Why is our beer so strong???

Norika · Jun 3, 2017

We brewed a Wolaver's Alta Gracia clone. We missed the ABV mark big time. This concoction is strong enough to sedate a rhino, just ridiculous alcohol content. The scary part is that it tastes fantastic! No warning whatsoever that you might as well plan on going to bed after 2 pints. What did we do?

We followed the recipe I have saved on my profile (not sure how to share it yet). Also, we double milled the grain because we had gotten some weak beer previous to this, and we took extra care to take the lautering to the next level by rinsing the grains an extra time. But in the end, we have a super potent beer. Our OG was 1.076 and our FG is 1.006. It was supposed to be 1.68 and 1.020 respectively for a 6.30%. Inputting it into the ABV calculator, it registers at 9.19%, but we feel it is even much higher than that.

How did our efficiency get so high????? Or what else could be the culprit? We aren't super seasoned brewers by any means, so this result is a little perplexing/startling!

GFHomebrew · Jun 3, 2017

Norika said:
We brewed a Wolaver's Alta Gracia clone. We missed the ABV mark big time. This concoction is strong enough to sedate a rhino, just ridiculous alcohol content. The scary part is that it tastes fantastic! No warning whatsoever that you might as well plan on going to bed after 2 pints. What did we do?

We followed the recipe I have saved on my profile (not sure how to share it yet). Also, we double milled the grain because we had gotten some weak beer previous to this, and we took extra care to take the lautering to the next level by rinsing the grains an extra time. But in the end, we have a super potent beer. Our OG was 1.076 and our FG is 1.006. It was supposed to be 1.68 and 1.020 respectively for a 6.30%. Inputting it into the ABV calculator, it registers at 9.19%, but we feel it is even much higher than that.

How did our efficiency get so high????? Or what else could be the culprit? We aren't super seasoned brewers by any means, so this result is a little perplexing/startling!

You'll have to be a little more specific. What yeast did you use Belgian yeast? What was your grainbill.

J A · Jun 3, 2017

Go to the "Recipe Tools" tab in your recipe edit page. Click the "share" button. Click the "share recipe by URL" box. Copy and paste the URL address that comes up in the box.

You got super attenuation so you obviously mashed at a relatively low temperature to get a lot of fermentables and the yeast kept working until it couldn't find anything else to eat. Or you have a secondary colony of wild yeast or some other organism that's eating non-fermentables. Saison blends and sour blends as well as infections will take a beer down to below 1.000.

More info...there are worse problems to have.

Nosybear · Jun 3, 2017

I'd start the research at the double milling. That will increase efficiency. And share the recipe, please.

Norika · Jun 5, 2017

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/499871/wolavers-coffee-porter

Here is the recipe. We used California Ale yeast WLP001.

Norika · Jun 5, 2017

J A said:
Go to the "Recipe Tools" tab in your recipe edit page. Click the "share" button. Click the "share recipe by URL" box. Copy and paste the URL address that comes up in the box.

You got super attenuation so you obviously mashed at a relatively low temperature to get a lot of fermentables and the yeast kept working until it couldn't find anything else to eat. Or you have a secondary colony of wild yeast or some other organism that's eating non-fermentables. Saison blends and sour blends as well as infections will take a beer down to below 1.000.

More info...there are worse problems to have.

Thanks for the tip on how to share! Makes my question a lot easier to answer!