More Alcohol!

[SJW]

DUMB QUESTION TIME.
I just made a couple of pretty nice Guinness copys. One was using the ESB Extra Special Stout kit and another with Beer Makers Stout kit and 1.5 of Dark Malt Extract. The thing is they start of at about 1040 and go down to about 1017 or so, now that only makes em about 3.5%. What do i do if i want to up it to say 5%. Is it as simple as dumping in 500grams of Dextrose?

 

[AndrewQLD]

It is really to late now to add anymore fermentables as this will probably cause the beer to oxidise. Try VERY CAREFULLY rouseing the yeast, GENTLY stir or swirl the yeast back into suspension being very carefull not to splash. This should reactivate the beasties and drop your FG by a couple more points.

The best way to get your FG down to an acceptable level ie.1.012 is at the beginning of your brew. Pitch a healthy and active 1-2 lt starter and prior to pitching really whip the crap out of the wort with a wisk until the foam on top almost reaches the rim of your fermenter.

A lot of brewer say that with all malt brews you should expect a higher than normal F.G, I don't agree with this, I brew an IPA of 1.064 all malt beer and my final gravity very rarely is over 1.014. Prior to aerating and using yeast starters some of my brews did finish high, but not anymore.

 

[joecast]

your OG does seem a bit low but not by much (im thinking about 1.044). check your volume, and temp when you do your OG.

as for getting your FG down, as well as what andrew states, another suggestion i have heard (although this was more for "bigger" beers, say 7-8%abv) is to rack your brew after about 12 hours. dont worry about not aerating since thats the point. get it to splash some. gives the yeast more time to build up before getting to some real work.
in addition to the kit, and dme maybe try one of those morgans master blend malts. they are a bit more pricey than just dme or lme. or use some specialty grains, chocolate or roasted barley or black malt.
joe

 

[wardy]

yeah, i find this really annoying too SJW... i've always had a fairly healthy ferment, and fermentation has been quite quick usually 2-3 days. Most go to 1.010, but a good few stay around the 1.016, which is bloody annoying. I let them sit in secondary for 2-3 weeks, and they might drop another point... but generally they taste very sweet for months. Eventually, after 3 months or more in the bottle, they start to taste better. I always aerate the wort thoroughly, but i am thinking that i might need to mechanically aerate it over the initial fermentation period. was i correct in remembering that someone uses a fish tank pump? does this do the trick to get the O2 in and get the SG down?

 

[Wreck]

If you want more alcohol, you want a higher OG. A few extra points FG isn't going to get you that much more.

You can get a higher OG by either adding more malt, or lowering the volume. The rest as everyone else has said. Good aeration and lots of healthy happy yeast will get you an FG in the teens somewhere.

Wreck.

 

[PostModern]

Another way thru this is by using a yeast with higher attenuation. I'm presently trying WLP007. It has 70-80% attenuation according to White Labs. I put on a Chocolate Stout the other day. OG was 1.049. Will let you know how far it ferments out. Read the specs of this yeast. Apparently it's just like WLP002 only more attenuative - which might not help my recipe - a dry chocolate stout.... Hmmm. I might actually have benefited from some residual sweetness now that I think about it...