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Ó Flannagáin

Ó Flannagáin

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I'm a beginner, so forgive me if this is a stupid question. I've seen recipes call for anything between 5 and 9 pounds of malt (extract recipes), but they all seem to end up around 5-5.5% alcohol. What's the determining factor here? it seems 5 pounds verse 9 pounds would be a huge difference in alcohol %. I'm recalling these numbers from memory, so I may be mistaken, but any input is appreciated.
 
If you increase the base malt you will increase the ABV if all things are equal.
Increasing some speciality malts will not add fermentables to the wort so will not increase the ABV.

It is very unlikely that a recipe calling for 5lb of malt will have the same ABV has a recipe with 9lb.
 
Remember, too, that it's not just "malt extract"; it's either liquid (LME) or dry (DME). If the recipe called for 5lbs of DME, that would be equivalent to about 6lbs of LME (since the latter has water in it still). So, some of the differences might be masked by the type of extact used.

Orfy's right, though - add more extract, end up with more alcohol.
 
And, to a lesser extent, the fermentability (what % of the mix can be converted) of the extract and the attenuation (ability to convert sugar to alcohol) of the yeast impact the final ABV.

A typical liquid malt extract is 80% malt and 75% of that will be converted.
 

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