Controlling ABV

[Maverick1965]

Ive read here a few times about how people modify recipes to control the ABV. Im not looking to make moonshine, just trying to understand the process since it seems to be a much more bitter brew when its higher in the ABV.

So far I have been using extract kits. Its interesting when I read that someone added "an lb of brown sugar" to add ABV. When I bottle, I use the little sugar tablets, dropping one into each bottle prior to capping it. My question is when someone says they are adding an "lb" of brown sugar, is that in the wort boil process or after the active fermentation?

Thanks in advance.

 

[philrose]

they usually mean at the end of the boil.

Alternatively, you can just plain use more malt extract. It isn't always advisable to jack up the gravity with malt or even sugar to existing recipes as the bitterness might not match the extra gravity.

Big honking beers can be "fed" sugar during the most active parts of the fermentation in stages in order to give the yeast the best chance to get through the massive amounts of fermentables that make up the beer. But those are not typical homebrews.

Priming sugar adds a smidge of extra fermented sugar, therefore a tiny bit of extra alcohol, but its so small that brewers don't even take it into consideration when calculating alcohol.

 

[Maverick1965]

So the tablets Im using are basically just for the carbonating process more so the ABV?

 

[Maverick1965]

and of course thank you for the info...

 

[eastoak]

So the tablets Im using are basically just for the carbonating process more so the ABV?

yes, the sugar in the bottle is for carbonation.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Basically, to have a higher ABV you start with a higher gravity wort, either more grain or extract. As another mentioned, you usually don't want to go throwing extract or sugar into an existing recipe without adjusting the hops. What I'd recommend is to find a kit for a higher ABV/gravity style that you like, Double IPA for example, and brew that. Each of those kits is designed to make a good beer on it's own, and may not be so good if you just add extract or sugar to it.
You mentioned bitter in a way that seems you don't like bitter in a beer. What kinds of higher ABV beers are you into? Maybe one of us can recommend a good kit for that style.

 

[Maverick1965]

Hi NordeastBrewer77,

Your question of what ABVs I like to drink leaves me struggling for an answer. I never really paid attention to that and only read somewhere that sugars added to a recipe may bring up the ABV, to which someone else responded it would make the beer more bitter.

That said, I like Bass as an all around "daily" drinker. I cant pass up a good pub that has Guiness Stout on draft, I also like Harp, Heineken, which even I seem to understand is usually skunked. I am not a fan of brews like Cherry Wheat, Honey Wheat, etc. I like beer to taste like beer if that makes any sense. I do love the The Irish Red I just brewed last month from NorthernBrewers, but my first brewing of it seemed heavy, so at the suggestion of someone I didnt fermetn it as long in the bucket and bottled it a week earlier this time out which seemed to make it lighter, as a red ale. Why? I dont understand it. Friday was my third brewing. At the suggestion of another poster here, I brewed a Cream Ale, which is supposed to be lighter, "lawnmower" type of beer. The description of it says its got hints of fruit, so I am just hoping it is not like the ones Ive had in the past that were very strong flavored that way.

Recently, I discovered Flying Dog's Raging *****, which I also liked, but for some reason, a six pack I bought a few weeks ago seemed to differ quite a bit from one purchased Friday night. To me the brews were bitter, but not in an unappreciable way. I just cant put my finger on why it tasted different this time around. LOL, maybe I just need to use some Listerine prior to drinking, I dont know.

As far as recipes, I doubt I would change a kit, because Im more interested in knowing that if I do it as instructed, Ive crafted that particular class of brew. That in itself is teaching me to know what is what. As I brew more, its raising my appreciation for beer, but in truth, most anyone can follow a recipe. The instructions are so well laid out that its simplicity leaves little info on why or what the ingredients do. I'm looking for some good books to read on the subject and theory of brewing, but my experience has always been to learn by asking, and by doing, more than reading.

Thanks!

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Sounds like you'd like an IPA or an west coast style red ale. There's plenty of kits for bigger ABV IPAs along with recipes in the recipe forum here on HBT. For west coast reds, I can't say enough about Jamil's West Coast Blaster recipe from Brewing Classic Styles, it's phenomenal beer. I can post the recipe for that if you can't find it online.
Bitterness in beer comes from hops, not sugars. Too much simple sugar can make beer seem 'hot' or 'boozy', which is probably what your friend meant by what he said about sugar. And it sounds like you don't mind hops bitterness, Raging B!tch is a Belgian IPA, and IPAs have a lot of hops. Belgian style IPA kits are readily available. Check out Midwest Supply, Northern Brewer or Austin Homebrew Supply, all three of them make great kits.
As far as good books, that Brewing Classic Styles is great. And it has 80 some extract recipes, I think one for every style of beer out there! Definitely worth it if you want to learn more about designing recipes, or just want a book full of great ones.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Generally, all other factors being equal, simply adding extra fermentables, even sugar, to a recipe wouldn't make it more bitter. If anything they'd usually make it less bitter (depending on when they're added would affect how much) by lessening hop utilization and/or increasing final body. Now, if you were to replace some of the malt or extract with sugar, you'd get a slightly higher alcohol and more bitter beer, as the simple sugar will attenuate out more than the malt-based sugars will, leaving a drier beer with higher perceived bitterness (less residual sugar to balance the bitterness).

If you like Bass, or the Irish Red style, I would consider doing a stronger ESB or maybe a Wee Heavy.

 

[iambeer]

Sounds to me you prefer slightly dry, dark, moderately hopped beer. Or maybe I'm projecting. As for the lawnmower beer, myself I like a 'refreshing' golden ale or lager with a clean finish. IPAs are strong ABV beers with strong (but balanced) bitter/aromatic hops.

Anyway I'm a newbie but the way I am understanding it, you can balance sweet or dry with the type of sugars you put in.

Some sugars are converted to alcohol adding to ABV, and some are left alone by yeast resulting in sweetness left in the finished beer. But sugar doesn't contribute to bitterness as another poster pointed out.

Acidity is firstly a result of the type of water and roast type of malt.

Bitterness is primarily a result of hops.

Yeast character contributes to several factors and they are so different that it's difficult to summarize them. But if you choose one type of yeast that you have experience tasting and use that from a few different brews you will definitely learn that character. For example I used Mr Beer kit yeast on a DME test and the same overwhelming smell and taste settled in despite totally different ingredients.

 

[Maverick1965]

This is all excellent info, and helps a great deal in knowing what I do like to drink. Thank you! The West Coast Ales sound very good so Im on the way to Amazon to find the book but posted a recipe below to see if that is close.

I picked up a copy of the "Joys of Homebrewing" this weekend and there seems to be a ton of good, basic info in there. With your help and the book, I have a much better working knowledge of ingredients and the equipment, especially the hydrometer. I dont know why it looked so daunting to me. Im going to check my brewing notes for each one Ive done to see how they compare. I may have messed up in not recording the temps at the time of reading.

In the book, it's suggested to pour the wort through a strainer when adding to the cold water in the fermenter. I have not been doing that but recall that I took a lot more time on my second batch of Red to leave as much of the fallen yeast behind as I could. After reading some of the replies here, Im confident that had more to do with the smoother flavor than the fact that I cut off a few days in the wait to bottle. As far as water, I always filter the water thru a Brita starting a few days in advance, storing it in a 5 gal water bottle I picked up. I am going to make a wort chiller next weekend as I am halfway decent sweating copper and its not too complicated of a project that has pretty good benefits. I'll bet you can use compression fittings for most of it anyway. I also picked up another set of brewing buckets etc so I can run alternate batches every few weekends.

I think I will try a West Coast Blaster next time out, no rush, I have 5 gal of Cream Ale still in active fermentation 48 hours into it, my first smack pack liquid yeast experience. This stuff gets addicting and Im already on the hunt for an old fridge/chest freezer and some used kegs. I like the bottles but, ohhh to have a nice tap beer in the house just sounds perfect, and well, yeah Im selfish, you can give bottles away too easily!

What I found for the West Coast Blaster:

West Coast Blaster

(5 gallons/19 L, extract plus grains)
OG = 1.066 (16 °P)
FG = 1.015 (3.8 °P)
IBU = 66 SRM = 17 ABV = 6.7%

Malts:
7.0 lb. (3.17 kg) John Bull Maris Otter or Edme Maris
Otter English pale ale liquid malt extract
(or English-style pale ale liquid malt extract) (3.5 °L)
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) Great Western crystal malt (40 °L)
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) Durst Munich malt (8 °L)
0.5 lb. (227 g) Victory malt (28 °L)
0.5 lb. (227 g) Great Western crystal malt (120 °L)
2.5 oz. (71 g) Beeston pale chocolate malt (200 °L)

Hops:
0.88 oz. Horizon hops (60 min.)
1.0 oz. Cascade hops (10 min.)
1.0 oz. Centennial hops (10 min.)
1.0 oz. Cascade hops (0 min.)
1.0 oz. Centennial hops (0 min.)

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), White Labs WLP001
(California Ale) or Fermentis Safale US-05 yeast

Step by Step

Mill or coarsely crack the specialty malts. Mix well and place loosely in a grain bag. Avoid packing the grains too tightly. Steep the bag in about 2 gallons (~8 liters) of water at roughly 170 °F (77 °C) for about 30 minutes. Lift the grain bag out of the steeping liquid and rinse with warm water. Allow the bags to drip into the kettle without squeezing for a few minutes while you add the malt extract. Add water to the steeping liquor and malt extract to make 5.9 gallons (22.3 liters) and a gravity of 1.056 (13.7 °P). Stir thoroughly and bring to a boil.

Once the wort is boiling, add the bittering hops. Total wort boil time is 1 hour after adding the bittering hops. During that time add the Irish moss or other kettle finings at 15 minutes before shut-down. Add other hop additions at 10 minutes remaining and flame out. Chill the wort to 67 °F (19 °C) and aerate thoroughly. The proper pitch rate is 11 grams of rehydrated dry yeast, 2 packages of liquid yeast or 1 package of liquid yeast in a 2.5-liter starter. Follow fermentation and packaging instructions for the all-grain version.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

This is all excellent info, and helps a great deal in knowing what I do like to drink. Thank you! The West Coast Ales sound very good so Im on the way to Amazon to find the book but posted a recipe below to see if that is close.

I picked up a copy of the "Joys of Homebrewing" this weekend and there seems to be a ton of good, basic info in there. With your help and the book, I have a much better working knowledge of ingredients and the equipment, especially the hydrometer. I dont know why it looked so daunting to me. Im going to check my brewing notes for each one Ive done to see how they compare. I may have messed up in not recording the temps at the time of reading.

In the book, it's suggested to pour the wort through a strainer when adding to the cold water in the fermenter. I have not been doing that but recall that I took a lot more time on my second batch of Red to leave as much of the fallen yeast behind as I could. After reading some of the replies here, Im confident that had more to do with the smoother flavor than the fact that I cut off a few days in the wait to bottle. As far as water, I always filter the water thru a Brita starting a few days in advance, storing it in a 5 gal water bottle I picked up. I am going to make a wort chiller next weekend as I am halfway decent sweating copper and its not too complicated of a project that has pretty good benefits. I'll bet you can use compression fittings for most of it anyway. I also picked up another set of brewing buckets etc so I can run alternate batches every few weekends.

I think I will try a West Coast Blaster next time out, no rush, I have 5 gal of Cream Ale still in active fermentation 48 hours into it, my first smack pack liquid yeast experience. This stuff gets addicting and Im already on the hunt for an old fridge/chest freezer and some used kegs. I like the bottles but, ohhh to have a nice tap beer in the house just sounds perfect, and well, yeah Im selfish, you can give bottles away too easily!

What I found for the West Coast Blaster:

West Coast Blaster

(5 gallons/19 L, extract plus grains)
OG = 1.066 (16 °P)
FG = 1.015 (3.8 °P)
IBU = 66 SRM = 17 ABV = 6.7%

Malts:
7.0 lb. (3.17 kg) John Bull Maris Otter or Edme Maris
Otter English pale ale liquid malt extract
(or English-style pale ale liquid malt extract) (3.5 °L)
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) Great Western crystal malt (40 °L)
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) Durst Munich malt (8 °L)
0.5 lb. (227 g) Victory malt (28 °L)
0.5 lb. (227 g) Great Western crystal malt (120 °L)
2.5 oz. (71 g) Beeston pale chocolate malt (200 °L)

Hops:
0.88 oz. Horizon hops (60 min.)
1.0 oz. Cascade hops (10 min.)
1.0 oz. Centennial hops (10 min.)
1.0 oz. Cascade hops (0 min.)
1.0 oz. Centennial hops (0 min.)

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), White Labs WLP001
(California Ale) or Fermentis Safale US-05 yeast

Step by Step

Mill or coarsely crack the specialty malts. Mix well and place loosely in a grain bag. Avoid packing the grains too tightly. Steep the bag in about 2 gallons (~8 liters) of water at roughly 170 °F (77 °C) for about 30 minutes. Lift the grain bag out of the steeping liquid and rinse with warm water. Allow the bags to drip into the kettle without squeezing for a few minutes while you add the malt extract. Add water to the steeping liquor and malt extract to make 5.9 gallons (22.3 liters) and a gravity of 1.056 (13.7 °P). Stir thoroughly and bring to a boil.

Once the wort is boiling, add the bittering hops. Total wort boil time is 1 hour after adding the bittering hops. During that time add the Irish moss or other kettle finings at 15 minutes before shut-down. Add other hop additions at 10 minutes remaining and flame out. Chill the wort to 67 °F (19 °C) and aerate thoroughly. The proper pitch rate is 11 grams of rehydrated dry yeast, 2 packages of liquid yeast or 1 package of liquid yeast in a 2.5-liter starter. Follow fermentation and packaging instructions for the all-grain version.

That's the one! Great beer, good big red ale flavor, lots of hop flavor and aroma with a mild balancing bitterness. I've brewed it as an extract recipe and it turns out great, brewed it as a partial mash and it was great, next will be an AG version. My wife and I both love that beer. I dry hop mine with either cascade or centennial, I don't think that's in the book recipe, but I like the added aroma.