Alcohol increase

since alcohol is a primary by product of fermentation, the alcohol content is a function of the available "consumables" available in the wort, the majority of these digested during primary fermentation. by the time you have bottled, most of these sugars, etc. are gone assuming that you've given it adequate conditioning time prior to bottling.

check out "How to Brew" at

as a great resource for home brewing info.

cheers,

bob p

More malt = more fermentable sugars = more alcohol.

Don't put sugar in your beer.

_Randal

Why not? It's pretty much impossible to brew most Belgian or a lot of British styles without sugar. You're not gonna tell me it gives you a cidery flavor, are ya?? :)

-------->Denny

I just KNEW somebody was going to bring that up. I doubt this guy is into tripels but who knows?

_Randal

You can use molds to digest grains and create very complex sugars for Belgians. I would like to brew Belgians but would never use pure sugar. I think special yeasts are needed to create Belgians, is that because they tolerate higher alcohol concentrations?

JS

Randal Chapman wrote:

Why not? That's what the Belgians themselves do!

It's more because of the unique flavors that the yeasts impart. Almost any yeast has enough alcohol tolerance to go to 10-12% ABV.

--------->Denny

Quite a few British ordinary bitters use sugar. You certainly couldn't brew an accurate clone of something like Draught Bass without it

Would anyone here be interested in a Belgian brewing kit? I could ship

12 22 oz bottles with synthetic corks and cork cages, plus the yeast. Would $50 shipped in North America be too much?

JS

Andy Davis> >

I would prefer all ingredients to be organic. How did Monastaries in

1460 brew tripels or quads? It might be time consuming and a waste of time to mold complex sugars, but if you're going to create the greatest brew for yourself - why not accept that challenge?

JS

Denny C> Joe Schmoe wrote:

Dude, they used sugar! There is no evidience it was done any other way. Do you use organic malt? Do you use organic hops? If so, then get yourself some organic sugar to go with them. You're free to mke your beer any way you like it, but you're woefully uninformed about reality.

-------->Denny