Franham Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Hello all, New to brewing beer, was just wondering if any one had some ideas on the best way to lower ABV. Is there a special process to do this, or is it just down to the ingredients that you initially use in your wort? If so, does anyone have any suggestions for this layman or even a recipe for something equal or below 2.5 ABV? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Less fermentables https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/zephyr-light.html https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/nelson-s-light.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/aztec-gold.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 what beers do you like to drink commercially? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franham Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 I'm drinking cascade light these days. Can you explain a bit more about fermentables? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickers Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 9 minutes ago, Franham said: Can you explain a bit more about fermentables? fermentables are the 'sugars' that you're adding to the can of extract, using less of them (like half a box of brew enhancer) will lower the kick. pretty sure the coopers english bitter extract can is mid 3% so maybe look at that too, it's pretty tasty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franham Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 4 minutes ago, Stickers said: fermentables are the 'sugars' that you're adding to the can of extract, using less of them (like half a box of brew enhancer) will lower the kick. pretty sure the coopers english bitter extract can is mid 3% so maybe look at that too, it's pretty tasty Thanks very much, I really appreciate the help. Also would using half the brew enhancer negatively affect the flavour of the beer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickers Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 7 minutes ago, Franham said: Thanks very much, I really appreciate the help. Also would using half the brew enhancer negatively affect the flavour of the beer? probably.. but maybe try half a box of brew enhancer 3 - which has a lot more malt and that will give you a lot more body than standard sugar or the brew enhancer 1 + 2 cooper's boxes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franham Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 28 minutes ago, Stickers said: probably.. but maybe try half a box of brew enhancer 3 - which has a lot more malt and that will give you a lot more body than standard sugar or the brew enhancer 1 + 2 cooper's boxes So say I try to zephyr light recipe, should I add half a box of beer enhancer 3, instead of the dextrose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiek86 Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Add less fermentable or more water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franham Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 4 minutes ago, jamiek86 said: Add less fermentable or more water. So say I have a extract can of Cooper's lager, and add half a box of one of the beer enhancers, that would allow for a lower ABV, but still create a drinkable beer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Jones Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 14 minutes ago, Franham said: So say I try to zephyr light recipe, should I add half a box of beer enhancer 3, instead of the dextrose? The recipe for Zephyr Light calls for, One can of Coopers Draught and 1 KG of Dextrose. The Dextrose will ferment out completely to Alcohol and give you a ABV of 2.9%. Cascade Light has an ABV of 2.4% I would suggest that you stick to the recipe this time and you can then reduce the amount of dextrose on your next brew to lower the ABV if you want to. The key to lowering the ABV in this recipe is the amount of dextrose you use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franham Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 8 minutes ago, Pickles Jones said: The recipe for Zephyr Light calls for, One can of Coopers Draught and 1 KG of Dextrose. The Dextrose will ferment out completely to Alcohol and give you a ABV of 2.9%. Cascade Light has an ABV of 2.4% I would suggest that you stick to the recipe this time and you can then reduce the amount of dextrose on your next brew to lower the ABV if you want to. The key to lowering the ABV in this recipe is the amount of dextrose you use. Thanks for that. Actually on the note of cascade light, would replacing the draught extract can for lager extract can, create something more similar to cascade? So essentially I'm doing lager can + dextrose, which will create a lager with an ABV of 2.9 percent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pints Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 4 minutes ago, Franham said: Thanks for that. Actually on the note of cascade light, would replacing the draught extract can for lager extract can, create something more similar to cascade? So essentially I'm doing lager can + dextrose, which will create a lager with an ABV of 2.9 percent. I've heard the draught can is hopped with Cascade, not sure re lager can, but I wouldn't bud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franham Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 3 minutes ago, PintsAtMeLocal said: I've heard the draught can is hopped with Cascade, not sure re lager can, but I wouldn't bud Nice one cheers, I'll go with that... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franham Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 Thanks everyone for giving us a bit more confidence with my beer brewing 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Jones Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 6 minutes ago, Franham said: Thanks for that. Actually on the note of cascade light, would replacing the draught extract can for lager extract can, create something more similar to cascade? So essentially I'm doing lager can + dextrose, which will create a lager with an ABV of 2.9 percent. No I wouldn't do that. The OS Lager recipe doesn't call for any dextrose it uses 1 Kg of BE2. I don't know what the ABV would be adding Dextrose only. Go with the Draught. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franham Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 2 minutes ago, Pickles Jones said: No I wouldn't do that. The OS Lager recipe doesn't call for any dextrose it uses 1 Kg of BE2. I don't know what the ABV would be adding Dextrose only. Go with the Draught. Thank you, seems to be the concensus lol... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 10 hours ago, Franham said: Thanks for that. Actually on the note of cascade light, would replacing the draught extract can for lager extract can, create something more similar to cascade? So essentially I'm doing lager can + dextrose, which will create a lager with an ABV of 2.9 percent. The OS lager can does not make a lager - the yeast is an ale eyast and brewing it around 18° - 20° will make an ale. You would need to buy a lager yeast and brew down around 10° - 14° which means you need temperature control. Most of us have 2nd hand fridges with a temp controller like an Inkbird (I like the ITC-308 wifi but there are others) and a heat pad or other heat source. That way the controller runs both fridge and heat and keeps the brew within a narrow range of temps. Without that, you're going to be making ales. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loafing_about Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/coopers-mild-ale.html this is tasty and around 3.5% so maybe a bit higher but considering? this post has some hops recommendations toohttps://community.diybeer.com/topic/11287-coopers-mild-ale-take-2/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankGallagher. Posted August 17, 2021 Share Posted August 17, 2021 Zephyr light uses only 100gm of dextrose. It's not super clear when reading the recipe . 1 kg of dex will get you up to around 4.5%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Jones Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 (edited) On 8/17/2021 at 8:30 PM, FrankGallagher. said: Zephyr light uses only 100gm of dextrose. It's not super clear when reading the recipe . 1 kg of dex will get you up to around 4.5%. The Coopers recipe calls for 1 Kg of Dextrose to give an expected ABV of 2.9% for Zephyr Light. That is not good if you were expecting an ABV of 2.9% and end up with 4.5%. Where/how did you find the 100gm correction. Edited August 19, 2021 by Pickles Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankGallagher. Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 At the top of the recipe page it tells you that you need 1 kg dextrose but as you scroll down to the instructions under INGREDIENTS it lists it as 100gm. It’s real easy to miss, I think I read the page about 5 times before I picked it up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 2 minutes ago, FrankGallagher. said: At the top of the recipe page it tells you that you need 1 kg dextrose but as you scroll down to the instructions under INGREDIENTS it lists it as 100gm. It’s real easy to miss, I think I read the page about 5 times before I picked it up. A few recipes on this Coopers site do that. Because you cannot buy 100g of Dextrose off Coopers, they say you need a 1kg box, but then say in the recipe, how much of it you need. It is a bit misleading. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Jones Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 1 hour ago, FrankGallagher. said: At the top of the recipe page it tells you that you need 1 kg dextrose but as you scroll down to the instructions under INGREDIENTS it lists it as 100gm. It’s real easy to miss, I think I read the page about 5 times before I picked it up. That is very misleading, to me anyway. Good pick up. I will look closer in future. There is a good chance I would have used the whole KG of dextrose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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