Hi there Jay  ,

Sorry to see your question slipped through the cracks and to hear of your health worry - 39 is way too young for that  sort of stuff :dunno:

It's also a pretty hard question to answer and I think I might only be able to get you half-way there. A few years ago, I did a low alcohol (2.5%ABV) APA that I liked and managed a bronze or silver in Royal Perth Beer Show. You're in Perth too so feel free to PM me and we can probably nut this one out over the phone or over a Birrell   (not bad from what I remember).

To get a 2.5% ABV APA (or schwartzbier, red ale and many other styles) the main principles are...

1. Mash high (70°C / 158°F). You'll need to trust your mash thermometer/s at that range.
2. Use the same hop bill as you would as if brewing it at normal strength.
3. Use dextrin malt (also known as carapils and a few other names I have forgotten). I think I only used about 7% dextrin in my grain bill in the above beer but I think I could have gone for a lot more. Use the dextrin to replace base malt/s, keep the specialty malt ratio the same.
4. Use a low-attenuating yeast.

Hope that helps a bit but hopefully we'll get the rest sorted here in Perth.


PP

Hi JayP

I too have heard of the reheat after fermentation (before bottling) as a reliable method to reduce the final ABV but I am not sure as to what the temp should be or for how long,

Do not want to damage the hop aroma or the flavour profile, but I might try it my self on my first brew in 2 years (just finished building a new house) a Punk IPA clone PP posted, looking good so far (two days in the fermenter

Three quick thoughts, least valuable first ...

3. The BrewDog DIY is something we've had a lot of trouble interpreting.

2. Low alcohol beers are a tremendous amount of work so....

1. Don't brew, or, if you do, blend.

Blending is Excellent!

If you really want to brew, then that's great, however, consider the following first...

You're in Perth so you'll know of Nail Red Ale (6.0%ABV). Mix 1 part of that with 4 or 5 parts of your Birrell. You'll be amazed at how much flavour and aroma transfer through. If that's too strong, go for Colonial Small Ale (3.5%ABV).

I do this all the time with Red Ale (blended with Boag's Premium Light) and am smacking myself over the head that I haven't done it with Small Ale  . Two or three years ago I bought eight different IPA's around to one of my favourite commercial craft brewer's place for a bbq. About five of us sampled those beers and only one of them was any good, the Small Ale!

So, maybe buy (or brew) really tasty stuff and blend it with commercial "plain" beers? Just put plastic wrap over the 'full-strength' beer, if you don't finish it; it won't matter if it goes flat.