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.