Any experience brewing NA beer?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by LSullivan79, Dec 31, 2014.

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  1. LSullivan79

    LSullivan79 Initiate (0) May 19, 2014 Iowa

    Going to attempt to brew a NA Irish red Ale for my father. From what I've read you brew normally and then before bottling boil beer at 175 to burn alcohol off. Any advise from those who might have attempted this process?
     
  2. Iamjeff6

    Iamjeff6 Initiate (0) Sep 9, 2013 Virginia

    No experience myself but here is a good article about doing so-

    If you opt for the evaporation method, preheat your oven to its lowest setting. The target temperature is around 180° F. It is a good idea to use an oven thermometer, because it is not unusual for oven settings to vary by 25 degrees or more. Once the oven is preheated to the desired temperature, you can place the fermented beer into a stainless steel or enameled pot (your brew kettle should do nicely for this purpose) and put it in the oven. Leave the beer in the oven for about 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

    You should be able to smell the alcohol being driven from the beer quite strongly during the first few minutes. Progressively, the alcohol smell will become weaker. After about 30 minutes you can remove the beer from the oven and give it a final stir. You may want to take a teaspoonful, let it cool a bit, and taste it to make sure all the alcohol flavor is really gone. A word of warning, though: Hot, flat beer doesn't taste that great. But the intent is simply to check for any remaining alcohol.
    Remember, once you touch the spoon to your lips do NOT use it to stir the beer any more. This is a sure-fire way to contaminate your brew with all sorts of nasty bacteria.

    Once you are satisfied that the alcohol is all gone, you can cover the pot and start the cooling process. This is similar to the cooling process that takes place when the initial wort boil is completed. The easiest way is to place the brew kettle in ice water and wait a couple of hours.
    During the heating of the beer, the alcohol was not the only thing that was driven off. Some may complain that a lot of the beer flavor is lost during this heating. If your beer had any hop flavor or aroma before the heating took place, then these flavors and aromas will most likely be driven off. The only thing left from the hops will be the bitterness.

    The hop aromas will usually be driven off within the first five minutes, while the hop flavors will be gone within the first 15 minutes. But there is a nice bonus to all this heating. Along with the intoxicating alcohol, the higher alcohols - including the headache-inducing aldehydes and aromatic esters - will also be spirited away. Overall, the malt flavor and bitterness from the original beer will remain pretty much unchanged.

    http://byo.com/issues/item/263-brew-a-great-non-alcoholic-beer
     
    PapaGoose03 likes this.
  3. LSullivan79

    LSullivan79 Initiate (0) May 19, 2014 Iowa

    Awesome thank you
     
  4. Homebrew42

    Homebrew42 Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2006 New York

    If you don't dealcoholize the beer properly/completely and your father ends up drinking a beer that still has some alcohol in it then what happens?
     
    OldSock likes this.
  5. scottakelly

    scottakelly Maven (1,487) May 9, 2007 Ohio

    I have NO experience doing this. So take that for what it is worth. But I have a hard time believing all of the alcohol would evaporate out. If he is ok having a low alcohol beer, why not just try to make that?
     
  6. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    You can't remove all the alcohol by boiling, unless you also boil away all the water. Google azeotrope for a more complete explanation.
     
  7. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Do you have a way to carbonate the beer after you remove the alcohol? Otherwise I think you'll have a very flat, odd-tasting beer that your father may not appreciate. I think this entire process sounds like it is very tricky to accomplish, and to do it well.
     
  8. telejunkie

    telejunkie Savant (1,107) Sep 14, 2007 Vermont

    Never tried it but have researched this before...the big boys will start by sending the beer through an RO system, to create a syrup and a water/alcohol mix. They then will vacuum boil the water alcohol mix to remove the alcohol then mix the syrup back into the solution. That would require a lot of special equipment, but there is obviously a reason they're going through all those steps.
     
  9. LSullivan79

    LSullivan79 Initiate (0) May 19, 2014 Iowa

    Nothing really he gave up drinking a few years ago but still enjoys the occasional Buckler or st pauly NA. Just thought it would be fun to give him another option.
     
  10. LSullivan79

    LSullivan79 Initiate (0) May 19, 2014 Iowa

    Even NA beers have alcohol in them just very low amt
     
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