Have been trying to come up with a simple light beer for my dad who is not much of a craft beer drinker. He prefers his lite American lagers but I don’t have the capability to produce lagers. So I came up with a light ale that hopefully isn’t too complex let me know what you think.
5 Gal. Batch
-8lbs. Briess 2-row
-.3lbs. Gambrinus Honey Malt
-.2lbs. Biscuit Malt
OG: 1.045
FG: 1.012
IBU: 18.7
SRM: 6.55
ABV: 4.2%
EFF: 70%
Any suggestions?
Beautiful. Gorgeous. Brew it. Don’t change a thing.
Looks good to me as well. You could even use pilsner malt instead of two row if you like.
+1 my only thought also if you wanted to.
Thanks for the feedback everyone! I’ll probably stick with the 2-row just because that’s what I have on hand. Also LHBS might not have WLP008 so I was thinking WLP001 instead. Any thoughts?
Never used WLP008 but I don’t think you can go wrong with 001 for a beer like this.
It’d work fine - just ferment cool. I use 1056 for cream ale at 60F and it works great.
Can’t go wrong with WLP001.
Recipe looks solid. I’m a huge fan of WLP029 for crisp, clean lager-like ale. I actually use it to make lager styles, some of which have won awards.
Update: Just brewed this one yesterday was a good brew day. Bottled a experimental 1 gal Lite Lager and a brewed up this beauty Only change was the WLP001 instead of WLP008. Efficiency was a little off got a starting gravity of 1.042 instead of 1.045. To adjust that should I adjust my Final gravity. It looks like it turned out a little darker than anticipated but I think it will lighten up a bit once it settles out in the secondary. Ill keep you guys posted!
I think the honey malt is what turned it darker. I made the mistake and put 6% into an american wheat last time and it was just a tad lighter than an all extract wheat beer. 4% in a delicate beer like yours is probably still a little much, in terms of color. Maybe 2-3% imo. It should still be very tasty 8)
I think 3.5% from the original recipe should be okay but I agree that once you get over 5% in a light beer it can become too much. I do one that has 7% and will be backing that down to 5% next attempt. It actually worked okay because I have some tartness from other ingredients that balances out the malty sweetness.
Just wanted to update everyone on how this beer went. Just cracked a bottle open after work and it was amazing. The honey malt and the biscuit malt blended perfectly to provide a sweet light bready flavor. The hops balance everything perfectly toning down the sweetness. I definitely will be brewing this one again. I like how the WLP001 turned out very clean but I still want to try it with the WLP008 sometime. Cheers!
Good to hear. Looks like a solid beer!
This is great to hear. I liked the recipe and made it myself. Its been in bottles for about 5 days now, and the intention is that this will be our RV trip beer, and that trip starts a week from today, so fingers crossed. I also used SO5 for my yeast and harvested for the first time. This will be a great yeast builder for almost everything I like to make. Thanks for posting and I will post my thoughts after tasting it myself
Hey first taste tonight, very early in carb stage but I had to know. Carb level is developing nicely. It opens with a great hiss and pours with a thin head that leaves little lacing. Aroma is slightly fruity (best I can do as not much of a fruit eater) no off esters or phenolics. Appearance is a nice bright yellow and fairly clear for this young. Poured into a tulip and the picture I took sucked but as I drank, I was amazed at just how clear it is already. Nice smooth flavor, on the malty side with just a little bitterness to keep me interested. Overall, a great summer sipper especially for our RV trip next week. Enough flavor to enjoy and nothing to scare off bmc crowd except the label does not say s@$t light/lite. I will happily enjoy this brew at the end of every day of driving over the next 2.5 weeks. Thanks for posting your recipe, I will make this one again!
Awesome! I’m glad this turned out just as well for you! I am still quite new to brewing(under a year) so I’m glad that I have came up with a recipe that can be shared and enjoyed by others. Thanks again for posting how it went for you. Cheers!
2 cases did not quite make it to all 10 states we were in, but it was great while it lasted. Had some in Indiana, Illinois, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, with none left for Nevada and I never had any chilled for Iowa and we did not spend a night in Minnesota. Thanks again for the recipe!
Just glad that I can help others have a good time. Thanks again for the updates and how it went for you cheers!