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Can I raise alcohol and FG?

JohnB

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Is there a tutorial on how after I have scaled a recipe but the Est. Alcohol ABV seems a little low on how to raise it let's say by 0,5%-1%?

Also on how to raise the estimated FG?

Thanks!
 
To raise the OG of the recipe (and therefore the potential ABV), open the recipe onto the design page.  You see the slider under the material list for the recipes?  Click on the slider for OG and you can enter the value you want.  To get a higher ABV with most recipes, increase the OG by about 10 points (i.e. 1.040 >> 1.050).  This will adjust your grain bill for the higher target extracted sugars.  It will also have an effect on your bitterness.  You can also adjust this using the same method as adjusting OG.

To keep the recipe relatively in balance, note the IBU:OG ratio and after adjusting your grains for a higher OG, adjust your IBU to the same ratio number.  It's not exact in terms of same balance, but it will get you close enough.

If you want to adjust the FG of a recipe, you can change your mash temperature, increasing it to get a higher finishing gravity or lower to get a lower (dryer) finish.  This will work within a range dictated by your malts and the yeast you choose.  You can also add some simple sugars to the recipe to drive the FG lower as the sugars will ferment out completely or change to a less attenuative yeast for a higher final gravity.
 
Once again, Thank you Oginme! Here is the thing, when I raise the mash temperature instead of the FG going higher it goes down. Everything else works super fine! Am I missing something?
 
When you get to 71.9C you are in a temperature domain where the beta amylase enzymes will denature very fast.  You should only be getting random cleavages of the starch by alpha amylase working at this temperature and therefore a very dextrinous wort.  It may be that, because it is beyond where the majority of brewing occurs, the modeling does not accurately cover or predict what the FG would be and it defaults to a set number.  I noticed when playing around that once I get above 71C, the FG prediction goes down and is flat with further increases in mash temperature.  This pretty much indicates to me that it cannot predict what your FG will be at the 71.9C temperature as it is beyond the model written into the program. 

While I do know of several commercial brewers who mash at those higher temperatures, most of them are producing a very dextrinous wort and then adding appreciable amounts of simple sugars to provide the fermentable materials for the yeast.  This gives them a good mouth feel while still offering a high degree of fermentation (Wells Bombardier is one example).

So, in short, I would say that if you want to mash that high, you will need to ignore the prediction from BeerSmith until you actually brew and see where you finish out.
 
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