Yes. Also, the yeast strains are much less pure and will probably die sooner.

I'm not sure you get a full enough taste though. I've made low-alcohol beers with fewer grains and lots of hops and it was unbalanced, the base was not there.

I think this is the key point. We want something that tastes like a 21st century beer but otherwise with the properties of an 18th century beer.

That reminds me of Belgian beers which have double the alcohol of your regular beer but tastes like there is barely any alcohol.