Beer with KICK!!

I have brewed 3 batches of beer this month (Eng. Pale Ale, Oktoberfest, and Stout) that all average 4 or 5 percent alcohol. How would I go about getting those numbers up to say 6-8%? I usually use either 6.6 lbs syrup extract or the equilivant in dry, and I would like to keep that body in my beer but give it some extra PUNCH, ya know? Any help would be appreciated!:cross:

Being fairly new to brewing, I understand that if you give the yeast more food they will make more kick. Some of the receipes that I have used have used up to 8 or 9 pounds of lme. Look around for bigger receipes that are still balanced for hops and color and flavor. The last receipe I did came in at 6.42% (give or take) and it was a clone of Bells Two Hearted Ale with the receipe coming from homebrewersupply.com.

MP Wall

Add extra DME or LME to get the abv you want. Be sure to kick up the hops to account for the extra sweetness.

go with more fuel! If you are concerned with disturbing the body of the brew, then select an extra LB or 2 of extract that fits in with the brew-for my regular ale, I have 8.6lbs of extract-6.6 of Pale LME, 1 lb amber DME, and 1lb light DME. it comes out with a nice light body, not heavy at all, and not sweet-though I do bump the hops. This formula normally comes in the mid 6%ABV range.

remember too that DME is slightly more concentrated than the LME, due to the water content in the LME. FWIW

More malt is what you need. Every 1.5 pounds of LME will add 1% to the ABV. If you try to go above 8%, use a high gravity yeast (like a scotch ale yeast).

That's fairly simple then: just add more extract and hop it up some... I have a recipe for a Brown Ale that calls for:

3.3 lbs British Malt Extract
1.5 lbs pale dry malt
8 oz crystal malt
4 oz black patent
1 lb brown sugar
1 oz Fuggles hops
Ale yeast
5 oz corn sugar for priming

What type of ABV (ballpark) can I expect from this recipe? I would think it should be higher (but somewhat thinner bodied?) considering a pound of brown sugar, but I'm thinking of doing this one next, if I can get the ethanol content to 6% minimum. From what I understand a brown ale is more malty than hoppy, so what would you guys recommend as a basic recipe to get these desired qualities? Thanks in advance!

You know, the opposite is also true.

Keep the same amount of malt, but reduce the water and hops. The only difference will be a smaller batch.

Or....I could quadruple the ingredients, double the batch and have a HUGE party NOT to remember!!

All kidding aside, I see your point HB99, and you've got me thinking... I bought 2 food grade buckets (3.5 Gal. size) that would be great for a 2.5 gal. batch. I also think they would be good for splitting up a batch for experimentation eg. regular stout vs. coffee stout. One batch could be contrasted against the other with a little more than one batch worth of work.

Good. I got you thinking...

As long as you know there's more than one way to skin a cat...of course, if you worked at an oriental restaurant you would know that already.

New Korean cookbook: "101 Ways to Wok Your Dog" ...now, which beer goes along with that..Dongdongju!

I saw one called "Hoppy Puppy"... that would be cute on the menu next to the "Schezuan Chicken" (they could make it a combo and call it Cats N' Dogs).