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JesterMage

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I have made a low ABV low calorie beer for my wife. I am trying to add flavors to it. I want to add orange peel and lemon peel. what will give me more flavor? Adding it after flameout and steeping for 15 min? Adding it after flameout and leaving it in the primary the whole time till I bottle or adding it after it has been in primary for a week and let it sit for 3-7 days. If I add it after a week or so in the primary I was planning on soaking it in plain vodka or vanilla favored vodka for a few days to extract the oils and then tossing it in.

I made this for her on the fly with stuff I had left over. It was only enough for a 1 gallon batch, which is a shame since she really liked it. It is about 75 calories per 12 oz. bottle and 2.36%ABV. I am doing a bigger batch and going to try and have it come it about 100 calories and 3%ABV. I need to get as much flavor in as I can. I have another version I will do soon(ish) where I am using more hops for the flavors.
 
I've found that a blend of both heat extraction and ethanol extraction gives me the fullest spectrum of flavors with citrus peels and ingredients like that where you're trying to pull the oils into solution. I usually do the last 5 minutes of the boil as well as a soak in vodka. For me, soaking in vodka for about 7 days is the sweet spot, but you'll have to experiment. Then I add that tincture back into the keg (or bottling bucket - just be conscious of oxidation) a little at a time until the flavor is where I want it. Hope that helps! The first round sounds like you killed it!
 
If you are adding the vodka (and I assume the peels?) to the bottling bucket, how much vodka are you using for about 2 or 3 ounces of peel? This is a 2.5 gallon batch.
 
My rule of thumb is covering the peels with about 2 oz. I leave the peels in the vodka or strain them out when I use it for cocktails. In a pint jar, it ends up being ~4 oz vodka per 2 oz peels.
 
If you are trying to minimize the ABV, add the peels at flameout, rather than doing a vodka infusion. You get the flavor without the extra alcohol. Four ounces of 80 proof vodka into a 5 gallon batch adds a couple tenths of a percent.
 
She would like more of a low calorie beer than a low alcohol, So a few extra tenths won't hurt her feelings at all. She might even thank me. I just don't have to tell her there are a few extra calories from the vodka
 
She would like more of a low calorie beer than a low alcohol, So a few extra tenths won't hurt her feelings at all. She might even thank me. I just don't have to tell her there are a few extra calories from the vodka

If she finds out, tell her the vodka evaporated before you added the tincture. ;)
 
I add citrus peels by simmering in a little bit of water for a minute or two then adding the liquid and peel directly to the fermenter during the ferment. It works really well (especially mandarin peel with the white pith scraped out).
 
On this first 1 gallon batch I made I added vanilla vodka (1 oz.) and a bit less than .25 oz of peel ( I soaked them for a day) and let them sit in the fermenter for about 3 days. I could just sort-of-kind-of taste the lemon and orange in there. This will be a 2.5 gallon batch so I plan on adding a lot more peel than the last one.

I could add it to all 3 stages. Steep a bit at flameout. Toss some in to the primary for about a week after the main fermentation has calmed down and then a bit more at bottling. Almost like the hop stages of bittering, flavor and aroma.

After I make this batch I am going to make another one but replace the peels with mandarina, lemondrop and meridian hops. I am still very new at this and I am trying to figure out a lot of things. I can't make beer or dink it fast enough to keep up with my "education".
 
hmmm, i brew lite beer, it's about 160-170 calories a 12oz pour....but it's 8%+ ABV...?

as far as flavoring...wood is the cheapest, maybe lightly toasted cherry dust?
 
What would your recipe be for such a brew be with these wonderful numbers? You can PM me if you like


i just shoot for a OG of 1.060....use whatever, and add glucoamylase to the fermentor.... 20lb's malt seems to get it for me in a 10 gallon batch.


sounds like you're shooting for like a lemon hefeweizen. i brew stout lite beer, amber lite, lite everything.

i just brewed a batch, 19lbs pale homemalt, 1lb store bought crystal 60...got a OG of 1.056. would have topped up with sugar but didn't have any. and it should be close to 0.999 now, and like 7.5% ABV, which works out to 20g's ethanol x 7 cals a gram plus a bit of protein and carbs at 4 cals a gram...so around 140-150 cals a 12oz pour..


it's how i stay 180lbs at 6'2"....and drink as much as i do! ;) (there's more trickery involved, but the gluco makes it possible!)

:mug:
 
i just shoot for a OG of 1.060....use whatever, and add glucoamylase to the fermento
Does this change the flavor much? If I am breaking down sugars that aren't usualy fermentable to become fermentable, won't I lose a lot of flavor?
 
Does this change the flavor much? If I am breaking down sugars that aren't usualy fermentable to become fermentable, won't I lose a lot of flavor?


well my tastes are shot..but I wouldn't say a lot. for me anyway the use of crystal malts, dark roast malts compensate for it well enough.

like i said my sense of taste is shot, but i'd want to say imagine guieness light?
 
well my tastes are shot..but I wouldn't say a lot. for me anyway the use of crystal malts, dark roast malts compensate for it well enough.

like i said my sense of taste is shot, but i'd want to say imagine guieness light?
I can imagine that. I had nose surgery a few years ago. The doctor said I should be able to smell better...I think he was full of crap. I think it I worse than before...jerk

I have to make extremely flavorful beers to really enjoy them now and be able to get the subtleties of each style
 
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I can imagine that. I had nose surgery a few years ago. The doctor said I should be able to smell better...I think he was full of crap. I think it I worse than before...jerk

I have to make extremely flavorful beers to really enjoy them now and be able to get the subtleties of each style

i have a broken nose, makes me sound simple, and a mouth breather to make it believable.....

but if you make super duper beers, gluco should just up the ABV, and make the calories stay about the same, only actually a few less....
 
i have a broken nose, makes me sound simple, and a mouth breather to make it believable.....

but if you make super duper beers, gluco should just up the ABV, and make the calories stay about the same, only actually a few less....
I just added it to my next order I am working on. Maybe I will try it in my brown or Irish Ale. I am Also doing a Belgian Triple but the is already over 9%
 
that'd probably taste alcoholic...i think gluco would bump it up to 11%...maybe aged on oak for a few months? like fine wine?
That sounds good but I am so impatient that months would seem like years. Also I am still newish to this so i don't really have enough equipment yet to have stuff sitting for months. I should get another fermenter just for long aging beers because I have another one I want to age on wood.
 
months would seem like years. Also I am still newish to this

yeah, i brewed today, and planning another brew day sunday. just keep a few kegs full....but really all you'd need is an extra bucket to set aside. i'd say with a gamma lid for long term aging.....
 
I can grab a gamma lid and bucket from Menard's for $11 or $12. I planned on going tomorrow.
 
I think I’d brew something YOU like because in my experience, YOU are going to be drinking 99% of it, not her.

You could blend back some of YOUR beer with some lemonade or Crystal Light low calorie drink and call it a Lemon Radler. Let her sip on that while you enjoy glugging the rest of YOUR beer!
 
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sounds like you're shooting for like a lemon hefeweizen.
That sounds like a good idea. Use some wheat dme and shoot for about 1.035. That would be about 2lbs wheat dme for a 2.5 gallon batch.

I posted this link before for flavorings in seltzer. They can also be used in beer. This is a company that makes flavorings specifically for the alcohol beverage industry. If you want to try adding additional flavor at bottling. They make a huge selection of different flavors. If you’re after orange and lemon they have multiple different flavors of each.

https://www.apexflavors.com/Beverage-Industry/Craft-Brewing
 
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