thanks for the replie's,i guess replacing some of malt extract with corn sugar would lighten the beer and keep alc% up as well,the reason i ask the last couple of batches i made were a bit lighter style beer for warmer weather,they were around 4.5%.my buddy's really liked the beer but they thought the alc. level could have been a bit higher,i don't mind a lower alc. level beer in the warmer weather,but i guess because it was home brew the thought it was gonna be more powerful.one of the things i like about homebrewing is that i can control the alc. level.sometimes you wanna get drunk but sometimes you don't.and i find that commercial beers that a lower alc. taste like, well,#$%^.