Kick up the alcohol

Ok, I am an AG brewer and and having problems getting the efficiency and higher OG that I am looking for. I have heard many people (including Lagunitas and with their Hop-stoopid beer) add some extract during the boil to kick up the OG and resulting alcohol.

My question is: about how much extract should i add for a 5-gallon batch? What time during the boil should I add? Lets just say I want to increase the OG from 1.05 to 1.08

1 lb of DME in 1 gal of water gives 1.045 OG
You want an extra 1.08-1.05=.03

so per gallon that is .045/.03= 1.5 lb of DME

oh, you can add it anytime - but if you add at the beginning of the boil it will slightly lower your hops utilization

Thanks for the lightning fast reply Giligson!

OK, thats great information. But, I am a little confused with the calculation. If i want to increase just .02 then .045/.02 = 2.25 lb per gallon? That cant be right to increase the DME for less of an OG increase. Sorry, I am sure Im missing something!

Cabbie said:

Thanks for the lightning fast reply Giligson!

OK, thats great information. But, I am a little confused with the calculation. If i want to increase just .02 then .045/.02 = 2.25 lb per gallon? That cant be right to increase the DME for less of an OG increase. Sorry, I am sure Im missing something!

Click to expand...

I think he flipped it. .02/.045 = .44 lbs/gallon. .03/.045 = .67 lbs/gallon (aka 3.33 lbs in a 5 gal batch). Personally I would just use beersmith or whatever calculator you want to use (http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe is free and online if you don't use one already). Just punch in your AG recipe and efficiency and then play around with the DME amounts until it shows the OG you want.

giligson said:

1 lb of DME in 1 gal of water gives 1.045 OG
You want an extra 1.08-1.05=.03

so per gallon that is .045/.03= 1.5 lb of DME

oh, you can add it anytime - but if you add at the beginning of the boil it will slightly lower your hops utilization

Click to expand...

Crap crap crap...
you are totally right - I flipped it
Should be: .03/.045 = .66 of DME
That's what happens when you do these on the fly without checking your work.

Sweet thanks guys! Yes, I use BeerSmith, but im still a semi-newb and not sure exactly what my efficiency is.

Last question: Will using syrup as opposed to DME make any difference?

I have written down that 1 lb. DME = 1.1 lbs. LME. Maybe someone can verify since I don't remember where I got that from (other than the fact that I know it was on this forum somewhere). Otherwise if you just pull up beersmith and punch in 1 lb. DME as your 'grain bill' and then see what OG you get then trial and error until you get the same OG with a different amount of LME you can find your own conversion.