[Alcohol In beer] ... How [high] can you go?

Brewers Notes:
Flavors from this yeast vary greatly with the beer produced. The higher the gravity, the more winey the result. Beers over 16% ABV begin to taste less like beer, and more like fortified wines. With low gravity beers, this yeast produces a nice, subtle English ale-like ester profile.As the gravity increases, some phenolic character is evident, followed by the winey-ness of beers over 16% ABV. Most fermentations will stop between 12-16% ABV unless these high gravity tips are performed:

Aerate very heavily, 4 times as much as with a normal gravity beer. Less oxygen dissolves into solution at high gravity.
Pitch 3-4 times as much yeast as normal.
Consider aerating intermittently during the first 5 days of fermentation. This will help yeast cells during a very difficult fermentation. Aerate with oxygen for 30 seconds or air for 5-10 minutes.
Higher nutrient levels can allow yeast to tolerate higher alcohol levels. Use 2 times the normal nutrient level. This is especially important when using WLP099 to make wine and mead, which have almost no nutrient level to begin with.
Do not start with the entire wort sugar at once. Begin fermentation with a wort that would produce a 6-8% beer, and add wort (it can be concentrated) each day during the first 5 days. This can be done together with aeration. This is mandatory if the reported 25% ABV is to be achieved.

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hiphops said:

(supposed to be a play on Run DMC ... Or maybe not)

Anyway. how do you get a beer with a high alcohol content?

My understanding is that alcohol content is a function of the difference between OG and FG. That being said, it seems to me that to get a high OG beer you add more grains and boil it longer and to have a bigger difference between OG and FG you add more yeast and let it sit in the carboy longer.

Does this sound right?

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ArcaneXor said:

Making a low-alcohol beer that is full of flavor and mouthfeel is a real challenge.

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