non-alcoholic beer

[Orfy]

Okay, heres a goofball idea.

Non-Alcoholic beer. The stuff I've tasted before taste like bean juice.

Brew a good ale as normal.
Simmer it drive of the Alcohol (now if it was legal you could collect and save but thats a no no.)
Then keg and force carb it.

Would it work? Would it taste like crap or bean juice?

 

[RichBrewer]

Okay, heres a goofball idea.

Non-Alcoholic beer. The stuff I've tasted before taste like bean juice.

Brew a good ale as normal.
Simmer it drive of the Alcohol (now if it was legal you could collect and save but thats a no no.)
Then keg and force carb it.

Would it work? Would it taste like crap or bean juice?

It may work but what's the point? I've never tasted a near beer that was any good. I think the alcohol is pretty important to the flavor profile.
Then again maybe if a good quality beer, not BMC, is made non alcoholic it might be pretty good.
You could try a small test batch. Just be sure not to oxygenate the beer. What does that amount of heat do to finished beer???

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Supposedly beer as we know it tastes good above 2%ABV. That being said, I had Paulaner near-heffe in Prague last year and it tasted really nice. Maybe the choice of style of near-beer could help with the taste?

 

[Orfy]

Well there's a couple of reasons I would consider it.

1. Could have a few pint on a Sunday afternoon and not be stuck at home because I can't drive.
2. I can prolong the life of my liver.
3. I can drink and not worry about brewing with boiling wort.
4. I can offer it to guest who are driving.

 

[Chairman Cheyco]

Well there's a couple of reasons I would consider it.

1. Could have a few pint on a Sunday afternoon and not be stuck at home because I can't drive.
2. I can prolong the life of my liver.
3. I can drink and not worry about brewing with boiling wort.
4. I can offer it to guest who are driving.

Well, I have brewed a few English milds that come in at about 3-4%. I like them because I can drink them all day and still put-out if I have to. Totally de-alc'd beer may be tricky.

 

[Evan!]

I've done it before. As to the "point" of it, my pops has been sober for almost 20 years, and he drinks nothing but nasty commercial near beer...which always always always tastes skunked. Nasty! I could see other uses too, but it's obviously limited.

So I made him some for his birthday. I took about 84oz from my Smoked Porter while it was still in secondary, followed the directions, added a pinch of dry yeast and the right amount of priming sugar, and bottled as normal. He loved it. He was thrilled, because he said that that was the one thing he really missed about not drinking beer---the dark, roasty brews. He's asked me to make more...which I'm more than happy to do.

Anyway, I wouldn't do it for myself, but it's great for former alcoholics who don't drink, or people who are driving. It's pretty simple. You just put it in an ovenproof crockpot, put it in the oven, heat it to 180f for 30 mins, and since alcohol has alower boiling point than water, it boils out perfectly. Yes, you get a TINY bit of alcohol back from the bottle carbonating, but it's not much more than the nominal amount in commercial near-beer.

Here are the directions I followed.

 

[zoebisch01]

Actually I was wondering about making something like Malta...althoug I am guessing it has to be either force carbonated or pasteurized or something?

 

[Orfy]

Cool.

It wasn't that goofball then. I think I may try a brew sometime.

 

[Evan!]

Cool.

It wasn't that goofball then. I think I may try a brew sometime.

The cool thing about it is that you don't have to do the whole batch. You can do like I did and just try a portion of it. In fact, if it's your first attempt, I wouldn't recommend converting the whole batch on your first go-round. You might not like it at all, and then you have an entire ruined batch.

 

[Orfy]

Good idea.

I have a soda stream so may try to carb it with that to test 36oz or so and I can do a side by side taste.

 

[david_42]

One big problem with heating (mentioned in the article) is the loss of hop flavors & aromas. In theory, dry hopping afterwards would be ok.

 

[Orfy]

So how about doing a hop addition at the begining of the heating and at the end for flavour and aroma? Strain then force carb?

 

[RichBrewer]

So how about doing a hop addition at the begining of the heating and at the end for flavour and aroma? Strain then force carb?

Sounds like you've got a plan! You could very well be onto something. The next great beverage to come out of England!

 

[Orfy]

Hey and then!!!!!!!!!

The naughty stuff that condenses off the lid will be upto 96% pure alcohol.....I could then take the non-alcoholic beer and add it at will to give a beer of 0% to any strength I want on demand at point of serving.

 

[D*Bo]

Sweet!
I was thinking about this a week or two ago. Looks like it will work.

I know it's common practice in several countries to switch to near beer when they start getting a little to buzzed.

Could come in handy when going somewhere that you have to drive home from, or those nights you feel like having a few, but don't want to get drunk.

 

[Coastarine]

Bumping this thread because I got a PM asking about NA beer from someone whose inbox is full. Also, here is an updated functioning link to the BYO article: Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine - Brew A Great Non-Alcoholic Beer -