I did an experiment a few years ago to try and mimic the 21% version of not your fathers root beer. It was actually a beer and was a root beer from scratch recipe. My OG was around 1.200 and FG was right around 1.056. I had to baby the beer for a few weeks by making a monster starter from Wyeast American Ale. I dumped most of the starter in, saving only a little bit to begin another hefty yeast. I used the wort from brew day to help with the second yeast build up. By the time the yeast had grown a few days, I added simple sugar (about a pound at a time mixed with enough boiled water to make a pourable slurry) I had no idea to add enzymes to the mash at the time, so I added amylase enzymes when my fermenter started bubbling slower. I heard people adding beano to their fermenters helped with additional enzymes, so I put about 2 crushed beano pills into the mix as well. Every few days I would add simple sugar and more yeast until all activity stopped. I wanted my FG to go a little lower, but the American Ale yeast was probably at its limit.....so I added champagne yeast for kicks, Just to be safe that all fermentation was done. If I recall, I think I had to boil for about 3 hours too. I'm sure I made a lot of mistakes, but it was fun. It made a very hard...kind of tasted like a very malty root beer...Beer. I couldn't drink more than a taster at a time, because it was wayyyyy too sweet still. I enjoyed the challenge, but next time I will make a much more simple recipe to attempt anything that high. Just to make you laugh a little, this was my grain bill.....err I mean sugar bill.
16 lb American - Pale 2-Row
4 lb United Kingdom - Golden Naked Oats
3 lb Honey
6 lb Corn Sugar - Dextrose
2 lb American - Caramel / Crystal 40L
2 lb Belgian Candi Syrup - Amber
Topic: Highest OG brew? (Read 3839 times)
