Attempting 40%+ ABV beer... "Barley Brandy"

[paulthenurse]

why would you be there? I thought that was for homebrewers?

_

rotflmhao

 

[Homebrewtastic]

rotflmhao

Can I assume the "h" in that is for "hairy"?

 

[Tinga]

Can I assume the "h" in that is for "hairy"?

I thought it was huge

 

[iaefebs]

Can I assume the "h" in that is for "hairy"?

maybe hemorrhoid

 

[bluemoose]

!

 

[paulthenurse]

It was intended to be an H for 'Homebrewin' but hairy, huge and hemorrhoids are way too accurate for my liking.

 

[juslod]

It was intended to be an H for 'Homebrewin' but hairy, huge and hemorrhoids are way too accurate for my liking.

A little too close to home, PTN?

 

[lastsecondapex]

Any update?

 

[Cape Brewing]

I got in last night a little after midnight from the NHC, went to work this morning, got home about twelve minutes ago. It is absolutely on my to-do list for tonight but I gotta at least unpack and say hello to my young sons for a bit

 

[smokinghole]

I know this is a little nit picky but....what was the gravity of that US05 yeast slurry ( I think you said 1.090) that you dumped in there. I figure when taking dilution into account if it was a 1.090 gravity beer than you would have to figure on your 1.200 beer actually being a bit north of 1.180. I was just thinking about that as I read this thread because of some of my prior big beers and me figuring in some high krausen yeast additions causing dilution. At the volumes you're dealing with .75gal of 1.090 wort is a significant hit to your gravity.

Also AJ deLange here on the board did a test on themadfermentationist.com. If you read through the write up link you can see that the freeze distillation he did resulted in a two fold increase of gravity and less than 2 fold increase in alcohol.

I'm watching this with extreme interest to see if you can accomplish what you want.

 

[motobrewer]

write up link

good. freaking. god.

 

[Cape Brewing]

I had two initial batches. One was a batch of 1130 and one was 1260. The 1130 fermented down to 1019 and that is when I dumped about half of one gallon of the now-1019 and started blending them.

The 1090 was a 10 gallon starter i had done for the US-05.

Batch one that is currently on a 099 cake is down to 1048 and the monster that is just sitting on US-05 is at 1124.

This is where it is going to be off a bit for a while because I have done one small "feeding" from batch 2 into 1 and batch 1, currently at 1048, is now holding four gallons and the monster is down to about 3.5 gallons.

So... Back of the envelope... Say the total is only down to about 1.083

I am not at all worried yet because just under half of the entire batch hasnt been touched by the 099.

Not that I am back from the NHC, I am going to begin 099, nutrients and oxygen feedings pretty regularly. We'll see

 

[Cape Brewing]

Ah! Sorry... I read your post too quick and I see what you are saying about the dilution.

IF... Still a big if... IF i can grt this al to actually work, when it is all said and done I am going to send a sample off to White Labs and have them tell me the exact ABV.

Then again... If I can light a shot of it on fire, I'll be north of 40% as a quick check

 

[lastsecondapex]

good. freaking. god.

I thought my hobby was getting out-of-hand... Wow.

 

[bottlebomber]

good. freaking. god.

That guys either single or has a geeky wife with coke bottle glasses who's insect collection takes up every wall in the house...

 

[HokieBrewer]

good. freaking. god.

My favorite part is that he's performing all the scientific tests while wearing a Big Dogs shirt.

 

[ComcastWineRookie]

That guys either single or has a geeky wife with coke bottle glasses who's insect collection takes up every wall in the house...

lol...naw, he just makes good beer...

 

[bottlebomber]

lol...naw, he just makes good beer...

Yeah but what women tolerates that kind of brewing proliferation? I mean mines as cool as it gets, but my brewing is limited to 500 sq feet and that it. That guys running a beer laboratory. And yes, im sure his beer does rock.

 

[motobrewer]

a woman with a lot of pairs of shoes.

 

[Hex]

That was a very inspiring link above! TFP
I think he could have done with a little less digital; I'm tending towards analogue, and am getting my pycnometer UPS tomorrow.
The lab glass distillation rig looks very interesting, and probably not too pricey if one scrounges around. Stay tooned...

 

[motobrewer]

lol! i love in your thread that you ask for opinions on a specific piece of equipment, then link to wiki as to what that equipment does.

 

[Hex]

I was curious about the pycnometer after my dentist told me he used to work for Schlitz in their lab and used them for accurate percent alcohol readings in the early 1980's--analogue.
I started that thread knowing full well that I would either make or buy one. I since found a source for them, and will share what I find in the other thread when it arrives with pictures and calculations.

I think it might come in handy for Cape, and am offering my services free of charge in trade for 50ml samples...

 

[Hex]

I'm pretty sure that I'd need samples or at least accurate OG, volumes, and all additions calculated in to do it right. I'm going to make it a regular test for my future brews, if only for learning new equipment and apparatus.
I think a lot of us do this hobby for science/engineering practice--the beer is the reward.

 

[pm5k00]

Im sorry if this has been posted already as i haven't read through all 353 post but there is a commerical beer available at 41% Sink The Bismark and there is a little info about their process on the web site.

 

[Scruffy1207]

Im sorry if this has been posted already as i haven't read through all 353 post but there is a commerical beer available at 41% Sink The Bismark and there is a little info about their process on the web site.

I believe they froze 4 times, and at one time this beer was the strongest in the world (beat the previous record of 36%). I wanted to try it when it came out but never got a chance.

 

[Cape Brewing]

Bismark was their second big beer. First was Tactical Nuclear Penguin, the Sink the Bismark and the last one, End of History, currently holds the record for highest ABV at about 55%

 

[Oldsock]

a woman with a lot of pairs of shoes.

If she has a counter-interest I haven't seen it, just a very sweet woman who puts up with her husband's passion.

The whole operation is held in an addition to the house, brewery on the first floor, lab on the second. He's also an avid BBQ'er and has two of the biggest dogs (Leonbergers) I've ever seen.

 

[Ravenshead]

I buddy of mine and I are sitting on a Tactical Nuclear Penguin and a Sink the Bismark. Has anybody tried either one of them?

They certainly cost enough.

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

Bismark was their second big beer. First was Tactical Nuclear Penguin, the Sink the Bismark and the last one, End of History, currently holds the record for highest ABV at about 55%

Shortly after the release of End of History, a Dutch brewery released a 60% ABV beer called Start the Future which sold for a fraction of the price and wasn't shoved up a rodent's arse.

 

[Ravenshead]

But I liked the whole rodent arse thing. It was just the thing to piss off the PETA crowd.

And talk about an attractive koozy.