Making Big, High Gravity Beers

[DrKennethNoisewater]

Quick Disclaimer: I'm relatively new to homebrewing.....Currently have my 5th batch in the fermenter.

Things have gone really well thus far, but I'm ready to step up and make a big imperial stout. My question, and this would go for imperial IPA's too, or any high gravity beer for that matter, but what exactly do you do differently to make them higher in alcohol?

The beers I've made thus far have been around the 5.8-7% range. Not bad, certainly, but I want the next few to be bigger.

I'm assuming it's a combination of things, but is it as simple as using more grain, more yeast and letting the beer age longer (condition-wise)?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[GrogNerd]

Quick Disclaimer: I'm relatively new to homebrewing.....Currently have my 5th batch in the fermenter.

Things have gone really well thus far, but I'm ready to step up and make a big imperial stout. My question, and this would go for imperial IPA's too, or any high gravity beer for that matter, but what exactly do you do differently to make them higher in alcohol?

The beers I've made thus far have been around the 5.8-7% range. Not bad, certainly, but I want the next few to be bigger.

I'm assuming it's a combination of things, but is it as simple as using more grain, more yeast and letting the beer age longer (condition-wise)?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

that's pretty much it

would need more hops to keep it balanced. yeast would need to be more alcohol tolerant.

 

[hellawaits77]

I'm new too, but I think you've pretty much got it under control.

You also have to be more patient, big beers usually take a while to ferment and condition. Hopefully you're more patient than me!

 

[m3n00b]

I would say let the imperial stout age but drink an IIPA fresh. Yes, more sugar and more yeast = higher gravity

 

[DrKennethNoisewater]

Yeah....it sounds like as long as I stick to a recipe and have the necessary ingredients up front, the rest is just a waiting game (specifically, waiting longer than the normal 30 days or so).

 

[cluckk]

Quick Disclaimer: I'm relatively new to homebrewing.....Currently have my 5th batch in the fermenter.

Things have gone really well thus far, but I'm ready to step up and make a big imperial stout. My question, and this would go for imperial IPA's too, or any high gravity beer for that matter, but what exactly do you do differently to make them higher in alcohol?

The beers I've made thus far have been around the 5.8-7% range. Not bad, certainly, but I want the next few to be bigger.

I'm assuming it's a combination of things, but is it as simple as using more grain, more yeast and letting the beer age longer (condition-wise)?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Actually this is most of it, for getting the higher gravity, but making it a good higher gravity beer involves a bit more detail. The biggest problems with higher gravity beers come from having too little aeration, too little yeast pitched and too little control of fermentation temperatures. Make sure you pitch a large enough slurry of yeast. Making a good Impy without a sizable yeast starter is little more than wishful thinking. You will of course aerate well before fermentation begins, but will likely have to aerate again about 18 hours after pitching to make sure your yeast are aerated enough to make it through the anaerobic state with such high sugars for the longer fermentation period. Then you really need to keep the fermentation temperature down near the bottom end of your yeast's tolerance because they will produce enough heat to make anything higher too high.

Also keep in mind that if you do a big beer with lots of simple sugars (honey, corn sugar, etc.) you may want to add them into the fermenter after the yeast have been working on the grain extract for a while. If you have a ton of simple sugars the yeast could deplete themselves with the simple stuff and never get much done on the more complex stuff. You don't have to worry about this if all your beer's sugars come from grain, but it can take quite a large boil to get to the gravity you are looking for and new guys often do not have to capacity to make them this way.

 

[Hello]

I'm going with this guy ^^^^. Aeration. I have gone through everything with my stuck stout and frankly, I am now looking at two possible reasons this didn't take off like it should have, aeration and yeast.

 

[m3n00b]

I'm going with this guy ^^^^. Aeration. I have gone through everything with my stuck stout and frankly, I am now looking at two possible reasons this didn't take off like it should have, aeration and yeast.

Pitch a 4L decanted starter of wlp099 and it should take care of it. Fixed my 1.127 barleywine when it got stuck at 1.050...took it down to 1.020 in 2 days.

 

[GrogNerd]

1L of WLP007 took my Imperial Pumpkin from 1.080 to 1.018 in 6 days

re-aerated 24 hours after pitch
added maple syrup and yeast nutrient on day 4
add 1 jar Lyle's Golden Syrup and additional yeast on day 6 (1.018 yesterday)
add 1 jar Lyle's Golden Syrup on day 8 (tomorrow)

if that attenuation (82%) holds up, FG should be 1.022 and 14% abv

ramped from 62° to 68° in the 6 days

yesterday's sample tasted AWESOME. might be a bit too much spice, hoping bottle conditioning until next Halloween will mellow that down a bit.

 

[billl]

There aren't really any true differences brewing a higher gravity beer. It's just that all the little things become more important. Little process errors can lead to big problems.

You need to aerate properly.
You need to pitch the right amount of yeast.
You need to control temps.
You need to have a blowoff tube on.
You need to be patient.

If you are uncomfortable with any of those things, practice on lower gravity recipes. Once you've got them all under control, you'll be able to brew any recipe you want.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

More fermentables equals more alcohol. Make sure that you pitch big with your yeast, also aerate more, and make sure you use nutrients. Also keep a sharp eye on the fermentation temp, more malt equals a greater potential heat generation. Big beers are made or broken on the cold side of things.

 

[DrKennethNoisewater]

One last question - and I appreciate all the feedback - but I've been using liquid yeast (smack-packs)....so, should I throw two packs?

* I do all grain

 

[GrogNerd]

One last question - and I appreciate all the feedback - but I've been using liquid yeast (smack-packs)....so, should I throw two packs?

* I do all grain

two packs

or one pack and build a starter. cheaper that way. some use flasks and a stirplate, I use quart canning jars and swirl it once in a while

 

[Schol-R-LEA]

At least two, certainly. Better would be to buy a yeast starter kit like this one, plus a 2L flask and a stir plate, and prepare at least 2L of yeast starter (which would take both flasks). A big beer requires a lot of starter for the best results.

It's actually a pretty simple procedure: you hydrate and boil about 0.5lb of DME in the 1L flask. Cap the flask and let it cool. While it cools (or after it is cooled), start the smack-pack and let it develop. Once the pack is ready, and the wort in the flask is cool, add the sanitized stir bar to the flask, pour the starter into the flask, and re-seal with an airlock. Put it on the stir plate, turn the plate on, and let it propagate for at least 12 hours. While that is running, prepare another half pound of DME wort in the 2L flask (only fill the flask half way). Seal and cool the 2L flask, then pour the propagated yeast into the 2L flask and set it up on the stir plate.

If you want to make more starter - and with a beer this big you might want 3L worth - clean and re-prepare the 1L flask, and add a second smack-pack to that (or pour a couple fl. ozs. out of the 2L flask to get the same effect).

If you use BeerSmith, it will calculate how much starter you need for a given beer for you, under the 'Starter' tab.

 

[DrKennethNoisewater]

Really appreciate the feedback....

Those links are great.

Thanks fellas.

So, to clarify. After you properly prepare that starter, you wouldn't add it into the carboy until the next day? The newly brewed-beer is ok to sit there for 24 hours without yeast?

And it's ok to use DME to make your starter, even if you're doing an all-grain brew?

 

[GrogNerd]

Really appreciate the feedback....

Those links are great.

Thanks fellas.

So, to clarify. After you properly prepare that starter, you wouldn't add it into the carboy until the next day? The newly brewed-beer is ok to sit there for 24 hours without yeast?

And it's ok to use DME to make your starter, even if you're doing an all-grain brew?

make your starter 1 or 2 days ahead of brew day.

and it's OK to use DME. you're basically making a unhopped starter beer but allowing oxygen so it reproduces instead of fermenting, dumping the beer and using the yeast cake

 

[DrKennethNoisewater]

make your starter 1 or 2 days ahead of brew day.

and it's OK to use DME. you're basically making a unhopped starter beer but allowing oxygen so it reproduces instead of fermenting, dumping the beer and using the yeast cake

You're the man, Grog.

Thanks so much.

 

[PhilT]

One other thing to keep in mind, assuming your goal is to get the highest ABV you can, is to mash at a little lower temp. Mashing at 148-150 degrees F as opposed to 152-154 will give you more fermentable sugars, and in turn the yeast will give you a lower FG. The trade off of this is of course a little dryer beer instead of one with a little residual sweetness, so you have to decide what type of taste and mouth feel you want from you beer. I've brewed some high gravity beers where I hit my target OG, but couldn't get it fermented down to my target FG despite all the good suggestions I got like those on this post (all great info btw). After I brewed the same recipe again, the answer to my particular situation was a lower mash temp. M.A.S.H. (More alcohol, lower temp). Just my two cents on the topic. Good luck and happy brewing!