Upping ABV in NB's Extra Pale Ale

Brewing NB's Extra Pale Ale extract kit today. OG of the kit is 1.045. It includes 6 pounds of Gold Malt Syrup and 1 pound of steeping grain. As an experiment, I'm using Safale 04, not 05 for this batch. I did 05 last time and thought I'd try it with a different yeast. In addition, I'd like to boost the ABV some. Would you add simply a pound of light DME, a pound of corn sugar or both? I know corn sugar will dry it some and is completely fermentable while the DME won't dry it and is not completely fermentable, but pretty close. From what I've read/been told, each addition raises a 5-gallon batch about 1% ABV. Just wondered if adding both would result in a funky tasting beer. If not, I wouldn't mind it ending around 6.5%

The other thing to look at is the balance of the final beer.

The OG:IBU ratio. The increase in the OG without also upping the IBU's will change the beer's flavor considerably.

If it were me I would just look at getting a higher ABV kit from NB or a higher ABV recipe on HBT or elsewhere and going from there. I think you will get a better result that way.

NB have great recipes and I did a few of their kits when I started brewing. Quite a bit of thought seems to have gone into them.

I already have the kit so getting a new one for today's brew session is not an option. I certainly CAN brew it as is, I was just hoping to up the ABV some.

If you're set on upping the ABV I would go with DME over the sugar. I think it will get you a better beer. Just my 2c. Taste is so subjective. No wrong route to take here.

I would not advise adding a pound of corn sugar to this brew... I have a feeling with SA-04, it is going to ferment out plenty dry as is. If you add pure sugar, it's just going to dry it out more.

Assuming this is your kit http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/ExtraPaleAle.pdf

If you have access to a homebrew store you can get a bit more than 1% and keep relatively the same beer as far as og:ibu by adding
1.25lb light dme or 1.75lb lme
and adding .55oz cascade to the 60m addition and .3 oz to the 0 minute addition
beersmith also recommends adding another .25lb of the steeping grains Belgian Cara 8 is what comes with the kit not sure if you shop carries the same thing. I believe crystal 10 is a possible substitute.

I added both the 1 pound of light DME and the 1 pound of corn sugar and still only had an FG of 1.052. The kit calls for 1.045. I do a FULL BOIL so I have no idea why the OG would not have at least been 1.060. Any ideas?
Secondly, the kit uses 2 ounces of Cascade at 60 and then another ounce in the final minute, but I accidentally added the final ounce when I added my Irish Moss with 15 minutes left. Knowing that, do you think dry hopping with an ounce of Centennial would add to this brew or just leave it as is? I have a couple extra ounces of Centennial and have read that Centennial is described as "super cascade" so I thought they might pair nicely.
Thoughts?

eadavis80 said:

I added both the 1 pound of light DME and the 1 pound of corn sugar and still only had an FG of 1.052. The kit calls for 1.045. I do a FULL BOIL so I have no idea why the OG would not have at least been 1.060. Any ideas?
Secondly, the kit uses 2 ounces of Cascade at 60 and then another ounce in the final minute, but I accidentally added the final ounce when I added my Irish Moss with 15 minutes left. Knowing that, do you think dry hopping with an ounce of Centennial would add to this brew or just leave it as is? I have a couple extra ounces of Centennial and have read that Centennial is described as "super cascade" so I thought they might pair nicely.
Thoughts?

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Because you are using Extract there are only 2 ways to not get your gravity. One is you missed your volume another wards you have 6 gallons instead of 5. The other way could be that the hydrometer was used while the tempature was to warm that means checking gravity at 100 degrees instead of 70. It could just be a combo of those things. I would imagine you have decent beer. I would brew again as soon as possible so I could gain understanding and have more beer to drink.

My wort was maybe 70 - I don't think that's enough to throw off the reading, but I could be mistaken. As for the volume, I am at 5.33 gallons. Even with those, I would think I'd be at least 1.058-1.060, but maybe I'm underestimating things?

The volume of water is higher and you DO need to adjust for temperature at 70. It depends on your specific hydrometer but mine is calibrated at 60 so for 70 (according to te included chart, or you can find one online) it would add +.002 to the hydrometer reading. Plus a larger volume of water than 5 gallons is going to throw that reading off too, even with only 1/3G more. I would say you don't have anything to worry about.

Yeah, I'm certainly not "worried" - I'm currently just debating on whether to dry hop with Centennial or not. The reason I'm debating is because I'll have 6 gallons of BIAB Dead ringer (dry hopped with Centennial) as well as 5 gallons of extract Dead Ringer (also dry hopped with Centennial) so I'm wondering if dry hopping with Centennial the pale ale would be pointless and the beers would be too similar. I might hold off. I guess I'll decide next week...I don't really want to buy more hops to dry hop with something different as I just spent $100 at Adventures in Home Brewing today