How Low Can You Go

[MrC]

... ABV% that is.

A colleague of mine asked me recently whether it is possible to brew a low alcohol beer without sacrificing all body, flavour & aroma. I've thinking about it and now I'm curious. I've brewed an American Wheat Beer that came in at 3.6% ABV due to 50% extraction efficiency, and the beer was really nice. The body was definitely on the lite side but the hops were nice and the beer was a nice easy quaffer.

I know some people may find this kind of talk offensive but wouldn't it be nice to have good beer you can drink all day and still be standing at the end of it.

So my topics for discussion are:

- What's the lowest ABV% beer you've ever brewed and what was it like?
- How low can you go and still have a nice beer? Can you go as low as 2% ?

[Mike Neilson]

I challange you to get as much flavour into a 3.5% English Brown as you do A Double (imperial) Brown.

I'd rather have an evening drinking 3.5%'ers than having two or three rip snorters and snoozing off in front of the telly before the game's finished

jt, Have one and watch the game!! but I reacon you will forget the game with the memories of your last beer!! 3.5% Beer you will miss most of the game due to pissing!!! Even more so when it's live!!

Horses for courses though 3.5% for when your with your mates and its 10am Beaming hot and a beer gets thrust into your face and it a long night. And a 10% Beer for when its dinner at the Inlaws and the only way to get through the night is with a quick sharp shock of booze to the brain!! hahaha!!

[jt]

A Double (imperial) Brown.

I couldn't do it, never tried one and probably never will

Even more so when it's live!!

Get mysky and piss when you like ;-)

[Mike Neilson]

Hahahaha!!!

[Nolen Smith]

And a 10% Beer for when its dinner at the Inlaws and the only way to get through the night is with a quick sharp shock of booze to the brain!! hahaha!!

Preach on, brother!

[Barry]

3% I reckon would be my hard deck.
I regularly brew beers around 3.5% - bitters and milds. Serve them at the right temp and the right carbonation and they have heaps of flavour. You can drink them all day and night without getting silly. What's not to love? Great Christmas day beers, save the barleywine 'til after dinner when you want a snooze.

They drink great early too, but you get a real depth of character, with great melded flavours if you leave them a bit longer.
I've been guilty a couple of times of overhopping my bitters, they just become less drinkable. You need balance in these beers. But that's why the good lord invented IPA - so you can get yer hop blast when you need it.

[Alasdair]

I'm a big fan of quaffers - 3-4% beers. Ordinary bitters (what an misleading name!), milds, dry stouts, summer ales, scottish ales, Berliner weiss, Belgian pale ale - I think these are the Rodney Dangerfields (don't get no respect) of the beer world. And they're good starting points for those new to craft beer.
.
I always try to plan my brewing so I always have a 'weeknight drinking' beer on tap. I love drinking beer, but I don't like the effects (beyond a point).

I haven't brewed anything below 3%, but I've had plenty of success between 3 and 4 percent. It's all about balance (isn't it always), but with distinctive flavours to give character help (e.g. nelson sauvin for flavour in a summer ale or wheat beer, malt complexity in a bitter).

Brewing a 'standard' recipe, but with reduced base malt to reduce the alcohol is a good starting point. As are adjuncts for body. And carbonation and temperature are critical.

What's a complimentary term for the inverse of 'imperial'?

[MrC]

What's a complimentary term for the inverse of 'imperial'?

Metric, lol :-)

[Alasdair]

:-D

[MrC]

So as an example (ignoring fancy mash techniques for now), my next brew will be an extract & grain Xmas Spiced Ale.

This was the Recipe:

Cherry Xmas 2009
Approx ABV 4.8%
Approx OG 1.044
10.5L batch
1 x Can extract
200g Carared (40L)
100g Carapils
50g Crystal (120L)
50g Caraaroma (120L)

Bittering hops only to 25 IBU with Sauvin
Yeast: T58
Spices: Cinnamon, Ginger & Allspice

So to get the ABV down to around 3% should I just double the batch size & specialty malts and adjust the hops to remain at 25IBU.

All Day Cherry Xmas 2009
Approx ABV 3.0%
Approx OG 1.026
21L batch
1 x Can extract
400g Carared (40L)
200g Carapils
100g Crystal (120L)
100g Caraaroma (120L)

Bittering hops only to 25 IBU with Sauvin
Yeast: T58
Spices: Cinnamon, Ginger & Allspice

Is this a bad idea?
Any thoughts?

[Glynn Foster]

Jesus. Do you ever brew anything normal? I reckon spiced ale shouldn't be mid-strength, but then perhaps this is a beer for the 'southern hemisphere prawns on the bbq poofter' Xmas :P

Reckon you need a good malt body to accompany the spices, pushed up to 5 or 6%, suck up some northern hemisphere Xmas chills and some dangly winter warmers.

[Glynn Foster]

Though it could of course be a fine ingredient for soaking the fruit in a Xmas pud! Sorry Mr Cherry, I've always personally struggled with spiced ales so ignore my cheap seat remarks. I'd much prefer a good dry stout, or if needing more, I'd move on to port or good single malt. Many happy memories falling asleep in front of the TV and roaring fire.

[Stu McKinlay]

Give me a beer engine and a delicious boy's bitter on Christmas Day...