Suggestions for lower ABV IPA?

[Christomac]

Hi - I'm brewing a 5-gallon Northeast style IPA but would like to have a final ABV of about 4 instead of the current version that is yielding around 5.5. Is it as simple as reducing the amount of grain in the recipe or do I need to do something else to try to compensate for the lessening of the body? I particularly like Stone's Neverending Haze, which has an ABV of 4%. The recipe I've been using calls for the following grains:
9 lbs. (4.1 kg) US 2-row malt
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) UK Golden Promise malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) flaked wheat
12 oz. (340 g) flaked oats

thanks much.

 

[cmac62]

I'd use brewer's friend or some other calculator and remove base grain until I hit the 4% abv you want. Of course yeast and other stuff will also effect final abv.

 

[FromZwolle]

i find, for my own tastes, the og:ibu ratio is the most important factor. 4% beers just don't handle the ibu level of an IPA recipe. other than that, it's just a matter of scaling down the og from base malt as cmac said.

 

[marc1]

You can mash higher, too, for a bit higher FG

 

[hotbeer]

As mentioned, reduce the grains. or add some make up water to lower the OG. I usually use boiled then cooled water for makeup water if I'm adding it to my already cooled wort. If it's only a small amount you are adding then it doesn't really need to be cooled much. Though I think some just add it straight and unboiled.

There are calculators that tell you how much it'll take to get it to a certain gravity when you tell it the current volume and current SG. And of course the yeast you use and it's attenuation might make a difference both for dilution to a particular SG or even if you don't dilute.

Scaling your grains and the temps you mash at would be my first choice though. But I have done the above and didn't change the yeast and it did come out lower ABV as expected.

 

[Christomac]

Thanks all! Great tips.

 

[hottpeper13]

For my low ABV brews like all day IPA's , milds and bitters I do an abbreviated mash of 45 min at 154-156. It seems to give me lower OG's with the same grain bill(between 6-10 GU's),and the brews have a maltier flavor that makes up for the lower ABV.

 

[Christomac]

With an abbreviated mash, do you end up with a sweeter beer?

 

[Christomac]

For my low ABV brews like all day IPA's , milds and bitters I do an abbreviated mash of 45 min at 154-156. It seems to give me lower OG's with the same grain bill(between 6-10 GU's),and the brews have a maltier flavor that makes up for the lower ABV.

With an abbreviated mash, do you end up with a sweeter beer?

 

[hottpeper13]

I've pitched Lutra on them and even at 154* they finish at 1.010. I would think that a high attenuating yeast like Notty,BRY-97 or 2565 would dry it out.

 

[bwible]

If you scale back grain you should also scale back hops. Look at the bu:gu ratio of your existing recipe. Ratio of bittering units to gravity units. Divide your ibu number by your starting gravity. If your starting gravity was 1.060 and ibu number was 45 then 45/60 gives you .75 for example. Scale down your gravity, lets say to 1.045 for around a 4% beer. Then multiply 45 (your starting gravity) times .75 = you want to make your bitterness around 33 or 34.

If you want to scale the grains do it by percentages. Most of the brewing software packages will give you percentages of each grain in your recipe.

They call these beers Session IPAs and they are becoming more popular of late. Search for Session IPA and you will find lots of recipes.

 

[bwible]

One of my favorite sources

https://www.google.com/amp/s/beerandbrewing.com/amp/make-your-best-session-ipa/

 

[CascadesBrewer]

One question I would have...are you looking for low ABV...or low ABV and also low Calories and/or carbs?

OG is the biggest driver of Calories in a beer, and it is also one of the biggest drivers of body as well. Some of the "secrets" to keep up the body in a low ABV beer (such as low attenuating yeast, high mash temps, and additives like lactose/maltodextrin) also drive up the Calories and carbs.

There is a clone recipe of All-Day IPA in the July/Aug 2014 issue of Zymurgy. It calls for an OG of 1.043. The grain bill is fairly complex with stuff like Crystal, Munich, Wheat and Oats, but also some Flaked Maize/Corn. The recipe calls for a 148F mash temp to drive fermentability to hit the 4.7% ABV while keeping calories and carbs in check. Zymurgy is usually pretty good about getting info from the brewery for their clone recipes.

One of my favorite sources

It sure seems like the recipe described there is what I would just call a Pale Ale if I brewed it. A fairly malty grain bill with 4 oz total hops and no dry hops.

 

[bwible]

It sure seems like the recipe described there is what I would just call a Pale Ale if I brewed it. A fairly malty grain bill with 4 oz total hops and no dry hops.

There is a fair amount of overlap in many of these styles. When you’re trying to make a 4% ish beer and call it an IPA of course there’s overlap with pale ale. And he talks about that.

4 oz of hops, all high alpha hops. 2 oz of Amarillo with 10 min left. Every beer doesn’t need to be dry hopped.

 

[hottpeper13]

OG is how I separate the ales, 1.040-1.064 is a pale ale , 1.065-1.075 IPA. over that is DIPA,and I don't dry hop the pale ales but do + 10 min whirlpool at 170* for 20-30-min. I don't care about competitions but needed a description for my friends and especially my neighbors,as most are not beer nerds.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

In any case, the OP is looking more for a Low ABV NEIPA style beer. So probably a light colored grain bill with at least some amount of dry hopping.

@Christomac: What is your hopping schedule for your typical recipe? What is the typical OG and ABV of your recipe? I have brewed a few "Hoppy Pale Ales" which seem to be about the same thing that gets labeled a Session IPA and I have brewed a few "Hazy Pale Ales". Those beers tend to fall into the 5.5% ABV range.

I think you could likely make a pretty decent Session NEIPA style beer with lowering your grain bill down a bit and likely lowering down your hopping level a bit as well. A higher mash temp will let you keep the OG higher while keeping ABV in line. I have been tempted to try a low-ish ABV NEIPA with a low attenuating English yeast like Lallemand Windsor or London, or Fermentis S-33. Water adjustments to boost Chlorides should help also.

 

[Christomac]

Thanks for all the info. I am more interested in having a lower ABV than having a concern about calories. I should have provided my full ingredients list (below) from this recipe I'm following from BYO:
https://byo.com/article/neipa-style-profile/
9 lbs. (4.1 kg) US 2-row malt
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) UK Golden Promise malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) flaked wheat
12 oz. (340 g) flaked oats
12.9 AAU Amarillo® hops (first wort hop) (1.5 oz./43 g at 8.6% alpha acids)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Amarillo® hops (0 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) Citra® hops (hop stand)
1 oz. (28 g) GalaxyTM hops (hop stand)
1 oz. (28 g) Mosaic® hops (hop stand)
3 oz. (85 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
1.5 oz. (43 g) GalaxyTM hops (dry hop)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Mosaic® hops (dry hop)
GigaYeast GY054 (Vermont IPA) or White Labs WLP095 (Burlington Ale) yeast

 

[marc1]

Thanks for all the info. I am more interested in having a lower ABV than having a concern about calories. I should have provided my full ingredients list (below) from this recipe I'm following from BYO:
https://byo.com/article/neipa-style-profile/
9 lbs. (4.1 kg) US 2-row malt
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) UK Golden Promise malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) flaked wheat
12 oz. (340 g) flaked oats
12.9 AAU Amarillo® hops (first wort hop) (1.5 oz./43 g at 8.6% alpha acids)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Amarillo® hops (0 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) Citra® hops (hop stand)
1 oz. (28 g) GalaxyTM hops (hop stand)
1 oz. (28 g) Mosaic® hops (hop stand)
3 oz. (85 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
1.5 oz. (43 g) GalaxyTM hops (dry hop)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Mosaic® hops (dry hop)
GigaYeast GY054 (Vermont IPA) or White Labs WLP095 (Burlington Ale) yeast

This might take a few tries to get it dialed in how you like it.

Brewing software will help a lot with this:

First, scale it for your system. That recipe seems to not have any losses. For me, I'd have maybe a gallon loss to kettle trub, and then I'd want an extra gallon into the fermenter to try to get 5 gallons into my keg, so I'd be looking for 7 gallons at end of boil.

Then plug in the mash/lauter efficiency you get on your system. Scale the grain bill proportionately to get about 1.061 post boil OG.

Then, drop the 2-row until you are down to your real target OG (so that your OG to FG gives you a 4% beer)

I'd reduce the bittering addition so that there was maybe 40 or so IBUs overall. This is for my tastes, you might want more or less.

I'd also mash at 158 to help keep the FG a bit higher.