I'd like to brew a bit lighter beer, mostly just to lower the alcohol, without sacrificing much else. I'm not looking into a parti-gyle situation, I want to shoot for a 1.040 starting gravity and just work from there. basically, I'd love to make a lighter IPA. I'm not keen on a lot of the lighter english styles (bitters & browns), I really enjoy my northwest style beers, be they pale, amber or IPA. I'd like something with a bit of body and a good hop bitterness. I was thinking of downsizing a rye IPA recipe I've brewed several times, just not sure how to do it. here's what I'm thinking:
7# maris otter
1# rye
1# munich
1# crystal 40
1/2 oz columbus @ 60 min
1 oz cascade @ 20 min
1 oz cascade @ 10 min
1 oz cascade @ flameout
munich dry yeast
should put me in the ballpark of 45 IBU backloaded for the aroma, and if I mash a few degrees higher than normal I should end up right at 4% ABV (assuming my usual 60% eff) and a FG of 1.014 or so (using a medium attenuating yeast). not sure if I want to swap the crystal out for carapils, but I definitely like a bit of that malty body. I thought the added sweetness may balance the relatively high amount of hops a bit better.
I'd like to brew something along the lines of the beers I like to drink and make, but cut the alcohol back. I'd rather drink the beer than get the buzz, especially on weeknights. it seems contrary to what most people are about, but I would love to get a solid session beer that could replace my usual 6-7% 85+ IBU IPAs.
is this just crazy to even attempt? any tweaks I should consider? planning to brew friday night, so I have 48 hours to tinker with the recipe.