thanks for all the help, guys...

[brendanb]

i'm from chicago, and i've been reading this forum for a while. it's been a great help, so i thought i should probably just sign up.

it'll be nice to bounce some ideas off of you guys, because i get pretty silly with my recipes, and could use some expert advice.

i have an ipa in secondary that was 19.68%abv when i racked it. i have it dry hopping with a couple oz's of plugs.

fiance says i'm not allowed to leave the house if i drink any of it.

 

[Walker]

how in the world did you get the ABV that high? What yeast did you use?!

 

[humann_brewing]

good Lord, what this a 120 minute clone or something?

 

[brendanb]

yeah, i don't know. i'm not actually expecting it to be very good. i'll be happy if it's drinkable.

i've only been doing this a couple years, and after each batch, i've always wanted to make one a little bit stronger. i finally just went for broke and made this one as ridiculous as possible to get it out of my system.

if it works at all, i'll post the recipe (if i can find the piece of paper i wrote it on.)

i remember i used a pretty generic yeast though, as they didn't have a good american smack pack. i think i used dcl-s04?

 

[DragonTail]

Welcome

 

[Yooper]

With S04 for a yeast, I'd be pretty shocked if the beer got above about 10%. I have gotten up to 17% with champagne yeast, but that was through lots of babying and making it happy.

What tells you it's over 19%? Hydrometer readings?

 

[brendanb]

my og was 1.19 and my fg was 1.04.

i was told by my brew friend that it's fg-og and then multiply by 131.25

i'm a total noob here, and haven't done enough research, so if i'm doing something wrong there, please tell me!!!

thanks for your replies.

 

[Yooper]

Yep, that would be correct.

EXCEPT- I can't believe your hydrometer goes up that high. I am a winemaker, and even with a special winemaking hydrometer, the top is about 1.170. That is with the "bulb" of the hydrometer almost completely out of the flask, and even then it's very unlikely.

I suspect your reading is more like 1.119 or something like that! I think you've somehow missed a decimal.

What were the ingredients? To get 1.190 in a 5 gallon batch, you would have had to use about 27 pounds of liquid extract, or nearly 40 pounds of grain. I just don't think it's possible.

 

[brendanb]

yep...i'm embarrassed to admit that i was totally reading my hydrometer wrong.

man...what a terrible way to introduce myself...as a total *******.

it was definitely 1.119

so it's 10.37%

hardly worth the effort and ingredients.

 

[Yooper]

yep...i'm embarrassed to admit that i was totally reading my hydrometer wrong.

man...what a terrible way to introduce myself...as a total *******.

it was definitely 1.119

so it's 10.37%

hardly worth the effort and ingredients.

Well, in my opinion, a 19% beer would taste like crap. It'd be unbalanced, sweet and cloying, and basically undrinkable.

Now, a 10% ABV beer, if made correctly might tempt me. I'm more a fan of 6-7% abv hoppy beers, though, so maybe I'm not a good judge.

 

[brendanb]

totally. i love the beers in the 6-7% range.

it's just that when i see a beer list, my first will usually be the biggest i can find.

i really liked the maharaja and decadent imperials, and was trying to make something like them.

lesson learned.

thank you.

 

[Homercidal]

10% beer might not be that bad! Given enough age of course. Time will tell.

And don't sweat the error. Many of us have misread our hydrometers. Well, except me.

 

[Pops]

welcome, from Plainfield You might want to think about adding a little yeast to your beer when you bottle, its going to take awhile to carb up if you don't.