adjusting alcohol percentages

[melinda]

G'day men,
I have a recipe that I want to put down, but I want to increase the alcohol percentage. I know that I can simply add more malt, but how do I go about balancing the hop additions? Is there a rule of thumb when doing this?
Cheers,
Cadbury

 

[wbosher]

Use brewing software like Brewmate (free) or Beersmith.

 

[slash22000]

What you are looking for is the BU:GU ratio, or bitterness to gravity ratio. The higher the gravity (/more malt), the sweeter the beer, and the more bitterness you need to maintain the same balance.

Brewmate is free software that will help you.

 

[Crumpet]

Would adding dextrose as opposed to more malt increase the alc% without changing the balance too much?

 

[wbosher]

Adding dex will increase the alc, but will result in a thinner, dryer beer.

 

[Crumpet]

Good to know, thanks.

 

[bum]

Dex will negate the impact of any unfermentable sugars left by the existing malts?

The balance will change a bit, depends how much you're thinking of adding. If you're only looking at adding a full point or so and the beer isn't too delicate then I can't see a huge issue. If you're looking large gains in your alc then, yeah, you need to have a look at rebalancing the beer.