Hi all, I’ve just started home brewing and I’m really enjoying it. My first 2 brews have turned out great so I’m very happy. I used a Brewmaker Irish Velvet Stout and it achieved 4.7% using 1kg of brewing sugar. The second batch was Brewmaker Northumbrian Brown Ale made with 1kg of Muntons Beer Enhancer, it’s a very nice brew but came in at 4.2% which is fine but I was wondering if I could get that closer to 4.8% or 5% by adding 100gm - 200gm of extra sugar or will this over stress the yeast and spoil the flavour. ??
How to increase Abv %
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madscientist451
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You've got 2 brews done, now is a good time to quit using kits. A brew pot, a BIAB bag, some grain and some hops and you can make whatever ABV beer you want on your kitchen stove.
Adding extra sugar won't stress your yeast, but the flavor is going to change, but not by very much since you are adding a small amount.
Adding extra sugar won't stress your yeast, but the flavor is going to change, but not by very much since you are adding a small amount.
msjy2008
Active Member
Try corn sugar diluted in boiling water then cool to pitching temperature. 1lb increases gravity by one percent.
Great, is that per 40 pint batch ?
msjy2008
Active Member
It doesn't matter how big the batch size. I have added it to a 10 gallon all grain imperial stout. I also used 3lbs of plain light dry malt extract and it gave my beer a more toasty malt flavor.
VikeMan
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It matters. To figure out how much a certain amount of sugar will affect the gravity and the ABV of a beer of a given volume, you have to do the math. Software is very helpful here.
Dgallo
Instagram: bantam_brews
It most certainly does matter how big the batch is
I like using dry malt extract when my gravity comes in a bit low. Keeps the beer with a full body and adds to the ABV without making the beer taste too much like alcohol.
DME typically has a "pound per gallon" potential of 1,046. That means that if you dissolve a pound of DME in a total gallon of syrup you have a syrup with a density of 1,046 (where 1 is water).
In metrical terms, the potential can be expressed as "kg for 10 litres" and is 1,038, which means that a kg of DME dissolved in a total 10 liter syrup has a density of 1,038 (or 1,0367 depending on whom you ask to, or what DME is on the table).
The easiest way to make calculations is to reason in terms of "total density points". If you could dissolve 1 kg of DME in 1 liter (I don't know whether you really can, probably not, but that's not the point) you would have 367 density points (1 litre with 1,367 density).
You can consider those "367 points" as your "solid total matter" in your syrup.
If your syrup is 30 liters, your density with that quantity of DME has a density of 367/20 = 18,35 points (1,01835).
If your syrup is 22,56 litres, its density will be 367/22,56 = 16,26 (1,01626).
2,7 kg DME in 23,67 total litres syrup will have a density of 367*2,7 / 23,67 = 41,86 points (or 1,04186).
If you want to raise your density by 6 basis points and you have 23 litres you need 23*6 total points = 138 points.
Considering that 1 kg will add 367 total points to your wort, in order to add 6 basis points to 23 litres you need to add 138/367 or 0,376 kg of DME to your beer.
(very strictly speaking the DME that you add will add a bit of volume to your wort so your density will be a bit less but when you calculate DME additions that's negligible).
In metrical terms, the potential can be expressed as "kg for 10 litres" and is 1,038, which means that a kg of DME dissolved in a total 10 liter syrup has a density of 1,038 (or 1,0367 depending on whom you ask to, or what DME is on the table).
The easiest way to make calculations is to reason in terms of "total density points". If you could dissolve 1 kg of DME in 1 liter (I don't know whether you really can, probably not, but that's not the point) you would have 367 density points (1 litre with 1,367 density).
You can consider those "367 points" as your "solid total matter" in your syrup.
If your syrup is 30 liters, your density with that quantity of DME has a density of 367/20 = 18,35 points (1,01835).
If your syrup is 22,56 litres, its density will be 367/22,56 = 16,26 (1,01626).
2,7 kg DME in 23,67 total litres syrup will have a density of 367*2,7 / 23,67 = 41,86 points (or 1,04186).
If you want to raise your density by 6 basis points and you have 23 litres you need 23*6 total points = 138 points.
Considering that 1 kg will add 367 total points to your wort, in order to add 6 basis points to 23 litres you need to add 138/367 or 0,376 kg of DME to your beer.
(very strictly speaking the DME that you add will add a bit of volume to your wort so your density will be a bit less but when you calculate DME additions that's negligible).
dwhite60
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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.
Kits have their place.
Gnomebrewer
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Corn sugar yields 46ppg (Points per pound per gallon).
1lb of corn sugar in a 5 gallon batch increase gravity by about 9 points.
It should fully ferment, which will give an ABV increase of about 1.2% points.
So, to go fron 4.2%ABV to 4.8%ABV you only want to add about 1/2 pound. If you use DME, use a bit more as it isn't 100% fermentable.
VikeMan
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More like 1.043 to 1.045, depending on the brand. Only pure sucrose will yield 1.046.
Table sugar (sucrose) does. But corn sugar contains about 5% or more moisture, with a PPG range of about 42-44.
Gnomebrewer
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I go by this Specific Gravity of Fermentables | Homebrew Exchange
I've ready anywhere from 1.036 to 1.046
VikeMan
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It can vary, depending on moisture content, which is never 0. Therefore it's always something less than 1.046. It's the reason every competent priming calculator will specify a higher weight of corn sugar than table sugar for a given carbonation level.
Dgallo
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I know this is unrelated but I read an interesting article about cacl and moisture content. That many brewers are actual building their ca & Cl ppms far below what they are actually targeting due to the moisture content
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VikeMan
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Yes, depending on what assumption the particular pH program is making about the hydration state.
Dgallo
Instagram: bantam_brews
Is there away to adjust or account for this tht you know of? You can pm me if you’d like so I don’t hijack the thread
VikeMan
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Theoretically speaking... the only way that I know of to determine how much moisture it has is to weigh it, heat it for a few hours to drive off the moisture, then re-weigh it immediately. Suppose you did this and found that the sample had had 5% moisture. Then, when using the rest of it, you'd know that you'd need to divide your pH calculator's CaCl2 amount by 0.95 and use that. (But that's only if the calculator assumes no moisture.)
You can dissolve it in water and then determine the concentration with your hydrometer. The initial "contamination" with water then becomes irrelevant. There's a thread in the brew science forum on it.
I dissolved a pound of it in water years ago, and I've still got almost half left.
Mash Made Easy also does the calculation for you if you have that.
Dgallo
Instagram: bantam_brews
Do you have a link?
I guess that’s why they used to call beer “Liquid Bread!”
You guys are really in the weeds here for a new brewer.
The simple answer is, add sugar. A pound of table sugar in a gallon of water raises your SG by .046, in theory (I never seem to get quite that high, but regardless ...), which is 5.9% potential alcohol.
The almost as simple answer is, raise your starting gravity. You can do it with any fermentable you add to the recipe.
By the way, look at your hydrometer. All of mine have the potential alcohol next to the gravity reading, about 1/3 of the way around to the right. No need for calculators - if it starts out at 6.5% potential alcohol and finishes at 1% potential alcohol, then you have 5% alcohol in your finished ferment.
There are certainly better ways to raise the ABV and the experts here are far more capable of addressing that issue than I ever will be. But OP didn't ask for the best way.
The simple answer is, add sugar. A pound of table sugar in a gallon of water raises your SG by .046, in theory (I never seem to get quite that high, but regardless ...), which is 5.9% potential alcohol.
The almost as simple answer is, raise your starting gravity. You can do it with any fermentable you add to the recipe.
By the way, look at your hydrometer. All of mine have the potential alcohol next to the gravity reading, about 1/3 of the way around to the right. No need for calculators - if it starts out at 6.5% potential alcohol and finishes at 1% potential alcohol, then you have 5% alcohol in your finished ferment.
There are certainly better ways to raise the ABV and the experts here are far more capable of addressing that issue than I ever will be. But OP didn't ask for the best way.
Dgallo
Instagram: bantam_brews
That has been answered in this thread nearly 8 times between adding sugar or dme. The problem people pointed out is that some people provide the op with incorrect calculations and other members fixed those discrepancies. I wouldn’t claim that as “in the weeds”
VikeMan
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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.
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well, the simple answer was given allready, and he did ask about ruining the flavor. so i thought i'd throw something out.
something easier, that i THINK would work. buy two kits at a time and add a kit and a half? or something like that? but go lighter on the brewing sugar....
Some people give simple answers, some people give simplistic answers, and some people give proper answers.
A forum is not the place where to pursue maximum simplicity. It's a place where to share knowledge and get useful advice. I myself, for instance, want to brew better, I don't want simple answers, but elaborate and explicative answers.
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
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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.)
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.
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.
Instead of adding sugar (not that there's anything wrong with a little sugar), try using less water 
dwhite60
Well-Known Member
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
Active Member
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
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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
