make a light beer?

[MattKnox]

I am pretty sure that I asked this on the other forum that we will not mention but I forget (I drink, and I'm getting older). Can making a light beer be as simple as boiling for 2 hours instead of 1? I did a tour of the Yeungling brewery back in March and they said that is the only difference between their regular lager and light lager? Just curious. Thanks.

[The_Professor]

...Can making a light beer be as simple as boiling for 2 hours instead of 1? I did a tour of the Yeungling brewery back in March and they said that is the only difference between their regular lager and light lager?...

So, the regular for 2 hours and the light for 1 hour?

Personally I'd look at something like this to make a light lager.

[MattKnox]

...Can making a light beer be as simple as boiling for 2 hours instead of 1? I did a tour of the Yeungling brewery back in March and they said that is the only difference between their regular lager and light lager?...

So, the regular for 2 hours and the light for 1 hour?

Personally I'd look at something like this to make a light lager.

Thanks for the link I will take a look. But opposite way Professor, 1 hour reg, 2 hours lights. Boils off more sugars and fermentables.

[The_Professor]

...But opposite way Professor, 1 hour reg, 2 hours lights. Boils off more sugars and fermentables.

I believe the exact same beer boiled for 1 hour and 2 hours, would leave the 2 hour beer (that now has less water than the 1 hour beer because it was boiled off) with a higher alcohol content and more flavors from the boil.

[mashani]

Boils off more sugars and fermentables.

Boiling longer doesn't boil off anything but water. Well that and volatile hop oils (aroma/flavor).

But sugar... no... that defies all things scientific.

You do caramelize the sugar more the longer you boil. That leads to a darker beer with more flavor. It can make it slightly less fermentable, but only a tiny bit. And that tiny bit won't make up for the volume of water you boiled off. So you have a more concentrated wort after 2 hours then 1. If you just chill that and pitch yeast you end up with a smaller amount of stronger beer then the batch that was boiled for 1 hour.

You might have heard what they said backwards. IE the light lager is boiled for LESS time.

That would make the volume of the final product greater, IE it is diluted.

That would give you a lighter beer with the same ingredients.

EDIT: Their light lager is a lighter color then their regular lager I believe. So if what you heard was "backwards" and you think about what I just said, then it would make some sense.

EDIT EDIT: But honestly at your homebrew scale, it would be simpler to just design a light lager or regular lager recipe around normal boil times so you can target your final volume more easily. I guess I can understand why a commercial brewer making vast quantities might do something like that, but I don't understand why any homebrewer would. The only reason for really long boil times with what we do is to make something like a Scottish ale where that caramalization is important to the final flavor profile.

[berryman]

I've tried every since I've been brewing to make a light beer, (light color, low IBU, but at least 5% ABV) BMC type if that is what you are looking for. It's hard to do, My best success has been with a full volume boil, with a late addition of LME or DME, Pilsen will be the lightest in color. Rice Syrup Solids works good on this type of beer to bring up the ABV without adding more malt. A shorter boil time will help to keep it lighter in color, but you have to do the math using qBrew or whatever to balance the hops.

[Foothiller]

The previous replies cover what longer boils will and will not do, so I will not go over that. A light beer does not need to be BMC. I brew 100-calorie Belgian pale ale, porter, and stout for my wife, all of which have plenty of flavor. But to be brief, a seminar at the NHC conference covered:

1. Go for lower attenuation: English yeast, high mash temperature, shorter mash time, mash-out to denature enzymes at the end of the mash.

2. Use flavorful malts: reduce base malt but not specialty malts, use Vienna instead of pale malt, increase crystal, biscuit, & melanoidin malt for sweetness & mouthfeel.

3. Adjust bittering hops for the lower gravity but take the lower attenuation into account, so the adjustment is not just proportional, and don't reduce flavor and aroma hops.

4. Consider mineral adjustments to brewing water: chloride enhances malt & body, sulfate enhances hops and dryness.

[bpgreen]

I've tried every since I've been brewing to make a light beer, (light color, low IBU, but at least 5% ABV) BMC type if that is what you are looking for. It's hard to do, My best success has been with a full volume boil, with a late addition of LME or DME, Pilsen will be the lightest in color. Rice Syrup Solids works good on this type of beer to bring up the ABV without adding more malt. A shorter boil time will help to keep it lighter in color, but you have to do the math using qBrew or whatever to balance the hops.

Add much grief as we give BMC, they do a good job of consistently brewing a beer that is difficult to brew.

I've done a couple, just to challenge myself, and they're tough. If you're brewing a stout and you're off a couple of points in srm, who notices? Likewise, I'd you do an ipa, a difference of a couple of IBUs won't be obvious. But if your goal is a low IBU, low srm beer, any variance anywhere throws it off.

[MattKnox]

Thanks for the post guys! Definitely not looking for a BMC, just a way to make a "lighter" beer. People like those 100 calorie beers and stuff so was thinking about that.

[swenocha]

I'll go back and read everyone else in a sec so some of this might already have been said, but I tend to think the key to a light beer is some distinctive malts (and to not overdo the hops). It's really a balancing act of not getting too much flavor from a hop, a grain, or a yeast, but getting enough flavors that it's worth drinking. This is something I've challenged myself a lot on, and it's tough not to either make a watery tasting beer or a beer that's way too hoppy. Session IPAs that aren't just watered down versions of big IPAs work a lot better in my mind (if you're looking for a hoppy option). I tend to make non-hoppy sessions, though. Munich malt is my key to getting a good grainy flavor that (IMHO) keeps things from being watery.



Here's a session that I've made several times and really like... I have tried to make this smaller (around 2.5%abv), but found it to be watery. This 3.3%abv was quite good though... This is scaled to Mr. B size in Beersmith, which accounts for the awkward measurements. You can obv round things off a touch (I'm sure I did when I made it this size, but I don't see it in my notes... I prob did 2lb pale, 1lb munich I would surmise).

Two Dogs
American Brown Ale
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 2.40 gal

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
0.7 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1.30 %
1 lbs 15.1 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 58.51 %
1 lbs 1.3 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 32.51 %
2.5 oz Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 4.73 %
1.6 oz Carafa II (412.0 SRM) Grain 2.96 %
0.45 oz Pearle [5.40 %] (60 min) Hops 20.4 IBU
0.20 oz Saaz [4.90 %] (5 min) Hops 1.6 IBU
1 Pkgs London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.037 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 3.36 %
Bitterness: 22.0 IBU
Calories: 163 cal/pint
Est Color: 13.0 SRM

If you want to try to go really extreme on the low grav/low calorie, CrazyBrody does some crazy small beers that he really liked. I've been itching to try this. This one was estimated 80 calories per 12oz bottle, and less than 2% abv. He likes Rye and Munich to get flavor:

Low Blow 2
5 gallon

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
3 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 60.0 %
1 lbs Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 2 20.0 %
8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 10.0 %
8.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 4 10.0 %
0.50 oz Cascade [4.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 8.7 IBUs
0.25 oz Cascade [4.20 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 2.2 IBUs
0.25 oz Cascade [4.20 %] - Boil 6.0 min Hop 7 1.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 8 -
1.00 oz Cascade [4.20 %] - Dry Hop 4.0 Days Hop 9 0.0 IBUs

I always enjoy the Basic Brewing vids. Here's one where they do low calorie rye/wheat beers that I found quite good:

[mashani]

I like the idea of that low blow, but I'd bump it up to just over 2%, unless I was just going to drink the whole batch in a week. (which I might very well do if it was that low ABV).

That is just because 2% is the magic number where the PH changes and alcohol content come into "cosmic convergence" and are assured to be at the right place where all known human pathogens are dead, and can't try to live off/multiply on whatever residuals are in there that they might eat. It can be lower then that if you add lots of PH lowering malts (enough that it tastes tart or slightly sour) or if you make an actual lacto/sour beer - but 2% is safe, sour or not, regardless of grain bill.

[BigPapaG]

I say: Why bother with a 2.x% beer anyway?

A 3% brew will get you around 100-110 calories...

My Grisette is 4.3%, and weighs in at 136 calories per 12 ounces...

http://beerborg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=4624

Heck, most of the beers I brew run 6-8% ABV so I consider the Grisette as 'Being on a Diet'!

[swenocha]

100 calories is kinda the magic number I have shot for, though most of my low gravs have sat at 120-160ish at their best flavor so far. I personally don't get totally hung up on the low/high ABV aspect... I used to brew big 9-10% beers, but I generally now just put together something I think I might like (or have liked in the past) and they generally sit in the 3.5-7% range for no real rhyme or reason other than I have found that I like the mouthfeel/taste/etc. of things I've brewed in that range, and I feel a bit weighted down if I try to session the 8-10% beers I've made. So... I guess that's what it really boils down to for me. I think the craft market is wise to try to capture part of that market with flavorful options, but for me as a homebrewer, I like that range simply based on sessionability and waistline concerns. I've lost about 20 lbs so far, and outside of random beer tastings with friends, I'm down to drinking only on the weekend, so I'd rather drink two small beers on a Saturday than one big beer. YMMV. I know that 'session' is the big buzzword that everyone is probably tired of hearing in the craft beer world, but that's a part of why Miller Lite/Bud Light got so popular (Tastes great/less filling!) even though a lot of it is marketing blitz and advertising. Those beers are the original session beers... well, the original session beers in our era. There were plenty of small beers in the historical context.

I really want to try that Grissette...

[berryman]

Thanks for the post guys! Definitely not looking for a BMC, just a way to make a "lighter" beer.

Sorry Matt, I misinterpreted your OP. When I hear light I think of crap-lite. It is hard as I said to clone crap light, but I have tried a few times for some of my friends that get all excided to try a home made beer but just aren't ready for a real beer. When they say "I don't like Southern Tier beer", our local brewery, I know right away they probably will have a hard time with what I brew. Good that some of the other members got on the same page and can give some good advice on what you are looking for.

[MattKnox]

Thanks for the post guys! Definitely not looking for a BMC, just a way to make a "lighter" beer.

Sorry Matt, I misinterpreted your OP. When I hear light I think of crap-lite. It is hard as I said to clone crap light, but I have tried a few times for some of my friends that get all excided to try a home made beer but just aren't ready for a real beer. When they say "I don't like Southern Tier beer", our local brewery, I know right away they probably will have a hard time with what I brew. Good that some of the other members got on the same page and can give some good advice on what you are looking for.

No worries berryman. Southern Tier Beer!? Where are you in NY? I grew up near Binghamton before I joined the service and I have tons of family still around there.

The lager and porter that I brew, a lot of guys like but some enjoy the big brewery stuff. So I wondered if it was possible to do this. I really appreciate you guys giving me the info