How do you up the alcohol content?

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Thirdeye

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Seems like most home brew kits, if done correctly, give you ~5%. How do breweries get their alcohol content higher? For example, Dogfish's 60 min IPA is 6%. Their 90 min IPA is 9%!

I would like to have more control over that parameter.
 
basically the more sugars you add to the same size batch, the higher the potential alcohol

in other words, a 5 gallon batch with 6 lbs of extract will have less alcohol than a 5 gallon batch with 10 lbs of extract

you should look into reading specific gravity and thereby measuring alcohol content: http://howtobrew.com/

:mug:
 
The higher alcohol brews you mentioned have been formulated as big beers. If you just go adding a lot more DME/LME to your kits, you might get some flavors/characteristics you don't want. If you are wanting to make bigger beers, by all means get hold of some good recipes and go for it. If you want just a little more alcohol warmth to your beer, increase DME/LME or even add a wee bit of honey or corn sugar. If you want to just get hammered, buy a bottle of whiskey and make yourself some boilermakers. Which ever way you go, the results should be pretty fun!
 
Brewing Clamper said:
The higher alcohol brews you mentioned have been formulated as big beers. If you just go adding a lot more DME/LME to your kits, you might get some flavors/characteristics you don't want. If you are wanting to make bigger beers, by all means get hold of some good recipes and go for it. If you want just a little more alcohol warmth to your beer, increase DME/LME or even add a wee bit of honey or corn sugar. If you want to just get hammered, buy a bottle of whiskey and make yourself some boilermakers. Which ever way you go, the results should be pretty fun!
Click to expand...

Yeah, its not that Im looking to get wasted. I have plenty of Tequilla from my Mexico trip for that. I think you said it best. Im just looking for a little more "alcohol warmth".
 
If you want, look at the recipe database and see if there is something that looks good to you. Then post a thread about how to boost it a little while still keeping the balance. One of us can easily run it through our brewing software (or download your own trial version) and also give you an opinion on what kind of taste you'd get. Sometimes you have to add a little more hops to get a good balance to counteract that extra ABV.
 
or a russian imperial stout!

theres always freeze distilling too, like the way SA does their triple-bock
 
YooperBrew said:
If you want, look at the recipe database and see if there is something that looks good to you. Then post a thread about how to boost it a little while still keeping the balance. One of us can easily run it through our brewing software (or download your own trial version) and also give you an opinion on what kind of taste you'd get. Sometimes you have to add a little more hops to get a good balance to counteract that extra ABV.
Click to expand...

Sounds good. I wish I wouldve known about that option earlier. Where can I find a trial version of the software? Also, what does ABV stand for?
 
Brewing Clamper said:
The higher alcohol brews you mentioned have been formulated as big beers. If you just go adding a lot more DME/LME to your kits, you might get some flavors/characteristics you don't want. If you are wanting to make bigger beers, by all means get hold of some good recipes and go for it. If you want just a little more alcohol warmth to your beer, increase DME/LME or even add a wee bit of honey or corn sugar. If you want to just get hammered, buy a bottle of whiskey and make yourself some boilermakers. Which ever way you go, the results should be pretty fun!
Click to expand...

+1

Last year I overdid a kit by adding honey and cane sugar. Yuuck ! I forced myself to drink it all as a punishment for being stupid. I did save one bottle and am considering opening it now as it might have conditioned into a nasty barleywine of some sort.
 
Certain yeasts also survive fermentation better. I'm not certain about the brewing field but I know industrial/research wise certain strains survive to ferment a higher % alcohol better. So perhaps pitching in a wine yeast as well would help? Just an off the cuff idea from a non brewing expert. You'd have to ask the folks around here whether that would be a good idea.
 

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