Home Brew Alcohol %

[jamieh]

Having bottled my tooheys lager and going to do another one in the next week...wondering how i go about making a stronger beer...the one ive made is a 4.7%....im wanting to do a 7 or 9% beer...and im doing the basic shit....1.7kg tin and 1kg of dextrose and whatever yeast comes with the tin.....anyone for some good suggestions? or even to get something similar to a carlton dry (doesnt faze me if i cant do it)....as im sticking to the lagers...

 

[kiwisteveo]

Having bottled my tooheys lager and going to do another one in the next week...wondering how i go about making a stronger beer...the one ive made is a 4.7%....im wanting to do a 7 or 9% beer...and im doing the basic shit....1.7kg tin and 1kg of dextrose and whatever yeast comes with the tin.....anyone for some good suggestions? or even to get something similar to a carlton dry (doesnt faze me if i cant do it)....as im sticking to the lagers...

mayby add some extra dry malt/liquid

 

[jyo]

To make a 7 percent plus alc beer using a kit n kilo, make sure you achieve this by using a combination of malt and dex. If you are wanting a high alcohol beer, maybe choose a style such as an IPA or a stout, where you have some sweetness to work with. If you try using all dextrose, it will end up being very thin, and the sharp alcohol flavours will have nothing to balance against, making for a very unenjoyable drop.

Maybe, try:
Tin of your choice
1 kg dex
1.5kg tin of unhopped malt or LDME
30-40 gms your choice of hops, boiled with some of the malt for say 30 mins.


Cheers, john.

 

[stew.w]

you could just put another kg of dextrose.
according beersmith that would get you to 6%
or add another 1.7kg tin and make a toucan that would get you around 7%
strongers not always better anyway, especially if you want to drink it all night, 5% is pretty good for a session beer

cheers,

stewart

 

[Nick JD]

Use half the amount of water.

 

[Stuster]

The most important thing to remember is that you'll need more yeast. Ideally better yeast than the kit yeast as well. It's tough for yeast to ferment strong beers so a small packet of dry yeast sprinkled on top is going to end up with unhappy yeast dying and not making great beer. US-05 will cope with it well and is fairly widely available but whatever you use, try to use more like 20g. And rehydrating it before use would be a good idea too.

 

[drew9242]

I don't know if you would like such a high alcohol beer in a lager (in a dunkel or a bock but they are both dark largers). I think you will find when you make a batch that it won't taste any good. There is a reason why you can't find any high alcohol lagers in the shop.

 

[Bribie G]

A brilliant headbanger is two cans of Coopers Lager, 1500 of dex and use a different yeast as suggested - Nottingham is another good one. You'll end up with something similar to Euro Wife Beating lagers, around 8%.
See the Doctor if pain persists. B)

Also ferment pretty cool as it can froth horrendously through the airlock.

 

[Nick JD]

... similar to Euro Wife Beating lagers, around 8%.

I bought a can of Tennants Super once in the UK just to see what it tasted like.

Further reinforced my theory that there's a reason 90% of the world's beer is produced with an alcohol % between 3 and 6. High alcohol beer (some exceptions, of course) tastes like a 90 YEAR OLD MAN'S LIQUID FARTS.

Making high percentage homebrew from cans of goo? Done it before, won't do it again. Better to sniff paint.

 

[manticle]

High alcohol beer (some exceptions, of course) tastes like a 90 YEAR OLD MAN'S LIQUID FARTS.

Personally, I think there are quite a lot of exceptions but they are all very well brewed and balanced.

High alc beer that's just brewed for the sake of being high abv may as well just be a senior's gas emissions gone wrong but good beverages brewed right have no upper or lower limits on abv beyond what science and nature provide.


@OP - The more sugar the more alcohol, as long as the yeast is up to the task. Once you strat hitting high alc though there are a lot of considerations in terms of balancing out the flavours. If you just throw sugar like dex or table sugar at beer you may get hot alcohol flavours and bad esters or you may stress the yeast and get acetylaldehyde or other things. You will also make a very thin, dry beer.

If you throw a whole lot of malt extract at it you may end up with an under-attenuated, sweet brew that's a bit sickly. Making high abv beers that work is a bit of an artform. Try doing it gradually - rather than aim for 9% straightaway, aim for 6-7 by taking a 5% brew and dropping the liquid to 18 L instead of 23 or make a toucan. Darker beers tend to support high alc better/more easily. Pale lagers are meant to be clean tasting so any faults stick out like dog's balls.

 

[jzani]

Don't know if it is exactly what you are after, but I am planning to do a Bock at about 7-9% for my next brew. This is technically a lager, but is a darker brew. I'm gonna need to add a few extras to the kit to bring it up to the right gravity.

The plan is
Muntons Bock Kit
1.5kg Can Light Liquid Malt Extract (Coopers)
1kg brew enhancer (DME and Dextrose)

Make up to 21L bringing the OG to about 67 and the alcohol content to about 7%. You could add another 500g Dextrose to bump the % even higher.

I am considering adding 15g of Hallertauer Hops boiled for 15min just to help with the high alcohol.

Bit of an experiment, but sure there will be someone out there who could help tweak this recipe to make sure it comes out good!

Juz

 

[brocky_555]

Nice to see that Manticle has posted here too and has said nothing again.

If you want to brew a stronger beer, brew a stronger style otherwise it will taste like arse.
Just throwing in more sugar or more fermentables will get you a stronger beer but it will not necesserily get you a beer that will be drinkable, it is all about balance. If you add more fermenables you may want a differnt yaest, that yeast may throw some flavours that require more hops to compensate. You would be beter off doing some research first get your process down and then brew some stronger ones. Tread carefully, best not brew barley wines in your first few batches unless you are sure you know what you want and know how to go about it. The strongest I have made has been 7% and that will rock your boat well enough, be careful what you wish for.

Cheers,
Brocky

 

[drew9242]

Nice to see that Manticle has posted here too and has said nothing again.

If you want to brew a stronger beer, brew a stronger style otherwise it will taste like arse.
Just throwing in more sugar or more fermentables will get you a stronger beer but it will not necesserily get you a beer that will be drinkable, it is all about balance. If you add more fermenables you may want a differnt yaest, that yeast may throw some flavours that require more hops to compensate. You would be beter off doing some research first get your process down and then brew some stronger ones. Tread carefully, best not brew barley wines in your first few batches unless you are sure you know what you want and know how to go about it. The strongest I have made has been 7% and that will rock your boat well enough, be careful what you wish for.

Cheers,
Brocky

umm what was that you say, sounds like nothing to me.

 

[manticle]

Nice to see that Manticle has posted here too and has said nothing again.

If you want to brew a stronger beer, brew a stronger style otherwise it will taste like arse.
Just throwing in more sugar or more fermentables will get you a stronger beer but it will not necesserily get you a beer that will be drinkable, it is all about balance. If you add more fermenables you may want a differnt yaest, that yeast may throw some flavours that require more hops to compensate. You would be beter off doing some research first get your process down and then brew some stronger ones. Tread carefully, best not brew barley wines in your first few batches unless you are sure you know what you want and know how to go about it. The strongest I have made has been 7% and that will rock your boat well enough, be careful what you wish for.

Cheers,
Brocky

Not sure if that's a typo but you pretty much just said the exact same thing I did in slightly different words. If you have a problem with my posts, make an effort and say why rather than making vague scathing comments that mean nothing.

Cheers.

 

[drew9242]

i thought the same manticle, looked pretty much the same to me. Which i fully agree with. But to be slaging someone off and then saying the same thing, well it's a bit wierd.

 

[Dave70]

I went down this path years ago when I first got into brewing. It also made me loose interest, cos every brew we knocked out got you fighting drunk after 3 or 4 schooners, but tasted like junkies piss. Didn't matter then, we were young. Now that I'm older and hate everything, I realize life is to short to drink rubbish beer just for the sake of getting pie eyed.
So these days, its quality brews with a Grey Goose chaser if I want to get the job done fast. Visits from inlaws would prompt this behaviour for example.

Remember, theres a reason they age big beers for 6 month and more.

 

[Mantis]

Nice to see that Manticle has posted here too and has said nothing again.

If you want to brew a stronger beer, brew a stronger style otherwise it will taste like arse.
Just throwing in more sugar or more fermentables will get you a stronger beer but it will not necesserily get you a beer that will be drinkable, it is all about balance. If you add more fermenables you may want a differnt yaest, that yeast may throw some flavours that require more hops to compensate. You would be beter off doing some research first get your process down and then brew some stronger ones. Tread carefully, best not brew barley wines in your first few batches unless you are sure you know what you want and know how to go about it. The strongest I have made has been 7% and that will rock your boat well enough, be careful what you wish for.

Cheers,
Brocky

What the
You repeat what Manticle has said , and say that he has said nothing in his post.
Light beers for you my man

 

[goomboogo]

What the
You repeat what Manticle has said , and say that he has said nothing in his post.
Light beers for you my man

I originally thought he was being ironic. I'm sure brocky_555 will clarify.

 

[kfahy]

Manticle, i read this forum more than post. I find that there is a wealth of info here if you can find it. I have learnt a lot from your posts, i find them well considered and think its great you take the time to answer questions from newer brewers, i reckon many brewers have benefited from your posts. Surely brocky was taking the p!ss, otherwise wtf?

 

[brettprevans]

Brock has nfi what he is on about. He just can't brew properly IMO. 'brew a stronger style or it will taste like arse'. WTF stupid comment. If ur a good brewer u can brew in this style with higher alc.

Mpre so, having a Go at matns who gives back to the k&k/extract section is bullshit. I only iccationally give info to the k&k/extract sections now. I've done my part and mants has picked up the torch from me and others (like butters) and gives to all AHB members. Get off his back u condesending little twerp.

Edit: ESP as his advice in this thread is right.