Doubling the ABV%

[phildo79]

I brewed a batch of Cooper's Ginger Beer a few months ago and although it was very nice, it is a rather weak alcoholic drink at only 3.2% ABV (approx). I'm considering brewing another batch of it but would like to double the ABV. Adding more sugar at the start is obviously the way to go but do I simply add twice as much sugar? Or is there any other tricks to get the ABV up? Any advice would be greatly appreciated by me and my booze-hound friends.

Cheers

 

[oldbloke]

No, no other tricks.
Sugar+yeast->alcohol+carbon dioxide
To double the ABV, double the sugar.

 

[iceo]

using light dme would work better i think than just sugar giving the it more body and more abv% with out losing flavour

 

[Jeltz]

Brew it to 19L instead of 23L It wont double it but it would be stronger and more flavoursome.

 

[oldbloke]

using light dme would work better i think than just sugar giving the it more body and more abv% with out losing flavour

Yes: I was saying 'sugar' in its broadest possible sense. Simple white granulated will up the ABV, but some other sugar source would add more interest.
I'd be very tempted to try golden syrup, for example. ...and maybe just a tsp or so of black treacle.

 

[phildo79]

So how much Golden Syrup would you add? And i presume this is along with the 1kg of granulated sugar. Wouldn't this distort the flavour of the brew though? I'm a big fan of ginger beer so I wouldn't want to alter the taste too much. I am intrigued as to what it would actually taste like.

 

[oldbloke]

It should give a very slight hint of caramel, and a little bit of colour.
I believe it's like honey, equivalent to 80% of its weight as sugar, so you'd want 1.25kg
Except 6.4% might be a bit much, so maybe just 2 1lb tins

I've only actually used it in a spiced 'mead', as an experiment to see how it differed from actual honey (it's a bit cheaper than honey, too...)
Everybody loves that one.

 

[phildo79]

So remove the 1kg of granulated sugar completely and just use 2.5kg of golden syrup?

 

[oldbloke]

No I think the syrup flavour would be too strong then.
Instead of the existing 1kg sugar, how about 1.5kg sugar and a 1lb of syrup?

 

[Markdon]

I wanted an "old Jamaican ginger beer" but alcoholic. So i used two kits.

So, 2L of water in big pan, added
5tsp ginger powder
1tsp cinnamon powder
8 black peppercorns
100g fresh ginger
2tsp vanilla extract
Juice of 1 lemon and carcass
1tsp fresh crushed red chilli
1kg light soft brown sugar
1kg brewing sugar
500g extra light spray malt
454g tin golden syrup
300g granulated sugar

Brought to boil, heated for 45mins, strained, mashed the remains and strained.

Two tins of ginger beer in hot water, added to fv, other mix was cooled by then, added to fv.

Topped to 23L.

Cooled. 1.046.
Finished at 1.000

6.1%

Went a but mental with the additional extras but get the idea of what was added to get the abv and flavour up.

Bottled yesterday, very cloudy even after a stint in the shed. Even the flat dregs were tasty though. High hopes.

 

[Brewberoza]

Don't forget about balance. If you want more alcohol balance the beer with more bitterness. If it is a kit consider adding a little isomerised hop extract.

 

[Markdon]

Thats fair enough, but its a ginger beer kit? Would you hop a ginger?

 

[phildo79]

I wanted an "old Jamaican ginger beer" but alcoholic. So i used two kits.

So, 2L of water in big pan, added
5tsp ginger powder
1tsp cinnamon powder
8 black peppercorns
100g fresh ginger
2tsp vanilla extract
Juice of 1 lemon and carcass
1tsp fresh crushed red chilli
1kg light soft brown sugar
1kg brewing sugar
500g extra light spray malt
454g tin golden syrup
300g granulated sugar

Brought to boil, heated for 45mins, strained, mashed the remains and strained.

Two tins of ginger beer in hot water, added to fv, other mix was cooled by then, added to fv.

Topped to 23L.

Cooled. 1.046.
Finished at 1.000

6.1%

Went a but mental with the additional extras but get the idea of what was added to get the abv and flavour up.

Bottled yesterday, very cloudy even after a stint in the shed. Even the flat dregs were tasty though. High hopes.

That seems like a lot of added expense and effort when I could just double up on the sugar. The first batch I brewed, I felt had a nice firey taste to it. Not as firey as Old Jamaican but a lot better than some of the non alcoholic ginger beers that are available. I'll maybe add some chilli and peppercorns to it, just to spice it up a bit.

 

[TRXnMe]

Thats fair enough, but its a ginger beer kit? Would you hop a ginger?

No, I'd ginger a ginger beer :)

I'm one of the many who make their own fiery ginger beer from root ginger, mixed spice, ground ginger, a few cloves, lemons and a big pan :)

I've made the Cooper's it a couple of times, first time it was made to the basic kit recipe and was a lot of a flop, still got some undrunk bottles around the place somewhere, too sweet, not enough bite and takes lots of bottles to make anny difference to the state of mind. The second kit was made with honey, sugar, cloves, lemon juice, table sugar and has been drunk, good, but not fiery ginger beer good :)

 

[YoungJames]

I was given a Hippy Copper Bitter kit from Wilkos for Crimbo, I was thinking of fermenting it with a kilo or so of ginger. Hopefully ending up with something interesting to drink.