Making a lite beer

[Fusorfodder]

Ok, so I was listening to the radio and heard an ad for Miller Lite with only 96 calories. It got me wondering what I could make with that restriction and what I could do to trick the drinker into thinking it was a stronger beer. I used an English Mild as a guideline and came up with the following. Anyone familiar with making weaker beers comment on this? Would this taste too thin? I added the Crystal malt for a good malt flavor and the Carapils to make up for body that isn't really there. Any input would be awesome!

3.25 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 65.00 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 20.00 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 10.00 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
0.50 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 7.6 IBU
0.25 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (30 min) Hops 2.9 IBU
0.25 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (10 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.030 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.007
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 2.96 %
Bitterness: 11.8 IBU Calories: 129 cal/pint
Est Color: 19.7 SRM

 

[z987k]

you're probably still going to need to go with a bunch of rice.

 

[Fusorfodder]

I only meant lite as in the calories, not the color. I actually want the color a little darker since that too fools people into thinking a beer is a thicker beer.

 

[gxm]

I only meant lite as in the calories, not the color. I actually want the color a little darker since that too fools people into thinking a beer is a thicker beer.

Speaking of dark lite beers, I'm currently drinking my first homebrewed stout, and it's 3.3% ABV. I based the recipe on JZ's dry stout, and since this was my first partial mash, my efficiency was awful.
My OG was 1.036 & FG was 1.012. However, the beer tastes great. When I took it to work, no one guessed that it was a lite beer.

You could try the same thing, and assuming you can PM for the flaked barley.
2.5# XL DME
1.6# Flaked Barley
0.8# Black Barley

JZ recommends to grind up the Black very fine, with a coffee grinder.
Using 75% efficiency, this should start at 1.031, and if it finishes at 1.008, you'll have a 134 cal/pint lite stout. Or maybe stealth stout.

 

[z987k]

basically a light beer is a low alcohol beer. There's really no way around that, so just keep the alcohol as low as possible while maintaining body.

 

[BigKahuna]

I want in on this thread before Evan's law is invoked!

 

[z987k]

thou whoisth enovkith Evan's law shall be tarred, feathered, beaten, and forced to drink said drink.

 

[eriktlupus]

just so you remember that the 96 cal is for 12 oz not a pint it would be more like 128 cal/pint


and try this if you can lager
7# pilsener
1#rice, flaked
1#corn, flaked
.5oz cascade 60min
.5oz cascade 30min
wlp 820 starter

1.035 og
1.005 fg
150 cal/pint
17.9 ibu
@4% abv

 

[mkade]

beano. it has a debranching enzyme and converts otherwise unfermentable sugars.

 

[Bob]

I'm a huge fan of Mild.

You've hit upon the whole key to brewing good Mild - the drinker should feel as though he's having a real beer, but not be overwhelmed by the flavors. Mild should have caramel sweetness with a hint of roasted malts, just enough bitterness to balance the malts, and - maybe - just the barest hint of hops in the mouth and nose. It should be enough of a beer to let even the beer snob know he's having what he'd call a 'good beer', but easy enough on the system that he can drink three or four Imperial pints and still have a solid snooker game.

The palates of BMC fans will be fooled into thinking it's thick and chewy just by looking at it. It's amazing to me how people still equate color to alcoholic strength and strength of flavor.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[Mutilated1]

just so you remember that the 96 cal is for 12 oz not a pint it would be more like 128 cal/pint


and try this if you can lager
7# pilsener
1#rice, flaked
1#corn, flaked
.5oz cascade 60min
.5oz cascade 30min
wlp 820 starter

1.035 og
1.005 fg
150 cal/pint
17.9 ibu
@4% abv

+1

That will turn out really good, and if you can't lager it'll still be pretty good if you make it with an ale yeast.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I thought Miller was 20% corn?

 

[david_42]

The recipe looks good, although raising the IBUs to ~20 might be a good idea as the Caramel might make it too sweet otherwise. You can also look at Special Dark Bitter recipes. I like making small beers (AKA session beers). I've made porters, bitters, milds, stouts, ryes and schwartzbiers all under 4%.

 

[mew]

Dry stout: simple, lite, and tasty!

 

[uwjester]

I'm also thinking about doing a mild, mostly because my wife won't drink my "hi-cal" beers. She seems to be willing to drink New Belgium's Skinny Dip which claims 112 calories for 12oz. (149 calories/pint). Here is the recipe I am going to be trying (I added the chocolate malt after reading the original post in this thread). I am also adding in a little corn sugar to try and help the yeast attenuate down a little further. It seems to me like that is going to help with the calorie count. Also, I picked the British Ale yeast because white labs claims it has a higher attenuation than the English Ale yeast. I'm hoping to get the FSG down around 1.008 which would put me at 156 calories/pint.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 7.58 gal
Estimated OG: 1.036 SG
Estimated Color: 16.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 20.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 64.74 %
2.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 25.90 %
0.20 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 2.59 %
1.50 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 13.8 IBU
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (10 min) (Aroma Hop-SteeHops -
0.50 lb Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 6.77 %
1 Pkgs British Ale (White Labs #WLP005) [Starter Yeast-Ale

 

[Fusorfodder]

The recipe looks good, although raising the IBUs to ~20 might be a good idea as the Caramel might make it too sweet otherwise. You can also look at Special Dark Bitter recipes. I like making small beers (AKA session beers). I've made porters, bitters, milds, stouts, ryes and schwartzbiers all under 4%.

Sounds like a plan, thanks!