How to increase Abv %

[AlZilla]

The reason you never get that high is that it's not a pound of sugar plus a gallon of water that produces 1.046. It's a pound of sugar in a gallon of total wort. The wort volume includes the volume added by the sugar itself. In your example, the pound of sugar is being stretched beyond a gallon, so the gravity is less than 1.046.



That doesn't really work, though it's okay as an approximation. . As an example, let's take an OG of 1.068 (9% potential alcohol) and an FG of 1.008 (1% "potential alcohol"). Subtracting the potential alcohols, we'd compute 8% ABV. But applying a standard beer ABV formula, we'd get 7.88%. The reason the potential alcohol math doesn't work is that a potential alcohol reading tells you what ABV you'd get if you fermented a wort (or a wine must, really) to dryness. It's strictly speaking only useful for the "OG" reading. Once fermentation starts, there is alcohol in the mix, which skews the gravity downward (alcohol being less dense than water). Thus any "FG" potential alcohol reading implies ("as is," if not adjusted) less sugars (carbs) remaining than there really are.

I can't argue with anything you've said. I could indeed have been more precise about a pound in a total gallon. I'd just add that I don't think a floating hydrometer is a precision instrument anyway and then factor in reading through the meniscus, there's plenty of room for imprecision. OP is only looking for about a 1/2% increase in ABV. In a 5 gallon batch, maybe 8/10th of a pound of table sugar would get him in the ballpark.

 

[VikeMan]

I'd just add that I don't think a floating hydrometer is a precision instrument anyway and then factor in reading through the meniscus, there's plenty of room for imprecision.

That's true. But there's no need to compound that with imprecise formulae, IMO.

OP is only looking for about a 1/2% increase in ABV. In a 5 gallon batch, maybe 8/10th of a pound of table sugar would get him in the ballpark.

To get a 1/2% increase in ABV in a 5 gallon batch, you only need about 5.7 ounces (not almost 13 ounces) of table sugar. 8/10 of a pound would increase ABV by more than a percent. (This is why we do the math.)

 

[AlZilla]

That's true. But there's no need to compound that with imprecise formulae, IMO.



To get a 1/2% increase in ABV in a 5 gallon batch, you only need about 5.7 ounces (not almost 13 ounces) of table sugar. 8/10 of a pound would increase ABV by more than a percent. (This is why we do the math.)

Yeah, 100%+ error is a lot of imprecision.

Anyway, didn't mean to stoke controversy.

 

[bwible]

There's a lot to be said for making kits. Turns a four hour biab brew day into a fourty minute brew day.

Kits have their place.

How do you figure? Even with extract kits you still need to boil for an hour and add hops. I’ve never seen a beer kit that could be done in 40 min. I’ve seen wine kits where all you do is dump in juice, top up with water, stir in a chemical pack or two and add yeast. Those could be done in 40 min and thats not counting time to clean and sanitize everything.

 

[Birrofilo]

How do you figure? Even with extract kits you still need to boil for an hour and add hops.

I agree that E+G kits typically have a separate hopping procedure and require boiling.
"Hopped extract" kits though don't require sustained boiling, although it is adviceable to boil them for 5' or so just to be sure there is proper sanitization of kettle, wort, etc.

The main advantage of E+G kits (with boiling phase) vs all grain is not the time but the gear and space. For people in an apartment, especially if a wife happens to share said apartment, the main limit of AG is the space to use and store the large kettles and all the little and big instruments to be used, the "fires" in the stoves to be used, the power of the stove etc.

E+G kits are normally executed with partial boiling, which normally require a large but still common kettle, to be used on a common kitchen stove, and half of the batch is bottled water added at the end.

 

[z-bob]

Instead of adding sugar (not that there's anything wrong with a little sugar), try using less water

 

[dwhite60]

How do you figure? Even with extract kits you still need to boil for an hour and add hops. I’ve never seen a beer kit that could be done in 40 min. I’ve seen wine kits where all you do is dump in juice, top up with water, stir in a chemical pack or two and add yeast. Those could be done in 40 min and thats not counting time to clean and sanitize everything.

Standard Coopers canned kit involves stirring the goo in the can, and the sugar or other extract with, I think, one gallon of boiling water in the fermenter and stirring until its all dissolved. Top off with cold water, pitch yeast, you're done. Fourty minutes, tops.

I did a Coopers Real Ale last year because you can't knock canned kits unless you tried them. I was very pleasantly surprised at what I ended up with. Made per the included instructions. Now, the Real Ale kit is known to be over the top bitter which is the only knock I had on it.

I'd easily do another Coopers kit, probably their Cervesa or Australian Pale Ale.

 

[msjy2008]

Okaaaay.......how much corn sugar do I need to add to a 10 gallon batch to increase my abv from 1.055 to 1.071?

 

[VikeMan]

Okaaaay.......how much corn sugar do I need to add to a 10 gallon batch to increase my abv from 1.055 to 1.071?

Assuming 42 Points per Pound for Corn Sugar, you'd need about 3.8 pounds of it to increase the gravity of a 1.055 wort to 1.071. That's assuming you also reduce the water slightly to account for the increase in volume from the sugar.

1.071 - 1.055 = .016 or 16 Points
10 gallons x 16 Points (per Gallon) = 160 Points
160 Points / 42 Points per Pound = 3.8 pounds

Again, brewing software makes this easier.

 

[bwible]

Assuming 42 Points per Pound for Corn Sugar, you'd need about 3.8 pounds of it to increase the gravity of a 1.055 wort to 1.071. That's assuming you also reduce the water slightly to account for the increase in volume from the sugar.

1.071 - 1.055 = .016 or 16 Points
10 gallons x 16 Points (per Gallon) = 160 Points
160 Points / 42 Points per Pound = 3.8 pounds

Again, brewing software makes this easier.

Beat me to it.
I went a different way:
You want 10 gallons at 1.071 so
10 x 71 = 710
You have 10 gallons at 1.055
10 x 55 = 550
710 - 550 = 160
160 / 42 = 3.80

Your way seems easier