Adding DME to Increase ABV%

Moving onto my 4th batch, Brewer's Best Scottish Ale. It calls for 3.3 lbs LME and 1 lb DME, which will get me to 3.25-3.5% ABV. If I wanted to increase the ABV% and get a heavier ale, could I add an additional 1 lb DME? Or will this cause the beer to be too sweet?

yes, you can add additional DME. as long as you pitch sufficient yeast, it will not make the beer sweeter - just stronger, both in terms of flavor and of alcohol.

You can also try adding Belgian Candi sugar which is pure sucrose and ferments completely. This will increase the original gravity without adding body to the beer. LME adds 36 ppg, DME 40 ppg, and from what I have read candi sugar adds 42 ppg in crystalline form (as opposed to candi syrup which adds like 32 ppg bc it is mixed it water).

John

What could I expect if I added 1 lb Candi Sugar and 1 lb DME?

OrthoBrewer said:

You can also try adding Belgian Candi sugar which is pure sucrose and ferments completely. This will increase the original gravity without adding body to the beer. LME adds 36 ppg, DME 40 ppg, and from what I have read candi sugar adds 42 ppg in crystalline form (as opposed to candi syrup which adds like 32 ppg bc it is mixed it water).

John

Click to expand...

don't bother with candi sugar. if you want sucrose, use sucrose - AKA table sugar. you need to be careful when you add sugar, on the one hand it adds alcohol on the other you need to balance it with other flavors, lest your beer becomes hot and tastes like paint thinner. belgian candi is used in belgian beers which have flavorful yeast to make up for it. IIPAs use sugar also and they have tons of hops to cover the alcohol. adding a bunch of sugar to a mild beer can be a risky proposition... make sure you know what you're doing.

DME adds both alcohol and flavor. it's a much better way to proceed, IMO. i wouldn't add more than a half-pound of sugar to a 3.5% beer, more than that and you'll really taste it (in a bad way).

I agree with sweetcell, I would add dme, but I was trying to give different options.

Plug the original recipe into any recipe software (either stand alone or online) and make note of the BU/GU ratio (IBU/[SG-1]). Now add your additional extract/sugar then tweak the bittering hop till the BU:GU ratio is near what it was before you added the additional fermentables.