NA (non-alcoholic / no/low alcohol) Pale Ale

Home brew hacking is back!

Athletic brewing has hit the market with a bang. After researching methods of making non-alcoholic beer via traditional methods, ie brew a batch then distill it, I mostly gave up on it because while my pico brewery has reduced the headaches of home brewing, it's still not a walk in the park. The idea was shelved until Gemini hit the market. Welcome to finding other mad science information quickly! And so we have reduced headache NA beer! Hooray!

MegaMania MegaManon-alcoholic Pale Ale!

Target ABV: $<0.5\%$ Method: Cold Steep + Short Boil

1. The Grain Bill

• 4 oz (115g) Crystal 10L or 20L: Provides honey/caramel notes and color without much fermentable sugar.

• 2 oz (55g) Flaked Oats: This is crucial. It adds "beta-glucans" which provide a silky mouthfeel to replace the viscosity of alcohol.

• 0.5 oz (15g) Acidulated Malt (Crushed): Helps lower the pH naturally.

2. The Hops & Extras

• 1.5 grams of standard Simcoe (12.9%)

• 2g Centennial Cryo (18.5% AA): (Added at flame-out/whirlpool)

• Yeast:  1g SafAle S-04

3. The Process

Step A: The Cold Steep (24 Hours)

Instead of a hot mash, put your crushed grains in a mesh bag in 0.6 gallons of room-temperature filtered water. Put it in the fridge overnight.

Why? This extracts the "soul" (color, flavor, aroma) but very little of the starch/sugar that would normally turn into a thick, sweet mess.

Step B: The "Short" Boil

1. Remove the grain bag and squeeze it.

2. Bring the liquid to a boil.

3. Add your bittering hops. Boil for only 15–20 minutes. (A long boil isn't needed since we aren't "cooking" starches). -- Note this evaporated too much. Next time I can keep the temp at 77C with the lid on/partially on since we don't have to deal with DMS on a cold steep.

4. Turn off the heat. Add your aroma hops. Let them steep for 10 minutes. (I let all the hops go through the whole process until bottling!)

Step C: The Adjustment

Taste the "wort" (it will be lukewarm). If it tastes like sweet cereal, add one drop of lactic acid or a squeeze of lemon and taste again. You want it to feel "snappy" on the edges of your tongue. [Note: I did not do this on this batch!! **foreboding music**]

Step D: Fermentation

1. Cool the liquid to 68°F (20°C) as fast as possible (ice bath -- I used the fridge with ice blocks on the outside and it took a couple hours to cool -- ice bath next time!).

2. Pitch your yeast.

3. The Monitor: If using standard yeast, let it sit for only 12 hours. You want just enough activity to "scrub" the oxygen and add a tiny bit of CO2.

4. The Cold Crash: Move the fermenter directly to the fridge to put the yeast to sleep.

Mood altering foods or herbs

Alcohol alters mood. What non-alcoholic options are available?

coffee

chocolate

chamomile

lavender (https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/lavender-for-anxiety#most-effective-use)

ashwagandha root (https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ashwagandha)
reishi mushroom

sage (https://www.prevention.com/health/a20434142/sage-a-natural-remedy-to-ease-anxiety/) passionflower (https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/passionflower) catnip leaf holy basil lemon balm skullcap oatstraw rosemary maca root st. john’s wort ginkgo biloba kava kava valerian root cbd

Also:

https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-are-adaptogens-4685073

Shopping List

Grain: flaked wheat

Hops: Simcoe pellets

Yeast: English Ale Liquid Yeast

Hazy IPA

Inspiration:

https://www.brewcabin.com/hazy-ipa/

https://www.ballastpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Hazy-IPA-All-Grain-Recipe.pdf

https://www.themadfermentationist.com/2017/07/cryo-lupulin-neipa-citra-mosaic.html

Recipe Specifics

--------------------

Batch Size (Gal): 0.6 

Total Grain (Lbs): 1.7

Max OG: 1.1

Anticipated OG: 1.075

Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %

Wort Boil Time: ~60 Minutes. Boil to 5.3lb or 7.1lb including pot.

Grain/Sugar

--------------

8.8 oz (0.55 lb) Pilsner Malt (32.5%) (23)
8.8 oz (0.55 lb) 2 row (32.5%) (23)
4 oz (0.25 lb) flaked wheat (15%) (6)
4 oz (0.25 lb) rolled oats (15%) (5.7)

1.6 oz (0.1 lb) carapils (5%) (2.7)

Hops

------

0.2 oz Simcoe 12.9% AA @ mashout. (need ~100 IBUs addition here)

0.2 oz. Columbus (Pellet 16.10% AA) @ 60 min.

0.4 oz. Amarillo (Pellet, 8.50% AA) @ 0 min.

0.3 oz. Columbus (Pellet, 16.10% AA) @ 0 min.

0.2 oz. Simcoe (Pellet, 12.90% AA) @ 0 min.

Dry Hops

0.078 oz. Centennial (Cryo, 18.50% AA)

0.076 oz. Simcoe (Cryo, 23.50% AA)

Extras

-------

0.24 g Yeast Nutrient @ 10 min to end of boil.

Yeast

------

White Labs IPA Yeast

Water Profile

----------------

Start with 1 gallon Brita filtered

SF Bay Area water + potassium metabisulfite (for chlorine removal) 2.59/1.564 mg/liter x 3.785 liters = 6.27 mg

Calcium Chloride + Gypsum

Total Water Needed  [?]: 0.98 Gallons

Mash Water Needed [?]: 0.42 Gallons

Sparge Water Needed [?]: 0.48 Gallons

Mash Schedule

-------------

Set sous vide at 153F. Dough in grain.

Notes

---

Tasting post mash:

Tasting post boil:

-- Tasting post 2 week ferment:

Hard Cider

  Recipe Specifics

--------------------

Batch Size (Gal): 0.75

Total Grain (Lbs): ?

Anticipated OG: 1.075

Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Sugar

--------------

Cider (no boil)

2 oz (0.125 lb) light DME

Hops

------

0.1 oz Simcoe ( %) (60 min) 

Extras

-------

0.2 g Yeast Nutrient @ 10 min to end of boil.

Yeast

------

2.3g Safale US-05

1.7g Safale s-04

Water Profile

----------------

Start with 1 quart Whirlpool filtered

Notes

---

4/25 5:35pm. Used one cup of caramelized apple sauce purée and 24 oz of Kirkland water. Measured gravity at 1.012. Tasted like watered down apple juice. 

Added DME at boil as well as hops. 

Caramelized apple sauce was made from 6 small apples and 16 oz of water

Apple juice gravity was 1.052

Bottle+Brew day timeline

1. Gather ingredients
2. Treat water
3. Crack grains
4. Start mash
5. Heat sparge if using
6. After mash completes, begin boil
7. Cool wort
8. Sanitize fermenter and bottle
9. Transfer beer to bottle
10. After cooling, transfer wort to fermenter
11. Add yeast

Force carbonation

 https://www.growlerwerks.com/blogs/news/beer-science-force-carbonate-homebrew-using-ukeg-pressurized-growler

Step 4 -  Sterilize your uKeg using a beer-safe sterilization solution like Iodophore. 

Step 5 -  Charge your uKeg regulator cap using a 16gram CO2 cartridge.  See How To Video.

Step 6 -  Be sure to also sterilize the CO2 cartridge holder on the bottom of your regulator cap, after the cap is charged, and before you place the cap onto the uKeg. 

Step 7 - Begin transferring your beer into a bucket. Make sure your tap is unlocked and open so beer fills the tap assembly during the fill. Then place the transfer hose into the bottom of the ukeg.  This minimizes contact with oxygen.

NOTE:  Do not fill the ukeg above the fill line, which is at the bottom of the neck.  Allow at least 4 inches of head space below the level of the beer and the top of the uKeg.  This provides ample space for CO2 diffusion into your beer.

NOTE:  Do not use priming sugar in the uKeg. The CO2 supply will provide all the carbonation you need. Priming sugar could lead to fermentation in the uKeg and the products of that fermentation can cause your uKeg to become clogged.  Priming sugar could also cause the uKeg to over-carbonate your beer. 

Step 8 - Place the regulator cap onto the uKeg. Be sure the tap is closed and the tap lock is in the locked position.

Step 9 -  Purge oxygen from the head. Do this by turning the selector dial on until the regulator opens.  You will hear a hiss of CO2 gas. Turn the selector dial off.  Then un-screw the cap until the pressure is released. Repeat three times. This ensures no oxygen is left in the head space above your beer.

Step 10 -  Tighten the cap to a firm hand tight. Then turn the selector dial up to 15 psi.

Step 11 -  Let the ukeg carbonate.  Do this by putting the ukeg inside your refrigerator and letting it happily absorb CO2 on its own.

Step 12 -  Gently agitate the uKeg, one to three times per day, to speed up carbonation.  Do not shake the uKeg, place it on its side, or invert the uKeg.  This could cause beer to seep into the regulator cap.

Step 13 -  The beer will taste carbonated after a day or so, but won't be fully carbonated until about three days.  At that point, all of the CO2 in the cartridge will be diffused into your beer.  The beer is now fully carbonated and should still show full pressure on your gauge.  However, you will find it quickly runs out as your first beer is poured.  That's expected, and it's time to replace the cartridge to provide enough CO2 to dispense your beer.  The next step is how to replace the cartridge safely.

If you have a uKeg 64, you can avoid the following steps by buying the 16 gram cartridge sleeve adapter and using 16 gram CO2 cartridges; These hold enough CO2 to both carbonate and dispense a uKeg 64 (half-gallon).  We do not currently offer a sleeve or CO2 larger than 16 gram, so with the uKeg 128 (one gallon) you will have to replace the CO2 using the following steps: