Beer Forum

I have an IPA extract kit from Midwest and I want to raise the ABV in it. The project ABV for the kit it 5%, I would like to make it more like 7.5-8%. To do this should I just add a couple lbs of DME or sugar or honey or anything else. I have dabbled with adding and changing recipes, but am a little hesitant to do anything drastic. Will bringing the alcohol content up that high pickle the yeast? or will a normal ale yeast work?

I assume you have Wyeast 1056 or WLP 001 or Saf-Ale US-05. All 3 are capable of fermenting up around 11 or 12%, so no worries there.

Use all DME. For each lb of DME you add to a 5 gallon batch, you will raise the gravity by:

1+44/5000 = 1.0088 or about 9 gravity pts.

So, if you have a 1.050 beer, and want to hit 1.077, add 3 lbs of DME.

Oh, and be sure to raise the IBUs too. You want to add enough hops to add about 20-25 IBUs or so to balance the extra gravity. Personally, i'd make those 15 minute hops for more flavor & bitterness.

HTH-

Would you suggest adding the DME at the time when I add the other malt extract, or should I add it late with only a few minutes left in the boil?

IF you are doing a partial boil, add roughly that % of your malt to the boil to keep hop utilization the same as what it would be for full volume. Add hops as normal, then add the rest of your malt withing 15 min of finish.

I've found most extracts to 75-80% fermentable with 1056. That would give you a fairly high finishing gravity with this beer if you bump it all the way to 1.077 with DME. Once you go past 1.060-65, I would increase gravity with sugar. I mean you're getting into the pliny the elder range, and they brew with sugar to keep that beer nice and dry

Also if you're going to increase the gravity, you're going to need to increase your bitterness match the BU/GU ratio, and I would probably also proportionally increase the flavor hops

Honestly, if you're doing an honest to goodness IPA, I'd just keep it in the 60s. Brewing in the high 70s it's more like a DIPA and the good examples of those have a very restrained specialty malt bill, which I'm not sure your IPA will. It might get a little overly rich for a beer that's meant to be a hop-showcase