1.200 20%+ 120 Minute IIPA

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Hm... I thought that was for sucrose? I was goin off of this:
BT - Understanding Specific Gravity and Extract

From these equations it is evident that sucrose produces a specific gravity increase of 46.31 points/lb/gal
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...
Because it is the reference, only sucrose will yield 100% of its weight as extract when dissolved in water. Other sugars, even though they will completely dissolve, produce a smaller increase in density and yield something less than 100%. Dry malt extract, for example, yields about 97%, dextrose (corn sugar) about 90%.
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I'm not trying to call you out here, I'm just trying to understand this stuff fully... is there any way to know for sure besides to just drop a pound of it in a gallon and throw a hydrometer in it? Or should I just DWHAHB?
 
Corn sugar is dextrose monohydrate (C6 H12 O6 * H2O), whereas Sucrose is the anhydrous disaccharide C12 H22 O11. Some quick math shows corn sugar is therefore only about 90% sugar by weight since 10% is just water bonded to the glucose molecule. That is why you get 40 pts/lb/gallon with it as opposed to 46 with sucrose.
 
So after all is said and done and you've added enough sugar to kill off the yeast, what will be left to clean up the mess? Does the alcohol kill the yeast or just make it dormant?

I imagine you have a lot of nasty byproducts in there right now. Have you considered stopping while the yeast is still viable and letting it condition for a while? You could add unfermentable sweetener to make it taste better.
 
I'm not a fan of non-fermentable sweetners. You're talking about something like splenda? There's no need to add it considering the yeast won't be able to ferment it. We're only talkin about like a pound of additional sugar at this point.
 
sirsloop said:
I'm not a fan of non-fermentable sweetners. You're talking about something like splenda? There's no need to add it considering the yeast won't be able to ferment it. We're only talkin about like a pound of additional sugar at this point.
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Not necessarily splenda (I did not like that in my a-wine) but possibly lactose or malto-dextrin. I just don't like the idea of adding something artificial.
 
I checked the gravity a few minutes ago. It is still at 1.019 and is still bubbling away. I added another pound of dextrose bringing the total up to 1.091 plus 11 pounds of dextrose. Tomorrow night I should be right around the 20% ABV mark if you calculate corn sugar at 1.040 lbs/gal. If I can make it to 13.5lbs of dextrose that will be roughly 1.200 with the dextrose calculated at 1.040. Oddly enough, beersmith has it at 1.046...

I also moved the fermenter away from my sliding glass door into my bathroom, where the temp should go up to roughly 75°F. Its been in the mid 60's this entire time being right next to the door (winter).
 
Its still bubblin... although a little slower. I opted to not add any more sugar yesterday as it is slowing down. I'll check out the gravity tonight and see where its at. I'll probably end up putting in another 2 pounds over the next few days....
 
Do you know what? I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the yeast. All that reproducing and gorging themselves sure sounds like fun, but they must be exhausted by now. In fact, if your yeast were human, you know what they'd look like?

3322357375_6fa9d62059_o.jpg
 
jvetter said:
Mine finished at 1.030 and is plenty sweet in my opinion. From what I have heard DFH 120 min IPA is in the 1.040s, but I have never tested myself.
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I tested it and got 1.032 and it was way too sweet in my opinion. By way too sweet, I mean WAY TOO SWEET! :)

I think if this were in the mid 1.02x it would probably be fine.
 
Danek said:
Do you know what? I'm almost starting to feel sorry for the yeast. All that reproducing and gorging themselves sure sounds like fun, but they must be exhausted by now. In fact, if your yeast were human, you know what they'd look like?

3322357375_6fa9d62059_o.jpg
Click to expand...


Hey come on... the man can sing a good drinking song with the best of them. Leave Shane alone..

I love the thread, it's this type of thing that inspires the rest of us to push ourselves.. Kudos to you!
 
lol... got out of work early today and checked it out. It was at 1.024 and still bubblin away about once every 30 seconds. Its definitely slowed down but I think I can probably count on another 5-10 points before it really stalls out. I added another pound of dextrose bringing the total up to 1.091 plus 12 pounds of dextrose!! LOL No fear brewing!!! I think im gonna hold off for about a week, let it settle a bit, and see where the gravity is at. I think at this point I can call the primary fermentation a success as far as how much dextrose I was able to get in the thing. Taste? We'll see...lol... its certainly got some heat to it at this point.
 
checked the gravity today... 1.023. Stirred it up and added the 13th pound!! Thats 1.195 OG and calculated 23% ABV if that ferments out back to 1.023!!
 
The poor yeasties! You are sure working them hard.

I am sitting here imagining a primordial stew (or witch's brew). They are thick and slowly bubble up, only to burst with a loud thick burp-like sound. You are sitting over your kettle with a big wood stir spoon, slowly stirring and adding your ingredients (like eye of newt or salamander's tail) and cackling every time a bubble burps.

How close am I?
 
Ehh... fermenter is sittin on the floor bubbling away... every couple days I drop in a glass jobbie that reads a number, then I proceed to stir in another pound of sugar. I told ya I wasn't gonna stop until they give up!!
 
Yesterday I tried a sample of my 10.5% Strong Dark Belgian brewed in October which is aging in secondary at the moment. It was really nice, but as it still had a noticeable alcoholic harshness, I decided to leave it for another three months or so to mellow. And it was then that I thought of your 23% monster beer. How long will that much booze take to mellow to drinkable levels? :eek:
 
Sorry if this is a noob question, but - normally we are told to not not aerate the beer after the first time so as not to oxidize it. I'm wondering what makes the process different in your case? Is it because you are keeping up an active fermentation the whole time?
 
Yeast consume oxygen when propagating... in this case there is so much sugar to be consumed its ok to give them extra oxygen early on to help them through the process. They still fermented more sugar after I stopped adding oxygen that most beers have in total.
 
it seems to have stalled at 1.030... so the last bit of dextrose didn't really ferment much. Maybe 2 points or so. I'm gonna see if I can coax .04-.06 out of them and call it quits.

good lord... so I tried some today... LOL... WOW. Its pretty sweet, pretty hot, pretty bitter. Pretty much everything in excess. I guess this one is gonna get kegged up and stuck in my closet for a while. Its extreme. I think it really needs to get dry hopped, carbed, and age before I can really put my finger on it.
 
I measured DFH 120 at 1.030 so I bet it is pretty sweet! That yeast is getting tired, but I bet you can eke out some a few more points with some time. If the beer is really sticking at 1.030 then rack it off without chilling, keep the yeast that is in suspension in there, move it to a secondary vessel, and then bump the temp up to 80. That cake is going to be getting pretty nasty and I bet there are a lot of dead US-05 yeast in there you don't want it sitting on that for long especially if you raise the temp.
 
HAHA... you may be waiting a while for that. I haven't cracked it open in a week, but its still bubbling away so there's somethin goin on still. Regardless, its quite hot now and will need a LONG time to age.
 
I can't imagine what you must be going through having to wait. I check this page almost every day and I'm not the one drinking it!
 
OK! ITS KEGGED! 5 gallons exactly went into a freshly cleaned cornie 5 minutes ago. Its crazy, but this thing had 1.5 gallons of cake at the bottom!! HAHAH!! I didnt think it was gonna fit in one cornie...when it hit 2gal my jaw dropped. Monster cake! 1.028FG so far... probably will drop another 1-2 points over the next 1-2 years. Its got a pretty wild smell to it! I decided to hold off dry hopping until next year. I think it would be a waste to drop all those hops in there, only to let the keg remained in there for X amount of time before actual consumption.

Lol... this one should be interesting at competitions! Next up we have a 22.5% IIPA!!! BOOM! :drunk::drunk::tank::D
 
A 22.5% IPA? There's no word to describe that :mug:

Wait, thought of one: INSANE!

That said I had my first taste of DFH 120 last week. It was positively ridiculous. My mouth didn't even identify it as beer.
 
They were probably thanking me when I flushed them down the toilet. Somewhere there is a big pile of fermented poo.
 
Man that was a fun read.

Just out of curiosity, what would you do if you bottled it? Add fresh yeast? or yeast and priming sugar?

Awesome though, my hats off to you.
 
I may bottle some of it. I'll carb it in the keg, drop the keg pressure, and pour it right out of the faucet into the bottles at like 2psi. Let the foam pour over the top, cap it, all set. At this point, I don't think adding any more yeast will do anything.
 
sirsloop said:
I may bottle some of it. I'll carb it in the keg, drop the keg pressure, and pour it right out of the faucet into the bottles at like 2psi. Let the foam pour over the top, cap it, all set. At this point, I don't think adding any more yeast will do anything.
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With a beer like this you might as well spend the $5 on a BMBF - that way you get the bottles properly carb'd
 

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