Increasing ABV

[Charles Schwatz]

I'm getting ready to brew my first batch of Muntons Traditional Bitter and I want to boost the alcohol to around 5%, I was given an extra kilo of dextrose to add to the wort but I've read that this can ruin the flavour. What is the best way to boost the alcohol of a kit beer?

[Mike Neilson]

Decrease Volume and or increase malt extract. even better step some grain. have fun

[Charles Schwatz]

How much volume would you decrease by? This particular kit is for 23 litres. As far as increasing the malt extract, does that mean I should buy another can of bitter and add it in?

[Ian]

I made some Muntons stout recently and used a can of dark malt extract (no hops added) instead of dextrose and it worked really well. You can use two kits instead of sugar or dextrose too, but then your beer will be double hopped, which might be more than you like. Remember that the SG after fermentation will be a bit higher than it would with kit and dextrose brew.
Ian

[Kempicus]

Always use double malt extract instead of sugar etc, your head and the head retention of the beer will thank you....don't worry to much about the amount of bitternesss from two kits....there's hardly any hops in them anyway and by the time it gets to you and you boil it there's nothing left of what was there.
I'd just drop the volume to 20-21 litres, I'd always decrease volume rather than add malt because there's only so much room in your barrel and if it's a shocker you haven't wasted more cash....if it's good you can always make another!
what yeast are you using?
do you have a hydrometer?
I often know what OG i want because i know how the yeast will perform so i add water (or not) till i get there, i just made an APA that ended up at 5.8% and the volume was 19L

[Charles Schwatz]

thanks for that Kempicus, so it sounds like the easiest way is to go with a drop in volume and no extra sugar. I did get a kilo of beer enhancer kit that I'll use in lieu of any dextrose. I'm waiting for a quality yeast from "your shout" as I don't want to use the yeast that came with the pack. I do have a hydrometer, and my basic knowledge of these is that after ten days I will test, and then again the next day- if the reading is the same then I'm ready to bottle?

[Kempicus]

Brew enhancers are ok but i wouldn't bother again....you can make much better flavours yourself witha a few grains and hops.

Nah not that long, the most important thing is a constant temp, it needs to be between 18-24°C at that temp it should brew out in a max of 7 days, more likely 5-6 days i'm dead against leaving beer in primary to long i find the yeast suffer from autolysis and produce dodgy flavours so i get it out as soon as it's finished. I'd check it every day even twice a day, you get a good handle on the fermentation process then. Basically i wait till i stop seeing and hearing bubbles rising in the beer to test and then you're dead write check it and then check it the next day, if it's the same it's finished

[Charles Schwatz]

Great stuff, seeing as I've got the enhancer I'll use it, and I'll reduce down to 21 litres. Who do you deal with in respects to buying the grains and hops? The shop I bought my kit from (your shout in chch) didn't seem to interested in talking about ways to improve the quality.

[Kempicus]

great expectations in Wellington

www.greatexpectations.co.nz

I get my hops from the brewers coop in Auckland...awesome selection! Mike mails stuff out no problem, email him and ask for his price list, actually i get everything from there...grain, yeast the lot!

[e-mail]

Improving quality is what this forum is for! :0)

[Charles Schwatz]

I've got a tin of malt extract coming in from the team at great expectations, sounds like I need to add about 20% of the can to my wort, and brew as usual. I'll report on how this brew goes, and with my next one I'm going straight into the whole grain/malt soaking thing, my goal is beer that tastes great and has a minimum abv of 4.5% (I spent too much time in europe so low volume beer is wasted on me) has anyone got a good recipe for a 5% ale, I'd love something that resembles my favourite ESB from Fullers Brewerey.

[Charles Schwatz]

How long will the left over malt extract last in the fridge? Seeing as I'll by using about 20% of the can to boost the ale, this will leave me a fair bit. Hopefully in can last a week so that I can use more of it in my next brew.

[Kempicus]

No idea mate....how about use it all, can't do any harm and you like stronger beers! i imagine it will be ok for a week with a lid on....your gonna boil it anyway

[Charles Schwatz]

Right, the whole lot is going in! I should probably think of adding some hops to balance out, but seeing as this is the first home brew I'll go ultra basic. Should be very interesting to see what the end ABV is, and hopefully it is a palatable brew. One of the lads at work commented "you'll lose yer mates when you homebrew, I've seen it happen, everyone hates crap beer". I'll bet he'll be begging for some of my brews once I get the hang of it!