rossm Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 I have been told to cut back my acl. intake, as you do when you have been into it for thirty plus years, so I have started adding a few AFD's to my week which is OK, but I still like to have something to drink that is remotely like beer even if it is not alcoholic. I have been drinking a bit of Birrel lately, and although it is not too bad, I was wondering if there is any way to brew something similar myself. What I would really like would be to brew a low or alcohol free version of my bitter with 750 of BE2, I have a couple brewed at 500gm but they are still conditioning and I havn't tried them yet, how low can I go and still expect to get a good tasting beer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 G'day Ross, what percentage alcohol is acceptable? Birell is 0.5% abv - is this your target? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted October 31, 2006 Share Posted October 31, 2006 You might be able to find some imported "deutsch alkoholfrei bier". I saw absolutely tons of it in Germany. Nearly every large brewery had a wheat, dark, bright and cloudy alcohol free beer - along with their normal beers of course. They do it somewhat differently there - atleast some of the bigger breweries do. They actually take the fully alcoholic beer, and use some chemical process to rip the alcohol out of it (I'm told its not a boiling process, because that kills the flavour) but keep the aroma in - I tried some and it was actually quite good. I found it surprising for a country that has a legal drinking age of 16 that these alcohol free beers would be so popular (I guess I just figured that these drinks were for kids). However, I was wrong, after going to a couple of parties, I just saw the 'drivers' always drinking the alcohol free beer, and everyone else on the heavy stuff. I know they aren't as popular here so the chance of importation is probably lower, but it might be worthwhile checking around. I know you're in Alice Springs, but you might be able to find a supplier online somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossm Posted November 2, 2006 Author Share Posted November 2, 2006 G'day Kieran, I am not too interested in going to that much trouble to source alcohol free beer, I am more interesred in getting some hints on how low I can get the alc content in my brew without doing too much damage to the taste. G'day Paul, getting my beer down to .5% would be good but any reduction would be good, I don't want to give it away all together, but you can bet on the days that I decide to have an alcohol free one, somebody turns up for a drink. I would like to be able to have something to drink that will still be at least close to an alcohol free day and still be social! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 The yeast strain for Birell only metabolises certain sugars and this is how we can ferment it to only 0.5%. I don't know of a yeast, of similar nature, available for home brewing?? If you make a 23 litre brew of Bitter, use no sugar then keg off and force carbonate, you may get something around the 2.3% mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossm Posted November 3, 2006 Author Share Posted November 3, 2006 Thanks mate, All looks too hard, I'll stick to having a few Birrels in the fridge for when I get caught, and I am about to crack one of the bitters I made with 500gm of BE2, which should be a bit lighter, If I take it easy a fair bit of the time I should still be OK to drink some real beer from time to time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 The yeast strain for Birell only metabolises certain sugars and this is how we can ferment it to only 0.5%. I don't know of a yeast' date=' of similar nature, available for home brewing??[/quote'] Not a fart's chance in a hurricane on our level, in my opinion. One option I have read about is fermenting a batch as normal, racking to a pot, putting the pot in an oven and holding above 78 for long enough to evaporate the alcohol. Kind of like a simplistic method some of the big guys use for making light beer. Never tried it myself but it seems like the 'easiest' way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg B Posted November 5, 2006 Share Posted November 5, 2006 Hey Kai, would that method be safe in a gas oven? or would the alcahol vapour create a fire/explosion hazard? Not trying to be a smarta$$ or any thing, just a thought. Cheers, Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kieran Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 you'll need kegs to carbonate afterwards though.. and who knows what it'll do to the flavour, and how much that will cause accelerated oxidation of the brew. When's your birthday Mr. Magnay, we can probably all chip in a couple of bucks to send you up some imported german Alkoholfrei for your celebrations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandB Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 What about doubling the contents of the brew instead of 23 lts do it to 40 or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossm Posted November 9, 2006 Author Share Posted November 9, 2006 Thanks for the thought Kieran, but I reckon if I am drinking on my birthday I will be drinking homebrew, unless I am somewhere that has Coopers dark on tap! I have aquired quite a taste for the Birrel actually, if you had said ten years ago that I would be drinking it I would have told you to get your head checked out! It is not that I am that old, it is just that I have been a pretty heavy beer drinker for a long time, I still love it but I want to be around to enjoy it for a long time yet so I am taking the doctors avice to give myself a chance. RandB, I reckon she would be a bit of a wishy washy affair doubling up the water! I have drunk in pubs that I reckon they have done that though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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