Highest ABV?

What is the highest alcohol content you've ever achieved, in your home brewing careers? I managed a little over 10%. Belgian quad.

almost the same for me, a winter/holiday ale @ 10%

14% when I was making a Hopslam Clone (Bell's Brewery). Sweet and hoppy.

I've only ever done 8%. I've lost interest in higher ABV beers over the last year as I'd rather have a couple beers and I just don't find I enjoy doing that with higher ABV beers. I definitely can appreciate them, I just find that with kegging, I just don't have the space to have a beer sit that long in a keg. Even with my friends, it just doesn't get hit enough to get through the keg before I'd rather fill it up with another beer.

I've thought about brewing a bigger blegian up this summer, then bottling it. I think having bottles of them would be more enjoyable for me than having a keg of it.

I hit 11% with a belgian golden strong. I also have lost some interest in super strong beers.

I'll get a bomber of something crazy now and then, but with my homebrew (all kegged), I'd rather have something I can have 1 or 2 of on a weeknight and not regret it.

I honestly think getting a session beer to be really flavorful (balanced, hoppy, malty, whatever you are going for) is quite the challenge. Session IPAs aren't too hard, but making something like the lighter scottish ales or milds that have a ton of flavor is a more fun problem to work on than seeing how big I can make a beer.

I also got sick of friends getting really plastered on my beer. A lot of work went into it, and by the end of the second pint I'm not sure they were really tasting much of it.

I did an 18% barleywine a couple of years ago, started with an over-pitch of US-05 that got it into the twelves before hitting it with the WLP099 grenade.

Came out surprisingly well, but between all the additions and the gravity checks and the yeast pitches it was a bit of a pita nursing it along...

Cheers!

I have made a 10.5% Dark Strong, a 12% RIS, and a 12% Barleywine. I would guess the portion of barley wine I soured is north of 13% now after a year of munching.

Not sure I will ever attempt anything bigger than these. 2 out of the 3 were really good (exception being barleywine). That one never quite carbed properly and seems to have residual priming sugar. Added some dry yeast and recapped but it did not do anything.

16% Belgian Imperial Stout. I let it ferment until the krausen started to drop and then fed the fermenter candi sugar additions a few times. That was a boozy SOB...

12% Belgian Saison, so dry, so very dry.

My second ever brew I made a 9% RIS (OG 1.082). Havent made anything that big since but Im currently fermenting what should end up being an 8.5% DIPA (OG 1.075). I much prefer stronger ales but alas my tun is not big enough for me to make them as much as Id like to

10.2
W00T Stout clone

I was trying to make a ~8% trippel. Ended up with a 10% belgian booze bomb.

It was one of my first all grain brews and hadn't dialed in my efficiency yet. I was thinking i'd get 70% but really got close to 90%. Then I added a bunch of sugar. It fermented super dry, and super clean. It had no flavor except alcohol.

It's the *only* beer I've ever swirled down the drain. I just couldn't enjoy it and needed the keg space.

schematix said:

It was one of my first all grain brews and hadn't dialed in my efficiency yet. I was thinking i'd get 70% but really got close to 90%. Then I added a bunch of sugar. It fermented super dry, and super clean. It had no flavor except alcohol.

It's the *only* beer I've ever swirled down the drain. I just couldn't enjoy it and needed the keg space.

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Say it aint so! Belgians can take awhile to develop their character. Also the "hot" alcohol fades away quite nicely with some time in the bottles. Maybe you already gave this the time it deserved, but some of my best Belgians were nothing special early on.

7.6% ABV. Don't know if I'll ever want to exceed that in a beer I brew, though. 4% - 7% is my go-to range, mainly around 5.5% or so. I might eventually make something as high as 9%, but I doubt I'll ever want to brew something over 10%.

schematix said:

I was trying to make a ~8% trippel. Ended up with a 10% belgian booze bomb.

It was one of my first all grain brews and hadn't dialed in my efficiency yet. I was thinking i'd get 70% but really got close to 90%. Then I added a bunch of sugar. It fermented super dry, and super clean. It had no flavor except alcohol.

It's the *only* beer I've ever swirled down the drain. I just couldn't enjoy it and needed the keg space.

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I'm literally so worried i just did the same thing with my first IIPA. What were the taste notes on yours? I know they aren't the same but i feel like my initial tasting before bottling has me less then excited to try mine. I didn't get an inital gravity reading, but my predicted gravitates are 1.093->1.026. I ended up at 1.013!!

solbes said:

Say it aint so! Belgians can take awhile to develop their character. Also the "hot" alcohol fades away quite nicely with some time in the bottles. Maybe you already gave this the time it deserved, but some of my best Belgians were nothing special early on.

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I brewed it on March 31, 2012. Kegged it 4 weeks later. Swirled around mid-June 2013. I'd didn't change a bit between April 2012 and June 2013.

I chalk it up to a bad recipe. I should have dialed back the sugar when I realized the mash came in 10 points high. Oh well.

srob18 said:

I'm literally so worried i just did the same thing with my first IIPA. What were the taste notes on yours? I know they aren't the same but i feel like my initial tasting before bottling has me less then excited to try mine. I didn't get an inital gravity reading, but my predicted gravitates are 1.093->1.026. I ended up at 1.013!!

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Wow that's crazy attenuation. You'll probably be better off than I was with all the hops though.

My recollection (hard to forget this unique beer) was that it was ultra thin in body. It had very little flavor from the grain or hops. There was a mild ester and phenolic aroma that was obviously Belgian. Dry finish with prominent alcohol that lingered in your sinuses. The alcohol was just too high to balance with the rest of the beer.

schematix said:

Wow that's crazy attenuation. You'll probably be better off than I was with all the hops though.

My recollection (hard to forget this unique beer) was that it was ultra thin in body. It had very little flavor from the grain or hops. There was a mild ester and phenolic aroma that was obviously Belgian. Dry finish with prominent alcohol that lingered in your sinuses. The alcohol was just too high to balance with the rest of the beer.

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I used Oak in the secondary of my beer and it seriously tasted like nothing. Aroma was fine but the taste was just ok(almost like a budweiser). I'm hoping it will get complex with time......

A 12.25 IIPA that was kegged on 2-27. I'll be taking a sample tonight, I also bottled a gallon of it but will probably give it at least 6 weeks to carb up before opening one.

srob18 said:

I used Oak in the secondary of my beer and it seriously tasted like nothing. Aroma was fine but the taste was just ok(almost like a budweiser). I'm hoping it will get complex with time......

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recipe?

schematix said:

recipe?

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I'll have to send it in later tonight since i'm on a different comp. Although if it's recipie based it will be my first beer i've made using either too little or too much of something.

7Lb 2 row
2 LB Caravienne
8oz Carapils
8oz Crystal 20
8oz Wheat

1oz chinook 60 min
1oz citra 10
1oz citra flameout
1oz chinook dry hop

california v yeast
1oz oak for 4 days in secondary

I made a 9.5% Belgian tripel. Haven't tastes yet as it was just made 3 weeks ago. Went to give atleast 6 weeks before sampling.

9.5 RIS It's a yeti clone it tastes nothing like it but it's still really good I mean to me I could have ugly baby syndrome View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1425593861.432982.jpg