Higher ABV

ChrisA

Hi HBO. Of the kits I have made so far my three favourites are Coopers mexican cerveza, Woodfords Wherry and John Bull cider. I would like to make all of these again but I would like to up the ABV to around 7% and was looking for advice on how to achieve this? When I made the John Bull I made fewer pints and added extra brewing sugar. Does this work with other kits? I didn't want to add additional sugar and ruin the taste. Also is this is the correct thing to do, how much sugar should I add? Is spray malt better suited to achieve a higher ABV without altering the flavour? Simply any insight into how to achieve a stronger brew would be appreciated. Cheers Chris

HBO_Staff

Hi Chris, they are all popular brews and we're pleased they turned out well. There are the three options like you say;

- Add more sugar which ferments and increases the strength (too much will make it sweet)

- Make to a smaller volume which concentrates the alcohol and flavour

- A combination of both - add some extra sugar and brew to less pints

Doing a combination of the two is often preferred, although it makes less in volume, it wont make it too sweet. You could experiment to get the strength you want, perhaps make it to 32 pints and add an additional 500g of sugar. Hydrometer readings will tell you the alcohol strength if you take a reading at the start and end of fermentation. The flavour may be altered but should still turn out well. You could add the additional sugar in any form, brewing sugar, enhancer or spraymalt, if using spraymalt then they come in various styles so you could use a hopped style, etc, if wanted. With ciders sugar is usually used as it contains no malt. To reduce any effect on the flavour perhaps use just brewing sugar as it contains no malts.

Spraymalts can be used to alter the flavour; http://www.home-brew-online.com/ingredients-c45/spraymalts-c143

Some ranges specialise in stronger brews such as Brewferm, they tend to be darker and Belgian style, the strongest ones make only relatively strong batches though, many people make a batch of 2 tins in one go, but this does of course add to the cost

ChrisA

Thanks for the reply HBO. So what do you think about the following three brews...

Coopers Mexican Cerveza: Stick to a single tin, add 1KG coopers brew enhancer one, 500g of normal brewing sugar and only brew 30 pints.

Wherry: A single kit, add in 1.5kg of standard brewing sugar and make 30 pints.

John Bull cider: One tin, 2kg of standard brewing sugar and make 30 pints (The reason I chose this cider is because I prefer a dry cider will this make it sweet?)

With the mixes above what rough strength do you think I will achieve for each beer or cider?

I do understand that there are so many variables at each stage that affects the outcome but I was just after a rough idea.

In my experience every time I make a brew and take the final reading it seems to be a lower ABV than the guide on the packet but by then it's to late for me to correct it. 

What I am NOT after is some foul tasting rocket fuel that no one enjoys but a happy medium which still tastes good but packs a punch.

Apologies for asking so many questions

Thanks Chris

HBO_Staff

Hi Chris, that does sound like a lot of sugar to add, and reducing it to 30 pints will probably make them quite strong and possibly sweet. As a guide for the Woodfordes, if you don't add any extra sugar but made it to 24 pints it would turn out around 7% which is what they recommend for the Woodfordes Headcracker. If making a Woodfordes to 32 pints like the Admirals Reserve recommend it will come out around 5.5% without adding any additional sugars. 

Based on this you could expect the Wherry to turn out around 5.8% if brewed to 30 pints, so possibly adding 500g of sugar will increase it's strength to more like what you want. If you check the hydro readings you could then see what strength it came out to, and remember it will increase a little further when the priming sugar dissolves and ferments too.