Recipe Formulation

[Caledonslats]

I am interested in the recipe formulations of the "new" low carb beers. Other than the quality of the beers, any advice would be appreciated.

[Rob Creighton]

There's very little new

Deit or Diet beers have been around for a long time in Europe. I believe (though I've never made one) you should look at concentration of amylolytic enzymes in the malt and then adjust your mashing program by extending protein rests at slightly lower temperatures and possibly move in and out of rest temperatures. I remember hearing this from a Eurobrewer many years ago in a discussion about diabetes and carbohydrate levels but I don't have any hard details.
Of course the present participants in the NA brewing industry that are brewing this will undoubtably make it sound like it is something completely new and might be patented (remember Labatt Ice?). It seems strange that we can create an entirely new category of beer in reaction to a fad diet.
Good luck!

[schlosser]

Although Deit beers have been around for a long time, the new low carb brews take them to an extreme. To make one of these brews you cannot simply lengthen or add temperature rests, you must add commercial enzymes to increase the fermentability of the wort. Although my brewery does not make one of these beers, the concepts are very similiar to making a Light beer. To even come close to being able to market or sell you beer as a low carb beer, you are talking about having a Real Degree of Fermentation that is in excess of 85%. For those of you without a lab that can figure out RDF, you are probably talking about an Apparent extract in the negative numbers (if you are using Plato) or less than 1 (with specific gravity).
Just as an example, the small brewery where I previously worked was wondering how close their summer ale would be to the new low carb beers. I took a sample from them and had it analyzed in our lab (both for them as well as for my own curiosity). Although I don't have the numbers in front of me, the beer was a light golden ale with an Apparent Extract of about 3.0 Plato (about 1.012 S.G.) and an Alc. by Vol of about 4%. The carbs on the beer were about 14.7. This is a long way from the ones on the market now. If you are still interested, I would contact a brewing supplier that carries enzymes from Quest or some other manufacturer. They may be able to help further.

[flowman27]

low-carb

The 'diet ' beers might be the result of the addition of extra enzymes to degrade the last bit of carbs left. Somethin a kin to adding beano to your beer.