Low ABV brew.

[wortnz]

So I have a few friends who only drink low ABV beer, I don't question their choice, but I have to say that lite (ABV) beer is crap, like seriously nasty.

I would like to brew something for them to drink that isn't nasty, looking to get in at around the 2.5% mark. I was thinking something fairly hoppy, maybe a pale ale.

Anyone tried brewing up a low ABV pale ale or similar? Would be keen to get some insight into the recipe and how it turned out.

Thanks!

 

[PintoBean]

I've done a 4% pale that I hopped to ~30 IBU, worked pretty well. If you're going that low and hopping it up, include a little crystal in your grain bill to leave a little residual sweetness to balance the hops, because at 2.5% there won't be much malt to stand up to a lot of hops.

 

[Hoser_brewing]

I've not done American pales that low, but have produced a number of British bitters in the 3-3.5 range. These used around 85/10/5 Maris Otter / crystal / victory with around 30-35 ibu's, depending on batch. I mash at around 154 and used S-04, and they all had nice body and ample flavor, and didn't knock me out after 2 or 3.

I'm in the process if brewing up my early summer beers, so will be taking the same approach for low abv APA's in the near future; roughly 10% crystal, a slightly higher killed base malt, and lower end of range ibu's, with lots of flameout hops.

 

[KeystoneHomebrew]

It's fairly straightforward making low ABV beer. One thing you must take into account that you don't really worry about usually, is the body. You're going to naturally produce a watery beverage. Add some good unfermentables like crystal malt, or even straight maltdextrin so you get a full bodied beer without the full ABV.

 

[Xpertskir]

It's fairly straightforward making low ABV beer. One thing you must take into account that you don't really worry about usually, is the body. You're going to naturally produce a watery beverage. Add some good unfermentables like crystal malt, or even straight maltdextrin so you get a full bodied beer without the full ABV.

This...

In general focus on your projected final gravity and try to have it mimic a normal abv beer for the style you are attempting. Use unfermentable sugars, mash temp, and a yeast with less attenuation to get there.

so if you are going for a pale ale, shoot for a FG of 1010-1014.

 

[mochaporter]

You could also go the opposite direction. Instead of trying to add more body to a small beer, just roll with the low gravity and brew something like a table saison.

 

[Pratzie]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/miller-lite-really-triple-hopped-123937/

Im gonna try this for my BMC drinking friends. U could skip the secondary ferment or maybe had 1/2 tsp of amylase instead of a full tsp.