A company that sells ingredients

[mmead]

for kits etc is offering for their Barley Wine Kit: "Add 1% ABV to your brew WITHOUT affecting the flavor at all." for only an extra $2.00. This concerns a 5 gallon kit.
WHAT do you suppose their special blend would be? Seems to me it would have to be at least a pound of dme and a pound of brown sugar. But for just $2?

 

[ffaoe]

All it is that they are selling is corn sugar or a blend of corn sugar and table sugar.

 

[Hammy71]

I believe Austin just sends some corn sugar as their 'ABV boost'. At least they used to.

 

[Beernik]

There is a lot of things an "ABV boost" could be: turbinado, table sugar, corn sugar, brown sugar, fructose, etc.

But the bottom line is: it's sugar.

Adding sugar to a Barleywine isn't necessarily a bad idea. It thins the body and make the fermentation a little easier for the yeast.

 

[Riot]

10% or so simple sugar has never hurt any high alcohol beer ever. Nobody wants to drink boozy syrup, get the attenuation you can.

 

[acidrain]

A better title to your thread could have been "what is ABV booster?"

 

[Calder]

I suspect it is 75% corn sugar and 25% maltodextrin.