/A slime, I consider that a good thing.

I probably should have said I was just kidding. Sounds like a very nice thing to do for him

 

[Evan!]

I probably should have said I was just kidding. Sounds like a very nice thing to do for him

no big deal. I just hope a porter isn't gonna be too much after 20 years of the N/A equivalent of BMC.

 

[dougjones31]

Hunt careful...it is not a good idea for an alcoholic to drink any alcohol. It could lead to a relapse.

I knew a guy who used to drink N/A Beer when he was around his friends and family, but he drank it to cover up the fact that he had been out back slamming real beer.

I am not accusing anybody....just making a statement.

 

[Evan!]

doug,

Oh yeah, I know all about it. He's not drinking. His new booze is chocolate . I don't think he even misses it anymore.

 

[Pedro-]

Hunt careful...it is not a good idea for an alcoholic to drink any alcohol. It could lead to a relapse.

I knew a guy who used to drink N/A Beer when he was around his friends and family, but he drank it to cover up the fact that he had been out back slamming real beer.

I am not accusing anybody....just making a statement.

My uncle did the same.

But I have a cousin who quit and he does drink some n/a beer when were all together. It can be done, but there must be a real purpose for it.

I had the same thoughts to make some small batches in the same way. Let us know how it all turns out!

 

[homebrewer_99]

...it is not a good idea for an alcoholic to drink any alcohol. It could lead to a relapse...I knew a guy who used to drink...

...Aquavelva and other forms of aftershave.

 

[Torchiest]

Yes, congrats.

When I was a young'n (and before that too), my dad was a pretty bad alcoholic (not really a mean drunk, just drank way too much). Runs in our family. His mom was the same way. So about 20 years ago, he joined AA and gave up drinking...and hasn't had a drink since. But he still drinks commercial N/A beer, all of which is just slime. So this is my birthday present to him...I took 10% of one of my batches and made my dad some beer, something that I feel privileged to be able to do for him. I won't be drinking any of this myself...but I don't consider it "stamping out its soul". If my pops can drink some good beer after 20 years of drinking N/A slime, I consider that a good thing.

That's really awesome of you. I'm the exact same situation with my dad, and I might try doing something similar for him somewhere down the line.

 

[Ol' Grog]

If you can find it, try St. Paulies Girl NA brew. VERY VERY GOOD. Even suprized me. I found it at Hilton Head South Carolina. Haven't seen it anywhere else.

 

[Torchiest]

While we're on the subject, Paulaner Thomas Brau is really good as well. I highly recommend it. Warsteiner Fresh isn't bad either.

 

[dougjones31]

If you can find it, try St. Paulies Girl NA brew. VERY VERY GOOD. Even suprized me. I found it at Hilton Head South Carolina. Haven't seen it anywhere else.

You like our beautiful state?

 

[Ol' Grog]

Dude, IF I had the money, I'd be sitting right smack in the middle of Hilton Head. This would be my typical day....wake up, eat, walk the beach for about an hour. Get my bike, ride it from the beach area to the Harbour area and eat some to-die-for clam chowder and crab legs. Then head back out on the bike and reach the Hilton Head Island Brewery for some delicious pizza and of course, some brew.
Then head back to my "house" and shower and then head over to the Holiday Inn beach bar for the rest of the evening and pick up chicks.
Pinch me.....I'm DREAMING.

 

[ultraplop]

Yeah I had a friend who was a bad alcoholic and got into a nasty accident while drunk driving so he quit drinking. He would drink that St Pauli NA stuff still and no one thought anything of it. But of course St Pauli makes alcoholic beer too and the only difference is the color of the label and an extra line of text. Everyone thought he was drinking NA, but he secretly switched to the alcoholic stuff and noone knew. He was getting drunk and driving home drunk again and no one knew to try and stop him. I guess they didn't think it odd that he would drink a 6pack of NA all at once, but i guess they eventually figured it out.

So yeah, its definitely easy for people to relapse and drinking NA isn't always the best idea.

 

[dantodd]

Interesting idea, I might make some for my wife, she's currently carrying the next addition to the family and alcohol is not a good idea.

 

[snaproll]

I think this is a great idea and I plan on trying it soon .
Like some, I'm not sure about giving it to a recovering alcoholic .
But I have a freind who for medical reasons can't drink anymore, but he used to brew his own also. He may enjoy this.
Some of you have nixed the idea due to it bing non alcohol, but really, I still drink Caffiene free pop and coffee and enjoy both even without the kick.
People with certain medical conditions needent give up what they have enjoyed in the past they just have to make a bit of an adjustment, and life once again can be at least a bit of what it was before .

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Clausthaller is also a good NA, although I'm quite sure I complete mangled the spelling