I’ve tried emailing customer support several times but no response, so I figured I’ll ask fellow brewers instead.
I brewed the Midnight Beatdown Wheaton Porter recently and it may be my new favorite.
I would like to boost the alcohol content in the next batch but unsure which would be the best option.
Should I add the Brewers Crystals or should I use the Fast Pitch Canned Wort to do this?
Could you tell me which you would recommend and why?
Fast Pitch is intended for yeast starters, and wouldn’t be recommended in this application.
What did you like in particular about this kit? There are different methods for increasing ABV, but they’ll change the character of the finished beer.
I am a porter fan, I found this recipe to be not quite as dark but very smooth and still having a ‘deep’ flavor. It is also very easy to prepare and doesn’t require months to complete.
I was under the impression that the advantage of using fast pitch was an more improved flavor, but it did also produce a higher alcohol content.
Fast Pitch is pasteurized high gravity wort with yeast nutrient that is intended to be diluted for yeast starters. I don’t think it’ll improve any flavor.
If you want to maintain the balance of the beer as you’ve described it: I would plug the recipe into your favorite recipe builder to see where the numbers line up, then bump up the gravity with some more malt extract (a pound of amber DME maybe?) and then add a touch more hops so the IBU’s stay in line.
Are you doing extract or all grain?
You can add DME or Belgian candy sugar to the end of the boil, but both methods can thin out the beer at the end. I made a stout that had molasses at the end of the boil that I think turned out pretty good.
If doing all grain, you could look at the grain bill and slightly increase the grain while keeping the water volume the same.
Fast pitch has zero effect on alcohol content. It is designed to make a yeast starter without doing any extra work. You truly need to make more fermentables sugars in your wort for the yeast to eat.
Are you brewing extract? If so I think I’d add more DME but also add something to give it some backbone like lactose.
You do extract or all grain. All grain. You can increase the grain bill. And do a starter. Fast pitch are for doing a yeast starter. If you dont have a stir plate. You could do the shake. And stir method. Or get a smackpack. Other method. You could add. More dme. Or candysugar. Regular sugar works as well. I do rock sugar ones a while. You might want to plug your recipy. Into a brewing soft ware. See how you come out. By using more sugars or dme. As well. Y use yeast starter calculator.
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