Newbie questions

[mslauto]

Is there a simple way to increase the amount of alcohol in a brew?
And I am looking to try a stovetop mash brew and have not brewed any all grain batches yet. any advice for a left hand stranger clone attempt? Recipe calls for : 6 lb 2 row, 3.75 rye, 3 lb wheat

 

[CTR08]

I'm not fimiliar with left hand stranger so I can't help you there. A tip to getting higher abv: depends on how dry you like your beer, adding an adjunct like invert sugar or something will certianly boost your abv and dry it out. A lower mash temp (148 ish) will also lead to a higher abv beer with a bit less body than a higher mash temp. Other than that, just boil off more liquid, that will get you a higher abv (less volume, more sugars by volume)

 

[brewbobaggins]

Agreed. More sugars is the answer. Whether you do that thru more grain, more extract, or more sugars is up to you.

 

[TopherM]

You can easily add ABV to any beer with fermentables, like DME/LME, honey, sugar, etc.

BUT, more times than not, it's a bad idea. Recipes are formulated to balance alcohol character, malt character, and hop character. Increase any one of the three, and you throw the balance out of wack, and you make the overall beer start to taste different. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the one thing that is 100% predictable is that the original recipe works.

I would stick with the clone recipe as-is if I were you. If you add fermentables to bump ABV any more than a very slight amount, the one thing that is pretty much guaranteed is that it will no longer taste like Left Hand Stranger (great beer, BTW...one of my favorite commercial APAs!)

Good luck!

 

[Lagunitas]

Hey guys, this is my first post here. I'm a big craft beer buy but just recently got interested in homebrew. I've given myself a crash course but have yet to brew my first batch.

I do have a few noobie questions. First, is it reasonable to expect that you wont actually be able to drink you beer for a good 1.5 months after you brew it if you decide to keg it? (3-4 weeks for fermentation and another 3 weeks for force carbing). That seems like a long time but it is what it is.

Also, how do you determine the ABV of your batch?

 

[BigFloyd]

I do have a few noobie questions. First, is it reasonable to expect that you wont actually be able to drink you beer for a good 1.5 months after you brew it if you decide to keg it? (3-4 weeks for fermentation and another 3 weeks for force carbing). That seems like a long time but it is what it is.

If you're kegging and carbing with CO2, the wait isn't quite as long as with bottles. I've got an ESB just tapped that I brewed on 2-15-13. Kegged it on 2-28. I hit it overnight a couple of times with 20psi, but it's mostly been at 12psi. It's quite drinkable and tasty right now. I intend to leave it alone (well, mostly) for another week or two before considering it mature.

Also, how do you determine the ABV of your batch?

Take an Original Gravity (OG) reading before pitching yeast. Take a Final Gravity (FG) reading before kegging or priming for the bottles and run those numbers through one of the many online ABV calculators available.

 

[dstranger99]

^ Here's the formula. Easy.........

OG-FG x 131.25 = ABV

 

[Lagunitas]

can someone explain why you would have to wait longer if you were bottling instead of kegging? Can you not bottle right after fermentation is complete? I understand that it could be a long and tedious process, but if force carbing takes so long couldn't you bottle the beer faster?

 

[freisste]

Hey guys, this is my first post here. I'm a big craft beer buy but just recently got interested in homebrew. I've given myself a crash course but have yet to brew my first batch.

I do have a few noobie questions. First, is it reasonable to expect that you wont actually be able to drink you beer for a good 1.5 months after you brew it if you decide to keg it? (3-4 weeks for fermentation and another 3 weeks for force carbing). That seems like a long time but it is what it is.

Also, how do you determine the ABV of your batch?

Depends on the beer. An average gravity APA (say 1.055 OG) should be brewed and into a keg ready to drink in 4 week if nothing goes wrong (no need to age out an off flavor).

A high OG brew (RIS or barley wine, among others) will require some more time.

 

[dstranger99]

can someone explain why you would have to wait longer if you were bottling instead of kegging? Can you not bottle right after fermentation is complete? I understand that it could be a long and tedious process, but if force carbing takes so long couldn't you bottle the beer faster?

You can bottle after fermentation, but some prefer to leave it in primary for 1 month, some will bottle after 10 days. Making beer is easy, making good beer takes time........

 

[freisste]

You can bottle after fermentation, but some prefer to leave it in primary for 1 month, some will bottle after 10 days. Making beer is easy, making good beer takes time........

You can bottle or keg as soon as fermentation is complete. It helps to let the beer sit a little while, but that time is equivalent for either kegging or bottling. The difference in time is three weeks in a bottle to carb naturally or 3-5 days minimum for a keg (force carbed by adding CO2).

 

[dstranger99]

You can bottle or keg as soon as fermentation is complete. It helps to let the beer sit a little while, but that time is equivalent for either kegging or bottling. The difference in time is three weeks in a bottle to carb naturally or 3-5 days minimum for a keg (force carbed by adding CO2).

I like to let mine sit in primary for 1 month, then bottle, then sit for another 3-4 weeks to carb......Just my method.

 

[freisste]

I like to let mine sit in primary for 1 month, then bottle, then sit for another 3-4 weeks to carb......Just my method.

Exactly what I am saying. The 3-4 weeks is to bottle carb. You could have it keg carbed in a few days. It is a little better to let it sit in the keg to condition, so it isn't all time savings, but I would say that in general, kegged beer is ready to drink faster.

 

[Lagunitas]

what do you mean 3-4 weeks to bottle carb? Put it int he bottle and then wait 3-4 weeks before drinking? Is this the same as natural carbing?

 

[dstranger99]

^

Yep......

 

[Lagunitas]

^

Yep......

And you can do the same thing if you want to keg it? Put it in the keg and let it sit for a while to natural carb instead of force carbing?

 

[dstranger99]

^, that I don't know, I don't keg. But I would think the answer is yes. You can naturally carb in a keg, or force with C02.

 

[freisste]

And you can do the same thing if you want to keg it? Put it in the keg and let it sit for a while to natural carb instead of force carbing?

Yes. Most people (I'm assuming) force carb because they can. It takes some time out of your timeline. But you could naturally carb as you describe. It would likely take a little longer than bottling because of the larger volume. And you would still need supplemental CO2 to serve.

 

[kombat]

depends on how dry you like your beer, adding an adjunct like invert sugar or something will certianly boost your abv and dry it out.

Why would adding sugar dry out your beer?

I can see why it would boost your alcohol content, but in terms of perceived "dryness," wouldn't it have no effect?

If I have 5 gallons of beer with a certain quantity of unfermentable sugars in it, that's what determines the "dryness" or "sweetness" of the resulting beer, right? If I add a bunch more fermentable sugars, then that raises the O.G., but the F.G. will be the same, the final volume will be the same, and the same quantity of those unfermentable sugars will remain, meaning the "dryness" will be the same, right? More alcohol, but the same final gravity (since all of the added sugars will be completely fermented out) and thus, "dryness".

Am I misunderstanding something?

 

[freisste]

More alcohol with no more residual sugar gives an increase in perceived dryness.

 

[BigFloyd]

Why would adding sugar dry out your beer?

I can see why it would boost your alcohol content, but in terms of perceived "dryness," wouldn't it have no effect?

If I have 5 gallons of beer with a certain quantity of unfermentable sugars in it, that's what determines the "dryness" or "sweetness" of the resulting beer, right? If I add a bunch more fermentable sugars, then that raises the O.G., but the F.G. will be the same, the final volume will be the same, and the same quantity of those unfermentable sugars will remain, meaning the "dryness" will be the same, right? More alcohol, but the same final gravity (since all of the added sugars will be completely fermented out) and thus, "dryness".

Am I misunderstanding something?

It's a matter of balance.

If you obtain a higher ABV simply from adding fermentable sugar, you won't have a corresponding increase in the non-fermentable components of the brew (that give it flavor, body and color). It will, therefore, have a "drier" and thinner character than if you had not added the fermentable sugar.

Personally, I don't feel any need to chase ABV. If the style that I'm brewing has it, fine. If not, that's cool too. I'm much more in pursuit of tasty beer that's enjoyable to drink and share.

 

[dstranger99]

^

Midwest has an Imperial Stout that runs close to 8%. Thing with those are they recommend it sitting in a secondary for 9 months or more.......