Tips for improving light beers

[lupulinaddict]

It’s a well stated fact that blondes, and other light beers, are difficult to brew because the body is so light flaws can’t hide. I can’t find any specific information on techniques, or steps, to improve the brewing process to aid in preventing flaws of lighter beers. Does anyone have any suggestions on areas of the process to focus?

I can easily control mash temp, ferment temp, basic water chemistry, and most aspects of the process. I feel that my blondes, creams, and kolsches come out with a too heavy of a mouthfeel. Maybe a little too sweet as well. The sweetness is hard for me to describe so I’m not sure if it’s from crystal, or an off flavor. Most finish where they should, anywhere from 1.010-1.014. It’s not a style that I prefer to drink, mostly brew it to have on tap for the BMC fans, but it bugs me I can’t get a crisp enough beer. I have a couple fermenting now that I am trying a few different things with, but wondering if anyone had any advice? I have never had any brews judged before, but I plan on sending some to the next local competition to see if I can get some feedback and direction on this style. Thanks. Look forward to your thoughts.

 

[Kent88]

Add some dark munich malt to the grist. I kid, I kid...

Do you use gypsum or calcium chloride to adjust the mash water? I'm no pro, but I see the word "crisp" ("it bugs me I can't get a crisp enough beer") and it makes me think water, and maybe hops.

 

[thehaze]

Can you post a complete recipe, with mash. temp, yeast, fermt.,etc. for one of those beers you thought were too sweet?

But with an FG between 1.010 and 1.014, some of those could possibly feel medium bodied. I think you should shoot for a much lower FG, somewhere between 1.007 and 1.010.

 

[waldoar15]

I brew some lighter beers for the same reason as you.

Keep the crystal low or brew a SMaSH. Then there's always adjuncts like corn or rice.

I use corn as it doesn't seem to me to thin out the beer as much as rice. Noble hops work well, or a small bittering charge of Cluster with some Noble hops to finish.

My new favorite is a Lager with Golden Promise.

10.00 lb Golden promise
0.50 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 4.61 %
0.25 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 2.30 %
2.00 oz Hallertauer [4.10 %] (60 min) Hops 26.0 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.10 %] (5 min) Hops 2.6 IBU

Mashed @150

34/70 @52*

 

[cubalz]

This is what I do for my lighter beers: Mash at a low temperature (150-151F) for up to 90 minutes. Don't use any kind of crystal malts. Use distilled water with 1 teaspoon of Calcium Chloride added and add 3% Sauermalz to your grist. (that came from AJ DeLange) I know that this overlaps some of what was said earlier by others.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Light body (2 qts per 1# of grain) versus malty (less than 1.25 qts to 1# of grain) is basically determined by the water to grain ratio and temperature of the mash (140-150 for light body and 150-160 for a malty body).

 

[Steveg229]

I have a lager that I make and use Amylase enzyme, added after most of fermentation is complete, to get FG down to about 1.002. I also mash this one at 147 for 60 min. This makes for a very crisp finish.

 

[Lefou]

- Use an extended mash at the lower range, 145F-150F.
- Use base malts that tend to the higher end of the diastatic enzyme level (Pilsner, Vienna, malted wheat) and minimize your adjuncts. Grinding a small amount of your malted wheat to near flour consistency will boost your conversion speed. Don't worry about possible problems with tannins or bitterness extracted from wheat hulls - they don't have hulls! If you keep your wheat malt to a low percentage along with a thinner mash, it will prevent a stuck sparge.

- Use a more attenuative yeast.
- Use a bit of amylase added to mash water or the mash itself and skip mashout.

Do a combination of these things and I guarantee it will "dry out" your beer.

 

[TheHopfather]

Good tips so far.

For me I think the easiest way is an extended mash (90 min) at ~149F (or step mash). I also like to go low on pH for light beers, I like to shoot for 5.2 pH at mash temps (5.4-ish at room temp). Sulfate can enhance the feeling of crispness and go light on the calcium chloride. Keep the Crystal malt low, those should do the trick.

Edit: also make sure you're pitching lots of active yeast! None of these tips will do much good if you don't have enough yeast doing their thing.

 

[Kent88]

If you use extra enzymes, I'd recommend you do that during the mash, that way during the boil you'll denature the enzymes.

I'd rather have a light beer that was 1.007 than 1.002.

Check out my Mash Time links from The Brewing Network in my sig. Based on what I remember them saying, I'd say that if you want to use extra enzymes, I would recommend you plan for a 90 minute mash and at the 45 minute mark you add them.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

If you think your beers aren't attenuating enough, I'd recommend two things. First, get some iodine to see how much starch is remaining after your typical mash. If there is still some starch, then you should start thinking of lengthening the mash and maybe using some extra enzymes. Then, try doing a forced ferment test to see what your yeast make of the wort. If there is a difference in FGs between the forced ferment sample and the bulk fermenter, then you'll know there is a yeast issue. From there, you can give it some thought and try some fixes that make sense to you.

 

[lupulinaddict]

Thanks for the help guys! I really appreciate it! Ok let me answer a few of the questions above and see if it helps.

Ill have to look through my beersmith files to get a recipe that I have done that was overly sweet. I made a blonde that is cold crashing now so ill start by giving you that recipe as it is the most recent and can test and give better descriptions than I can from one from memory. I also have a cream ale on tap I havent tasted yet so if that has some sweetness i can get you that one as well.


12 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt, spring malt (Thomas Fawcett) (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 92.5 %
8.0 oz Acidulated (Weyermann) (1.8 SRM) Grain 2 3.8 %
8.0 oz Crystal 15, 2-Row, (Great Western) (15.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.8 %
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 11.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 5 8.4 IBUs
2.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 6 -

Yeast was re-hydrated 30 minutes prior to pitch. The english yeast probably isn't preferred, but i was trying something new. I fermented it at 64 ambient temp. Realized after the fact the temp was on the warmer side for the yeast so expecting some esters. Also trying to pitch more yeast than I have in the past. Some sources say one packet of dry should be sufficient for this gravity range, again tried something new on my end.

water additions were added to ten gallons of RO mash water:
2.5 tsp baking soda
2.25 tsp gypsum
3 tsp calcium chloride

I have a higher grist weight because I don't sparge. I start with ten gallons in the mash tun, add the grain, add the salts, and recirculate. This beer mashed at 150 for 75 minutes. Also have been skipping the mashout, so after 75min mash transferred to boil kettle and had heat applied as soon as I had about 2 gallons transferred. 60 min boil. Cooled down to pitch temp in about 8-10 minutes with plate chiller. Og was 1.044, i checked it about 6 days after and it was down to 1.010. For the next 6 days i raised the ambient temp up to 68 and swirled once or twice.

I am not opposed to sparging, or changing anything so any recommendations or criticisms are welcomed. This is just been how I have been brewing lately.

I rarely get beers to finish below 1.010. I have tried sugar before and have gotten lower, but normally I struggle to get below. I have some AE that I was going to use to try to lower the FG, but never have as I was unsure when and how to use it right so I kind of forgot about it. Ill start doing some research on that. Thanks for the reminder about it! As far as the thinner mash recommendations...since I am mashing with ten gallons I would assume its already "thin," but am I hurting myself by being overly thin?

Edit: thought I should include that I didn't measure Ph on this batch. I use brewersfriend for water and converted the tsp. Im not sure where I picked up the numbers I aimed for. I think I matched another recipe I did to eliminate a variable. Looking at it now it seems I was too high according to brewersfriend's profiles for this type of beer. whoops!

9.25g gypsum
13g calcium chloride
15.75g baking soda

150ca
114na
165cl
136s04
296hco

 

[Jacinthebox]

I also do full volume mashing like you...and use 100% RO water

For lighter beers I would;
drop/reduce the Crystal malts.
Maybe add some flaked corn (or other starch).
get some of your gravity points from corn sugar.
Mash low (146f - 148f) for 90 min.
Adjust your water with Calc chloride & Gypsum only (plus the acid malt or phosphoric acid). I adjust down to 5.2-5.3ph for light beers.
I like to use San Fran lager yeast for clean light beers.

I make a Jamaican inspired beer that is really light and very clean tasting...without tasting watered down. I step mash, but I'm sure you could just mash at 146f.

Yahmon
Jamaican "Lager"

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 40.00 l
Boil Time: 90 min
Efficiency: 70.00 %

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
14 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)
1 lbs Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
2 lbs Cassava Starch/Tapioca Starch
8.0 oz Crystal 15 (15.0 SRM)

Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Acid Rest 95.0 F 5 min
Protein Rest 125.6 F 15 min
Saccharification 1 145.4 F 45 min
Saccharification 2 161.6 F 30 min
Mash Out 168 F 10 min

• Estimated pre-boil gravity is 1.032 SG

Boil Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1.00 oz Hallertau [6.40 %] - Boil 55.0 min Hop 5 12.0 IBUs
2.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)
0.50 oz Hallertau [6.40 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 7 1.2 IBUs

Post Boil Gravity: 1.045 SG

San Francisco Lager yeast (White Labs #WLP810) (2L 1.040 og starter)

 

[Jacinthebox]

You would need to adjust for your equipment

Summer Dayz
American Lager (1 B)

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 80.00 l
Boil Time: 90 min
Efficiency: 70.00 %

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
17 lbs Pilsner (2 Row)
10 lbs Corn, Flaked
7 lbs Pale Malt (6 Row)

Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
147.9 F 90 min

• Estimated pre-boil gravity is 1.037 SG

Boil Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2 lbs Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar
2.50 oz Mt. Hood [5.40 %] - Boil 60.0 min
2.50 oz Mt. Hood [5.40 %] - Boil 0.0 min

• Est Post Boil Gravity: 1.046 SG

4L Starter of San Francisco Lager (White Labs #WLP810)
Est Final Gravity 1.010

Notes
https://www.brewersfriend.com/mash-chemistry-and-brewing-water-calculator/?id=NQ6ZXKG

 

[lablover]

Don't use S04, that's not going to give you a crisp finish. Use a yeast with more attenuation. Try a lager yeast if you can control temps easily. 34/70 is easy and makes a ver light finish.

 

[Yooper]

Thanks for the help guys! I really appreciate it! Ok let me answer a few of the questions above and see if it helps.

Ill have to look through my beersmith files to get a recipe that I have done that was overly sweet. I made a blonde that is cold crashing now so ill start by giving you that recipe as it is the most recent and can test and give better descriptions than I can from one from memory. I also have a cream ale on tap I havent tasted yet so if that has some sweetness i can get you that one as well.


12 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt, spring malt (Thomas Fawcett) (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 92.5 %
8.0 oz Acidulated (Weyermann) (1.8 SRM) Grain 2 3.8 %
8.0 oz Crystal 15, 2-Row, (Great Western) (15.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.8 %
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 11.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 5 8.4 IBUs
2.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 6 -

Yeast was re-hydrated 30 minutes prior to pitch. The english yeast probably isn't preferred, but i was trying something new. I fermented it at 64 ambient temp. Realized after the fact the temp was on the warmer side for the yeast so expecting some esters. Also trying to pitch more yeast than I have in the past. Some sources say one packet of dry should be sufficient for this gravity range, again tried something new on my end.

water additions were added to ten gallons of RO mash water:
2.5 tsp baking soda
2.25 tsp gypsum
3 tsp calcium chloride

I have a higher grist weight because I don't sparge. I start with ten gallons in the mash tun, add the grain, add the salts, and recirculate. This beer mashed at 150 for 75 minutes. Also have been skipping the mashout, so after 75min mash transferred to boil kettle and had heat applied as soon as I had about 2 gallons transferred. 60 min boil. Cooled down to pitch temp in about 8-10 minutes with plate chiller. Og was 1.044, i checked it about 6 days after and it was down to 1.010. For the next 6 days i raised the ambient temp up to 68 and swirled once or twice.

I am not opposed to sparging, or changing anything so any recommendations or criticisms are welcomed. This is just been how I have been brewing lately.

I rarely get beers to finish below 1.010. I have tried sugar before and have gotten lower, but normally I struggle to get below. I have some AE that I was going to use to try to lower the FG, but never have as I was unsure when and how to use it right so I kind of forgot about it. Ill start doing some research on that. Thanks for the reminder about it! As far as the thinner mash recommendations...since I am mashing with ten gallons I would assume its already "thin," but am I hurting myself by being overly thin?

Edit: thought I should include that I didn't measure Ph on this batch. I use brewersfriend for water and converted the tsp. Im not sure where I picked up the numbers I aimed for. I think I matched another recipe I did to eliminate a variable. Looking at it now it seems I was too high according to brewersfriend's profiles for this type of beer. whoops!

9.25g gypsum
13g calcium chloride
15.75g baking soda

150ca
114na
165cl
136s04
296hco

First, let’s talk about that water. It’s WAY too high in bicarbonate- the mash pH should be 5.3 or so. So NO baking soda at all. The chloride and sulfate are both too high as well. Both should be under 100 ppm and more like 50 ppm. That will be most of the problem right there. No way should you add acidulated malt and then baking soda- they counteract each other.

The second is yeast strain. An English ale strain will never give you a crisp lager-like beer. If you must use dry yeast (I wouldn’t), Nottingham at 59-60 degrees may work but I’d much rather go with White Labs cream ale yeast or another very clean fermenting yeast.

That will go a long way to give you the beer you want.

 

[Lefou]

So there you have it .... too much sodium bicarb in a light ale will throw your mash pH off and affect efficiency.

Eliminate sodium bicarb, use only reduced levels of CaCl2 and CaSO4, and if you want to use a dry yeast, swap out S-04 and use S-05 instead. If you have a highly fermentable wort from an extended mash, you should have no problem getting a drier beer with S-05. I like liquid yeast and used WLP-001 for my first blonde. Nice foam and the clarity was great.
Add small amounts of demerara sugar, candi sugar, or honey to boost gravity and ABV, but not too much or it might throw your beer out of style. The blonde style is pretty wide and fairly forgiving.

I've pushed S05 and found it attenuates above the stated levels if given enough nutrients and sugars to do so. A mead I brewed using S-05 a few years ago yielded a 91% calculated attenuation rate and gave me about 14% ABV, so that strain can handle a good bit of alcohol before dropping out. I gave my wife a one liter bottle of it and she uses it to pan sear and marinate shrimp.

 

[BrewSomeMore]

Some good advice on this thread and some good hybrid recipes as well. I would also like to add that kolsh yeast can make a good hybrid lager/ale and provide some crispness given low mash temp.

 

[lupulinaddict]

Thanks again for everyone's help. I am going to use some of these tips and try to brew two light ales today. I have a couple questions as I start my brewday. I looked through old recipes and haven't always had such out of proportion water. I as of late have only used baking soda. I started using baking soda because when I use just gypsum, calcium chloride, and table salt it always leave the calculator at zero for hco3. Is that normaly not a consideration for these beers and for you guys as well? I thought I would start trying the baking soda to see if that would help me, but as Yooper stated its counteractive to the acid. So is it best to just stick with the gypsum, chloride, and salt?

The next question I have is about step mashing. If I extend my mash time to 90 minutes, and add one or more steps, am I totaling 90 minutes (both sacc and protein rest) or totaling 120min (30min at 122 and 90min at 148)? Should I do more than one step? I have only done a 122 protein rest before, not opposed to trying the 95 degree acid rest jacinthebox purposed, just wondering if I need it as today's beer wont have pilsner. Thanks.

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

You are overthinking step mashing. It's just a light beer. Follow Yoopers advice, mash low and use clean liquid ale yeast.

 

[Big Monk]

I started using baking soda because when I use just gypsum, calcium chloride, and table salt it always leave the calculator at zero for hco3. Is that normaly not a consideration for these beers and for you guys as well?

There is no reason to add Baking Soda (NaHCO3) unless you need to raise your mash pH. There is really no reason to have any alkalinity at all unless required for proper pH.

The next question I have is about step mashing. If I extend my mash time to 90 minutes, and add one or more steps, am I totaling 90 minutes (both sacc and protein rest) or totaling 120min (30min at 122 and 90min at 148)? Should I do more than one step? I have only done a 122 protein rest before, not opposed to trying the 95 degree acid rest jacinthebox purposed, just wondering if I need it as today's beer wont have pilsner. Thanks.

145 °F for 20 min.
149 °F for 10 min.
162 °F for 30 min.
172 °F for 10 min.

You can see that with the above mash you’d still be done (with ramps included if direct fire mashing) before your typical mashing time and the benefits may suit you. Great fermentability, body and foam.

 

[Jacinthebox]

I only step mash that beer because of the cavasa starch...normally i mash with a single step with all grain...or a low 140s step and a low 160s step

 

[Big Monk]

I only step mash that beer because of the cavasa starch...normally i mash with a single step with all grain...or a low 140s step and a low 160s step

Mid 140s and low 160s is a Hochkurz my man! That’s a step mash. And a good one. Add the 172 rest and you are off to foam town.

 

[MerlinWerks]

HERE is some food for thought relative to mash temperature...

I like a good Hockhurz as well

 

[Jacinthebox]

Mid 140s and low 160s is a Hochkurz my man! That’s a step mash. And a good one. Add the 172 rest and you are off to foam town.

Agreed

 

[Yooper]

Thanks again for everyone's help. I am going to use some of these tips and try to brew two light ales today. I have a couple questions as I start my brewday. I looked through old recipes and haven't always had such out of proportion water. I as of late have only used baking soda. I started using baking soda because when I use just gypsum, calcium chloride, and table salt it always leave the calculator at zero for hco3. Is that normaly not a consideration for these beers and for you guys as well? I thought I would start trying the baking soda to see if that would help me, but as Yooper stated its counteractive to the acid. So is it best to just stick with the gypsum, chloride, and salt?

The next question I have is about step mashing. If I extend my mash time to 90 minutes, and add one or more steps, am I totaling 90 minutes (both sacc and protein rest) or totaling 120min (30min at 122 and 90min at 148)? Should I do more than one step? I have only done a 122 protein rest before, not opposed to trying the 95 degree acid rest jacinthebox purposed, just wondering if I need it as today's beer wont have pilsner. Thanks.

The proper amount of HCO3 is generally 0- unless you need to add some to counteract a very acidic mash like a black stout with a lot of highly roasted malt. You never need it for a light beer, and in fact may need some acid to still bring the mash pH low enough.

I would skip a step mash, and mash at 150 or so, targeting a mash pH of 5.3 and not using too many brewing salts. Say, for 5 gallons of kolsch/blonde, use 5 grams of calcium chloride in RO water, and that's it. Nothing else. Your beers will be remarkably improved- I promise!

 

[lupulinaddict]

I had to look up what a hochkurz mash was....What am I gaining or losing by not heating to mash out temps? I thought the purpose for mash out was to “stop” conversion, and get the wort warmer to aid in transfer to the boil kettle? As of late, I have started to skip raising my mash to 168 and just going from mash temp of 150-152 straight to boil kettle. I transfer pretty quick and get the wort heating almost immediately. I listened to the recommended podcast posted above by @Kent88, and read the various links people have provided, and left me wondering what the higher temps of the mash are doing. Most reference lower temps of the process for what they do with the beta and alpha enzymes, but don’t get info what the mashout process provides. I need to do some further research on my end but wondered if that could effect fg. I also was wondering what the powdered amalyse enzyme does. Is it adding alpha, beta, or both types of enzymes? Or does it aid those enzymes like a nutrient?

 

[Kent88]

The mashout fixes the fermentability by denaturing the enzymes and theoretically it makes it easier to sparge (think heating up syrup for your pancakes).

I actually skip the mashout. In that podcast I believe they say that the extra conversion that happens between 60 and 90 minutes is almost negligible. I still do the occasional 90 minute mash, or sometimes I get a stuck sparge and I get a longer mash by accident. I figure that the enzymes in the wort I'm collecting aren't going to do much in the time it takes to get it boiling.

While I don't take brulosophy experiments (not exbeeriments, that is annoying) as gospel, this one does suggest that sparge water temperature doesn't have much impact on how well a brewer extracts sugar from a mash during the sparge. I still try to get my sparge water up to mash temps, but I don't sweat the temperature getting up between 165F to 170F (but I certainly keep it below 170F).

As far as the powdered enzymes, that just adds pretty much the same enzyme that you'd find in the mash, but it is usually collected from some kind of microbe, I think. Some people add it to the fermenter, but then you can't use the heat of the boil to denature the enzymes and you risk making an overly thin, dry beer. I still don't recommend you use powdered enzymes yet. Try making a more fermentable wort and maybe a more attenuative yeast strain first.

 

[lupulinaddict]

The proper amount of HCO3 is generally 0- unless you need to add some to counteract a very acidic mash like a black stout with a lot of highly roasted malt. You never need it for a light beer, and in fact may need some acid to still bring the mash pH low enough.

I would skip a step mash, and mash at 150 or so, targeting a mash pH of 5.3 and not using too many brewing salts. Say, for 5 gallons of kolsch/blonde, use 5 grams of calcium chloride in RO water, and that's it. Nothing else. Your beers will be remarkably improved- I promise!

Thanks yooper. I will try that in the future. I tried somewhat close to that yesterday. I believe I used about 4g of calcium chloride and 4g of gypsum. It gave me 53ca 59/59 for chloride and sulfate, if I remember correctly. I use that profile for two beers, one kolsch yeast and one 001. The 001 had a ph of 5.3, mashed at 149. Kolsch had 5.2ph, mashed at 148. Do you think that is close to what you are recommending above?

I have done beers in the past similar to this ph and water profile before, but cant getting below 1.010 mark without using sugar instead of grain. Yesterday’s beers I used some amalyse enzyme in the mash to help see if that does something. I have been thinking lately I might need more yeast. That’s why I tried using two packets of the 04. White labels/wyeast packs say I only need one vial/smack packs for under 1.050, calculators seem to vary, but usually recommend more than one pack. The two packets of 04 was more than enough based on the calculator I used, but still stopped at 1.010.

 

[Yooper]

1.010 is a fine FG for a well made Kolsch. But yes, you would likely need a yeast starter for most beers, except for one that is 1.040 or less. I’d most likely get the calcium to 80PPM or so (to help the beer clear), and a mash pH of 5.3-5.4 (to avoid tartness of a mash pH of 5.2). I would not use much, if any, sulfate.

The only time I”d use amylase if I was making a Michelob Ultra clone or something that light bodied.