I am currently brewing 5gal. AG. Can anyone provide some direction on the best way to increase my gravity and ultimately alcohol content by adding sugar. The type and schedule for adding would be helpful. My next batch will likely be an IPA and I wanted to hit around 7%abv. Thanks
Why sugar and not more grain?
I agree. When I want to boost, I’ll add an extra pound of grain, or DME. Much better than sugar. However, if you wish to add sugar, then add corn sugar with abut 15 minutes remaining in the boil.
Just know that when adding sugar you will be thining the body of the beer. Sugar is 100% fermentable. Yoyu will get more alcohol… it that is your only goal. DME will increase the original gravity and will (in my opinion) give you a better beer.
A few years back I was involved with brewing a beer with Chris Colby. He liked to add 1lb of sugar to his IPA’a to dry them out a little.
1lb raises your OG by .009 on 5 gallons.
The old rule is no more than 10% of the fermentables should be sugar. Do you have some brewing software that will tell you %'s?
[quote=“Nighthawk”]A few years back I was involved with brewing a beer with Chris Colby. He liked to add 1lb of sugar to his IPA’a to dry them out a little.
1lb raises your OG by .009 on 5 gallons.
The old rule is no more than 10% of the fermentables should be sugar. Do you have some brewing software that will tell you %'s?[/quote]
Belgian beers frequently exceed 10% sugar. Duvel, for example, includes 17-18% sugar (don’t recall exactly).
To the op, grab a demo copy of brewsmith and fiddle with the number until you reach your desired gravity. I would add a word of caution, the thinner your beer the higher your perception of bitterness will be.
If it was me, I would probably just downscale my water and hops to get the gravity I wanted rather than adding sugar. I would also make sure as heck to use a hop bag when dry hopping this time. I lost way more than I expected last time by neglecting this step.
There are those that just wanta make “beer” creatively and then there are those that want to make BJCP style guideline beers. That’s not to say you must brew BJCP. I thinks the current buzz words are reverse engineering your recipe. One of the masters did an article in either BYO or Zymurgy recently. Figure out what you want the final product to taste, smell, feel and look like and build accordingly. There are a lot of books and software out there to assist you in the process. I don’t want to stifle creativity as I have painted outside the lines on several occasions… sometimes successful and others not so good. Heck my last one involved 8oz of cinnamon teddy grams in the boil of a brown beer called Dead Bear Brown…
While I wouldn’t call myself a “master”, it sounds like you’re referring to the article I wrote for Zymurgy a couple issues back.
Thanks for all the replies. I think my original concern was the inability to fit enough grain in my 5gal. mash tun to get the gravity and alcohol where I wanted it. I have a secret love affair with Sierra Nevada Torpedo and wanted to get close to that style. It does have all the characteristics I like in an IPA.
Thanks again
