BeerBorg

Hey folks,

I'm the type of beer drinker who doesn't usually bother with anything less than 7%, so I'm wondering if there's a way to boost the ABV of any given recipe.

Boosting ABV is easy.
More fermentables ... more yeast ... more hops

With BrewDemon recipes if I added 2 packets of their yeast it would yield an ABV boost? Any chance of harming the batch? Add all at once or add 2nd pack when da bubblin slows down?

Hello Beerme, no, more yeast by itself will not boost ABV. The sugars in the extract are what become alcohol, so more extract would be needed. More yeast is required at a certain point to ferment the additional sugars into alcohol. I recommend that you follow successful recipes before changing them. If you both are looking for strong beers, find strong beer recipes. If BrewDemon or MrBeer don't have them, you can find other extract recipes to suit you. Good luck, brew on, keep us posted.

Here is an example of a higher gravity Brew Demon recipe.
This one uses a can of HME, a can of UME, and the brew enhancer with a suggested ABV of 6.0.
For a higher ABV add another can of the HME (for more hop flavor) or UME (for maltier beer) or both (for much higher ABV).
I'd suggest using something like the US-05 yeast. Although the packet is made for 5 gallon recipes it would be appropriate for a high gravity 2 gallon batch.
You will need to ferment longer, 3-4 weeks would not be a bad idea.
It may take longer to carbonate and longer aging would not hurt.
I'll suggest that would not be a bad place to start.

Thanks guys. I think I better stick with the standard recipes for now but I will definitely be coming back to this advice about boosting ABV in time. I will be ordering the stronger recipe though, looks like the only difference is the added can of enhancer. Maybe I'll go ahead and get a few for the recipes I have waiting.

BrewDemon sells a can of "Enhancer" that they say will incease the ABV and mouthfeel of the recipe that you add it to. This is basically a liquid sugar for the yeast to convert into CO2 and Alcohol. The more sugar the yeast has to convert the higher the ABV will be. The thing that you need to be careful of is if you add too much sugar to an existing recipe you are going to impact the flavor of the beer usually giving it a cidery taste. If you want beer that has an ABV of 7% or higher look for recipes that are formulated to give you the best tasting beer at that ABV level.

If all you want to do is increase the ABV, dump a bunch of white sugar in. White sugar is fully fermentable, so it'll boost the ABV.

It won't taste very good, but if all you want it's high ABV, that'll do it. Note that adding sugar isn't necessarily a bad thing, if you know what you're doing and use the right amount.

Adding malt is a much better option, since it adds flavor, mouthfeel, and ABV. But just throwing more malt at a beer isn't a good idea, either. The worst beer I ever made was an all malt (LME) batch where my main goal wad just to have a high ABV. I did a lot seeing. I used a yeast that couldn't ferment that high, I used a hop I later learned I didn't like, and I was just going for ABV, without regard for flavor, style, etc. I think it ended up at 8.3% ABV.

But one of the best beers I've ever made was a kit that I got as a Christmas present. I think it was supposed to be 9-9.5% ABV and ended up at 10%. It was amazing.

The difference? The first one was a beer that I created just to get a high ABV. The second was a beer that was designed to be delicious and happened to have a high ABV.

I don't drink for effect anymore but love craft beers so I think I'll just stick with proven recipes. Very good information though. I have really changed my expectations on having people over for flights of my home brews. Not taking the rona into account I was planning on a tasting around the pool in June. Now I see it will be more like Halloween before I have enough different types done the correct way.

Look for an extract Scottish Wee Heavy recipe. It will turn out good, it will be strong, and it's somewhat easy to make as long as you are willing to let it age a bit before busting into it.

I used to chase high ABV when I first started but found most lacking in flavor, many actually tasting pretty bad. I have since discovered I can make an awesome tasting beer keeping it between 4.5 to 7%. When I need to kick up the ABV, I take shots of a good scotch with my beer. Now hard cider... that's a different story. Just finished a keg kicking at 14%, huge hit with everyone and extremely good tasting.

My vote is take your time learning, higher ABV while maintaining good flavor will come with time. I did not really hit my stride until I graduated to all grain brewing. Patience is a virtue with great rewards.