Beer brewers of ATOT am I doing it right?

[Quiksilver]

Brewers of ATOT, I have a Cooper's Brewing Kit and I have already used up what was in the kit and now I want to make my second brew. The problem is I wasn't really happy with the alcohol content of the first brew (only came out to be around OG 1030). So now I want to make a few changes in my next brew.

First I would like to increase the alcohol content so that it will be around OG 1055 and from what I read on google searches the way to do this is to use a good yeast one that can handle/produce a higher alcohol content and increase the amount of sugar used during fermenting.

Second as Coopers doesn't make a brown ale kit(anymore) I would like to switch to a Muntons Brown Ale.

Thirdly I would also like to use a Safale S-04 or S-05 (not sure which yet) yeast instead of whatever comes with the Muntons brown ale as it apparently handles the higher alcohol content better.

Now those are the changes I would like to make but I have a few questions.

With the increased alcohol content how do I prevent the beer from thinning out from the extra alcohol content?

The issue with Muntons brown ale kit(1.8kg) is a little larger than what Coopers kit (1.7kg) uses; should I weigh out the brown ale kit so that it is 1.7kg like the coopers kit or just leave it as is?

Same kind of question with the yeast, I think the Muntons yeast is 6 grams, the Coopers yeast as 7 grams, and the Safale yeast is I think 11.5 grams; should I measure that out to be 7 grams or leave it as is?

As far as Sugar content goes I think I got it right:
OG 1055 minus OG 1040 (if using the lowest OG value muntons clams the brown ale has) should be an extra 39 grams per litre or 897 grams extra for the full 23 litres the Coopers Kit can make.

Also as the Coopers kit says to boil 2 litres of water when adding the malt and sugar; but as I am using more malt and more sugar; should I boil an additional amount of water as well?

Should I add any malto-dextrin?

A list of ingredients I plan on using...

1x Muntons Brown Ale Kit
1x Safale Yeast
1x 3 pound bag Muntons Dark Dried Malt Extract *
1x 4 pound bag of Corn Sugar **

* 1kg of it.
** 897 grams of it.

Sorry if it seems like I'm just rambling on here, but I am just trying to make sure I covered everything...

Thanks to anyone who helps 😀

Updated with links

 

[huberm]

if you're going for higher alcohol content why not just get a high gravity kit? It'll take the guesswork out of getting the right mixtures.

 

[SearchMaster]

OG does not determine alcohol content. OG - FG does, though it's certainly easier to have a higher FG with a higher OG. As long as you don't go too nuts with the extra malt/sugars, you shouldn't have to use extra water with your boiled wort.

Use the whole packet of yeast, if it's "too much" you'll just have extra sediment (well, I suppose it's possible that it will ferment a bit overzealously but not likely).

I'm a pretty novice brewer myself so take what I say with a grain of salt 😉

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Brewers of ATOT, I have a Cooper's Brewing Kit and I have already used up what was in the kit and now I want to make my second brew. The problem is I wasn't really happy with the alcohol content of the first brew (only came out to be around OG 1030). So now I want to make a few changes in my next brew.

First I would like to increase the alcohol content so that it will be around OG 1055 and from what I read on google searches the way to do this is to use a good yeast one that can handle/produce a higher alcohol content and increase the amount of sugar used during fermenting.

Second as Coopers doesn't make a brown ale kit(anymore) I would like to switch to a Muntons Brown Ale.

Thirdly I would also like to use a Safale S-04 or S-05 (not sure which yet) yeast instead of whatever comes with the Muntons brown ale as it apparently handles the higher alcohol content better.

Now those are the changes I would like to make but I have a few questions.

With the increased alcohol content how do I prevent the beer from thinning out from the extra alcohol content?
The issue with Muntons brown ale kit(1.8kg) is a little larger than what Coopers kit (1.7kg) uses; should I weigh out the brown ale kit so that it is 1.7kg like the coopers kit or just leave it as is?

Same kind of question with the yeast, I think the Muntons yeast is 6 grams, the Coopers yeast as 7 grams, and the Safale yeast is I think 11.5 grams; should I measure that out to be 7 grams or leave it as is?

As far as Sugar content goes I think I got it right:
OG 1055 minus OG 1040 (if using the lowest OG value muntons clams the brown ale has) should be an extra 39 grams per litre or 897 grams extra for the full 23 litres the Coopers Kit can make.

Also as the Coopers kit says to boil 2 litres of water when adding the malt and sugar; but as I am using more malt and more sugar; should I boil an additional amount of water as well?

Should I add any malto-dextrin?

A list of ingredients I plan on using...

1x Muntons Brown Ale Kit
1x Safale Yeast
1x 3 pound bag Muntons Dark Dried Malt Extract *
1x 4 pound bag of Corn Sugar **

* 1kg of it.
** 897 grams of it.

Sorry if it seems like I'm just rambling on here, but I am just trying to make sure I covered everything...

Thanks to anyone who helps 😀

Adding that much sugar is a bad idea. The biggest problem with regards to alcohol content is folks not letting the secondary go long enough.

Your recipe needs some help. Try this.
* 5 lbs Munton's Plain Amber Dry Malt Extract
* 2 lbs. Munton's Plain Light Dry Malt Extract
* 1 lb. Crushed Grain Mix (1/2 50 L Crystal & 1/2 chocolate)
* 2 oz. Willamette Whole Flower Hops 4.9%
* Prime with 3/4 cup Corn Sugar
* 1 teaspoon irish moss 1/2 way thru boil
* WYeast #1028 London Ale or RTP English Ale Yeast

If you want more alcohol, bump the malt. Never just add sugar. The yeast can handle it. The above recipe should give you what you want though.

Happy brewing. Don't forget step #12: Have a beer, relax.

 

[bigdog1218]

If you want anything decent I would not use 4lbs of sugar. Even though that is a quick way to boost alcohol content, it generally gives cidery off flavors, especially at that amount. A lot of sugar will also contribute to a thin beer.

The whole packet of yeast will be fine, I always start my fermentation at the lower end of the recommended temperature. Which helps making a cleaner beer with less off tastes.

You don't say how much beer you're making but 6lbs of extract should make ~5 gal of 1.055 beer.

And boiling more water will help dissolve the DME better so if you do use 6lbs you should increase it, but how much depends on the size of the pot you're using and how you're cooling the wort.

 

[Quiksilver]

Adding that much sugar is a bad idea. The biggest problem with regards to alcohol content is folks not letting the secondary go long enough.

Your recipe needs some help. Try this.
* 5 lbs Munton's Plain Amber Dry Malt Extract
* 2 lbs. Munton's Plain Light Dry Malt Extract
* 1 lb. Crushed Grain Mix (1/2 50 L Crystal & 1/2 chocolate)
* 2 oz. Willamette Whole Flower Hops 4.9%
* Prime with 3/4 cup Corn Sugar
* 1 teaspoon irish moss 1/2 way thru boil
* WYeast #1028 London Ale or RTP English Ale Yeast

If you want more alcohol, bump the malt. Never just add sugar. The yeast can handle it. The above recipe should give you what you want though.

Happy brewing. Don't forget step #12: Have a beer, relax.

I wasn't planning on using just the corn sugar, I was going to mix the dried malt and sugar, just to get a balanced cidery and malty taste.

As for your reciepe it sounds rather complicated as I'm just a newbie at this; the best I know are the simple directions that my kit had told me, which is basically:

Bring X Water to Boil.
Put Boiled water into fermenter.
Add Can of syrup and sugar/dme; stir until dissolved.
Top off with X cold water
Let cool until X degrees
Add Yeast
Close up the fermentor and wait...

So all the stuff you just said is way way too complicated at the moment, so I would prefer to stick with the simple stuff I know for the moment. I will try doing it like that in the future though.

If you want anything decent I would not use 4lbs of sugar. Even though that is a quick way to boost alcohol content, it generally gives cidery off flavors, especially at that amount. A lot of sugar will also contribute to a thin beer.

The whole packet of yeast will be fine, I always start my fermentation at the lower end of the recommended temperature. Which helps making a cleaner beer with less off tastes.

You don't say how much beer you're making but 6lbs of extract should make ~5 gal of 1.055 beer.

And boiling more water will help dissolve the DME better so if you do use 6lbs you should increase it, but how much depends on the size of the pot you're using and how you're cooling the wort.

I wasn't planing on using just sugar and definitely not 4 pounds of it; 4 pounds is just the amount I can buy the bags in.

As far as how much, sorry; I forgot to make the links to the stuff I was talking about; the kit 23 litres or 6 gallons.

 

[bigdog1218]

It looks like from Muntons that the liquid extract + 3lbs of dried extract should be enough. I would still leave out the sugar, you'll get that cidery taste from the liquid extract anyway.

Also I would change the way you make the beer, especially since you'll be using dried extract. I would add both extracts to the boil and make sure they completely dissolve. If you just add the DME to the fermenter after I doubt all of it will be converted by the yeast.

Also, most likely the liquid extract you're using is hopped. If you ever plan on using just dried extract, or a large amount of dried extract you're going to have to add your own hops and boil for at least 60min.

And lastly I wouldn't use any malto-dextrin. The liquid extract leaves plenty of sugars behind.

 

[Quiksilver]

Also I would change the way you make the beer, especially since you'll be using dried extract. I would add both extracts to the boil and make sure they completely dissolve. If you just add the DME to the fermenter after I doubt all of it will be converted by the yeast.

Also, most likely the liquid extract you're using is hopped. If you ever plan on using just dried extract, or a large amount of dried extract you're going to have to add your own hops and boil for at least 60min.

And lastly I wouldn't use any malto-dextrin. The liquid extract leaves plenty of sugars behind.

Isn't that what I am already doing?
Boiling the water, adding DME and the hopped liquid extract, stirring until it is dissolved, then adding cold water until I have 23 litres?

Yeah, it's hopped and I understand that; it's why I didn't want to follow Magnus's recipe; it's a little complicated atm.

 

[ShockwaveVT]

The proper way is to add the malt extract to the boil while it is on the stove, not after you transfer the hot water to the primary fermenter... never seen it done your way before lol.
Here's a rough step by step... I'm new at this too, so please ask Magnus to confirm the process.

step 1. bring 3 gal of water to a boil
step 2. add malt extracts to boiling water (now called wort)
step 3. add grain (in a mesh grain bag) to wort
step 4. boil wort for 30min (dry extract = longer)
step 5. add irish moss (helps sediment fall out of the wort)
step 6. boil wort another 20min (dry extract = longer)
step 7. add hops to the wort, boil another 10 minutes
step 8. cool the wort to yeast temperature & transfer to primary fermenter along with another 2-3 gal (enough to bring the total to 5gal)
step 9. add priming sugar and yeast
step 10. let it sit till the airlock is no longer bubbling
step 11. bottle
step 12. have a beer. relax.

 

[Quiksilver]

I have a boil-less kit, all of the hops, grains etc. was adding into the malt extract already, so all the boiling was done already.

For example here's the Munton's kit instructions.

Clean and sterilize all equipment. Remove label and stand can in hot water for 5 minutes. Pour the can contents into the sterilised fermenter. Add sugar or spray dried malt extract.

Add 3.5 litres (6 UK pints) boiling water, top up with cold water to 23 litres (5 UK gallons, 6 US gallons). Thoroughly mix to make sure all the contents are fully dissolved.

Stir in the yeast, cover the fermenter and leave to stand for 4-6 days in a warm place (between 18-20 C, 65-70 F). Fermentation will be finished when the bubbles cease to rise (if you have a hydrometer, when the gravity remains constant below 1008°).

Transfer the beer into bottles or pressure barrel with a little sugar (1/2 teaspoonful per pint. 85 grams (3 ozs) per pressure barrel) which will condition the beer. Stand bottles or barrel in a warm place for 2 days then leave for 14 days in a cool place or until the beer is clear.