Upping the ABV

thehorse · May 28, 2016

Me and a friend were enjoying a Weiss IPA at Hammerton brewery tap last night and he challenged me to brew something similar but more "biscuity" and double the strength - towards 9%.

So what are the ways of making a stronger brew? I'm currently an extract brewer. I'm guessing I could double-steep my speciality grains (ie steep for an hour , then steep a second batch in the resultant wort), but as these would only form maybe 25% of the grain bill, any increase in fermentable sugars would also only be a quarter of what I need. Is simply adding more sugar for the yeast to feed on an option? It seems crude to me. Of course, I could always brew short.

What are the best ways to get more alcohol in your brews? And what's the strongest people here have achieved?

mike-os · May 28, 2016

You need to up your base malts as well to double the abv double the malts or halve the volume ( there about)

Use a brew calculator to check

You will need a high alcohol yeast as well

Brew_DD2 · May 28, 2016

As above,you need more extract or dextrose. Specialty grains give you minimal fermentables.

dad_of_jon · May 28, 2016

thehorse said:
Me and a friend were enjoying a Weiss IPA at Hammerton brewery tap last night and he challenged me to brew something similar but more "biscuity" and double the strength - towards 9%.

So what are the ways of making a stronger brew? I'm currently an extract brewer. I'm guessing I could double-steep my speciality grains (ie steep for an hour , then steep a second batch in the resultant wort), but as these would only form maybe 25% of the grain bill, any increase in fermentable sugars would also only be a quarter of what I need. Is simply adding more sugar for the yeast to feed on an option? It seems crude to me. Of course, I could always brew short.

What are the best ways to get more alcohol in your brews? And what's the strongest people here have achieved?

I've done 10.37% with extract and candi sugar and some speciality grains. tihs was with mangrove jacks belgian ale yeast suitable for up to 14% beer!

you'll need about 4kg of fermentables with your grains to get around 9% and 21-22 litres of beer.

3kg of dried wheat extract and 500g of candi sugar to start with. For the last 500g choose the candi sugar if you want a thinner beer or the malt if you want it a bit thicker. I've had weiss yeasts ferment to 8% easily because the candi sugar is easier to ferment than extract, however for the IPA side perhaps MJ's M44 if you're not intending to drink a cloudy beer. :-)

as for bitterness with extract brew I use lots of high AA% hops for a short amount to get the bitterness in quick, then dry hop for the flavour.

serum · May 28, 2016

Belgian brewers will use sugar to up the alcohol without creating too much body. don't be afraid of doing that. Plain white sugar works for a light beer but dark candi is great for darker ones.

Lesinge · May 31, 2016

I would just have to aim for a 7% to end up with a 9% as I always end up with beer two percent higher than I set out to get. At least it isn't 2% lower!

simon12 · May 31, 2016

Use some oats to get it more biscuity

Upping the ABV

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