Highest ABV beer you've made without additives?

Yes, but by additives do you mean sugar? Not sure what distillations means; adding straight booze (correct term would be distillate if referring to booze)?

My SMaSH barley wine topped out at 12% pre-barrel (Halcyon malt, fermented with WY1968), 14.5% post-barrel aging. Its 3/3 medaling in competitions its been entered in.

Dark Lord Clone was ~15-16% pre-barrel (~1.155 OG, 1.048 FG), but it used a fair amount of jaggery sugar (~8 lbs in 18 gallon batch). Waiting on pull from barrel to send to Ward Labs, should be another two or so months.

Just did a rye barley wine that should be around 12.5%, but waiting for it to hit FG (still fermenting), but it also used 2 lbs of jaggery in a 15 gallon batch.

 

I did an Impy stout a while back that clocked in at a lab verified 21.5% ABV

 

I just hit 13.9% on a Belgian style ale using a cake of Trappist High Gravity yeast. 20 lbs malt, plus 2 lbs of raisins at the end of the boil. 1.114 OG.

 

13% English Barley wine, no problem, no tricks.

 

2012 North Coast old stock ale knock-off ... sans sucre ... clocked in at 12.1% before the bourbon-soaked oak addition.
MO ... Caraamber (36L) ... Special B (148L) + Fuggles (BF) ... EKG (A) + Willamette (A) + WLP007

Fookin'yummy.

 

Is Candy sugar consider as additive ?

 

12.4%

 

11.8% Maple Barley Wine
11.4% English Barley Wine

 

Dema Goddess Ale – 15%. Lots and lots of brown sugar/cane sugar additions during ferment, 2 separate fermentations with yeast starters, bulk aging and champagne yeast at bottling. I am finally able to enjoy these after 1 year in the bottle.

So, yes. I'd say by Christmas of 2015 you should be good

 

my triple came in at 14%. I had to check twice.
pitched onto a fresh cake of yeast and aerated the hell out of it with oxygen. warmed it to 80F after 14 days and held it there for a week. that's it. I do add extra light DME to get the OG up. if I can do it, anyone can. I am yeast lazy.

any big brew would do best with the extended rest you are anticipating.
Cheers.

 

I'm loving this thread. Trying for a 13-14% wheat wine soon. Gonna have to add some sugar during the ferment I would think.