high gravity

rewster451 · Oct 29, 2005

It's been a while since I've posted, and everything is going great. I've got a pumpkin brown ale bottle conditioning, a chocolate ginger porter that's about ready to bottle, and an american brown ale still bubbling like mad. When we did the American Brown, we tried to get as high a gravity as possible. We used 8 pounds of extract, and about a pound of specialty grains. Our gravity was still just 1.041. How can I get a beer with a gravity of over 50? I know a brown ale should probably be lower in alcohol than a pale ale or IPA, so I'm not worried, but for future reference, I'm curious.
We filled the carboy to 5.5 gallons. Should we just reduce the water? Or should we just get a bigger brew pot for the mash. Thanks in advance guys. You've helped me so much already.

Sasquatch · Oct 29, 2005

Add less water...

Orfy · Oct 30, 2005

Yep gor for 32 pints instead pf 40 or add maltro dextrin.

homebrewer_99 · Oct 30, 2005

Sasquatch said:
Add less water...

How do you ADD less water?

david_42 · Oct 30, 2005

That's really odd. Eight pounds of extract should have given you almost 1070. Even with the extra water, it should have been 1063. Check the zero on your hydrometer by putting it in pure water at 60F. Dissolve one oz. of sugar by weight in eight oz. of water at 60F. This should give you 1046. A second oz. of sugar would bring it to 1092.