8% alcohol but no buzz?

What was the size of the batch, and what were your OG and FG? If it was a 5 gallon batch, your OG would be ~1.051 and you would've been lucky to get 5% ABV considering what portion of dark LME tends to be unfermentable.

Also, you generally don't want to boil coffee, but that would be a taste issue, not a gravity issue.

 

How big of a batch was the recipe for? I just plugged the numbers into Beersmith and only came out with 5.2% ABV assuming a 5 gallon batch. What was your OG and FG?

 

No.
As others asked, what was your batch size?

 

Wow. I just had a single 330 mL of a 6.2% commercial beer and am right buzzed (had lunch 3 hours ago, and likely am a little dehydrated from earlier coffee consumption). To not feel a supposed 8% beer? That's a little surprising.

As WeaponTheyFear suggests, care to give us an OG / FG. I hope this isn't your ABV marking on your hydrometer

 

You're a beast!

 

i am fairly sure you would not achieve 8% with this brew. it is possible your gravity readings are not accurate, and considering we got 98% but not the most important OG and FG, its almost a certainty you will need to drink 2 or 3 to feel it the way you are expecting. it's not that something is wrong with this beer, just your expectations.

OG and FG?

 

I put this into beersmith as a 5 gallon batch, extract with steeping and S-04 for yeast.

O.G. 1.052
F.G. (est) 1.010
ABV 5.5%

OP Definitely not 8% if a 5 gallon batch. Drink a couple to get the required buzz.

 

Did you measure the gravity before you topped off with water?

 

Starting with barfdiggs' estimated OG of 1.052 in 5 gallons, that would have been about 1.048 in 6 gallons. Assuming your OG was 1.010, that's right around 5% ABV.

 

The math on this recipe is making my o.c.d. itch. Something is way off.

 

I'm guessing the only thing off was the OG reading, whether it was because it was taken before topping off, or possibly after topping off but not mixed well.

 

YES.

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter3-4.html
http://www.howtobrew.com/section2/chapter12-6.html

 

Among other reasons, you would lower the alcohol by about 16.6% - a characteristic that appears to be important to you. For example, a recipe that yields 5 gallons with 6% alcohol would only be 5% if you watered it down to 6 gallons. Not to mention the hit to the body and flavor. That said, it would still be beer. (Vikeman, 5.2% would become about 4.4% after watering it down - you probably didn't take into account that the FG would also be affected)

Yours sounds like 4.5%, give or take, trusting most of the Math above (I didn't do it, myself). Everybody's different, but I wouldn't get much of a buzz from a single glass of that. FYI, coffee doesn't counteract the intoxicating effect of alcohol. It just makes you less likely to fall asleep.

As you already seem to be aware, that's a boat load of coffee in that beer! My sweet spot is about 2 oz of coarsely ground beans in 5 gallons but if you want a stronger coffee flavor, you're certainly free to use more. I would strongly advise against adding coffee to the boil (there's a reason coffeemakers don't boil the coffee). I cold steep mine overnight, then add it straight to the keg. The fermenter or the bottling bucket would also be fine if you're bottling.

 

The reason we typically brew 5-5.5 gallon batches and use a 6.5 gallon fermenter is to provide headspace for the krausen. If you use an airlock you are asking for an explosion. If you use a blow off hose you are going to lose some contents and be right back to 5-5.5 gallons anyway.

Also, most recipes given are based on 5 gallons.

 

It makes a huge difference. A hydrometer measures the concentration of dissolved sugars in the wort. The same total sugars in only half the wort would yield double the gravity. But as soon as you top off with water, the concentration goes down. And thus the potential alcohol goes down.

The root of your problem was expecting that recipe to produce an 8% ABV beer. You had nowhere near the amount of fermentables needed. Why did you think you did? Or asked another way... what did you think the ABV was going to be before you started brewing it?

Yes. That's why somebody (or a couple of somebodies) mentioned it.

All those extra sugars (the brown sugar and the sugars in the honey) added about 0.007 to your true original gravity in 6 gallons. Although all of the sugars in the gravity that the brown sugar and honey provided are fermentable, that's only enough to raise your ABV by well under a percent in 6 gallons.

Just doubling everything will give you roughly double the ABV, but it's usually a bad way to formulate a recipe. I'd recommend you start with a good, established recipe (someone else's), or a recipe kit, and brew it. Learn more before formulating your own.

You should read www.howtobrew.com before your next batch. If you do, you'll understand everything that has been said in this thread.

 

This post just made me feel real bad about the tolerance level I have. Please tell me you weigh like 140lbs or something.

 

topping off with extra water dilutes your recipe (which lowers OG, and alcohol yield). full boils yield better beer, and less top-off water (if you have to top off) is also better.