beer tastes really strong

[hiphopaim5]

I just brewed a honey ale. I wanted it to be around 5-6 % abv however i think it is around 7.5 %. I have just transferred to the secondary today. I have racked this beer in two 1 gallon jugs with airlocks. My question is should i add water to this batch to assist in balancing out the alcohol or should just allow for a longer condition period (30-60 days). Any advice would be helpful!!
https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/images/smilies/drunk4zc.gif
Just in case my SG was 1.067 and my FG 1.012.

ingredients
1oz fuggles, 2 lbs dme, 12 oz molasses, .5 bls honey.

Mash- 1lbs Carmel malt 120l and 1lbs honey malt

I did a partial mash and extract.

 

[pdxal]

7.1% abv.
You could just let it condition longer and see if the hot/alcohol taste mellows out with conditioning. If it doesn't, it is likely because you didn't control fermentation well and water might not help it.

 

[nvious23]

7.1% abv.
You could just let it condition longer and see if the hot/alcohol taste mellows out with conditioning. If it doesn't, it is likely because you didn't control fermentation well and water might not help it.

Good words of advice let iy condition longer. Maybe crack one a week to sample how its coming along. In tje name of research.

 

[dcp27]

i guess adding water would dilute the level of fusels, but if you go that route you need to make sure to boil it first otherwise you're just adding another problem (oxidation). that much molasses is probably not helping the heat either as it makes rum-like flavors

did you really use 1lb of C120 & 1lb of honey malt in a 2gal batch tho? 1lb crystal per gallon is way over board. that's alot even for a 5gal batch. same with the molasses.

 

[TopherM]

In the future, learn how to calculate ABV based on your ingredients, and plan your recipes accordingly.

If you WANTED to be at 5-6% ABV, there's really no reason you couldn't have hit it dead on with a little planning and calculation before you brewed.

 

[Zamial]

In the future, learn how to calculate ABV based on your ingredients, and plan your recipes accordingly.

If you WANTED to be at 5-6% ABV, there's really no reason you couldn't have hit it dead on with a little planning and calculation before you brewed.

Brew target is free. I use it and it works great. http://www.brewtarget.org/

Also: http://www.rooftopbrew.net/abv.php

ta da.

 

[Cyclman]

Are you worried the alcohol percentage will be to high, or does the beer taste solventy and "hot"?

If the beer tastes like solvent, aging it will be unlikely to help that, nor will watering it down. It may go away some, enough to be tolerable, but fusel alcohols are not reabsorbed by yeast, nor to they generally age away.

If you're just worried about to high of an ABV, then you can water it down or leave it as is, doesn't really matter.