Sub 1.030 beers

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I don't think this one has been covered but a really nice wheat ale from Grainfather. Original column and recipe here: https://www.grainfather.com/blog/week-65-brewing-session-beers/?___store=us

Great summer "lawnmower" kinda brew. I've made this 6 times, and done a few tweaks for my personal preference. OG is ~1.030 or less depending on the tweaks. I use Whitelabs 02 because it is about the lowest attenuating yeast out there and neutral tasting.

2.5% Wheat All grain 5.5 gallons
2# maris otter
2.5# wheat
1.5# victory
.25# meloidum
4.5oz oats
02 yeast
tettnager 30 IBU.
Mash 158 30 minutes

I love this thread, and hope this post revives it. Many thanks to those that have posted, and I'm slowly working my way through about 10 of the featured recipes.
 
That wheat ale looks nice, unfortunately ALL my bottles are currently full...
I recently did a RIS partigyle with the first runnings being RIS, 2nd runnings being a dry Irish stout og 1.045, and final running being a session Cascadian Dark Ale. 3rd runnings from batch sparging were only 1.018 and had little sugar or roast left in them but the level of roast was perfect for what I was thinking. Added 1lb wheat DME to bring it up to 1030 and did all late addition hops, 1 oz Cascade and 1 oz Amarillo at 0min, 1 ounce of each again for dry hop. It will be conditioned this Friday so I'll let you know how it turned out.

For this level of beer, it makes great sense for my brewing to add a little a little extra malt up front and end up w 10 gallons of beer.
I've done the RIS above as well as an ESB/ mild and IIPA/pale ale parti gyle successfully.
It takes some practice and flexibility but makes for a fun day.
 
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plumber_bob said:
Here's my new favorite light beer:

Excellent light brewed 10/08
American Amber Ale
Type: All Grain Date: 9/22/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 10.00 gal Brewer: Steve
Boil Size: 14.44 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: My 10 gal. All Grain, setup
End of Boil Volume 11.44 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 9.25 gal Est Mash Efficiency 79.2 %
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes: Darker Light.
Kinda hoppy.
Easy drinker.
Ingredients


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 57.1 %
2 lbs Brown Malt (65.0 SRM) Grain 2 14.3 %
2 lbs Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 14.3 %
2 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 90l (3.0 SRM) Grain 4 14.3 %
2.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 21.2 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 5.3 IBUs
2.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 7 -
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
3.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 9 -

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.035 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.022 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.008 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.004 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 3.6 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 2.3 %
Bitterness: 26.4 IBUs Calories: 69.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 9.2 SRM
Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out Total Grain Weight: 14 lbs
Sparge Water: 11.75 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Tun Temperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.20

Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 21.50 qt of water at 163.5 F 150.0 F 75 min

Sparge Step: Fly sparge with 11.75 gal water at 168.0 F
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage

Carbonation Type: Keg Volumes of CO2: 2.3
Pressure/Weight: 12.54 PSI Carbonation Used: Keg with 12.54 PSI
Keg/Bottling Temperature: 45.0 F Age for: 30.00 days
Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage Storage Temperature: 65.0 F
Notes

This is one worth doing over and over.
Created with BeerSmith

BeerSmith calculates the ABV @ 2.3%. But I doubt anyone could tell by taste alone.

I'll be trying to stockpile some of this for those all day outside, days. I wish I had more in the pipeline now.

pb
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I think I'll give this one a try. Anybody else try this one? Bob, are you still brewing it?
 
WestMichBrewer said:
Just brewed Plumber Bob's light amber ale today, will pitch tomorrow and let you know how it goes in a few weeks.
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention I had to sub the carafoam with carapils. I also threw in a bit of US Fuggle hops mid-boil - maybe a few 10ths oz.

Brew day went well. 3.5 gallons into fermenter.
I fermented for 4 days @64F then bumped 1 degree a day and let it finish @68F for a total of 2 weeks.
Kegged (no gelatin) and left on gas at serving pressure for 4 days before trying.
Beer came out very good. It is a lighter flavored beer as you'd expect, but once you realize that's what you are drinking, the flavor is good.
I expected a note of sweetness with the high percentage of crystal (28% between carpils and c90) in the grain bill, but the end result is fairly dry. Not too dry though!
This easy drinker won't last long in the keg.
 
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That Cascadian Dark ale turned out beautifully. Drinking one or two a week to gauge how the hops age but it is a mighty fine beer. Light in body but very flavorful between the mild roast and moderate hop aroma/flavor. It's going to be my summer beer as long as it lasts. I think I'll try that 2.5% wheat to follow it up.
I'll try to post a pic tonight and mock up a recipe that could be done non-partigyle.
 
kmarkstevens said:
Anyone have a tried and true 1030 Czech recipe? One standard Czech pale lager style is 8 plato (~1032) called Lehký (Light). Plus this is a chance to bump this excellent thread! Thanks in advance.
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I just had a dobre pifko yesterday, which is a 9 degree beer. Has 3.5% and is really nice. But don't have a recipe for that, but will try to clone it. I'll go with 20 to 30% cara pilsener, 10% wheat malt, rest Maris otter or similar. 25 to 30 ibus with perle and saaz.
 
I can recommend the following:
88.8% Pilsner
5.6% Weyermann melanoidin
5.6% Weyermann caramunich II

Mash for full body

FWH with Pearle to 24 IBU

I fermented this with Saflager S-23 at 55 for 3 days, then 57 for 3 days, after this 68 till FG was reached, then cold conditioned at 32 till clear.

I targeted 9 Plato, if you want to go below that the mouthfeel that comes from a little diacetyl might benefit this beer, so a Czech yeast seems like an excellent choice.
 
matteroftaste said:
something i often do is brew a 5g beer at 1060+ then dilute by half, then hop and ferment each half differently. great for kegging!
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Is it as easy as it sounds? Is there anything weird to take into account with the grain bill or hopping? This sounds like a winner to me! 1.055-60 is easy for me, then splitting into 2 fermenters - 10 gallons when I couldn't do that much before and no debating whether to go clean or funky?!?
 
brownni5 said:
Is it as easy as it sounds? Is there anything weird to take into account with the grain bill or hopping? This sounds like a winner to me! 1.055-60 is easy for me, then splitting into 2 fermenters - 10 gallons when I couldn't do that much before and no debating whether to go clean or funky?!?
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It CAN be that easy, but take into account the style of beer and your water profile. If you're doing all grain and treat your strike water with brewing salts you might want that extra treated water on hand. This way your diluted wort has the same ratio of brewing salts as the original brew.
If you use untreated soft water to dilute with, make sure it's intentional. Your perception of the finished beer might change for two reasons. For example, the flavoring added by your brewing salts will be lessened and your bittering-to-gravity level from the hops will be less.
Your yeast choice can make a difference, too. Choosing one with a lower attenuation level can alter your ABV or the flavors they add during the ferment. If you're doing extract and have no worries about your water, dilute away. It's that easy.

The fun thing about beer is you can make it to your own taste, but when doing lower gravity worts you have less sugar to balance the hops. When the yeast is done you'll have less comparatively less sugar to balance the hops - so hop wisely if you like balance. Low gravity beers finish more quickly so higher AAU hops can give you a sharp hop perception in younger beers.
That said, a good 100% wheat Polish grodziskie is 2.5%ABV or so with a bittering ratio at, or above, an American IPA.
https://learn.kegerator.com/piwo-grodziskie/
 
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Still just fascinated by the idea of very small beers. So let's say I just got a bigger kettle (I did) and now have the opportunity to do a larger batch. So, I'm designing a recipe along the lines of something from Jester King (low gravity farmhouse ale). It seems like it would be better then to brew the entire batch going into the fermenters rather than diluting after the fact. However, with something like 9 lbs of grain and a 1.5 grist ratio, I'm batch sparging with somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 gallons, with the possibility of "over sparging" and throwing the pH out of whack. That seems scary. Am I over thinking this? Is there a good/better way?
 
I batch sparge as well and never worry about pH or tannin extraction. I always keep the grain bed below 170F, double batch sparge most times, and has never been a problem. I brew with 5 gallons RO water and whatever tap water I need to make up the balance. Never got a water test or played with water profiles, so maybe I'm just lucky. Davenport IA tap water, fresh from the Mississipi River!
 
Got the chance to brew yesteeyes despite having a cold and working on the car.
I use a partigyle calculator so I know what gravity each of my batch sparges are MOL. I did 10.5 gallons of Rye KY Common and the second runnings (1st batch sparge with 14 qts water) we're predicted to be 1.029 after boiling .I boiled the second runnings separately and ended up with 3 gallons at 1028. Will be dry hopped with 2-3 oz Citra. Hoppy rye cream ale, I guess?
The Rye KY Common ended up at 1.048 going into the fermentors.
 
Lefou said:
That said, a good 100% wheat Polish grodziskie is 2.5%ABV or so with a bittering ratio at, or above, an American IPA.
https://learn.kegerator.com/piwo-grodziskie/
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I just brewed one for the first time, bottled a week ago. I don’t like a lot of bitterness but found this one to be fine for me so far. Used Weyermann oak smoked wheat, looking forward to seeing how the flavor plays out. At bottling was a pleasant smokiness, not harsh. OG came in a little high at 1.034, FG 1.008. Did as a fun 1G experiment. If the smokiness isn’t off-putting I’ll work on the water profile next time.
 
@SirHC_

Preboil water volume: 2.5 gallons (expected boil off, 0.5 gallons)

Grain bill
1lb 2-row
.75lb wheat
.25lb caramel 10l
.25lb Vienna
.25lb flaked oats

Preboil gravity: 1.022
Original gravity: 1.030
Finishing gravity: 1.008
ABV: 2.5-3%

I mashed at 150 for 60 minutes; however, using myMash & Boil system it becomes a step mash (145-155f varies through the range). At the start of the mash I added in 1/8th teaspoon of amalyze enzyme, and every 20 minutes I manually recirculated. That is, I pulled 0.5 gallons out and poured on top of the grain bag (function: increase efficiency).

After I mashed I pitched my lacto blend and set the temp to 113f (it varied slightly +/- 5f). It held temp for three and a half days, and thereafter I boiled for 60 minutes. Once cooled, I picked my yeast blend of 0.5g champagne yeast and 5g of S-05. At the same time I pitched 19g of Amarillo hop pellets (8.4% AA).

I set the fermentation temp to 65f and let it ride for 18 days after which I added 5lbs of organic (I picked) apricots (halved and frozen). Before pitching, gravity was 1.010 and it finished at 1.008 so I retained a lot of the apricot flavor and aroma (which is why I pitched so much apricot).

I bottled on 2/9 and the flavor and aroma was still very present.

Note: Before pitching the fruit, I noted to myself, "It's a bit thin." I would add now that the addition of the fruit filled in some of the body; however, I would recommend either more flaked oats or something else (carafoam, for example) to give it more body. Head retention, for a kettle sour, was really quite nice! I am speculating that this is from the flaked oats and perhaps the wheat addition.

Apricot Clouds Kettle Sour 7FEB2019.jpg
 
shoreman said:
Back to formulating some of these beers.

Has anyone tried cold mashing/extraction? I’m looking to go pretty low (like 1.5%abv) on either a Belgian table or hoppy beer with a unique yeast.

http://jonscrazybrews.blogspot.com/2017/03/non-enzymatic-mashing-take-1.html?m=1

It’s winter, so temps are good for this method.
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Do you know any more about jonscrazybrews? His experiments sound interesting but I can't find any results on his blog. Would be nice to find out if it's worth pursuing.
 
shoreman said:
Also it’s been mentioned above but has anyone brewed Nanny State? The hops are way out of wack but the malt bill looks interesting. I have some Amarillo and Azzacca in hand, might pick up some Simcoe and use that combo.
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I made five gallons a couple months ago. Told the LHBS I was going to try it, they said another customer brought their NS batch in a week prior, and all agreed that it was overly bitter. I was told the brewer would use less bittering hops next time.

I bought ingredients for two batches, and figured I'd make the first one exactly to the recipe. It was overly bitter. I'll use less bittering hops next time.

Some people learn from history, and I guess some of us don't...:rolleyes:
 
I've been brewing away a bunch of 2.5 & 5 gallon batches this winter in the sub 1.030 range. These are all new recipes listed at the blog below, but tastings are coming soon:

https://littlestbeer.food.blog/

I've kegged a batch and bottle conditioned a few.

I'm particularly excited by this small extract pale ale, I haven't brewed with extract since I first started in the hobby in the early 2000's, but the hydro sample was tasting really good, so we'll see. I'll be playing around with that beer and a few others with extract in the upcoming months. The brewday is literally ~1 hour long for a 2.5 gallon batch.
 
Looking for a 1030 Irish Stout recipe. Searched this thread but didn't find one. I love Guinness but have decided they "own" that space, so my time would be better spent working on a tasty 1030 dry stout instead of a clone.

I have two cold extractions that need to be bottled. They came out lacking in hop character, so getting an extra 5 grams dry hopped at the moment. If I ever get a cold extract fine tuned, will share
 
Weezy said:
A British Milk Stout serves as the base recipe, where a significant portion of oats and milk sugar provide a creamy sweetness. The beer is then blended in the cask with a lightly roasted, fruity Colombian coffee.
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When I do coffee beers, I use a french press to steep coarsely ground coffee beans in some of the hot wort rather than make coffee and add it to the beer.

The last one I did was a stab at Troegs Java Head stout. For a 3 gallon batch I think I used 5 oz of Seattle’s Best Medium Roast whole beans which I ground coarsely in my coffee grinder. Added them to the french press. Filled the French press with hot wort and let it steep 10 min. Drain off liquid, add back to kettle and repeat at least once. This doesn’t dilute the beer by adding brewed coffee and still adds great coffee flavor.
 
E2078C39-6B90-4178-8BDB-0F2FA21C895C.jpeg


I’ve really been really enjoying this beer, one of the best sub 1.030 beers I’ve made to date.

It’s a mini Czech lager - 2.1%abv before the keg conditioning. Delicious. I’d probably dial the hops back a touch next time, so hard with low abv beers to nail.

Recipe here https://littlestbeer.food.blog/2020/02/03/brew-day-almost-8-czech-light-lager/

The tasting notes are on the blog as well.
 
Just pitched on a 1.026 micro neipa type thing based on tonsmiere recipe. Target was 1.029 but missed my preboil gravity

4.5 gallons ish

3 lbs rye
1 lb oat malt
1.5 lb briess blonde roast
6oz c20

No sparge Mash at 165 45 minutes
30 min boil

4oz NZH-107 at 175 ish whirlpool for 30

Pitched a full pack of S04 @64

Will dry hop at terminal with 4oz NZH-107

Was bubbling away nicely this morning, expecting an fg around 1.014
 

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