Looking for a 7-8% abv recipe

I'm looking for a high abv recipe for something like an irish red. I like bitter beers, but I want to make something that is a little more smooth and accessible to my friends and family. I've found a couple recipes that look promising, but I 'm not familiar enough yet with the IBU system to estimate how bitter a beer will be (yet).

Anyone have some good suggestions for me?

The biggest Irish Red I've ever tryed was 6.5%, but I love Irish Reds and high abvs.

Have you ever tryed an Irish Red that big? I would love to try it!

Anyway, after brewing for some years I realized that friends and family usually prefer (Is it sayd that way? I don't speak English) low abv beers.

I haven't tried one personally, but this one tops out around 7.3%:

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_452_612&products_id=12175

It's pretty expensive, and something about using a kit turns me off a little bit. I think I'll probably be brewing a Lake Placid Ubu ale clone I found that tops out around 6%, unless I can find something else.

I'm not dead set on an irish red, I'm looking for anything that packs a punch without having overpowering bitterness.

BTW, your English was spot on.

Marius, what is your primary language? Basque? Spanish? or French?

Nice job with your English, as atromic said - spot on!

add more DME or LME for a boost in alcohol, make sure you adjust your grain ratios. sugar's can be added and in ESB's and Belgians are appropriate and will lighten the body of the beer.

How does this look:

8.75 lb Amber LME
1.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt
.75 lb Toasted Malt
1 oz. Northern Brewer (60 min)
1 oz. Santiam (1 min)

I took the No Sham Shamrock Irish Red Ale recipe in Papazians book and bumped up the grains/LME to bring it up to 6.5%. It will be pretty dark, but according to beersmith it should be right on the top end of what you can expect to see in an Irish Red. Pretty cool program, its my first time messing around with it... I think I'll definitely be picking up the full version when the trial runs out.

The recipe calls for the same amount of hops (leaf) listed above. I didn't mess with them at all, do I need to up their amounts as well to counter balance the added malt?
1 pkg. American Ale Yeast (Wyeast #1056)

Make sure you get the right IBU's

i was in california last week and had 1 lagunitas imperial red bottle from grocery store. it was outstanding...bitter, malty, and STRONG. i did have my doubts at first, but wow.

atromic said:

How does this look:

8.75 lb Amber LME
1.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt
.75 lb Toasted Malt
1 oz. Northern Brewer (60 min)
1 oz. Santiam (1 min)

Click to expand...

That's a ton of LME; you may end up with a very sweet brew. I did one similar (modified from a BYO recipe for a dark American pale ale), had 6# DME and 3.3# LME, and though it was very very high ABV (7.4% or so), it didn't finish out and was overly sweet. I had it in primary for four weeks, secondary for two, and so far three weeks in bottles. I don't anticipate cracking one open for another month.

The recipe calls for the same amount of hops (leaf) listed above. I didn't mess with them at all, do I need to up their amounts as well to counter balance the added malt?

Click to expand...

The chart above from FishinDave07 should help you decide that. Personally, I'd kick it up to 1.5oz of the Northern Brewer at T-60min, maybe depending on the AA%.

1 pkg. American Ale Yeast (Wyeast #1056)

Click to expand...

Make sure to do a starter! Use Mr. Malty's calc to determine how much starter you need to produce. I did a single pack of Safale US04 dry with that sweet batch I mentioned earlier, and I didn't realize how little yeast I was pitching compared to how much I really needed (probably should've used two packs). Liquid yeasts have fewer yeast cells in each package than dry, so it's very important to use the starter numbers recommended for the type of beer (and the OG/SG readings) you're shooting for.

atromic said:

How does this look:
1.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt
.75 lb Toasted Malt

Click to expand...

Also, the amount of grains used to steep shouldn't exceed 5% of your total grain bill. According to BYO Magazine, count 7.5# pale malt extract to be equivalent to 10# of pale malt grain. Since you have 2.25# of steeping, that's way more than 5%. Normally, you'll see 1.0 - 1.5# specialty grains in a recipe, no more.

If you do end up using that much, split the grains into two grain bags, so that you get as much utilization of the grains as possible. With more than two pounds in one bag, you're not going to get the nice hot water hitting the middle of the bag very well.

Good luck!

I've been thinking about trying a 7-8 % brew with light DME, a medium range hops schedule and Special B to balance out the alcohol and hops. Special B leaves very distinct toffee and raisin flavors that might be good for a high gravity brew. So far Just a thought.

Thanks for all the tips, especially the IBM vs. OG chart, that thing will definitely come in handy.

My first brew turned out great (American Amber Ale) and was universily well recieved with my roomates, so I decided to go ahead and make an IPA for my second batch. I'll probably do another run of the Amber after this one is bottled. After that I'll definitely be revisiting this thread to make another go at the high abv irish red.