I don't think I've posted this recipe before. I've been making this stuff for years. It's the only homebrew I make now. Being lazy, I bottle it in 2-liter plastic bottles that originally contained carbonated water, so I can just pour several glasses from one bottle. I'm not picky about the last glass from the bottle being less fizzy than the first.
Children’s Beer (low alcohol and low carb homebrew; I don’t actually give it to children)
Crushed grains
2# organic 2-row light malt
0.75# Gambrinius honey malt
0.75# 60L crystal malt
Yeast starter
Two days before mashing, smack a pack of Wyeast #1272 American Ale II yeast, Allow to grow overnight at room temperature.
One day before mashing, boil 3/4 cup light dry malt extract (or equivalent malt syrup) in 1 L water + a few hop pellets (optional) + a tiny pinch of sea salt (only if you have soft water) for 15-20’. Set saucepan in a bath of cold water and ice until at about room temperature. Decant into a small fermenter (such as a sanitized 2 L bottle), add the smack pack yeast culture and install airlock. Allow to grow overnight at room temperature.
Mashing
Put grains + 1/4 teaspoon gypsum in a large filter bag lining an stainless or enameled kettle (largest size that can fit in oven, mine is 14 liters, or have a sleeping bag on hand to wrap kettle). Turn on oven to lowest setting 15’ then turn off. Heat 3.5 L water to 135° F, add to grains and stir. Temperature should be about 115° F. Put in warm oven or wrap kettle with sleeping bag, wait 20 to 30’ for “protein rest.”
Turn oven back on to lowest setting. Boil about 3 L of water and add to kettle. Temperature should be about 145° F. Put back in oven or wrap with sleeping bag, wait 30’ for starch conversion.
Sparge grains 2 or 3 times with about 1 liter each time hot tap water or boiling water, adding sparged liquid to kettle. Bring to boil and wait for hot break. Add 0.75 to 1 ounce Amarillo hop flowers in mesh bag, or pellets. Reduce heat and cover, maintaining a moderately rolling boil. Let boil 30’. Add any aroma hops, if desired. Remove hop bag, if using, re-cover kettle and let cool until barely warm (may be overnight if mashing was done in the evening).
Fermentation
Put 2 gallons cold water in 5 gallon or 6 gallon fermenter. Add contents of kettle and verify that temperature is low enough to be safe for yeast. Pitch yeast culture. Add cold water q.s. to fill fermenter nearly to the top (avoid filling too full unless using a blow-off hose). Install airlock and let ferment at room temperature (or ideally at about 65° F) for 3 to 5 days.
Rack to a clean fermenter (optional; a second batch of Children's Beer can immediately be pitched onto the yeast cake from the first batch, for maximal convenience. Not sure a third batch from the same yeast would be a good idea,though). Let residual yeast settle for 1 to 2 days.
Boil 3/4 to 1.5 cups light malt extract (depending on how fizzy you like your beer) in 1 L water for 15 to 20’. Put boiled malt extract in bottling bucket and siphon beer into bucket. Bottle and allow to condition a few days at room temperature before drinking.
I dried down a sample of one batch on a tared glass slide, weighed on a laboratory analytical balance and calculated that this beer (from a 6 gallon batch) had a total of 17 grams of residual solids per liter. I figure about 5 grams of carbs per 12 ounce serving, assuming most of the solids are carbs.
I haven’t taken an initial gravity, but I estimate that this beer is about 1 to 1.5% alcohol. Drinking a couple of glasses has almost no effect. Yet it *almost* tastes like beer.
Sorry/not sorry for the mix of US and metric units.
How to make low alcohol, low carb beer
1IMR4227: Zero to 900 in 0.001 seconds
I'm only killing paper and my self-esteem.
I'm only killing paper and my self-esteem.
why don't you stop by the new member intro section and tell us something about yourself, what state you're in, what you like to shoot, that sort of thing? or are you just here for the beer and spam? 
we've got plenty!
