High ABV beer recipe!

[ThaBrewFather06]

I am new to home brewing and my first bre is coming in at around 5% ABV I really want to make a beer I can't go buy in the store. 5% ABV doesn't cut it to me. My second batch is mine and my buddies version of a dogfish head midus touch that had a OG of 1.082 and I'm hoping to get between 8 and 9 % ABV. My question to you guys is does anyone have a recipe for an IPA with a high ABV like the dogfish head 120 min IPA 17% or their olde school barley wine that comes in at 14.5%? Does anyone else feel like its not worth spending all that time brewing, and bottling, and waiting if they get the same or less ABV? Thanks guys if anyone can help its YOU!!!!

 

[edin88]

honestly, as one new brewer to another, i would advise against trying to brew a beer with such high gravity, here's why. are you doing all-grain or not?

1) equipment. it's difficult to mash such a large amount of grain, even if you have a 10 gallon cooler mash tun. it's just a lot of water and a lot of grain.
2) all the recipes i've seen require adding adjuncts (extra fermentables) because it's tough to get all the fermentables you need from grain alone. working with adjuncts is a new dimension to brewing. if you've done it and nailed it, then OK, but if not, do you really understand what to add and when to add it and how much? in its simplest form, you're just adding more sugar to your beer, but if you're trying to get a clone and not just shooting for a high abv, it's more complex than that.
3) yeast! you need sooo much yeast to finish that big a fermentation. consequently, you should be very familiar with yeast starters, counting yeast, pitching rates, etc.

those are the things to come to mind for me. the thing is, if you just wanna brew a high abv beer and care for little else, it's this simple: use a lot of base lot (what's a lot? i dunno, 20+ pounds for 5 gallons seems like a lot), pitch like 7 vials of liquid yeast (i've never used dry), then once the strongest fermentation is done (probs like after 2-3 days), add some sugar (1 lb to a couple pounds i'd imagine), let that ferment, check the gravity, repeat sugar additions, profit?

but who knows what that beer will taste like!

 

[freisste]

If I'm not mistaken, DFH spent quite a while working on yeast to get through that much fermentible material. Most yeast simply can't survive/function at such a high ABV. (How long would you last in your own waste product?) I don't know offhand of any yeasts that can go up to 17%. Obviously they exist, but you are getting into complicated topics.

 

[jester5120]

I've made clones of 120 minute and world wide stout. It's a pretty complicated process. You need to use multiple yeast strains, and periodically dose the beer with sugar and oxygen

 

[Yooper]

If it's just about ABV, why not buy a bottle of Everclear?

I'm teasing, of course, but the whole point of brewing is not to "make high ABVs that you can't buy in stores". I can buy a pint of vodka anytime, and that has a much higher ABV than any beer.

The point of brewing is to make excellent beer that you can enjoy. Some may be 4% "lawnmower" beers, while others are 11% barleywines.

There are some issues with super high ABV beers that make it hard for a novice. Some are pretty simple to fix (no carbonation once the yeast die of alcohol poisoning means simply kegging) while others are complicated (yeast pitching and yeast health and incremental feeding).

Many of my beers are 5-6%, because I like to have several beers and still be able to function, but some are higher. And some are less.