My son (10 yo) likes helping me brew and would like to try brewing his own. Of course there is the issue of alcohol. Im happy to give him a sip of the beers we brew together, but here hes looking for something he can drink. There is also the fact that he still has a child's taste profile and therefore likes sweet flavors. (So while he likes helping me, hes not terribly enamored of the finished product of my recipes. I think this is part of the reason he wants to make his own.) I have some equipment to make a 1gal batch, so Im happy to work with him on this, but Im looking for ideas.
One idea is to not add yeast and carbonate the wort. While this would be sufficiently sweet for him, based on the sampling of worts Ive done with him when brewing, it tends to be a bit too malty. (Might this be resolved by a simpler beer? I tend to brew IPAs, American Ales and stouts. Perhaps if I used a pilsner recipe?)
Another is to brew an actual beer with a sweeter profile and then heat it to 175-180 F and hold it there for a while, possibly adding distilled water to make up lost volume. I would expect this to burn off most, but not all the alcohol, but I am concerned about loosing some flavor and potentially carmelizing some of the remaining sugars.
I suppose the other alternative is to make some sort of small beer, perhaps a ginger beer or birch beer. Although he likes to help grind, so Im not sure he would be thrilled if that step is missing.
All input is welcomed.
-Widsth
One idea is to not add yeast and carbonate the wort. While this would be sufficiently sweet for him, based on the sampling of worts Ive done with him when brewing, it tends to be a bit too malty. (Might this be resolved by a simpler beer? I tend to brew IPAs, American Ales and stouts. Perhaps if I used a pilsner recipe?)
Another is to brew an actual beer with a sweeter profile and then heat it to 175-180 F and hold it there for a while, possibly adding distilled water to make up lost volume. I would expect this to burn off most, but not all the alcohol, but I am concerned about loosing some flavor and potentially carmelizing some of the remaining sugars.
I suppose the other alternative is to make some sort of small beer, perhaps a ginger beer or birch beer. Although he likes to help grind, so Im not sure he would be thrilled if that step is missing.
All input is welcomed.
-Widsth