What are some ways to increase ABV?

What are some ways to increase the alchohol content, without adverse effects on flavoring? I would think it woud differ depending on what you're making. What about American Pale ale, or IPA....what(and how much of it) could you add to those to increase OG and still get great taste?

you could try doing both a OG increase with simple sugar or more base grain combined with trying to get your FG lower.

Say you had a recipe that was typcally a 1060 > 1015 beer, but if you made it 1065 > 1012 you would gain close to a percent or so.

Austinhomebrew.com sells "Alcohol Boost". Its 55% maltose and 45% glucose. Claims to raise the ABV 1% without changing the flavor. I tried it on the last IPA i did, it worked well.

You could also add some extra light DME to the brew... Depending on your recipe, you might need to add more than just one pound.

I think it does depend on what you're brewing... You can get away with more options in a medium-full bodied brew with more flavors in it than something lighter with less ingredients... Such as in a stout or a pale ale...

If you're going all grain, then I would just increase the base malt enough to get your target. You might need to increase other malts in the brew to maintain the percentage...

In my first brew, I was looking to boost the ABV in it (was rated at 4.2%, for a porter)... I added an extra pound of DME as well as another pound of honey (in the boil), and then another pound of honey after two weeks in fermentation.. End result was 7.2% ABV... Flavor was still really good, good/great body, and I went through it far too fast... I plan to make that recipe again this year (not sure when, exactly due to LL issues)... This time, it will be all grain, but I'll still be including honey in it. This time, though, I won't boil the honey at all.

I was thinking about honey, but didn't think honey and pale ale would really go very well together...then again most of the sugars get converted right? I guess I'll give it a try. This is only my second brew, so I'm still sticking to the extract kits, plus I don't have the equipment for all grain yet.

Here's my plan, let me know what you think:

Sierra Nevada clone from midwest (http://www.midwestsupplies.com/sierra-pale-ale-sierra-nevada.html), add 2 pounds of muntons amber DME (to hopefully add a bit of color too) and a pound of honey. What do you think?

If you use honey you will get a honey flavor. Even if the sugars are fermented the flavors stick around.
From the link you posted I calculated out a 1.044 OG, and assuming a 1.012 FG that gives 4.1% ABV.
Adding 2lb of liquid extract will up the OG to 1.057 and the FG to 1.016, giving an ABV of 5.3%. I would say just add the extract unless you want a honey flavor.

ok, so liquid extract has more fermentable sugar in it?

Each pound of hone will increase the OG (in a 5 gallon batch) by about 7 points... It ferments pretty much completely too.

I think a good way to increase a recipe would be a single pound of extra light DME and a single pound of honey. With the single pound of honey, it will need to be a very strongly flavored honey in order for you to really notice it. So, if you go for a lighter flavored honey, you probably won't notice it at all...

Going with the +1# of Extra Light DME, +1# honey gives you an OG of 1.060, with a FG estimate of 1.015... ABV would be 6% (using Rooftop Brew calculations)... Going with +2# of Extra Light DME, your OG goes to 1.062, with a FG estimate of 1.016, which makes for an ABV of 6.1... Chances are, you'll get honey for less cost than DME... So a more economical method would be the 1# Extra Light DME and 1# honey... Since you're looking to just boost the ABV, put both into the boil... If you want to reduce the impact on the brew's color (from the DME) then add them in the last 15 minutes of the boil.

Either way, I don't see a hint of honey (from 1 pound) being a bad thing in a pale ale... I would just make sure you use a honey that you like the flavor of... But, I think you'll be pretty hard pressed to taste it in the brew (it was difficult to find any trace in the brew I put just one pound into)...

I recommend getting brewing software (e.g. BeerSmith) and then you can use it to see what effects various ingredients have on the beer. This would mainly answer your question.

The thing it wouldn't cover is the difference between extract and corn sugar/honey/other adjuncts. They all add gravity, but the difference is in how much they ferment out and what flavors they leave behind. Mainly I recommend experience as your best guide, but if you're patient, you could read A TON and possibly substitute that for experience. BUT the way I see it, while both require patience and dedication, only experience provides you with beer while you learn.

On a practical note I would not add honey to a SNPA clone. Honey leaves its flavor. Do you really want a honey-flavored SNPA? Off the top of my head, I'm thinking replace your honey idea with corn sugar, but YMMV. After all, it is Friday night, and I have been sampling liberally. Oh yeah and you might want to add more bittering hops if you're adding like 3% ABV to the beer.

blawjr said:

ok, so liquid extract has more fermentable sugar in it?

Click to expand...

I was just assuming liquid was in the kit, as it ships easier and is more common in kits. because LME (liquid) has water it weights more than DME (dry) for unit sugar. You need 80% of the DME as you do LME to get the same gravity points.

I would argue against that honey is hard to taste in a brew; especially in a lightly malted beer, it is easy to detect if you have strong taste buds. I wouldn't risk it. Besides, quality honey is expensive, and I would just use some DME or LME.

I do agree that using software is a great help (Beer Smith being my choice too, only $21 for two systems)... But, I'm always surprised at how LITTLE people actually know about using honey in beers... I've used it in several brews... Different amounts, different times in the process... Some boiled, some post boil (during the cool down) some after 2 weeks in primary... All have different impacts on the brew... If you put it in with the main DME, you won't get enough flavor from the honey (unless you use something with TONS of flavor, like black strap molasses level) to notice. If you add it during the cool down, you'll get a light hint of flavor (again, depends completely on the honey flavor). If you put it during fermentation (after 2 weeks, or more) then you'll get a bit more flavor. I would use it while still on the yeast cake, so that it gets fermented faster. If you prime with it, you'll get a light hint of the flavor (depends on if you used it during other steps too)... I used a pound of honey in an amber ale and you really couldn't taste it (was added during the boil). The higher ABV% will pretty much eliminate the honey flavor you might have added...

Bottom line, put a pound in with Extra Light DME and you'll get very little body addition to the brew, no honey flavor addition, and you'll get a higher ABV level in the brew. You might mistake the higher ABV for other flavors, first time around...

If you can, brew two of the same kit. In one, add two pounds of extra light DME. In the other add 1# honey and 1# extra light DME... Don't mark which bottle is which and start drinking them... I think you'll be more than just hard pressed to tell which was which...

In this case you DON'T WANT QUALITY HONEY... You want cheap, lightly flavored honey... He just wants to boost ABV, not add flavor... You can get cheap honey, at the grocery store, at 2# for the cost of one pound of DME...

DME for the win!

I added 3# dark DME to my Munton's bock beer kit. upped it from about 5% to almost 8%. though like others have mentioned you would probably want a lighter DME if you were going for minimal flavor impact.

Corn sugar or table sugar will have the least flavor impact.... It will thin the body down noticeably if used in excess. DME will add flavor and body to the beer.
I find that the best approach for me is to add a 50/50 mix of light DME and corn sugar by gravity point to up the fermentables without tipping the balance.

Add Everclear or Vodka. Or, you could always boil longer.

True enough Everclear is pure grain alcohol 90% ABV. The other 10% is water. But alcohol is a part of the taste so increasing it will still change flavor. But I think best answer yet if you only bump it up 1-2%. Additional fermentables will add flavor. Some more than others.

I don't think I want to put Everclear in my precious beer. I was really just wondering how these beer companies make beer's that are up in the 6 to 6.5 % abv range. I think I'll just try to add a bit more malt extract to start off with. Thanks everyone for your input!

what what what??

You can get beer over 6-6.5% rather easily when you're all grain. Use the right amount of grain, mash at the right temps, etc. No need to add raw sugars to the mix just to get a higher ABV... As already outlined, if you want to keep the body, use extra light DME...

The majority of my brews are over 6%, many over 6.5% in fact. With going all grain, it's easier to get ABV's in that range, and not too difficult getting them to finish lower than you probably will using extracts.

I'm planning a brew for Tuesday evening that should be about 7% ABV (depending on how the mash goes)... Could go higher.

I brew many beers, and only one is designed under 6% ABV. Most are all-grain, some have sugar adjuncts added. You don't need to add distilled spirits to beer to increase ABV. There are all malt liquors that have hit 28% ABV (I believe that's the current record) just work on increasing fermentables and using the proper yeast for attentuation and alcohol tolerance. At 6-8% target ABV there are not tricks needed. Any ale yeast can do that.

Plenty of ale yeasts can handle ~12% ABV if you give them enough to munch on (and use a good enough starter)...

Yeah, at 10-12 you need to start paying attention to flavor shifts. Over 12 and I am more selective on strains. At 16 and above you probably should perform secondary feerments with a higher alc tolerance strain for cleaner, more complete finish

Not familiar with any ale yeast that will go above the ~12% range... I know you can get wine yeasts into the 18% area, and Eau De Vie that goes up to ~21%... Beyond that, you might need to make your own strain. Or know someone that has some 'special' yeast that you can get a hold of and use.

I've scaled back my plans for a large barleywine until I've manged to get a few batches between my normal ABV range and the top of what the yeasts (I've been using) can do. I'm going to try and go beyond 12% with an actual ale yeast. I might be able to build up a strain's tolerance with washing/harvesting over time... It's a worthy experiment if nothing else... I'll probably take a yeast cake from a <8% ABV brew. Use a portion of that on a ~10% brew. Then use some of that for a ~12% brew. I'll save some of that and see how far I can push it. Maybe if I pitch enough, it will go to 14-15% on it's own... I have more research to do before I go all the way down that path (or even start)... Want to make sure I'm going the right way early enough on.

Golddiggie said:

Not familiar with any ale yeast that will go above the ~12% range... I know you can get wine yeasts into the 18% area, and Eau De Vie that goes up to ~21%... Beyond that, you might need to make your own strain. Or know someone that has some 'special' yeast that you can get a hold of and use.

Click to expand...

One way to get a high ABV beer is to pitch a yeast that can handle a high abv with the characteristics you want. After it has fermented out add a champagne or wine yeast that can handle the alcohol level you want.

For the OP why not just look for kits that are the ABV you want? There are plenty of kits in the 6-7+range. These will be designed "to style" and well ballanced, unlike a 7% ABV amber or cream ale would be.

Photopilot said:

One way to get a high ABV beer is to pitch a yeast that can handle a high abv with the characteristics you want. After it has fermented out add a champagne or wine yeast that can handle the alcohol level you want.

For the OP why not just look for kits that are the ABV you want? There are plenty of kits in the 6-7+range. These will be designed "to style" and well ballanced, unlike a 7% ABV amber or cream ale would be.

Click to expand...

I know about pitching a second yeast into the brew later. But, I've also heard of pitfalls with doing that. Such as already having enough alcohol content in the brew that the new yeast will be very stressed and not able to do much.

I'll need to check with people that really know about yeast to see if there's a way to increase a strain's tolerance level over a few generations.

Another way to increase abv is to add the dreaded beano. A little bit of alpha glucosidase will go a long way. The problem is that you will sacrifice body, malt flavor and mouthfeel. But it will work in a pinch.
Jefe