Page 1 of 2

10% Beer anyone?

Posted: Wednesday May 02, 2007 9:17 pm
by gazpachos0up
Hi my mate and i wanna make a strong beer (like 10%) but cheaply (theres always a catch :wink: ) we are thinking using 3kg of normal white sugar with 2 cans of Coopers Bitter on special at woollies this week. Some hops which i have in the fridge, Saazs i think, boiled 20mins to release some bitter flavours to over power the flavour cheap sugar will give. We're not too concerned if its too bitter. But it should have some flavour with the 2 cans.

Any other recommendations for sugars to use eg brown etc for better flavours. Or grains to add?
Also how much would you recommend to use for bottling? I was thinking half of normal just in case.
One more thing, we were thinking with so much sugar should we add the 2 packs of yeast that come with the kits (re hydrated) before use or buy a better yeast.
Or is this all just a bad idea. Be honest....






When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading. 8)

Posted: Wednesday May 02, 2007 9:38 pm
by gregb

Posted: Thursday May 03, 2007 11:29 am
by FazerPete
I did a toucan brew (1 stout, 1 draught) with 500g of LDME and it came out at 8.5% with a nice rich flavour.

I reckon if you up the LDME to 1kg and chucked in an extra kilo of Dex then you'd likely get up to near 10%. You'll definitely need both yeasts though and to be honest you might need to buy a better one to handle that much alcohol.

Posted: Thursday May 03, 2007 1:11 pm
by Sathias
You could try this one, always been intrigued to try it :)

http://www.brewcraft.com.au/wa.asp?idWe ... etails=296

Posted: Thursday May 03, 2007 1:25 pm
by drsmurto
Sathias wrote:You could try this one, always been intrigued to try it :)

http://www.brewcraft.com.au/wa.asp?idWe ... etails=296
Quality instructions there
When the temperature is 30ºC or less, add the yeast & continue making your beer as described in
And that from a HB supplier........scary that. Doesnt look like a saison recipe to me... :P

Posted: Thursday May 03, 2007 2:07 pm
by rwh
Take a look at the Fightin' Uruk Hai (down the bottom). I think the suggestion that you pitch onto the yeast cake from a previous brew is a good one.
OG: 1.090 - 1.130
FG: 1.015 - 1.035
100 - 150 IBUs
;)
My other suggestion: Forget the white sugar. Go get yourself a 5kg bag of LDME from Grain and Grape, works out to $6 a kg. But that's up to you.

Posted: Saturday May 05, 2007 3:56 pm
by gibbocore
dude, reculture a belgian yeast, i used a chimay yeast starter, pitched at 1080 and it fermented right down to 1012, it puts hairs on your chest!

Posted: Saturday May 05, 2007 4:19 pm
by Chris
Firstly, let me say that it sounds like it will be awful.

That aside, save some money on yeast, and use a re-cultured Coopers stout yeast. It's cheaper than the Chimay, and it will take you to 10%.

Or as RWH said, you can pitch onto an existing cake.

Ha ha ha

Posted: Saturday May 05, 2007 5:13 pm
by gazpachos0up
Its too late now. its made and brewing away :twisted: we will be drinking strong strange tasting beer in a few short weeks. :oops:

Posted: Saturday May 05, 2007 5:16 pm
by Chris
It'll be strong alright. And that goes double for strange tasting :D

why?

Posted: Saturday May 05, 2007 5:18 pm
by gazpachos0up
why do you think it'll taste that strange?

Posted: Saturday May 05, 2007 5:29 pm
by Chris
The 3kg of white sugar. It will give you some crazy flavours. It'll taste like strong, bitter, alcoholic cider most likely.

Let us know how it does actually taste.

chris

Posted: Saturday May 05, 2007 5:44 pm
by gazpachos0up
we'll do, we actually used 3kg raw sugar in the end... and some crystal grain roll boiled for 20mins with saazs added at the end for a couple of mins and it wasn't coopers bitter, it was two lager packs..

does this sound any better than the one before?
:roll:

Posted: Saturday May 05, 2007 8:11 pm
by morgs
Did you really boil the grain or just steep at bout 70 - 80 deg? Boiling will bring out tannins from the grain, like sucking on a used tea bag.

Posted: Sunday May 06, 2007 12:21 am
by nt
My first batch was coopers lager can with brewing sugar. Two weeks, it taste absolute cidery I couldn't drink it. After 6 months, the cidery bit is gone and is drinkable.

Posted: Sunday May 06, 2007 2:59 am
by rwh
Haha my guess is it'll taste absolute shite. You'll probably learn your lesson tho :P

One of my mates did something similar, brewed what he called "alcohol water" using sugar, yeast nutrient and yeast. At some stage someone dropped a bottle of it in his garage, and he said that he couldn't go near it to clean up the broken glass for 2 days because every time he got too close he wanted to barf. :lol:

oh

Posted: Sunday May 06, 2007 9:31 am
by gazpachos0up
what have we done.... :oops:

we'll wait and see :twisted:

Posted: Sunday May 06, 2007 10:52 am
by rwh
No no, it won't be as bad as the alcohol water. At least there's the 2 tins which are mostly LDME which might keep the yeasties happy enough to not produce too much disgustingness. It's certainly going to be an interesting experiment, though I'm glad you're the guinea pigs rather than me. :lol:

...

Posted: Sunday May 06, 2007 3:47 pm
by gazpachos0up
Hopefully it'll be ok, my mates a bit of an alcho i think so it'll be good either way.



Anyone know a good recipe for India Pale Ale from a black rock can?





When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading 8)

Posted: Sunday May 06, 2007 4:53 pm
by rwh
You should be able to modify this recipe I made up for a mate:

Paint and Wallpaper India Pale Ale

Kit:
- Coopers India Pale Ale (IBU 23.5) or Coopers Pale Ale kit (IBU 19)

Additional Fermentables:
- 3kg Light Dry Malt Extract

Additional Hops:
40g Challenger at 60 minutes
25g Goldings at 15 minutes
25g Goldings at 5 minutes
Target IBU: 60

Replacement Yeast:
- 1 or 2 sachets of Safale S-04

Method:
1. Borrow Rob's big pot.
2. 2/3 fill put with water, add LDME. Bring to a light boil. Add Challenger, boil for 45 minutes, add first lot of Goldings hops, boil for 10 minutes. Add second lot of Goldings, boil for another 5 minutes.
3. Add the Pale Ale kit, dissolve. Cool wort to arount 50°C, add to fermenter, top up to 23L. Aerate the wort by stirring it briskly.
4. Pitch yeast.