I'm not sure how to Phrase this for the title

so heres whats going on, i have a batch of my 5 bite bitter that i added spices to for a christmas ale. its been in the primary for 3 weeks now(i know, i know, should have racked to the secondary) but, here's what i'm wondering. i just go candy sugar finally, can i boil up some water, add some candy sugar and pour this into the primary and maybe raise the ABV a little bit?? this ale only had 6 lbs of LME in it and i'd like some thing a little stronger. is this even possible? would i be messing the whole batch up by adding to it now? any ideas on this would be great. i know that if i do this i'll have to roust the yeast, not a big deal. i can do that.

Even the pros make adjustments. I'd rack it to a secondary and make the addition. There should be enough yeast, even after three weeks.

I agree. Rack it and make the addition...it's much better than using table sugar to increase the ABV...are you using belgian candy sugar?

i'm using belgan candy sugar. i might have added a bit much, i don't know. the boxes are 500 grams, i'm not sure what that adds up to in pounds. i added 6 boxes. i boiled up water, added the candy sugar and boiled down to make a syrup. i'm using my carboy as my primary so i couldn't rack to a secondary. i poured in the syrup and then rousted my yeast a few times, now i've got a second fremintation going on, nice head on it and my yeast are happy. we'll see how it turns out.

justbrewit said:

i'm using belgan candy sugar. i might have added a bit much, i don't know. the boxes are 500 grams, i'm not sure what that adds up to in pounds. i added 6 boxes.

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You added 3 Kg (6.6 lb) of candy sugar? That's going to raise your abv by more than just a little bit.

well, it is a spiced christmas ale!! how better to deal with the relatives then a few pints of good strong ale.

You should be OK adding it to the primary, even at 3 weeks. Rock the primary around to get a good swirl going to mix up the yeast from the bottom. Won't have to worry about oxidation as long as there has bee time for co2 to build up before swirling.

What yeast are you using? You may or may not end up with a high FG.

BTW, what was your recipe?

justbrewit said:

I know the voices in my head aren't real, but some times they have some pretty good ideas!!

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It's when the voices in your head argue with each other that drives you nuts!

Get them all pissed then it gets interesting.

Those 500mg packages of candy sugar each come to 1.1 pounds.
So, looks like you added 6.6 pounds. If it's bubbling you must be using a sugar tolerant yeast that is up to the task.

Isn't that much sugar going to thin out the beer and make it taste cidery? Yes, you'll have high ABV but you can't make good beer with sugar. You need to use barley. Too late I know but I surely wouldn't have done it.

Let us know how it turns out.

i know thats alot of sugar to add. this is kind of a last batch for germany and a test batch. i'm actually using 2 strains of yeast, here's the 2 that i used(harvested from 4 bottles of homebrew)

Wyeast #1332 Northwest Ale Yeast. One of the classic ale strains from the Northwest U.S. Breweries. Produces a malty and mildly fruity ale with good depth and complexity. Flocculation: high. Apparent attenuation: 67-71%. Optimum temperature: 65-75.

Wyeast #1084 Irish Ale Yeast. Slight residual diacetyl and fruitiness; great for stouts. Clean, smooth, soft and full-bodied. Flocculation: medium. Apparent attenuation: 71-75%. Optimum temperature: 62-72.

also has 6lbs of golden LME and some steeped grains. 5 types of hops:

1 oz of Yakima Magnum hops aau 14.4%(60 mins)
1 oz Northern Brewer (Leaf) aau 9%(45 mins)
1/2 oz centennial hops aau 8.5%(30mins)
1/2 oz Cascade hops aau 5.7%(15 mins)
1/2 oz liberty hops aau 3.6%(5 mins)

it was weak to begin with so i figured i'd bump it up. like i said its a test batch so i really don't care what happens to it. i also added some nutmeg and cloves(whole) to make it a little spiced.