Altering a recipe so that after secondary fermentation it only goes up to 5% ABV

[Beer Viking]

I want to get into kegging eventually, but right now I am bottling my beer and doing secondary fermentation in the bottle. If a 5 g batch has 10 lbs of grain and produces an ABV or around 5%; If I am shooting for 5% should I reduce a grain bill by 20% and then get the ABV up from around 4% to 5% in secondary fermentation?

Thanks!

 

[grampamark]

You aren’t doing “secondary fermentation” in the bottle. You’re only adding just enough sugar to produce the desired level of carbonation. This adds no more than a fraction of a gravity point. A 5% beer in the bottle is a 5% beer in the keg, all other things being equal.

 

[Mtrhdltd]

I think you are over thinking this. If you produced 1% ABV in the bottle you wouldn't have bottles anymore, just a big mess.

 

[dmtaylor]

Priming sugar will increase the ABV by about 0.2%. So if you are that concerned, you could aim to make a beer 4.8% ABV prior to bottling to hit 5.0% ABV after carbonation. However, 99.99% of brewers don't care about a difference of 0.2% ABV.

 

[Beer Viking]

Thanks! That really clears things up.

 

[ReaperOnefour]

I agree. I would not reduce the grain bill at all. Priming sugar will have a very low impact on your ABV.