how to increase alcohol level?

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calman

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Hello,
If I want to increase 2% of alcohol level in my 5 gal kit beer, how much sugar should I put in? When to add the sugar? and is table sugar good enough?

Thanks.
 
I wouldn't use sugar. Use some malt extract. Add about 2-2.25 lbs of light dry malt extract to the 5 gallon batch to bring the % up about 2%
 
But keep in mind that there is a balance between hop flavor/bitterness and malt sweetness. If you're increasing the amount of sugars (more malt = more sugars), then you will change the balance of the recipe unless you also increase the hops by the same amount.
 
cweston said:
unless you also increase the hops by the same amount.

Forgive and correct me if I am wrong here, but you shouldn't necessarily assume that you can increase the hops at the same proportion as you increase malt and expect similar results. For instance, you can't simply double a five gallon recipe if you are using a ten gallon system.

You may want to work all of this out at the recipator, just to be sure.
 
You can use corn sugar, rice syrup or wheat extract to increase ABV without changing the malt/hop balance or the basic flavor. About 1.6 pounds of corn sugar will give you an increase of 2% ABV. Table sugar will give a cidery flavor to your ale, I only use it to boost ABV in ciders.
 
sonvolt said:
Forgive and correct me if I am wrong here, but you shouldn't necessarily assume that you can increase the hops at the same proportion as you increase malt and expect similar results. For instance, you can't simply double a five gallon recipe if you are using a ten gallon system.

Actually, I think you can just double a 5 gallon recipe to get a 10 gallon recipe. There was a thrad about this recently--wasn't that the consensus?


I personally wouldn't mess with it at all--if I want a higher ABV beer, I'd brew a higher ABV style. But I'm a big believer in the BU:GU stat as one of the most important aspects of any style. If you mess with that much, the beer won't taste the same.
 
cweston said:
Actually, I think you can just double a 5 gallon recipe to get a 10 gallon recipe. There was a thrad about this recently--wasn't that the consensus?


I personally wouldn't mess with it at all--if I want a higher ABV beer, I'd brew a higher ABV style. But I'm a big believer in the BU:GU stat as one of the most important aspects of any style. If you mess with that much, the beer won't taste the same.

Dunno about the other thread, but if ya use ProMash and lock the ingredients to the batch size, going from 5 gallons to 10 doubles everything (malt and hops) and the OG, IBU and SRM numbers don't change...just FYI...

As to the BU:GU... shouldn't be hard to figure out the new IBUs from the new expected OG and keep the ratio the same, no? Just add a few more grams of hops depending on calculations and there you are... this is what homebrew is all about, wouldn't you agree?

calman, can you give us the info on the kit? (extract, grains, hops, etc.)... I can plug it into ProMash and give you some idea of what you might do with it...

later,
mikey
 
Mykel Obvious said:
As to the BU:GU... shouldn't be hard to figure out the new IBUs from the new expected OG and keep the ratio the same, no? Just add a few more grams of hops depending on calculations and there you are... this is what homebrew is all about, wouldn't you agree?

Exactly--that was my point.

If I were adding malt to make a bigger beer, I'd adjust the hops concomitantly* so the BU:GU ratio stays roughly the same. BU:GU ratio is something I always pay carefull attention to when designing recipes.

As someone pointed out, sucrose and corn sugar are 100% fermentable, pretty much, so they will up the ABV without affecting the balance of flavors much. They will make the body/mouthfeel different (drier than it would be if you added more malt).

(*sorry: I've been reading papers all day + evening.)
 
Mykel Obvious said:
Dunno about the other thread, but if ya use ProMash and lock the ingredients to the batch size, going from 5 gallons to 10 doubles everything (malt and hops) and the OG, IBU and SRM numbers don't change...just FYI...

That was the conclusion reached in the other thread, too. Everything is linear... at least on the relatively small scales that we're working within.

Somone should try taking a 5 gallon recipe up to 10000 gallons in ProMash and see if there is any kind of curve in the graph or if it really is linear.

-walker
 
Hey, sorta off topic, but: What is Bu:Gu? For that matter, what is IBU?

I have a humble request- could we start a thread, or a sticky thread, that is just for definitions of terms, so that neubs like me can learn without bugging for definitions? (So far I've wondered about IBU, Gu, and SWMBO, but other things will come up). Thanks.


Also:
Walker-san said:
Somone should try taking a 5 gallon recipe up to 10000 gallons in ProMash and see if there is any kind of curve in the graph or if it really is linear.

-walker

Someone should brew up 10000 gallons and, uh... give me some.
 
P funky said:
Hey, sorta off topic, but: What is Bu:Gu? For that matter, what is IBU?

I have a humble request- could we start a thread, or a sticky thread, that is just for definitions of terms, so that neubs like me can learn without bugging for definitions? (So far I've wondered about IBU, Gu, and SWMBO, but other things will come up). Thanks.

IBU = International bitterness units. A measurement of bitterness in beer based on the actual concentration of alpha acids in the finished product. All IBU figures for homebrewed beers are calculated estimates.

BU:GU = the ratio of IBUs to gravity units (points). So, for example, an IPA with a 1.060 original gravity (OG) and 48 IBUs has a BU:GU of 48/60 or .8.

SWMBO = She Who Must Be Obeyed, i.e. wife/girlfriend.
 
Walker-san said:
That was the conclusion reached in the other thread, too. Everything is linear... at least on the relatively small scales that we're working within.

Somone should try taking a 5 gallon recipe up to 10000 gallons in ProMash and see if there is any kind of curve in the graph or if it really is linear.

-walker

When you lock the ingredients to batch size, it works off the % of each ingredient in the list... I took 5 gallons up to 50000 and the 9.56 lb grain bill went to 95630 lbs... now, who's got a 50000 gallon mash tun??? (we could do it in a 45000 gallon tun as long as we don't mash to thin... call it 1.5 qt per lb max LOL)

later,
mikey
 
Walker-san said:
That was the conclusion reached in the other thread, too. Everything is linear... at least on the relatively small scales that we're working within.

Somone should try taking a 5 gallon recipe up to 10000 gallons in ProMash and see if there is any kind of curve in the graph or if it really is linear.

-walker

It's important to note that it's not linear if the batch size increases with the boil volume remaining constant. Hop utilization is affected by the higher gravity of a smaller proportion of the wort being boiled.

I mention this because I recently scaled up a 2.5 gallon recipe to 3 gallons, but kept the boil size the same because I'm using the same pot, and the hops were not increased linearly. The boil had more malt, and thus a higher gravity. More hops are needed as the gravity of the boil increases.


Of course, if you had a big enough brewpot, maybe you'd double the boil size along with everything else, but maybe not.
 
Mykel Obvious said:
calman, can you give us the info on the kit? (extract, grains, hops, etc.)... I can plug it into ProMash and give you some idea of what you might do with it...

later,
mikey

Wow, this thread gives me much more information than I expected, thank you all for your inputs.
I don't have a specific kit, just wanted to know if we could increase a beer recipe 2%ABV in general without effecting the flavors of the beer (only to bring me to this :mug: :tank: :ban: :ban: faster). One of my friend told me mixing some 95% Everclear would do the job (with some calculations).
 
P funky said:
I have a humble request- could we start a thread, or a sticky thread, that is just for definitions of terms, so that neubs like me can learn without bugging for definitions? (So far I've wondered about IBU, Gu, and SWMBO, but other things will come up). Thanks.

Uhmm yea, me too.
 
calman said:
One of my friend told me mixing some 95% Everclear would do the job (with some calculations).


Again, as I said on another thread when the topic of brewski-flavored hooch came up.

Ew. Gross.

Thanks for the info; I may start creating the "Good terms to know" thread, or something.
 
calman said:
One of my friend told me mixing some 95% Everclear would do the job (with some calculations).

You could certainly do this if you wanted.

If you want to increase the ABV of a 5 gallon batch by 2%, you need to add roughly 2% of 5 gallons worth of 100% grain alcohol, which is about 13 oz or so.

I can give you a more complicated equation that takes into account the increased overal volume and the fact that everclear is only 190 proof, but... 13 oz is good enough for an approximation.

Oh, and one more thing... if you are in a hurry to get to :mug::tank::ban::ban:, just drink the everclear.
 
Walker-san said:
You could certainly do this if you wanted.

If you want to increase the ABV of a 5 gallon batch by 2%, you need to add roughly 2% of 5 gallons worth of 100% grain alcohol, which is about 13 oz or so.

I can give you a more complicated equation that takes into account the increased overal volume and the fact that everclear is only 190 proof, but... 13 oz is good enough for an approximation.

Oh, and one more thing... if you are in a hurry to get to :mug::tank::ban::ban:, just drink the everclear.

Been there, done it in college. My friend got a cross-eye after some shots, even it was mixed with some fruit juice. Thanks for the calc.
 
You know, I can't help thinking that some of the reaction to everclear is just in people's heads. Like, yeah, it's strong, but man up, will ya? It's just ,like, 2.2 shots of your favorite normal likka. Course, it takes a machete to your esophagus on the way down... but whaddya gonna do?

Also, Walker, I defer to your expert judgment on this- or, I guess, anyone who cares to comment: At what point on the %abv scale does a beer get too weird or nasty to drink? Or is it always delicious, even as it's hoisting your shorts up over your head and slapping you in the belly?
 
P funky said:
Also, Walker, I defer to your expert judgment on this- or, I guess, anyone who cares to comment: At what point on the %abv scale does a beer get too weird or nasty to drink? Or is it always delicious, even as it's hoisting your shorts up over your head and slapping you in the belly?

Expert? Now THAT'S some funny **** right there. I'm just a guy who makes and drinks beer.

Barleywines and some Imperial strength brews are up around 10% (some are even a little higher than this.) A lot of these high-octane brews are quite delicious, even with the belly slap that they can lay on you.

-walker
 
I've got the solution right here!

Add two pounds of honey to your whole boil. Honey is great. It's about 75% fermentable, and if you boil it for more than 20 minutes, it kills off any honey flavors, adds no color difference, increases alcohol % without making a heavy beer, and yet still adds just a touch of mouthfeel. This is my "Secret Ingredient" in EVERY brew I've ever made and I get 8%-10% with every batch and can still see through my beers!

I prefer the K.I.S.S method. Our fore-fathers didn't have calculators and made some great ****. Why can't we?

Good luck!
 
sonvolt said:
Forgive and correct me if I am wrong here, but you shouldn't necessarily assume that you can increase the hops at the same proportion as you increase malt and expect similar results. For instance, you can't simply double a five gallon recipe if you are using a ten gallon system.

You may want to work all of this out at the recipator, just to be sure.
I assume you were talking about the extraction efficiency of the hops from doing a full 5 gallon boil vs a full 10 gallon boil. I'd say it wouldn't be noticable, at least on my palate.
But I agree that sometimes you can't take for granted everything will remain the same.
 
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