Need Quick Help! Upping Alcohol Content Without Affecting Flavor

I got a kit that called for nottingham dry yeast, and I'm brewing an english mild ale today. I'd like the expected ABV to be between 5-6%, however, the anticipated ABV says it looks like it should finish up around 3.2%

Now, I know certain yeasts can handle higher alcohol content then others, and I don't know really anything about the nottingham yeast that this recipe calls for.

Please tell me if I'm wrong, but here's what I'm thinking about doing. I've got one of two options to up the ABV...add honey or add molasses.

A) Will the notingham yeast have any issues with consuming the sugars in honey or molasses?

B) Should I have a preference in which I should use between the honey and molasses? I've got 12oz of honey I can use, but would have to go out to the store to get some molasses. From what I've heard, if you add either early on in the boil, most of the flavor from the molasses/honey should be gone. If I'd like to keep some of that flavor, I should add it later in the boil.

C) How much of either the honey/molasses should I add to my boil to get my ABV into the 5-6% range?

D) Anything else I should look out for since this english mild ale doesn't call for either molasses or honey?

TIA!

Well, a "mild" should be under 4% or it isnt' a mild anymore.

Anywho..........anything you add will change the basic structure of the beer. I personally HATE molasses, so I'd probably just go with plain table sugar if I needed to boost up the ABV of a fairly thin easy drinking beer.

I'd rather just leave the beer alone, as the entire balance of malt and hops and alcohol is in play with each recipe. Unless the recipe is totally out of whack, I'd leave it alone.

The target ABV is right for a mild...if you want higher you will end up with a different style. That said, the best way to boost without changing flavor too much is to add malt extract. If that's not possible you can use either honey or molasses...not sure how it will affect flavor but the yeast will have no problem fermenting it. The higher alcohol content yeast issues come from big beers like some Belgians, Barley Wines, Imperials, etc. that hit or exceed 8% ABV.

+1 Yoop, preach it sister!!! Aside from screwing up the balance of the recipe the sugar can result in cidery flavor...great in cider, not so much in beer! Stick with what you have. enjoy your Mild as a session beer, and brew another style. You can NEVER have too much homebrew around! RDWHAHB...speaking of, I now have a hankering for a Yankee Killer Texas Cascadian Dark Ale!!!

I agree with yoop...If you want a higher abv beer, then make your next kit higher. It really isn't about the booze, but the flavor that most of us care about. We're not brewing to get whacked, but to make great tasting beer.

And a mild IS a great tasting beer, despite it's low alcohol content. Because there's not a high alcohol backbone, you can really get some nice subtle flavors it it.

Besides, Beer recipes are a balance...and if you add to one variable, that will affect other parts of it...For example if you decide to raise the gravity of a balanced beer...a beer where the hops balance out the sweetness...and you raise the maltniness of it without alaso balancing the hops, then your beer may end up being way too cloyingly sweet. Or if you just add sugar willy nilly it could become overly dry, or cidery.

SO I would just brew this, and enjoy it, don't worry if you get buzzed or not, and make your next batch as high as you want.

Just wanted to post this handy guide I found to the different sugars that a home brewer typically has in their arsenal. Very interesting stuff:

Sugars & Home Brewing

Why go to all the trouble. Just buy some Everclear and add it in after the beer is finished.

jdlev said:

Just wanted to post this handy guide I found to the different sugars that a home brewer typically has in their arsenal. Very interesting stuff:

Sugars & Home Brewing

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Nothing new or even strange there, many of us use them all the time, but for flavor, and as part of a BALANCED recipe, not just to raise the abv, for boozing sake.

Hell I just used this in my Sri Lankin Stout experiment.



I've also broken down dried figs, and dates, via steeping and mascerating to make my own strange fruit sugars. As well as using mollases, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, and making my own Belgian Candi ones...but it's all used judicsiously and balanced out with the rest of the recipe, just not tossed in willy nilly to cop a bigger buzz.

Revvy...how the hell do you know so much about so much?! You truly are the yoda of beer masters...

I agree that Revvy does have quite a hombrewing knowledge. No arguing that.

But, the stuff he's saying in this thread is just basic homebrewing common sense. Raising your beer a whole 2½ - 3% alcohol is going to change things up quite a bit. Especially on an already low gravity brew. If you just add sugar, whether it be corn sugar, honey, etc, will lower the body and change the beer up completely and you'll lose quite a bit of body. If you add the sugars in the form of malt extract, it will be much better, however you'll end up with a different style of beer. And it will be much maltier than the recipe originally intended. If you want to keep it balanced, you'll need to update your hop additions as well.

Got it....brewing is all about balance...

jdlev said:

Got it....brewing is all about balance...

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Yup, it's not about just slopping a bunch of stuff together, it's really about how everything works together.

My take on this is that there is a difference between true experimentation and throwing things together "willy nilly." I have noticed on here is that a lot of noobs think what they are doing is experimentation, when in reality they are just throwing a bunch of stuff against the wall and hoping it sticks.

Throwing a bunch of stuff in your fermenter and seeing what you get at the end, and ending up making an "is my beer ruined" thread is not the same thing as experimenting.

To me, in order to experiment truly, you have to have an understanding of the fundamentals. You have to know how the process works somewhat. You have to have an understanding of how different ingredients or processes affect the final product. You may even need to know, or at least understand something about beer styles, and what goes into making one beer a Porter and another a pale ale. And where your concoction will fall on the continuoum.


To me it's like cooking or even Jazz. But going back to the cooking analogy. Coming up with a balanced and tasty recipe takes some understanding of things...just like cooking...dumping a cup of salt will more than likely ruin a recipe...so if you cook, you KNOW not to do that...it's the same with brewing...you get an idea with experience and looking at recipes, brewing and playing with software how things work..what flavors work with each other, etc...

That to me is the essence of creating...I have gotten to a point where I understand what I am doing, I get how ingredients work or don't work with each other, so I am not just throwing a bunch of stuff together to see what I get.

I have an idea of what I want it to taste like, and my challenge then is to get the right combination of ingredients to match what is in my head. That's also pretty much how I come up with new food recipes as well.

You'll get there....a LOT sooner, if you focus on the fundamentals, and get your processes in order...rather than just playing around.

You'll also save more money that way.....

Preach it Revvy:rockin:

I just want to add that to experiment (by definition) you need to know the variables at play and manipulate them systematically. I see too many new brewers posting "I am brewing my 3rd batch, an imperial oaked IPA (or barley wine, or belgian tripel, or etc.)" and they are pitching a pack of notty.

Brew simple, learn what ingredients do, find out what you like and what you don't, read and study your craft (I have learned more from Ray Daniels Designing Great Beer than any other single source except HBT!!!), take extensive notes on brew day...

THEN start to manipulate variables one or two at a time. Otherwise you will never know what made that great brew great or what made that not so great brew crap.

Oh, and have some fun...You are makin beer for Christ's sake

TANSTAAFB said:

Preach it Revvy:rockin:

I just want to add that to experiment (by definition) you need to know the variables at play and manipulate them systematically. I see too many new brewers posting "I am brewing my 3rd batch, an imperial oaked IPA (or barley wine, or belgian tripel, or etc.)" and they are pitching a pack of notty.

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What's wrong with notty (I assume you mean the nottingham dry yeast I was using)?

That's some good advice Rev, and I enjoy experimenting...I should probably buy some more vessels so I can create some microbatches to experiment with. Heck...maybe some simple spring water gallon containers would work well for aging batches to see what type of differences I can pick up on. Maybe I can save some hops and do a little dry hopping in one of them. Anyone see any problem with using a gallon water bottle for storing microbatches, of course that opens up a new problem with bottling (which I've never done before), because I couldn't rotate the kegs fast enough.

I really need to dive into all grain brewing so I can get started on my own measured batches rather than using these dme kits.

jdlev said:

What's wrong with notty (I assume you mean the nottingham dry yeast I was using)?

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Nothing, just that a single pack of notty would probably NOT be able to fully ferment a barleywine.