Brewing a Near Beer Soon

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Push_the_limits, Aug 10, 2019.

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  1. Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse

    Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse Zealot (744) Jul 20, 2016 Indiana

    Check out this link from Briess: http://blog.brewingwithbriess.com/c...onents-and-their-use-in-brewing-applications/

    If this is linear, maybe you could achieve .5-.75% ABV with a recipe that yields ~1.025 OG given a standard mash? I imagine you could do even better if you went heavy on less fermentable/unfermentable grains, like specialty malts and used a yeast strain that can’t ferment maltriose, as stated earlier.
     
    #21 Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse, Aug 12, 2019
  2. Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse

    Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse Zealot (744) Jul 20, 2016 Indiana

    #22 Ten_SeventySix_Brewhouse, Aug 17, 2019
    donspublic and Push_the_limits like this.
  3. Push_the_limits

    Push_the_limits Initiate (0) Feb 8, 2018 Antarctica

    Interesting.. That article makes it sound likes it's difficult/expensive for the homebrewer. The two most helpful notes I picked up were about the yeast, which has been mentioned in this thread, and about blending.

    Maybe it's not crazy to use the recipe in the 1st post of this thread, which has a estimated OG of 1.004 and a FG of 1.001, then deactivate the yeast somehow, and then blend it 50/50 with something like a 1.023 wort. This way, you would get the body. Still, though, there wouldn't be a lot of "fermented" flavor, but at least you'd get some.

    Maybe it's not crazy to do 1/3 each of 1) fermented and heated beer without hops (to evaporate the alcohol), 2) low gravity fermented beer with hops, and 3) unfermented wort with or without hops.

    I've read that using heat to evaporate alcohol in beer with hops can make the hops become nastily bitter. Also, heating it creates other off flavors, so maybe 1/3 each of those methods would work.
     
    #23 Push_the_limits, Aug 17, 2019
  4. donspublic

    donspublic Grand Pooh-Bah (3,552) Aug 4, 2014 Texas
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    No he was cagey, was hoping to get some kind of knowledge out of that, but nope. And seriously if he is pulling this off without distilling it out, he is on to something. Listening to a Good Beer Hunting podcast now where InBev is stating that they think that 20% of their sales will come from NA products by 2025. So they are starting to spend a lot of $$ on this in the upcoming years
     
    #24 donspublic, Aug 27, 2019
  5. i_still_like_beer

    i_still_like_beer Initiate (0) Nov 21, 2018 New Jersey

    if heating the fermented beer isn't an option, I would think the next best option for a homebrewer would be to take a normal grain bill, mash on the cooler side, increase the hops in the boil to balance out the sweetness, and cold crash the yeast after 1-2 days after pitch (during lag phase). Balancing out the sweetness of the wort with the bitterness of the hops may be tricky

    edit: someone already posted about cold mashing. that would probably be better than "mashing on the cooler side" as I said. I've done stouts and cold steeped the dark grains for 2 days to get the color and some flavor and added it at the last 10min of a boil so I don't pick up the harsh astringent flavors
     
    #25 i_still_like_beer, Aug 27, 2019
  6. skivtjerry

    skivtjerry Pooh-Bah (1,865) Mar 10, 2006 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    You could also do a "reverse eisbock" - brew normally, freeze the finished beer a couple of times to isolate the alcohol (which will not freeze), but save the frozen portion for your near beer, thaw and force carbonate. This procedure will give you a little "near whiskey" as a bonus.
     
    #26 skivtjerry, Aug 29, 2019
    OldBrewer, frozyn, billandsuz and 2 others like this.
  7. Push_the_limits

    Push_the_limits Initiate (0) Feb 8, 2018 Antarctica

    I like this idea but how cold does it need to get? In my experience with a normal freezer (5 degrees F) the frozen part is mostly water, and what's left is a strong version of your beer.

    I like the sound of the near whiskey especially because I hate the sound of wasted homebrew alcohol.
     
    #27 Push_the_limits, Aug 29, 2019
  8. skivtjerry

    skivtjerry Pooh-Bah (1,865) Mar 10, 2006 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    About 0F, normal freezer temp. You will have to do the freeze several times to isolate the alcohol. As you said, the first time you will basically just harvest water ice. Remove the ice and set aside in a safe place and put the liquid portion in the freezer again. Eventually some of the flavor components should end up in the ice (and the remaining alcohol should be fairly concentrated). Not perfect, and the mixture will entirely refuse to freeze long before you have pure alcohol + non-alcohol, but another option to think about.
     
    #28 skivtjerry, Aug 29, 2019
  9. Push_the_limits

    Push_the_limits Initiate (0) Feb 8, 2018 Antarctica

    I think I've got it using what skivtjerry mentioned. I practiced using a kegged beer. I turned the temperature of the kegerator to it's lowest setting, which is really cold. After some time, much of the beer froze. I confirmed this by turning the keg on its side and knocking (with my knuckles) on the keg -- there was clearly a solid mass ("beer ice") on the lower half of the keg. Meanwhile, the beer coming out of the tap was concentrated in flavor and in alcohol -- strong stuff!

    Leaving the kegerator at this very low temperature, I finished what would come out of the keg until only CO2 came out of the tap. Then I raised the temperature to thaw the remaining beer. Now, what is left is probably 1-2% ABV and lighter in flavor and color.

    I guess the freezing process could be repeated to get an even lower ABV. I could freeze either portion of the beer (the ice or the stuff that didn't freeze). I'll do this again with another beer, but I'll definitely brew a wort heavier in flavoring grains considering that the resulting beer gets thinned out.
     
    #29 Push_the_limits, Sep 30, 2019
    OldBrewer, skivtjerry, PapaGoose03 and 1 other person like this.
  10. skivtjerry

    skivtjerry Pooh-Bah (1,865) Mar 10, 2006 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    That's a very smart way to do it! Wish I'd thought of that. Definitely going to do this next summer, but will transfer the strong stuff to another keg for later bottling. Then I'll have a big barley wine for winter and a low ABV lawnmower beer to drink immediately.
     
    #30 skivtjerry, Oct 1, 2019
    Push_the_limits likes this.
  11. Push_the_limits

    Push_the_limits Initiate (0) Feb 8, 2018 Antarctica

    I've now sampled the low-ABV beer to two people, and neither of them detected any alcohol. Neither can I. It actually might technically be a near beer.
     
    #31 Push_the_limits, Oct 1, 2019
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