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How did my beer get so POTENT???

Brewmaster5150

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I brewed my "Real Root Beer" batch two Saturdays ago and I was about to rack it today but it is not done yet and the sample I took was VERY potent.  I wasn't able to get a OG reading so I have no way of knowing the true ABV but BeerSmith trail version calculated it at 4.9%.  After trying a 4oz sample today, it has got to be close to double that alcohol content.  If anyone has any idea on how this might have happened please feel free to respond. 

Here's the recipe:  http://www.byo.com/stories/recipeindex/article/recipes/111-soda-pop/1329-real-root-beer

The only deviation I made was adding another half ounce of hops 20 minutes into the boil.  Also the room temperature is a steady 73 degrees all day and night.  Could a few degrees make this happen?  This batch is going crazy in the primary so I might as well let it get super potent and maybe rack at 15-20 days.  Any thoughts?

Much Respect to all my fellow brewers.  -BM5150
 
I presume you didn't use the non-alcoholic root beer recipe.

Other than that, there are a ton of fermentables in the original recipe. You might want to hold off serving this at the church social!
 
So I might as well go with it then and wait till it's totally fermented.  I'm thinking at least another week in primary (total of 20 days) or longer.  What are the potential risks I'm taking in doing so and if I rack it now will it stop fermenting?  Please help I've got a kick ass brew going here and I don't want to f**k it up. 

Long live the fermentable power of yeast! - BM5150
 
Doesn't it depend on your objective? I can't begin to tell you how many batches I've goofed up. You might want to let the current batch play out, but start a whole new batch.
 
This recipe yields about 4.5% ABV if the described amounts of water and ingredients were used.  You will not have more than that if you followed the recipe.

You may taste more alcohol though.  This usually happens if you did not keep the fermentation temperature under control.  These are called fusel alcohols and are usually warming or hot on the palate and can be a bit like ethanol.  This starts when the fermentation temperature reached mid-high 70's and increases as the temp increases.

Leaving it longer will not change fusel alcohol or the amount of alcohol.  Serving really cold might take the edge off.
 
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