beer kit enhancements

[stixy]

Hi guys, got a quick question for you all if i may reguarding the above subject if i may!
Basicly the kit i have is the wherry, now from what i can gather the woodfordes range along with a few others suffer from the sydrome that they finish no where near the specified ABV as the FG finishes at about 1012 to 1020.
So therefore to cure this i could have added a DME (maybe a medium spraymalt) or topped up with less water to get a higher OG and therefore a better ABV. (Please correct me if this is incorrect,i am still new to this!)
Unfortunitly i didnt realise this until now by which time my brew is just about ready to kegg, so my question conserns what to do now.

Ive heard if i add the DME now for priming purposes, although it will improve the body and flavor of the final beer it will decrease the ABV further, is this true?
if so would it be better to prime with a beer enhancement as so to improve the flavor and ABV of the final brew?
your advice and tips will be gratefully apricated.

[Shenanigans]

You cant really decrease the ABV unless you just add a whole lot of water when you boil your priming malt/sugar. I just use regular table sugar to prime mine. It is pretty much all fermentable after being boiled. I doubt 4-5 oz of sugar really changes much of body.




I think most of the guys here either you table sugar or corn sugar.

[Shenanigans]

Also,


Welcome to HBC Stixy!

[Ó Flannagáin]

Hi, Stixy and welcome to the site. You can't reduce the ABV without adding a whole bunch of water or boiling the entire batch to evaporate the alcohol out. Don't worry about it, prime up with sugar or DME and enjoy!

[Tankard]

I just wanted to say welcome to the board, stixy!

[stixy]

thanks for your advise guys much appriciated. if i have anymore questions ill be sure to ask you guys.

[stixy]

also guys did you say you should boil the sugar or DME and if so how long for and with how much water if any?

[Lerxst]

Corn sugar dissolves pretty evenly so I've added that for priming directly to the bottling bucket w/o an issue. When I use other stuff, I generally boil about a 1-1.5 cups of water then dissolve the priming agent in that, dump into the bottling bucket then rack my beer on to that.

Once I have all my beer racked, I give it a gentle mixing to ensure that my priming solution is thoroughly mixed.

[DrunkenSatyr]

To me it sounds like the kit just has less fermentable sugars. Stop buying the kits and start buying the ingredients separate and in diff. brands if possible. Also look at the yeast you are using. Can not seem to find what dry yeast it includes but many yeast brands have much lower attenuation.

As for this batch, leave it alone and prime with anything you want.

[ArizonaDB]

My extract kits come with corn sugar, so I use that. I add 3/4 c to 2 c tap water and boil for about 10 minutes to kill any bacteria that might be in the sugar or water. I don't know that the boiling really makes a difference as I think a lot of brewers don't do it, but I figure it can't hurt, right. Then I just dump it in my bottling bucket before I rack the beer to it, and the simple act of racking will mix it up enough. Although you could probably stir it GENTLY with a sanitized spoon to make sure it mixes evenly. No vigorous stiring as that will oxidize your beer. Anyway, good luck.