More Alcohol?

[Rymo780]

I cracked open my first batch in a couple years last night and it turned out great. It was so good, in fact, that my buddy and I each drank about 10 beers each. Now, I'm not complaining that I'm not hung-over today, but I wouldn't mind if my beers packed a bit more of a punch.

Is it possible to increase the level of alcohol in your beer by added more sugar to the mixture? Has anyone done this before? Is there anything you have to be careful of. Should I just look for a different brand that will yield higher alcohol?

Cheers.

 

[EinGutesBier]

Without getting into specifics, yes, you can up your ABV with sugar. However, if you use too much, you risk your beer developing an unpleasant off-taste. Use it with discretion or use it in the form of candi sugar. The most reliable way to get more alcohol in your beer without the chance of off flavors is to use more base malt and a yeast that has a higher attenuation.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I suggest avoiding the addition of sugar to up the ABV like it was the plague. Choose a higher alcohol style or adjust your recipe with more malts and a higher alcohol tolerant yeast as suggested above. Surf around on the recipes page and I am sure you will find something to get you what you want.

Good luck and welcome back to brewing!

 

[landhoney]

You can brew some belgian styles(tripelss, quads, strong golden/dark ales) that use 20-30% of fermentables as sugar. May want to add some yeast nutrient when using higher sugar levels to avoid off flavors. Keep the ferm temp lower at the beggining to avoid harsh alc./hotness, and ramp up the temp.

 

[malkore]

do remember that many of those belgians are using candi sugar...i.e. beet sugar, not raw table sugar or even dextrose.

and they're also using very specific yeast strains, that might lower the possibility of cidery off flavors which are common when using too much dextrose.

 

[VA Brew]

As to the no hang-over, you should also factor in the yeast containing vitamin B which aids in fighting off hangovers. Commerical beers filter that out so that's an added plus for homebrew.