Going against the Grain

[fatbelly]

Hi All,
A bit of a play on words in the title of my post because my Brew Buddy is going on a Canal Boat Stag do and wants me to do him & his fellow Stags a Cornie full of High Strength AG Beer to take with them.
I was thinking of doing an AG from Grahams Book & then just adding about a kilo of Dextrose to increase the ABV, will this just increase the ABV without affecting the balance of the Beer or will it add unwanted flavours etc to the Brew.

I know using Dexrose goes against the Grain (pardon the Pun) for us AG brewers but they will want a Brew that tastes as good as it can but knocks their socks off.

Thanks in Advance FB

[colgilbec]

You can bump up any recipe to get high alcohol using sugar/dextrose but the chances are ,it will taste crap.
If you want to impress,try brewing Sierra Nevada by Mysterio, comes out appx 6- 6.2%.
A cracking drink, thats to be drank with respect or your mates will probably sink the boat,lol.

[jimp2003]

I think it will depend on the recipe that the kilo of sugar is added to. It might work with some styles but not others. For example a lot of Belgian beers use a good amount of sugar or syrup.

Have you got a base recipe in mind? It might be easier to post that and ask - "Would this still be okay if I bunged in a kilo of dextrose?".....

[Gold]

When brewing higher strength beers you will also want to up the quantities of hops used at all points in order to balance out the alcohol.

[jmc]

You can bump up any recipe to get high alcohol using sugar/dextrose but the chances are ,it will taste crap.
If you want to impress,try brewing Sierra Nevada by Mysterio, comes out appx 6- 6.2%.
A cracking drink, thats to be drank with respect or your mates will probably sink the boat,lol.

+1

Choose a recipe designed to have an AV of 5.5%+ and you're more likely to have a success.

Something like Saturn V should please ale & lager drinkers.

[Ringbolt]

When brewing higher strength beers you will also want to up the quantities of hops used at all points in order to balance out the alcohol.

+1. Try to keep BU:GU (Bitterness units to Gravity units) a constant for the given beer style.

http://beersmith.com/blog/2009/09/26/ba ... ess-ratio/

[seymour]

You can bump up any recipe to get high alcohol using sugar/dextrose but the chances are ,it will taste crap...

I strongly disagree. I bet if all brewers told the whole truth, you'd find many of your all-time favourite English ales contain >10% simple sugar (cane, corn, beet, or rice). There is nothing wrong with brewers including some sugar. It's time to dispel this myth.

I think it will depend on the recipe that the kilo of sugar is added to. It might work with some styles but not others. For example a lot of Belgian beers use a good amount of sugar or syrup...

Beloved UK beers too, such as:
Adnams, Barclay Perkins, Bass, Beamish, Belhaven, Big Lamp, Black Sheep, Boddingtons, Broughton, Brunswick, Bullmastiff, Burton Bridge, Burtonwood, Butterknowle, Charles Wells, Chiltern, Cornish, Courage, Crouch Vale, Crown Buckley, Diageo, Daniel Thwaites, Davenports, Donnington, Eldridge Pope & Co, Elgood & Sons, Enville, Everards, Felinfoel, Fremlins, Fullers, George Bateman & Son, George Gale & Co, Goddards, Greene, King & Sons, Hall & Woodhouse, Hampshire, Hardys & Hansons, Hartleys, Harvey & Son, Harviestoun, Highgate, Higsons, Holdens, Home, Hook Norton, Hoskins & Oldfield, Ind Coope, Isle of Man Breweries, J. Arkell & Sons, J. C. & R. H. Palmer, J. W. Cameron, J. W. Lees & Co, James Shipstone & Sons, Jennings Bros, John Smith's (don't judge me, their original Magnet Bitter and other cask-conditioned brews were good), Joseph Holt & Co, Joshua Tetley & Son, Kidd and Sons, King & Barnes, Linfit, Lloyds, Maclay & Co, Mansfield, Marston, Matthew Brown, McEwan & Younger, McMullen & Sons, Mitchells of Lancaster, Moorhouse's, Morland, Morrells, Nix Wincott, Noakes, Northern Clubs Federation, Orkney, Otter, Pilgrim, Poole, Premier Ales, R. W. Randall, Reepham, Robert Cain, Ross Brewing Co, Ruddles, Rudgate, S.A. Brain & Co, Samuel Webster & Wilsons, Scottish & Newcastle, Shepherd Neame, Smithwick's, Spikes, Steam Packet, T. & R. Theakston, T. D. Ridley & Sons, Tennants, Tetley Walker/Warrington, The Jersey Brewery/Ann St. Brewery, Timothy Taylor, Titanic, Tolly Cobbold, Tom Hoskins, Trough, Truman, Uley, Ushers, Vaux, W. H. Brakspear & Sons, Wadworth & Co, Ward's, Welsh, Whitbread, Wychwood, William Stones, William Younger, Wiltshire, Young & Co, and surely many, many more.

[jonnyt]

Agreed, if they can get away with sugar they will given the cost incentive. You can balance with other malts and high mashing temperature for body as an example.

[colgilbec]

Re sugar, i probably read into the original post wrongly and apologise for maybe misleading info assuming something was required quickly but at a crazy alcohol level by using lots of sugars to just get a knock you out brew instead of balancing things out.
I do use sugar in recipes,although fairly small quantities and agree most brewers do instead of bumping up the malt.
So to save getting off track,i,m off,good luck.

[Pinto]

I think you have a name for the brew whatever with the title thread

What are your audiences tastes ? are they fosters drinkers or can they take something with a little more charecter ?

I think I'd go for two brews so I could cover all eventualities (and what a terrible shame if I just so happened to make too much... ) Two recipes I have in mind specifically are my designs for a Fullers Golden Pride clone for the flavour seekers and hopheads and for those who like it lighter, I have a nice Carlsberg Special Brew clone.

Other thing that comes to mind is the when - those brain bustin' high ABV brews are likely to require a little time in the keg to mature, so the sooner they're in the FV....