What’s the strongest beer you’ve brewed?

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I was just reading the thread started by @Jayrmz about brewing strong lager and couldn’t help wondering how strong your brews are and whether your strongest brews were good?

I once used up the rest of a barrel of LME thinking it was nearly empty and as it turns out there was over 5Kg for a 23 litre batch. The final product was 8.5%. In the mouth it was viscous, sweet, and alcoholic tasting. Not my usual brew at all but actually made quite a nice Christmas brew. My son-in-law really liked it and had 2 pints, he then disappeared for a while

My usual strength is 4.5% - 6%, I find that’s my sweet-spot.

 

[prog99]

12% or so Imperial stout. Dangerously drinkable with no alcohol burn. Think extended ageing really helped here.
Edit - aged on vanilla pods

 

[GerritT]

Lingonberry Imperial Stout, a bit above 10%. All tasters approved, but it's not really my style. I prefer ales between 3-6%.

 

[stephen1546]

8.5% would be a bit much for me lol, done a few kits that came out at around 7.5% which were fine albeit deceiving as i was half cut after 4 or so. I did not know that the higher the alcohol content the more calories they have. With this in mind i was going to have my brews this year at around 5%. Wouldnt want to brew anything 3.5% - 4% tho

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

8.5% would be a bit much for me lol, done a few kits that came out at around 7.5% which were fine albeit deceiving as i was half cut after 4 or so. I did not know that the higher the alcohol content the more calories they have. With this in mind i was going to have my brews this year at around 5%. Wouldnt want to brew anything 3.5% - 4% tho

Yes, the yeast turns the sugar into alcohol and your body turns it back through a complicated process. As a guide there are 240 calories in a pint of 5% and you can adjust proportionately I believe on both volume (1/2 a pint of 5% = 120) and alcohol (pint of 10% = 480). Any experts able to confirm or correct?

 

[stephen1546]

Thats a lot of calories over the course of the year!!

 

[dad_of_jon]

king kong 12.86% quad stout - damn good beer. right at the limit of my equipment.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Thats a lot of calories over the course of the year!!

Collectively for the forum, about 4 million at the current rate!

 

[MrRook]

A 12% British barleywine.

 

[obscure]

Feeling rather lack lustre at 6.5% a APA which the ,mash was a bit more efficient and the yeast fermented a bit too well, not bad but I rarely drink beers above 5% (as much as I enjoy a good imperial stout or Barley wine I just can’t see myself wanting 10L plus of one, so tend to stick to session beers and just buy the odd bottle when I want something stronger).

 

[chthon]

Westmalle Triple clone, 9,5%; Scottish/Burton ale 9,5%; Imperial Stout 10%; WV12/St.-Bernardus Abt clone, 10%;

Currently what I have in stock is all equal to or more than 8%: a weizenbock of 8%, a St.-Bernardus Tripel at 8,5%, a Duvel clone of 8,5%, a Scotch ale of 10% and WV12 clone/Strong Dark Belgian of 10%.

I am actually looking at brewing a couple of lighter beers.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Westmalle Triple clone, 9,5%; Scottish/Burton ale 9,5%; Imperial Stout 10%; WV12/St.-Bernardus Abt clone, 10%;

Currently what I have in stock is all equal to or more than 8%: a weizenbock of 8%, a St.-Bernardus Tripel at 8,5%, a Duvel clone of 8,5%, a Scotch ale of 10% and WV12 clone/Strong Dark Belgian of 10%.

I am actually looking at brewing a couple of lighter beers.

Westmalle clone - Mmmmm!
(Though I prefer the Dubbel )

 

[SamBrewster]

Third batch ever was biab barley wine at 10% all from malt. Confirmed my dislike for barley wine and destroyed the bag
More recently made a westmalle triple inspired "Belgian style" beer at 9% - very nice.
These are too strong for a session though! Most of my beers are 3.4 to 5% - plenty.

 

[phildo79]

I am drinking a 9.3% imp brown stout ATM. I think that's the strongest 'proper' beer I have made. I once made a ginger beer at about 5% that was so good, I decided to ruin it by doubling the sugar content the next time. It must have been about 10%, was super thin, boozy as hell and got you w&nkered after 3 pints. I haven't made it since and that's going on at least 5 years.

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I am drinking a 9.3% imp brown stout ATM. I think that's the strongest 'proper' beer I have made. I once made a ginger beer at about 5% that was so good, I decided to ruin it by doubling the sugar content the next time. It must have been about 10%, was super thin, boozy as hell and got you w&nkered after 3 pints. I haven't made it since and that's going on at least 5 years.

 

[dwhite60]

I've done a couple barley wines pushing 10% abv. Couple Imperial stouts over 9%.

All the Best,
D. White

 

[parpot]

7.6% Woodfordes Headcracker a great smooth bitter, very drinkable!

 

[marshbrewer]

Kit wise - I did a celebration brew for my dad's 70th that was a Cooper's stout, plus a Cooper's Dark Ale, plus DME, brown sugar, grains and hips that came out about 7%. That was nice after aging. I did a historic all grain beer that was effectively an EKG Smash that also came out about 7%, but that's about it. I really fancy doing a historic strong ale / barley wine at about 12% soon. Probably an Edd Mather recipe.

St.-Bernardus Tripel at 8,5%,

@chthon do you have a recipe for this? It's the nicest triple I've ever drank, and probably the best Belgian beer I've ever tasted (controversial opinion alert )

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

Kit wise - I did a celebration brew for my dad's 70th that was a Cooper's stout, plus a Cooper's Dark Ale, plus DME, brown sugar, grains and hips that came out about 7%. That was nice after aging. I did a historic all grain beer that was effectively an EKG Smash that also came out about 7%, but that's about it. I really fancy doing a historic strong ale / barley wine at about 12% soon. Probably an Edd Mather recipe.



@chthon do you have a recipe for this? It's the nicest triple I've ever drank, and probably the best Belgian beer I've ever tasted (controversial opinion alert )

Not controversial @jjsh - all down to preference. My preference changes depending on mood, weather, company I’m with even (get caught up in enthusiasm for something!). Not sure if this makes me an enthusiast, fickle, or just an alcoholic

 

[strange-steve]

I made a 16.2% stout last year, turned out really well. I used kveik yeast which meant it was drinkable pretty much straight away with minimal conditioning time.