Adding more sugar to Brew Festa

[injen69]

Hey there
I am fairly new to brewing beer. Currently have done 2 batches (brew festa blonde lager and Brew canada Canadian light) They both turned out awesome.
I now have 2 other ones on the go!
My question is has anyone added more sugar to the Brew Festa to get a higher Alcohol content? if so how much more do you add to still have a great taste.
This goes for any of the brews really ...

thanks

 

[BioBeing]

Adding sugar will up the alcohol content. But you will sacrifice taste - it dries the beer out and reduces the "body" of the beer. Too much sugar, and you will get hooch. You can also add dry or liquid malt extract to keep some of the body. But again, you'll change the beer, and you'll also be adding unfermentables. Add a pound or so max.

 

[newbeerpig]

I have added honey to the mr beer kits with favorable results, adds a little flavor as well as helps boost the alcohol without going too far making it undrinkable.

 

[Pappers_]

Adding sugar will up the alcohol content. But you will sacrifice taste - it dries the beer out and reduces the "body" of the beer. Too much sugar, and you will get hooch. You can also add dry or liquid malt extract to keep some of the body. But again, you'll change the beer, and you'll also be adding unfermentables. Add a pound or so max.

+1 on the 1 lb of sugar maximum per 5 gallon batch.

Jim

 

[Yooper]

What are the ingredients of those kits? I'm not familiar with them.

 

[SeamusMac]

I believe injen69 is talking about Festa Brew kits from Mognotta Brewery in Ontario. They're 23L plastic bladders full of wort and they produce some great beer. I made wheat beer with honey added to it as my first solo brew (link to the thread below in "similar threads" box) and although I didn't get any honey flavour, it turned out well.

At the time I had no idea honey was almost entirely fermentable he he.

 

[injen69]

Yes it the beer that comes in the bladder , but I am also asking about any of the canned worts.
I dont want a real high alcohol content .... maybe like a 6 or so, but still have great taste.
Some of you say add a pound of sugar (seems like a lot) .... what about the honey? how much?

 

[Pappers_]

I didn't mean to suggest that you should add sugar, just confirming that you wouldn't want to add more than 1lb of sugar per 5 gallon batch of "normal" gravity beer.

 

[Homercidal]

How much is 23L? I think the general rule of thumb is no more than 20% of total extract weight of sugar before it starts to become noticeable in flavor. And, some people don't mind the taste, as long as they are getting beer.

 

[RCCOLA]

Add dry malt extract to reach a gravity of about 1.060 starting and you will reach around 6% w/ no off flavors.If the batch is 23liters(around6gals)then 2lbs. extract will turn a 4.4%alc beer into a 6% alc. beer.

 

[BioBeing]

1 lb of sugar in a 23 L/5 Gal batch will add about 1 % ABV. Papazian (3rd ed, p22) seems to suggest between 10% and 25% can lead to good (but not great) beer, depending on how many pounds of extract you start with. More than 6 or 7 lb of extract, and he suggests beginners should not add sugar, as it makes fermentation longer and might need a yeast starter.

 

[Pappers_]

You don't only add sugar to boost abv, especially in extract brewing, where you add sugar to dry out the beer. Depends upon the beer you are trying to brew and what you want.