Help, my home brew has no kick

I don't get the same buzz as what I use to buy. It seems to take 2 or 3 22 oz.ers of my brew to get the same buzz as 1 22 oz.er of these.
Stone Arrogant Bastard or I.P.A.
Long Hammer I.P.A.
White Hawk I.P.A.

Here's my last brew

9 # LME

steeping grains...
.5 # Crystal 20L
1 # Crystal 40l

Hop schedule...
60 min. 1 oz. Chinook
1 oz. Simcoe
30 min. 1 oz. Perle
flame out 1 oz. Cascade

White labs WLP001 Calif. yeast.

Any help to make a similar beer of the above mentioned with LME would be greatly apprieciated. My goal is to all grain in the future. Thanks...

That's because the ABV of your brew is lower. Make a stronger beer. Look up some of the IPA recipes in the recipe section.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=69

For the Arrogant Bastard clone, sub about 11 lbs of light LME for the pale 2-row.

The beauty of a lower ABV HB is that you can drink more and enjoy the beer rather than just getting drunk.
The other good thing about homebrew is you can make it to your specification.
If you are not experience in recipe creation it best to stick to style though.

orfy said:

The beauty of a lower ABV HB is that you can drink more and enjoy the beer rather than just getting drunk.

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+1. I'd rather have five or six beers during a session than two. But then again, with the hop bombs listed above, it could have 3% ABV and I'd be shot after one or two. Just overwhelms my palate; last time I had more than two strong IPAs (or IIPAs), I couldn't taste much else for two days.

Cheers,

Bob

Brewing software such as BeerSmith, ProMash, or BeerTools will help you to determine the alcohol content of your homebrew.

HB does not get you drunk faster or slower, that is a myth, what gets you drunk faster is alcohol content. 7% = 7% = 7% regardless of if it's a microbrew stout, an Arrogant Bastard, or a homebrew. Lupulin oils contained in hops, though, can act as a powerful sedative. I find that IPAs make me sleepy before they make me drunk.

Using Beersmith, that recipe should be giving you about a 6.8-6.9% ABV beer which is pretty much the same as the commercial beers you mentioned. Don't know why it takes 2 or 3 times the amount of homebrew to catch the same buzz as the other beers. Maybe you're drinking too slow?

I am curious what your final gravity was. If it came out higher than expected wouldn't the abv be less? Just a thought, but you might have had a stuck fermentation at a higher SG.

The batch of stout I am waiting on would have had a FG of 1.020, but the expected is around 1.012. Thankfully we tested before bottling.

OG=1.048
At FG=1.020==> ABV% ~3.7%

At FG=1.012 ==> ABV%~4.8%

Calculation done by software.

Is there a way for dezul313 to test his FG in the bottle?

Yeah, we need initial and final SGs to figure out if, in fact, the ABV is different.

Having had my first real, varied exposure to IIPAs, I can say that I wouldn't drink them to get drunk, I'd drink them like a good brandy. Too much hop flavor in them for me to pound for a session. Still, some of the stronger IIPAs and IPAs have nearly 10% ABV. That's pretty damn strong.

Had one that was close to 100 IBUs. The malt flavor at the front was desperately welcome before the bite hit, which felt like a lawnmower running over my tongue. I do loves me that hop aroma though.

Inebriation is dependent on a *lot* of factors though. What you've eaten, the mood you're in, and other factors can have a large impact on your alcohol tolerance.

Chriso said:

HB does not get you drunk faster or slower, that is a myth, what gets you drunk faster is alcohol content. 7% = 7% = 7% regardless of if it's a microbrew stout, an Arrogant Bastard, or a homebrew. Lupulin oils contained in hops, though, can act as a powerful sedative. I find that IPAs make me sleepy before they make me drunk.

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True, but there are different qualities of buzz that may contribute to feeling more or less drunk. For example, I find a homebrew buzz less harsh and more warm-fuzzy than a typical commercial beer. The net effect is that I feel less "drunk" and more "high".

This means there's really only one acceptable answer:

Keep brewing, and conducting EXTENSIVE testing, like I do!

Signed,
Druck chriso

pldoolittle said:

For example, I find a homebrew buzz less harsh and more warm-fuzzy than a typical commercial beer. The net effect is that I feel less "drunk" and more "high".

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No comment here. Point tanken though.

The next day edit: Sorry for incoherence, I had put away a 750ml of Left Hand Smoked Goosinator Doppelbock. Nuff said.

I like the lack of the skull splitting headache that I get the next day from downing homebrew as apposed to cheap MegaBrew.

pldoolittle said:

True, but there are different qualities of buzz that may contribute to feeling more or less drunk. For example, I find a homebrew buzz less harsh and more warm-fuzzy than a typical commercial beer. The net effect is that I feel less "drunk" and more "high".

Click to expand...

Amen to that. I refer to a homebrew buzz as a body buzz, warm and fuzzy, instead of the, "I can't remember what happened last night" feeling ala bucket of beer type drunk, or $2 drafts from 9-11pm, or what have you.

To let it be known

OG was 1.078 ( that was before I had a add about gallon, maybe more water to fill to the five gallon mark. I know, I should have taken the original reading after I filled it. )

FG was 1.012

I'll try making a stronger beer next time...

If you added about 1 1/4 gallons to top off, that would make your OG 1.059. That would give you a little over 6% ABV.

YooperBrew said:

If you added about 1 1/4 gallons to top off, that would make your OG 1.059. That would give you a little over 6% ABV.

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That's a good, strong session beer. My american amber was about 5.5% and after the first 2-3 12oz bottles you start your buzz, and after about 5 or 6 you're obliterated (as we discovered drinking a case during a marathon Rock Band game session).

If you're comparing it to some double IPAs or other "big" beers, you're missing out on 2-4% ABV, which can make a big difference.

Yeah use your hydrometer and software to get your abv where you want it, if that's a big concern. You are comparing yourself to Arrogant Bastard, which is big for an IPA. Try brewing some belgian strong ales, or, if you have the patience, a barleywine, and I promise you will get the buzz you're looking for. Just do your homework beforehand, cause high-gravity brewing can be little tricky to get right.

Oh, and just dumping in table sugar will kick up your abv but might cost you in taste. If you don't want to substantially change your recipes, try adding some honey for increased fermentables with a more subtle flavor. Seriously tho you really want to just brew bigger styles, like a DIPA.