High alcohol beer

I am looking to make a high alcohol beer. What do I need to do. Can I take any recipe and change its alcohol content?

well there is a little more to it than just changing its alcohol content.

What style of beer are you looking to make?

Not quite sure yet. Possibly an IPA or a stout. I figured there was more to it but wasn't sure where to start.

How high are you looking to get?? Do you have a towel?

IF you're going to do this, I would advise getting brewing software so that you can also alter the hop schedule/amounts so that you maintain the IBU's and such. Also, are you brewing extract (with or without specialty grains), partial mash or all grain?? That will also determine how you go about this.

Also keep in mind that depending on how far you boost the ABV, you could need a good amount of aging time before you can drink the brew (without having it taste hot)...

hey redman. i had the same thought yesterday and i found this very helpfull
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/how-increase-alcohol-223754/
at the bottom of the page are other threads of similar topics with the amount of reply's they have, look at " Using sugar to increase ABV? " with 16 reply's
these have pretty much all you need

More Alchohol=More fermentables. Are you Extract or All Grain?

Keep in mind, also, that using plain sugars will make the brew thinner (less body) which isn't always a desired result. Using DME would help boost the ABV while helping to retain the body. Just use light DME (or extra light) to get the boost. You can also combine DME with sugars like honey, grade B maple syrup, to add some more flavor to a brew. IF you're going to add the additional sugar sources (honey, or maple syrup) I would add them once fermentation has been going for at least a few days (or a week) so that the yeast has a large colony size to munch on the new sugars.

Getting high often results in also getting the munchies. Yeast are no different...

Do you have a towel??

Yankeehillbrewer said:

More Alchohol=More fermentables. Are you Extract or All Grain?

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yup its that simple. add more fermentable sugars, and you will get more alchohol. making it taste good (or even drinkable) is another story. as a rule of thumb, the higher the ABV a beer has, the longer it takes to mature. one exception is IPA's and double IPA's because the strong hop flavors covers up alot of "green" flavors. what kind of beer do you like?

Take a recipe, and double it, but still keep the batch size at 5 gallons. Double the yeast too.

Yankeehillbrewer said:

More Alchohol=More fermentables. Are you Extract or All Grain?

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Extract

Golddiggie said:

How high are you looking to get?? Do you have a towel?

IF you're going to do this, I would advise getting brewing software so that you can also alter the hop schedule/amounts so that you maintain the IBU's and such. Also, are you brewing extract (with or without specialty grains), partial mash or all grain?? That will also determine how you go about this.

Also keep in mind that depending on how far you boost the ABV, you could need a good amount of aging time before you can drink the brew (without having it taste hot)...

Click to expand...

Is there a max ABV you could achieve? Just thought it would be something different to do. As far as the towel? Not sure what you mean.

Go buy a crap load bags of confectioners sugar, and throw it into the brew.

Giddy UP!

tdogg said:

yup its that simple. add more fermentable sugars, and you will get more alchohol. making it taste good (or even drinkable) is another story. as a rule of thumb, the higher the ABV a beer has, the longer it takes to mature. one exception is IPA's and double IPA's because the strong hop flavors covers up alot of "green" flavors. what kind of beer do you like?

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I'm a big fan of IPAs and stouts. Love the heavy, thick stouts

Redman1340 said:

Is there a max ABV you could achieve? Just thought it would be something different to do. As far as the towel? Not sure what you mean.

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By normal means, I wouldn't plan on going too much higher than the low teens in percentage. Beers can be made into the 20's, but that's tricky and labor intensive. The current world record for strongest beer is I believe 55% alcohol, but that was achieved by freeze concentration (or whatever the technical term is for the "eisbocking").

Qhrumphf said:

By normal means, I wouldn't plan on going too much higher than the low teens in percentage. Beers can be made into the 20's, but that's tricky and labor intensive. The current world record for strongest beer is I believe 55% alcohol, but that was achieved by freeze concentration (or whatever the technical term is for the "eisbocking").

Click to expand...

Low teens would be ok. I've had an eisbock before. How is the freeze method accomplished?

Essentially lowering the temp of the beer to the point where water starts to freeze, but the alcohol does not. Then removing the ice crystals. I've never tried it and don't know a whole lot about it beyond that.

Qhrumphf said:

Essentially lowering the temp of the beer to the point where water starts to freeze, but the alcohol does not. Then removing the ice crystals. I've never tried it and don't know a whole lot about it beyond that.

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Sounds interesting but somewhat hard to do.

Golddiggie said:

Keep in mind, also, that using plain sugars will make the brew thinner (less body) which isn't always a desired result. Using DME would help boost the ABV while helping to retain the body. Just use light DME (or extra light) to get the boost. You can also combine DME with sugars like honey, grade B maple syrup, to add some more flavor to a brew. IF you're going to add the additional sugar sources (honey, or maple syrup) I would add them once fermentation has been going for at least a few days (or a week) so that the yeast has a large colony size to munch on the new sugars.

Getting high often results in also getting the munchies. Yeast are no different...

Do you have a towel??

Click to expand...

If you are adding the sugar source later on in fermentation then would there be any way to find out your ABV? And also in one other thread it says take your batch from being a 5 gallon to 4 gallon does anyone know how much that would increase your ABV?

Make a yeast starter! I have made several HG brews and made the mistake of not make a starter, rather just pitching the yeast from the smack pack. If you're going to add a ton of fermentables, make sure to add some yeastie boys.

If you go with a Stout I'm thinking that you would want to do some sort of Mini-Mash/BIAB type of thing, because I think you would have a fair amount of specialty grains. I use about 12% Dark Grains & 6% Crystal malt in my RIS, and it comes out to 3lbs of Specialty Grain. That seems like a lot to steep, But I haven't done extract in a long time so take that with a Grain of Salt. An IPA wouldn't be so bad for Steeping grains, I'm thinking 4-5% Crystal, & about 8-10% Corn Sugar(post boil), then make up the rest with Extract.

Definitely make a huge starter with a Highly attentuating Yeast, I'm a big fan of White Labs WLP007 right now, Wyeast 1056 is a workhorse too or WLP001. I would recommend a 3000l starter, give or take depending on what your OG will be. If you want to go the dry route I would pitch a couple packs of S-05 or Nottingham.

Anyhow, this is how I would approach it.

Add sugars. You can use light dry malt extract or the syrup, corn sugar, honey, or table sugar if that's all that is available. 1 lb table sugar per gallon increases alcohol content by about 5%. Make sure to use a yeast that can handle the alcohol level, many ale yeasts can't go higher than the 7-9 percent range. Champagne yeast is good if you are mostly just concerned about boosting alcohol level.

hbtasdfg said:

1 lb table sugar per gallon increases alcohol content by about 5%.

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5lbs of table sugar........ doesnt seem to smart to me just from some of the things I have read regarding ABV and adjuncts.

I agree that is not the best way to go to make the best result but it sounded like the goal was just high alcohol content. I was trying to give a rough estimate of what amount leads to what result. DME, honey, or a mix would probably produce a far superior result.

Your best bet is to find a good clone recipe and follow it to the letter!! Don't just add sugars. Everything in the recipe has to be proportioned properly. Higher alcohol doesn't always equate to better beer...."The Brewers Calculator" is a great, free, spread sheet if you are trying to create a recipe. Go to BJCP.com and get the specs for the beer style you like, then plug in ingredients to the calculator to meet those specs. ALL high abv beers are better with age!!!