10% Anyone?

[Swinging Beef]

Next time I'll do the incremental thing and see the difference

You will indeed.
Digestibility Fail :icon_cheers:

 

[barry2]

Bribie,an interesting thought on the THREECAN Coopers.

Using the SG Estimator at
http://www.brewcraft.com.au/wa.asp?idWebPa...p;idDetails=172

the figures come up for a 23 litre brew

3 cans plus kg of dextrose
SG 1092 FG 1020 ABV% 10.3

3 cans plus 1.25 kg of DME
SG 1097 FG 1027 ABV% 10

Probably would be hoppy enough and just needs a robust yeast and perhaps incremental feed as referred to earlier on this thread.I might give it a try in summer and brew a stout and let it mature for six months and try it next winter.

 

[manticle]

What amount of the world's beer is produced with an alcohol content of between 4 and 6%? My guess is > 75% ... possibly 90%.

Yes but what percentage of the world's beers are bland lagers produced by large distilleries? If it's simply numbers you're talking then yeah sure but to use that to support an argument is a bit like claiming 80% of the world's food establishment think food is best microwaved and deep fried and served within 2 minutes because there is a lot of fast food out there.

You've limited it to only a few actual types of beer (of which there is a large quantity). There's a very large number of beers made in the world that fall outside that range (both sides) - they just don't make as large a quantity as Millers or Fosters or Beck's. A lot of those beers have a long history too which belies your original comment.

A lot of 'beer' versus a lot of 'beers'.

@swingingbeef - what about bocks, doppelbocks and eisbocks?

 

[argon]

Thats interesting. Never heard of that before. Where do you get that from?
Cheers
Steve

I don't quite recall where I picked that up from... probably somewhere here on the forums

Standard practice for high alc beers, particularly belgians.

My last 2 Belgians made from kits&bitz both had incremental feeds. I think it is a good strategy as if you just bung all the sugaz in the boil then the (theory) is that the yeast doesn't work on the malts, it just goes straight for the easy stuff like dex and candi sugar as it's easier to convert.

It sounds like it makes sense and I would say the alc is more balanced than in the past when I just turf all the sugaz/candi into the initial boil.

That's the theory with the stepped fermentation.. just so the fermentation doesn't go too mad at the start, allowing it to take it's time over a few days... God knows if it works but it sounded good enough to me to give it a bash... especially since the beer is estimated to be 9.9%.

I'll report back when i've had a couple... I may slurr my typing though!!

 

[manticle]

Some wyeasts recommend it on the pack/website (eg 3787), I've heard it in a podcast and I'm pretty sure Brew Like A Monk talks about it. It's standard practice among trappist and Belgian high gravity brewhouses if I remember correctly.

 

[theMISSIONARY]

@swingingbeef - what about bocks, doppelbocks and eisbocks?

How true Imagine a Bock at 5% yuck....... now 7-9% that's a proper bock B)

 

[Nick JD]

Yes but what percentage of the world's beers are bland lagers produced by large distilleries? If it's simply numbers you're talking then yeah sure but to use that to support an argument is a bit like claiming 80% of the world's food establishment think food is best microwaved and deep fried and served within 2 minutes because there is a lot of fast food out there.

Bland or not ... my point was the fool is offered what the fool wants. If 10% lagers were easy to drink, those non-elite bunch of heathens who haven't yet developed the ability to ascertain which end of the cork to sniff would be drinking it. They're not. I have a feeling it isn't ignorance that stops the fool from leaving the bottle store with a six pack of 10% beer, but the willingness to swill something that goes down easy and soothes the pain.

 

[silverbrew]

Think i will be givin that belgium ale recipe a go!!! thanks

 

[brettprevans]

I've never had a beer over 6% that I'd drink in preferance to one under 6%.

so you'd rather drink anything CUB over Duval which is 8%?

 

[manticle]

Bland or not ... my point was the fool is offered what the fool wants. If 10% lagers were easy to drink, those non-elite bunch of heathens who haven't yet developed the ability to ascertain which end of the cork to sniff would be drinking it. They're not. I have a feeling it isn't ignorance that stops the fool from leaving the bottle store with a six pack of 10% beer, but the willingness to swill something that goes down easy and soothes the pain.

I'm not arguing as to whether the average beer consumer is ignorant or just has a preference for a certain drinking range. It's not meant to be a judgemental statement - I just take issue with the suggestion that beer drinkers all agree that 4-6% is the best range. A lot of people who buy big brewery beers are drinking 4-6% because the big breweries make a standard easy drinking product but there are a lot of beers that are 3% or 8% or 12% and have been since long before CUB ever came into existence. Just because current commercial trends dictate that commercial beers are so, doesn't make it an agreed upon thing throughout the world and throughout history that beer is best like that.

 

[Swinging Beef]

@swingingbeef - what about bocks, doppelbocks and eisbocks?

The man dont dig lager.

Funny that this thread should come up.. check out my latest barley wine... 12.2%

 

[Swinging Beef]

Wouldnt it be true that the majoirty of the worlds beer is conumed in the 5% range because of the popularity of golden fizzy lager/pilsner in the past 100 years?

Certainly while in Italy, they all seemed to accept 7%abv as normal

 

[Interloper]

so you'd rather drink anything CUB over Duval which is 8%?

I'm with you, he can keep all the week girly man beers under 6% give us the Leffe or Chimay or LaTrappe or my beloved Hoegaarden grand cru which is 8.5% :icon_drool2:

 

[Renegade]

I dont mind the occasional lambic framboise, which i think is about 3%. Conversly I absolutely love the Chimay range, which is on the opposite end of the scale. And a lot of releases that sit in between.

I don't think ABV maketh the man.

Then again, neither does berry framboise, so you might have a point after all. :unsure:

 

[Swinging Beef]

Then again, neither does berry framboise, so you might have a point after all. :unsure:

Im glad you noticed that in your own comment! :icon_cheers:

 

[brettprevans]

i get the point that a lot of commercial low alc beers taste like crap. But then again thats Why Doc developed his Yardglass Session Light . low alc session beer with a heap of flavour.

There are times where Id love to drink beer (ie height of summer) but i know ill end up with a hangover. so i drink something else instead cause comemercial light taste like piss. but that doesnt mean that you cant make good low alc beer.

you cant tell me you;d rather drink Hoegaarden (<6%) rather than Hoegaarden grand cru (8.5%). Thx interloper for that great example

edit: fixed recipe name and owner

 

[manticle]

98% of Aussiehomebrewers agree: ABV and good beer are not strictly related.

 

[buttersd70]

98% of Aussiehomebrewers agree: ABV and good beer are not strictly related.

Absolutely. My preference is for <4% ABV......that however is a preference, certainly not a hard and fast rule. I had one of DrSmurto's beers the other night that was (if i recall) >10%.....

It went down just as easily as a mild, because it was balanced. If anything, it was too easy to drink, for such a "heavy" beer. It tasted mild, it went down easy...and 5 minutes later, I went down easy, fast asleep on the grass behind Muckeys rainwater tank. :lol:

 

[uniiqueuser]

.......fast asleep on the grass behind Muckeys rainwater tank. :lol:

...maybe I have found a forum to call home...


It's been a while since a brew knocked me out though... :icon_cheers:

 

[Muggus]

Back on topic, just briefly...

My first Barley Wine was a Kits and Bits at 12.0% alc/vol, and I was very stoked how it turned out.
- Muntons Traditional Bitter Kit 1.8kg
- Coopers Pale malt extract 1.5kg
- Coopers Amber malt extract 1.5kg
- Morgans Pilsner malt extract 1.0kg
- Bundaburg Brown Sugar 1kg
- 100g Crystal grain (145EBC), steeped

I did a little 4L boil with the grain liquid...
30 min - 30g Goldings hop pellets (6.6%)
10 min - 15g Goldings hop pellets (6.6%)
10 min - 15g Fuggles hop pellets (5.7%)
5 min - 15g Goldings hop pellets (6.6%)
5 min - 15g Fuggles hop pellets (5.7%)
5 min - 15g Cascade hop pellets (5.7%)
..which adds around another 35 IBU to a 22L batch
OG 1.110
FG 1.020
Abv 12.0%

Ferment with a wine yeast for a month.
Matured on 100g of french oak chips for 6 months! Yes, SIX MONTHS in secondary!

Turned out very rich and smooth, oak integrates well with time. Not a particularly bitter or hoppy beer...English style more than American.
The real key is the long maturation though. Hard to disguise such a big abv when a beer is young, and particularly if it's not fully flavoured and/or well attenuated, it's good to have a big malt body to soak it up.
6 months, well probably too long for most to wait with 22L sitting there at your convienience, but i'd highly recommend an extended fermentation, and secondary of at least a month a piece for a beer around the 10%+ mark. Patience is key!