Strongest Brews Possible

[j1gsaw]

Howdy fellow Brewers,
While sitting back last night dreaming up my future kit brews, i was pondering some crazy idea about doing either a normal lager or ale, but instead of the usual 1kg of dextrose added, what if i were to throw in.. say, hmmm 5 or 6kg!
(with some hops added and etc)
Im just wanting to see just how high i can go alcohol wise without it tasting like evil dish water..
My current brew of Belgium strong ale should be around 8-9%, but is it possible to reach around 12-15%???
Am i just in dream land? appreciate feedback/recipes or abuse...
cheers...

 

[cdbrown]

It's possible to get high alc beer but you'll need the right yeast for the job.

6kg of dex in 23L is approx 9.85% based on beersmith OG 1.100, FG 1.025
You'd probably want to add some malt for body and bittering hops to get over the sweetness - but I am no expert by any means.

 

[Muggus]

Get yourself some of this

It takes a bit more than just pitching a yeast into a really high gravity wort to make a beer over 10%.
You'll need plenty of nutrient, to aerate the wort often, add additional sugars WHILST its fermenting, etc.
And even then you could end up with a beer that tastes like rocket fuel.

But yeah, apparently that White Labs yeast can ferment up to 25% alc/vol...that would require alot of attention though.
Strongest beers in the world(around 30% mark) get that way from the 'eis' technique, not just a heap of sugar.

 

[Lukes]

Might be to sweet a dream to do as a kit.

I remember Johnny Max and the brew dog from brew crazy did a 10% plus brew.

Best to contact him for the method ( is he still a member here ) or search for posts from him.

 

[quantocks]

Am i just in dream land? appreciate feedback/recipes or abuse...
cheers...

I had a crapload of stuff I wanted to use and get rid of a month or two ago and did a toucan.

1x Coopers Canadian Blonde
1x Coopers Lager
1x 1KG dextrose
2x Kit yeast


ripped through that ******* in no time, according to the hydro it's ~8% (give or take)

I just kegged it last night, I will let you know how it goes.

 

[WarmBeer]

So, I guess the rationale behind this is to get as neutered as possible?

Why not, rather than aiming for a nigh-undrinkable 12% monster, drink 2 6% beers. Crazy idea, I know!

See that logo at the top right of the page, "A fair go for craft beer". One of their major political selling points of the campaign is the slogan "Drink less, drink better". Rather than associating craft- (and maybe home-) brewing with the legion of VB swilling bogans, they are trying to say better tasting beer is something that can be enjoyed in moderation. Give it a go...

Ok, I'll take my Captain Sensible hat off now.

Have a read in Brewing Classic Styles on how to make an Eisbock. The general overview is you make your beer, then freeze it semi-solid, then let the good stuff (i.e. not water) drip out of the upturned keg into another vessel, leaving a portion of the non-alcoholic stuff behind. Voila, you have just concentrated your beer into something stronger. It would be pretty easy to get something over 10% using this method, and without resorting to wine yeasts.

 

[marlow_coates]

The answer to 'can you make a good high alcohol beer' with kits is yes.

Doing this with kits just requires a few niceties and it is just as difficult doing it if you all grain brew IMO

I would recommend going to one of the sponsors websites above and having a look through their yeast selection. This is the most important step as the alcohol tolerance of the yeast will determine what it can handle.

The belgian yeasts can often go to 12 and 13%, or the link above to white labs yeast that goes to 25%.

The higher it gets the more work it involves keeping it going; like correct temps, correct additions of sugar, oxygen pumps etc....

The other issue is balance. If you have lots of alcohol taste only, then the beer taste crap. You need to balance this with some malt for body, and bittering as well.

To do this with kits in a 23L I would use 3 cans.
1 or 2 cans of some kit like coopers pale ale (this will give a decent bit of bittering)
1 or 2 cans of liquid malt extract (or replace this with equivalent dried malt extract)
Either combination will work just depends on what you prefer.

Pitch a good load of your chosen yeast. After it is half done add a kilo of sugar.

You may need to make a few starters of the yeast along the way to keep it ticking, or give the fermenter the occasional swirl.

This will give you a kit + kilo recipe (so to speak) that will give high alcohol % (around 10-11%?) with a solid body and hopefully enough bittering to balance.

You can obviously take this much further, but balancing alcohol, body and bittering in high alcohol beers is what makes them difficult IMHO

Look up the Sierra Nevada Brewery, or Dog Fish Head Brewery online and view their range. They both experiment with some big beers in successfull ways :beerbang:

 

[buttersd70]

Why is there no smiley icon to indicate disgust by shaking head from side to side, with a bewildered look on it's face...............

 

[dr K]

The answer to 'can you make a good high alcohol beer' with kits is yes.

I suspect an edit is required viz

The answer to 'can you make a high alcohol beer' with kits is yes.

You can skip the extra sugar and add vodka and I dare say you would get a better result and before you poo-poo wander into a fortified wine making facility and check out what they use certainly not Absolut but certainly a fairly pure spirit often (well in the 70's) from Mr Bean , or was that Beam, though probably not Bourbon.

Wine grapes..12% ABV no worries
Standard Barley brews, 5% no worries.
What a mash wort has lots of and an extract wort does not is FAN (and god knows we all need some FAN at the moment) FAN is essential to yeast health and proper fermentaion. Kits are fine if the instructions are follwed, and sorry 1kg of sugar is not a bad thing for these kits, a malty sort of mix is better but it we are talking small margins of taste.

K

 

[Muggus]

Wine grapes..12% ABV no worries
Standard Barley brews, 5% no worries.

Grape beer?


Actually, that sounds way too tempting!

 

[pmolou]

mead??? got no idea how much alc that can get but im pretty sure its purely honey... so maybe a belgian with lots of honey then using an 'eis' technique ????? or grapes whatever but i think u should give it a go i mean why not

 

[JonnyAnchovy]

mead??? got no idea how much alc that can get but im pretty sure its purely honey... so maybe a belgian with lots of honey then using an 'eis' technique ????? or grapes whatever but i think u should give it a go i mean why not

I'm currently fermenting 4x ultra high gravity polish style meads- 2/3rds plus honey. It's certainly possible, but if you want it to finish up in under a year you really need to step nutrient, and add extra fermentables slowly to avoid high osmatic (sp?) pressures. There is a recipe for a dogfish head ipa clone somewhere on here, and it involves these techniques.

 

[j1gsaw]

Thanks for your advice gents, shall look into these fancy yeasts.. cheers

 

[boingk]

Culture a yeast out of a bottle of Chimay/La Trappe/whatever, and appreciate the beer in the meantime. Then realise that you're getting a bit tipsy off just one of the damn things, and that it tasted darn good.

Use said cultured yeast to make an 'ordinary' Belgian-style brew of 8~10%.

Cheers - boingk

 

[ford-ute]

I in my early days use a kit of coopers dark ale and 2 kg of dextrose and pitched in so dry enzime and i ended up with a FG 0.096 which was if i remember around the 9.5 normal fementaion no temp control the standard yeast tht came with the kitjust and 8 days in fermenter but it taste like crap too much alcohol and way too watery

there is also a micro brewry in WA here that is using a champaine yeast to make his barley wine and he just got rave review in the news paper

 

[caleb]

...
I was pondering some crazy idea about doing either a normal lager or ale, but instead of the usual 1kg of dextrose added, what if i were to throw in.. say, hmmm 5 or 6kg!
(with some hops added and etc)

Well, my advice is to use extra malt instead of extra dextrose, which seems to be the general consensus. 5 or 6 kg dex added to a 1.7kg kit will definitely produce something thin and evil tasting - probably like beer with a big shot of the cheapest nastiest white rum in it.

Stick with around 1kg dex, but add extra liquid malt extract instead.

My current brew of Belgium strong ale should be around 8-9%, but is it possible to reach around 12-15%???

Have you tried "Bush" - a belgian ale which comes in 250ml bottles and is 12% alc. Dan's has it sometimes.
Then there are the german eisbocks - real "ice" beer, not the marketing BS of some Australian "ice" beers...
I know there are a few other beers around the 12-15% that get made. There is something called "Samichlaus" (Santa Claus) made by Hurlimann's brewery in Switzerland, which is 14% alc.

Am i just in dream land? appreciate feedback/recipes or abuse...

How did you make the Belgian?

I've found you can make a decent kit strong belgian style with:
1 x 3kg Xtract kit from Country Brewer
1 x 1.5kg liquid malt extract
1 x 1kg dextrose or brew enhancer type mix (dex/malt blend)

I'd suggest using around 250-500 grams steeped grains as well for flavor and color.

Ferment using an appropriate yeast, and you should get close to 10% (maybe 9.5%)

It will taste great, especially if aged 3-6 months!

I used a Pilsener kit, 1.5kg liquid amber, 1kg light/dark blend (50% dex, 25% LDME, 25% DDME), + 500g steeped crystal and 75g steeped choc. Comes out looking and tasting like Leffe Radius. Now this was fermented with WB-06 ( ) because I couldn't get anything else at the time, and I wanted the clovey spicy taste it gives. Worked a treat actually - fermented around 15-18 deg and it tasted like cloves. I did add dregs from a bottle of Rochefort as well though...

Maybe if instead of a single 1kg brew enhancer, I used 1kg dry malt and 1kg dextrose, it'd get over 10%, probably close to 12...

If you want to do it, do it right. Make something delicious. Do you want something deep and rich and malty to drink this winter instead of port? Or a light golden champagne replacement like Duvel? Decide what you want and have a chat to your local homebrew shop.

 

[j1gsaw]

When i made the belgium strong ale, i used a can of Coopers Prem Sparkling Ale,
3kg of light malt extract,
500g glucose and Safale 04 yeast.
I didnt use my brain hard enough to chuck in some hops (dammit)
Im keeping the fingers crossed it will turn out drinkable, it has been in the fermenter for 5 days so far, The Hydro readings are getting stable so i should be bottling it soon. The first 2 days it sat around 24 deg and bubbled its heart out, then i scored a freezer box and have had it at 18 deg for the last 3 days etc. I did have a quick taste from the hydro tube this morning and Bang! it wasnt offensive to the taste-buds but could certainly fear the headache in it.. Im guessing it should be around the 9% area.

 

[quantocks]

just to update, I just poured my first glass of my strongest brew to date.

it's ~8%, toucan and has been in the keg conditioning for almost 2 months. I reckon one glass of this and I'll be done for the night, wouldn't make again. Definitely not until winter.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Call me a nark but I still can't find any sensible reason for me to brew a beer in excess of (say) 5%. If I want to get pickled, Bundaberg Fighting Juice does it for me. I like making beers around 3.5% - 4.5% and drinking quite a few of them, rather than struggle through a bottle of potent beer. Good luck to my fellow brewers who are into duppels, truppels, eisbocks, imperials etc .. just reckon they are a good beer ruined being that strong !

Any noobie who wants to brew a super duper brew, do it early and get it out of your sysytem. Then wake up and make something drinkable. As you get old and grumpy like me, you'll realise that the attitude of doing something just cause you can isn't good thinking.

I'll go now and drink my cocoa, take my pills and have a nap .........................

 

[KingPython]

I brewed a RIS, 3 cans of goo and .500 sugar. Shit kept on bubbling out of the airlock. Fun times. Fun times.