I've noticed a few posts since lock-down from people new to brewing looking for a High ABV in TC's and wines so thought I'd put this out there.
I've done few experiments to see how high I can push the ABV over the years and 20-21% is about the limit I've got. The two main things I found were:
1) It took so long to get the last 4% to ferment out I could have fermented another 23l of 15 - 16% in that time from scratch. So if you're trying to get an higher ABV for "things that can't be mentioned on here" it's a false economy.
2) The other was that it meant not stressing the yeast. By this I mean keeping the temp constant and at the low end for the yeast's recommended temp range and sugar feeding (i.e. starting with a O.G. of around 1.090 (12% ish) and as the sugar is used up adding a little more in steps.
I like to think about it as offering the yeast that "wafer thin mint", they know they have had enough but just can't stop!
I've done few experiments to see how high I can push the ABV over the years and 20-21% is about the limit I've got. The two main things I found were:
1) It took so long to get the last 4% to ferment out I could have fermented another 23l of 15 - 16% in that time from scratch. So if you're trying to get an higher ABV for "things that can't be mentioned on here" it's a false economy.
2) The other was that it meant not stressing the yeast. By this I mean keeping the temp constant and at the low end for the yeast's recommended temp range and sugar feeding (i.e. starting with a O.G. of around 1.090 (12% ish) and as the sugar is used up adding a little more in steps.
I like to think about it as offering the yeast that "wafer thin mint", they know they have had enough but just can't stop!