What's the furthest you've pushed the ABV?..

BruinTuns · Dec 3, 2014

My John Bull IPA is about ready for bottling. I added 2kg of malt and sugar so OG was 1060. FG is down to 1006, indicating a projected abv of just under 8% :drunk: (can that be right? I double checked but it seems very high..)

Anyway it got me thinking. What's the furthest to which you've ever pushed the abv of a kit beer, and what were the results like?

Scaff · Dec 3, 2014

I've added honey, brew sugar, granulated sugar to a bitter and it was 1075 / 1080 on standard gervin yeast., it bottomed out at 990, so that's 10%. It's bottled now awaiting the first taste in 2-3weeks ......... I may not wait that long thou

Scaff

Benjamin · Dec 3, 2014

Did you make that brew short ? How many litres ?

Benjamin · Dec 3, 2014

I did a best bitter 4% and came out 6.8% ish , it was a nice bitter only hot 10 bottles left í ½í¸ for Xmas day and boxing day need to get brewing soon

Benjamin · Dec 3, 2014

Sorry forgot to say added 500g medium malt and 500g sugar

brewpirate · Dec 3, 2014

12.5% belgian dark strong but wasn't a kit beer :) 1.098 > 1.010

Awesome beer but too much carbonation for those little standard glass bottles...BOOM! lol.

BruinTuns · Dec 3, 2014

Scaff, please update after you've cracked one, I'm genuinely interested in this.

Benjamin, what was the kit? And was that all you added, i.e. 1kg total fermentables? That shouldn't raise a 4% beer to 6.8%..

brewpirate, I think that's the most convincing argument yet to migrate to... (insert thunderclap here).. The Darkside! Muahahahaha! :twisted:
Is that the Belgian ale in your sig?

Scaff · Dec 3, 2014

Nuts, you've talked me into it

I've put 3 in the fridge now, May try one in 30mins.

Scaff

Scaff · Dec 3, 2014

Ok

I'll post a pic later

Good head, nice colour, not too dark but not a lager/blonde either.

Taste, nice a bit sweet aftertaste, and the head is tasty goes down, I'd say easy but it ain't that cold so if chilled I think it'll kick it in the dick.

Scaff

MyQul · Dec 3, 2014

When I first started AG brewing I cocked up the receipe of a porter. I think I got US gallons mixed up with Imperial Gallons and made a 4.something% brew into a 6.5% . This was also before I understood I could have simply diluted (liquored back - I learned that term today reading forum posts :party:) to 4%

Benjamin · Dec 3, 2014

Bruin tuns it was a Wilkos own best bitter I can't get it anymore in local stores :x 40 pint kit down too 21.5 litres

brewpirate · Dec 4, 2014

BruinTuns said:
Scaff, please update after you've cracked one, I'm genuinely interested in this.

Benjamin, what was the kit? And was that all you added, i.e. 1kg total fermentables? That shouldn't raise a 4% beer to 6.8%..

brewpirate, I think that's the most convincing argument yet to migrate to... (insert thunderclap here).. The Darkside! Muahahahaha! :twisted:
Is that the Belgian ale in your sig?

That it is, I have 1 bottle left and saving it for a special occasion. Kits are fun but going all grain is a blast and would never had imagined that I would brew something like this but wow was it killer and the depth of flavor was just crazy!

Sig updated with the beers :)

Scaff · Dec 4, 2014

Scaff said:
Ok

I'll post a pic later

Good head, nice colour, not too dark but not a lager/blonde either.

Taste, nice a bit sweet aftertaste, and the head is tasty goes down, I'd say easy but it ain't that cold so if chilled I think it'll kick it in the dick.

Scaff

Cwrw666 · Dec 4, 2014

Don't make a kit beer stronger by pouring in more sugar - that's one of the things that got homebrew a bad reputation in the dim and distant past. Brew it short instead or add more malt extract. You get strength and flavour that way.
Not a homebrew - but I was in Romania twenty odd years ago for Christmas and we were given the local beer which was 13% ABV. I remember it as being very nice and 3 or 4 bottles not having any bad effects. But it was -20, and we were drinking the local illicit plum brandy from breakfast onwards (60% ABV) so I suppose 13% wouldn't seem that strong after that?

Joeyriles · Dec 4, 2014

I have created a 8% chocolate stout (1070-1010) from a Cooper's kit plus dark LME, Dried Malt Extract, Cocoa and sugar. Ironically it's taking a little while to carb up but it tastes like it'll knock your **** off.

BruinTuns · Dec 4, 2014

Two delicious looking beers there lads :drink:
I'm not ready to go ag yet so a Belgian dark will need to wait a while.
But Scaff, I'll definitely try a turbo charged bitter (or IPA).
Did you pitch extra yeast? And do you reckon the brand of bitter kit would make much difference to the result?

Joeyriles, thanks for the post. That one's also now on my 'to do' list. Gonna be a busy new year..

brewpirate · Dec 4, 2014

Just adding sugar to boost gravity is a bad idea, think of a beer as a bar chart if you bump one part you need to compensate for the others. Sugar can dry/thin out a beer so add more spraymalt, DME, LME then add some sugar to the mix. If you plan on adding sugar to a big beer I recommend not adding in the boil and add to the FV 2-3 days after pitching yeast. Reason for this is there is TONS of maltos sugars for the yeast to break down and the yeast will get distracted by the sucrose and feed on that first.

Another key thing is yeast, typical yeast pitches (liquid or dry) are good for 5g/19l beers up to 1.056 ish so if you plan on your gravity being higher you need to add more yeast. Proper yeast pitches are critical especially in big beers which can stall out but with proper pitching and fermentation control its not an issue.

Here is a great calculator for finding your proper pitching rates
http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

BruinTuns · Dec 4, 2014

brewpirate, thanks for the advice and the link. If adding the sugar a few days later, would a gentle stir be ok? Or disturb as little as possible and just rely on the yeasties to seek it out?
Also, when increasing the yeast to cope with extra fermentables added to a kit brew, does it need to be the same strain as came with the kit? There's usually no way of knowing the strain they've given you, so another way of asking is: should one put aside the kit yeast and substitute with a bigger amount of something else?

brewpirate · Dec 4, 2014

I make a simple syrup of the sugar, boil up some water and sugar cool it down then let it cool in a sanitized jar. When it comes time to add I just dump it in and the yeast are super active at the point and will find it so no need to stir. If so inclined gently swirl the FV leaving it sealed up so no oxygen can get in.

You can mix strains but then you can impact flavor, stick to the same yeast and if you have liquid yeast make a starter and if you have dry yeast then hydrate with a little malt. If you dont know the strain I would go with Safale US-05 which is a super clean versatile yeast that you can make everything with.

BruinTuns · Dec 4, 2014

Thanks agian bp :hat:

What's the furthest you've pushed the ABV?..

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