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David Galilee · 01-27-2005, 07:03 AM

How can i make a beer brew with a higher alcohol volume? Can I simply add more brewing sugar? Or will this lead to complications with the brewing process?
I once tried a beer from a microbrewery in Sydney which was around 14 percent!!!!!
I don't want to go this high but i would like a stronger brew to deal with those days when my boss drives me to drink.

NUCC98 · 01-27-2005, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Galilee

How can i make a beer brew with a higher alcohol volume? Can I simply add more brewing sugar? Or will this lead to complications with the brewing process?
I once tried a beer from a microbrewery in Sydney which was around 14 percent!!!!!
I don't want to go this high but i would like a stronger brew to deal with those days when my boss drives me to drink.

Hahaha....I can relate! I think all you really need to do is add more malt to the boil....

Witbier · 01-27-2005, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NUCC98

Hahaha....I can relate! I think all you really need to do is add more malt to the boil....

Find a recipe for a good barley wine. That will get the alcohol up there

NUCC98 · 01-27-2005, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Witbier

Find a recipe for a good barley wine. That will get the alcohol up there

Heh..yeah, and don't be within 100 yards of it when it's fermenting!!

grant · 02-04-2005, 02:36 AM

I would add more fermentables,and increase the hop rate accordingly.At higher strength,all grain or extract,you end up with higher terminal gravity.At some point you have bock or barley wine and can expect to age for sometime to mellow and round out flavers.If you do not like it to thick,I would add some form of raw sugar to boost gravity.Note when I make a straw colar beer to wipe out people who think onley dark beer is strong ,I use about 30% corn,on all grain batch.I have yet to see how I one can go,but even1.078 ,still finishes out at 1.004!

ChrisKoivu · 02-04-2005, 07:25 AM

Don't use plain sugar. I would use DME's, More Malt, Rice Sugar solids(has no flavor, but plenty of kick),corn sugar, honey, maltose, fruit, or any other fermentables.

JEM Australia · 02-04-2005, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grant

I would add more fermentables,and increase the hop rate accordingly.At higher strength,all grain or extract,you end up with higher terminal gravity.At some point you have bock or barley wine and can expect to age for sometime to mellow and round out flavers.If you do not like it to thick,I would add some form of raw sugar to boost gravity.Note when I make a straw colar beer to wipe out people who think onley dark beer is strong ,I use about 30% corn,on all grain batch.I have yet to see how I one can go,but even1.078 ,still finishes out at 1.004!

Holy crap, you could run a jet engine on that!!!

Arizona Dave · 02-04-2005, 01:33 PM

David,

Adding additional sugar will increase the content of alcohol in your brew. Note that the additional sugar will affect the taste of the beer and that normal beer yeast stops making alcohol (and dies) at about 10-12% ABV (alcohol by volume). I brew many strong beers (Belgian Tripples and Golden Ales) and add sugar as a normal recipe ingredient.

The sugar you use will have an impact on the flavor of your beer. Some beer styles use sugar (Belgian Trippels for example). An English Bitter on the other hand does not. Since there are multiple choices for the sugar that you use (corn, cane, beet, honey, invert, frutose, etc.) pick one that will "help" with the flavor profile that you are looking for in your finished beer.

Lastly, try to balance the higher alcohol content with the other aroma and flavor components of your brew (malt, hops, yeast).

Best of luck and happy brewing!

Dave

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Galilee

How can i make a beer brew with a higher alcohol volume? Can I simply add more brewing sugar? Or will this lead to complications with the brewing process?
I once tried a beer from a microbrewery in Sydney which was around 14 percent!!!!!
I don't want to go this high but i would like a stronger brew to deal with those days when my boss drives me to drink.

Genghis77 · 12-17-2006, 08:58 PM

Ideally, I would like to achieve ABV's of 7.5 to 9% on everything I brew. In reality 5 to 6% is a barrier beyond which the flavor seems to generally suffer.

dibby33 · 12-17-2006, 09:09 PM

This one is quite simple (..was my first non-kit brew)

Three things to watch out for
1) The pot you use for the boil is big enough - 16 Litres or more
2) When adding the sugar allow the wort to come back to boil (I added some sugar when it was not hot enough and got a big solid lump of DME floating around)
3) Due to the high sugar content of the wort it will take longer to cool down.

I have just bottled this two weeks ago and it will have the kick that you are looking for. The only problem is the 12 months to wait!!! I am going to make another batch in a couple of months to get the rotation going.

YE OLDE RIPPER

6kg dry light malt extract

250g honey

750g corn sugar

60g Pride of Ringwood boiling hops (13.2 alpha)

60g Cascade boiling hops (5.5 alpha)

2 teaspoon Irish moss

60g Fuggles hops (finish)

Champagne yeast

Boil malt, boiling hops, honey, and corn sugar in 7 litres water for about 1 hour.
In last 30 minutes add Irish moss and Fuggles hops.
Strain into the fermenter and ¾ fill fermenter with cold water.
Pitch yeast and ferment as per THBS brewing sheet.
Bottle and age for at least 1 year - it will be worth it!!!!
The 280g/L O.G. is high and will give the beer an alcohol of about 12%, so drink with care!!!!!