Maris Otter Small Ale

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dubhelix

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Hey y'all,
I'm trying my first attempts at a "small beer" or low ABV table ale, and my first attempts at home brewing in general. My target ABV is around 2%. I don't really need much alcohol in my life, but I love malty beverages.

I brewed this single mash/single hops recipe today in a one gallon jug to test it out before moving to 5 gallon brews.

If anyone has any experience brewing low ABV ales, I'd appreciate any feedback or advice.

(Note: the (awesome) calculator keeps defaulting to a different yeast. I used Fermentis Alesafe American Ale -05)

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/646457/maris-otter-small-2
 
I like it...seems like you're on the right track. I might try a "milder" hop like Willamette or UK Kent Golding or a basic noble like Mittlefrue, but just the right amount of Cascade might lend a nice citrus/floral without getting too bold and overpowering the malt.
Brew on! :)
PS...the calculator may use some odd settings or may not save recipes the same when you're in trial mode. If you find it useful and want to save more than just a few recipes, the minimal yearly cost is well worth it. ;)
 
That actually sounds pretty good. The Aussie yeast will add a bit of breast character that will accent the malt. One thing with such low alcohol beers is there's not much to flavor them. Going with marris otter instead of 2 row should get you a bit more flavor. But if you want a malty beverage you might want to use Vienna or Munich malt instead. Or add in some melanoidin or biscuit malt for a bit more character.
Hops are dependent on your tastes. If you like cascade use them. Just don't use a lot of whatever hop you decide on or it will overpower the taste
 
Hogarthe said:
That actually sounds pretty good. The Aussie yeast will add a bit of breast character that will accent the malt. One thing with such low alcohol beers is there's not much to flavor them. Going with marris otter instead of 2 row should get you a bit more flavor. But if you want a malty beverage you might want to use Vienna or Munich malt instead. Or add in some melanoidin or biscuit malt for a bit more character.
Hops are dependent on your tastes. If you like cascade use them. Just don't use a lot of whatever hop you decide on or it will overpower the taste
Click to expand...
Speaking from personal experience, I quite enjoy a little breast character from time to time. Ymmv
 
Thanks y'all.

The reason I went with Maris Otter is because when I uttered "Newcastle Brown" to the fellow at my LHBS, he immediately grabbed the Maris Otter bin and walked to the grinder, and knowing almost nothing, I nodded and followed along.

The cascade hops I chose because local gardeners said it would grow well in my area, and I'd like to grow my own - if I can.

The yeast is saved in the recipe incorrectly as Australian Ale, but I used Safale American 05 (again at the recommendation of the homebrew store guy).

I'll try the other malts and hops next time. Thanks for the suggestions!
 
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You won't be disappointed. The MO will be a good malt for a beer like this. As noted, some character malt like Biscuit or even just toasting up some of the MO in the oven prior to mashing will lend some extra flavor to the malt. Personally, I always like a portion of Pilsner in a lighter beer for the distinctive graininess that provides a nice base flavor. Your Cascade is a great go-to hop. As I mentioned, just be careful to achieve a balance. In a beer as light as 2.5% ABV, even 10 or 15 IBUs can be enough to make it perfect.
Keep us apprised of your results! You're inspiring me to brew up a big batch of low-ABV beer for my upcoming summer party. Never hurts to have a really light choice on tap when the temp is in the triple digits. ;)
 
dubhelix said:
If anyone has any experience brewing low ABV ales, I'd appreciate any feedback or advice.
Click to expand...
British small beers are historically made from third (or fourth) runnings. They called it table beer. If you know another local homebrewer, consider taking home an extra wash from their next brew day.
 
Thanks for all the feedback.

I read about using second/third runnings for small beer, but that's not as much fun....and I want to make enough simple farmhouse ale to have a liter a day, particularly in the summer when I work the fields.

I'm brewing another tester tomorrow with (mostly) Maris Otter, with additions of (probably too much) melanoidin (for malt flavor and color) and some carapils, with Fuggles and Safale -04 English Ale.

The magic machine says ~2.5% ABV.

If I had to guess, I'd figure I've overshot the grain bill changes, and will settle somewhere in-between.

We'll see.

I picked up a case of EZ-Cap one liter bottles, they seem about right for my uses.
 
I was bottling a low ABV English bitter yesterday, done the no-boil way. The taste of that beer was very promising ... best pre-taste I've had so far! I don't know if it was because of the no-boil, but the body and flavour of it was great. Just hoping the character will last until I'm opening the first bottle in some weeks. I will definitely try make another low ABV beer that way soon.
 
Nope.... I biab my usual way but skipped the boil, just raised the temp after mash somewhat to get it pasteurized. Sounds weird I know but I've read about it at a couple of places. Think it's called raw ale sometimes. So far so good but I won't celebrate yet, only had one pre-taste :D
 
Interesting...I don't think I'll be trying that based on the very small chance of botulism. That stuff is serious. Maybe raising the temp "somewhat" will do for most stuff and I'm probably overly paranoid but I'd want to boil to make sure there's zero chance of harboring stuff that could actually make you die. ;)
 
I'm living on the edge :D for what I've been reading, pasteurizing would be sufficient and one should be careful not raise temp too much and reach the level where DMS is being produced. I don't know if this works for any kind of beer, but it sounds like a method for low ABV beer. If I'm still alive in some weeks I'll let you know the result :confused::cool:
 
This thread has got me jonesin' for a 3-percent-er. I'm doing up a 10 gallon batch and splitting for 2 different yeasts. I'll fill kegs and take care of starters for 2 more 10-gallon batches. :)
 
Boiling will not kill botulism. If botulism was a problem in beer you would still get it when boiling. You need to heat to 240 to kill botulism. You need a pressure cooker for that. That is why canning food uses pressure cooker. Beer has too much acidity for botulism so no need to worry.
For a no boil beer, how does bittering work? Are you isomerizing any alpha acids?
 
That’s provided the botulism hasn’t already taken a stronghold. It’s not the bacteria or the virus (whichever it is) that kills you. It’s the spores that they produce, which are toxins. Once the toxins are there, they’re there. Boiling doesn’t eliminate them. There is a concern among no chill people about that. Maybe beer isn’t a suitable environment for botulism to thrive, but slow cooling wort has everything botulism likes.
 
Hogarthe said:
Boiling will not kill botulism. If botulism was a problem in beer you would still get it when boiling. You need to heat to 240 to kill botulism. You need a pressure cooker for that. That is why canning food uses pressure cooker. Beer has too much acidity for botulism so no need to worry.
For a no boil beer, how does bittering work? Are you isomerizing any alpha acids?
Click to expand...
I guess bittering is one of the down sides with no boil. For me, I took a long shot from the hip and added hops at mash plus a sort of hopstand when doing my "pasteurization rest", and hoping it will provide enough bitterness. I know there is a theory about how and when bittering hops produces bitterness but I will wait and see how this turns out. I've been reading about people doing hop tea on the side for the bitterness though.
 
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