what is a "big beer"

What does it mean when someone refers to a "big beer", is this in regards to ABV? And what is the tipping point between a "big beer" and a normal beer??

I am reading about certain equipment and how its great if you dont brew 5gal batches of "big beers", ok well I am not sure if I even like "big beers" at this point haha

Its hard to do a search for this as just random times "big beer" have been used are coming up.

A big beer IMHO is 1.080+. With regard to your mash it means more grain, and there is limited capacity.

Steve da sleeve

Any beer that has an original gravity (OG) of 1.070 or greater.

It's a subjective thing. Some people might think anything over 1.065. Others might think anything over 1.080.

Big beers mean higher OG, which typically translates to higher ABV, but for brewing purposes will require more grain and mash tun volume.

As far as where is the line between normal beers and big beers, that's a bit subjective, like asking what color is grey. For me, though, anything over 1.060 is getting into "big beer" territory.

where big beer starts varies
I don't think 1.060-1.070 is "big" , it its getting there though

A 5 gallon tun starts getting full with 10lbs of grain, some can squeeze in 12.
5-5.5 gallons around 1.050 depending on the phase of the moon, is where you start thinking about a bigger cooler.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/how-big-your-mash-tun-needs-123585/

Listen... It's not the size of your beer that counts... it's what you do with it!

+1 on amandabab

a glass with 2 liters or more of cold golden goodness, thats a big beer

I call it 1.070-80+ To me there is a grey area where you might have a lighter body/higher alcohol or heavier body/less alcohol depending on the style

Come on guys... It's obviously anything over a starting gravity of 1.07742321 and nothing less...

Seriously though, that 8% is a pretty nice marker for me

inhousebrew gets some ridiculously accurate specific gravity readings...

I think of a "big beer" as a beer that requires more finesse in brewing. A bigger grainbill, more yeast cells, more yeast pampering, longer aging time, and more "boozy" flavor that may need some aging.

I think it can start as low as 1.070ish as far as yeast concerns, but a "big beer" is normally something like a barley wine or Russian imperial stout or a beer that can be tough to brew. A 1.075 IPA is nothin'! Anybody can do that- including me! But a 1.095 barley wine can be challenging.

I never really heard a definition of "big beer" but I normally think of a big beer as a higher OG beer that may have complex flavors (ie oak, smoke, roast) and may require some technical expertise to get it to finish appropriately.

Does *final* gravity have any play in determining "bigness"? I mean, hypothetically would an OG 1.06 FG 1.005 (difference .055) be considered smaller than an OG 1.07 FG 1.019 (difference .051) even though the first beer has a higher ABV?