High Gravity

When beer gets high enough in alcohol content, it can pose a threat to can lining and affect how we perceive carbonation. In this clip from their video course, River North founder Matt Hess explains how and why they bottle in glass and adjust for carbonation.

In St. Louis, a city spoiled by acclaimed imperial stouts, Bluewood has raised eyebrows with a few that reach heights up to 22 percent ABV. Brewer and cofounder Cam Lund explains their approach, detailing their chaptalization-like process for kicking up the strength of a few rare beasts.

Making viscous and luxurious dessert stouts is hard enough on systems designed for high-gravity beers, but Jon Shari of Little Cottage takes the challenge one step further, brewing his sought-after mega stouts on a nano scale.

Known for their high-gravity beers and irreverent attitude, the Struise Brouwers have injected fresh energy into Belgian beer over the past two decades. Yet the systems they’ve built to brew these big beers are as creative as the beers themselves.

BJCP Grand Master Josh Weikert covers everything you need to know to scale down your full-strength recipe to a more affordable and crushable beer.

For the director of brewing operations at California’s The Bruery, sensory evaluation is what drives decisions, and beers earn their shot at becoming bigger releases by working their way up the tiers.

In this video course, Firestone Walker’s Eric Ponce shares advice and lays out the careful process behind the brewery’s barrel-aged and blended blockbusters such as Parabola and Anniversary Ale.

The world’s brewers have had a few years now to play with the unusual, high-performing, previously little-known heirloom yeasts from Norway. So, what have we learned about what they can do?

As brewers pursue ever higher gravities for richer, stronger, thicker stouts, something immediately becomes clear: Most breweries weren’t made for this. Here’s a closer look at how breweries are adjusting for huge grists, long boils, and viscous beers.

When formulating complex grists for imperial stouts and other big beers, intentionality is the key—everything there should have a purpose, according to Phil Wymore, cofounder and brewmaster of Perennial Artisan Ales.

If you're adding coconut to your imperial stout, how much should you add? According to Phil Wymore, Perennial's cofounder and brewmaster, the answer is probably, "More."

Cory King, founder and brewer at Side Project in St. Louis, talks about yeast and fermentation of imperial stouts—and about how slow and steady wins the race.

Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine® contributor Taylor Caron covers everything you need to know about high gravity and high alcohol brewing, fermenting, and packaging.