Pump up the ABV!

Methods for increasing your final ABV content in the mash? I am an AG brewer, and the best brewers can control the process to a "T". So what if I wanted to increase my alcohol percentage in a recipe? More grain per qt of water for a thicker, sugar rich mash? Use extracts accompanied with the grain??? Do tell..

Really only 3 options:

• Add more fermentable sugar (e.g., more grain, mash longer, mash lower, add sugar, add extract, boil-off longer)
• Use yeast that eats more sugar (e.g. belgian yeast, wine yeast, other bugs)
• Add alcohol (e.g. bourbon)

So, for your question on how to increase ABV in the mash, add more grain, use a thinner mash, mash longer, and/or mash lower (actually there was an experiment showing 153 mash gets highest attenuation).

mash at a lower temp

I'm really loving all of the great advice on this forum THANK YOU EVERYBODY!

TyTanium said:

Really only 3 options:

• Add more fermentable sugar (e.g., more grain, mash longer, mash lower, add sugar, add extract, boil-off longer)
• Use yeast that eats more sugar (e.g. belgian yeast, wine yeast, other bugs)
• Add alcohol (e.g. bourbon)

So, for your question on how to increase ABV in the mash, add more grain, use a thinner mash, mash longer, and/or mash lower (actually there was an experiment showing 153 mash gets highest attenuation).

Click to expand...

? link for experiment?

i've mashed all over (from 148 to 158) and the best attenuation i ever got was on a 1.088 black IPA, mashed at 148, got down to like 1.008 or something.

motobrewer said:

? link for experiment?

Click to expand...

It was a Denny post, so it has to be true Something in an NHC presentation.

Edit: This post --> https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/mash-temperature-experiment-348404/#post4342012

I add corn sugar or DME to the boil.

I just up the grainbill proportionally (and bump up the hops as well). For example with 10.5lb I might get around 1.052 OG and end up around 5.25%, but a 12.5 can yield around 1.064 and 6.83%. Wanna go higher - just up it more!