Increasing alcohol content

I'm brewing a Bavarian wheat this weekend, if I wanted to increase the alcohol content should I just add some wheat LME? What would you do. I have the grains and yeast to make an average one.


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Yes. More fermentables = more alcohol.

Alternatively, you can also add dextrose (corn sugar) or table sugar... up to about 10%. It won't add any flavor but will thin the beer a bit. (by thin I mean lighten the body)

I'm also interested in this. I do the BIAB method, so a heavy bag equals a pain in the ass. If I really wanted to make a stong beer without the 100lb bag, whats the best route? and for which style? DME, LME, Dextrose all seem like good options, maybe one is better than the other?

Watzee said:

I'm also interested in this. I do the BIAB method, so a heavy bag equals a pain in the ass. If I really wanted to make a stong beer without the 100lb bag, whats the best route? and for which style? DME, LME, Dextrose all seem like good options, maybe one is better than the other?

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It depends on your recipe. If the grainbill is too big for you just turn it into a partial mash, i.e. replace some of your base malt with the correct amount of extract (either DME or LME). You would determine the amount based on your usual efficiency and how much gravity pts you would have gotten from that grain. I would not suggest adding sugar to a recipe just to up the alcohol unless the recipe called for it or it was appropriate to the style (i.e. a bigger beer that you are okay with drying out).

That makes sense. I generally create or tweak my own recipes. But I can still add some DME at the right volume to get the desired OG. Thanks Chicky!

I can't see why you would want to up the ABV of a lighter style, but anything is possible. If you want to make a bigger beer, try an American Stout, or even a big Amber, but if you are not interested in staying true to style, go for it.