NooB

Hi all. I've always wanted to try my hand at brewing, and after watching a documentary on craft brewing (I think it was "Beer Wars" on Netflix) I decided to go ahead and order the two stage Irish Red Ale starter kit from Northern Brewer. I wish I had gotten the Caribou Slober, but I'm realizing that's part of the fun part about brewing... I already have an excuse to brew another batch!

A coworker of mine had an old hydrometer that he went out of his way to locate for me, which of course slid out of it's tube and shattered within 30 minutes of my possession. Being that there's no way to get one "off the internet" in time for brew day, I managed to locate the only supply house in town. What a great place! So I'm glad to know I now have the LHBS as a resource... and I now have TWO hydrometers!

So I've brewed my first batch of this Irish Red Ale. With my *new* hydrometer and test tube, I picked up a gravity reading of about 1.028. Now... what the heck does that tell me! Does it matter, or do you take an initial reading more to serve as a base line?

Thanks in advance!

Gunn

Welcome. With extract brews it is sometimes hard to get a good mixture with the top off water and often the original gravity readings are low or high because of this. Extracts are pretty much dead on when it comes to their potential. So, I would just use whatever OG that the directions said you should expect and use your hydrometer in a week or so to see if the brew is done fermenting. Cheers! Sounds like your on your way.

Man ya'll get a lot of newbies here! I'm going to post some noob questions here so as not to create a bunch of stupid threads that are probably redundant.

1. Do we only "bottle condition" beer for carbonation? If I force carbonate in a keg, can I drink my beer sooner? If this is so, my kegging intentions will move rapidly up the priorities list!

2. What's the difference between "regular" beer and "light" beer? Like, Budweiser and Bud Light.

I've already learned a bunch just from digging through the forums. Feel free to respond to my questions at you're convenience... it would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Gunn

1. Some bottle condition and some keg. Most do both. Yes in theory you can carb your beer quicker and therefore drink it sooner. Problem is that while your beer is carbing in the bottle, it is also conditioning. Most beers do better after a few weeks in the bottle for taste reasons, not just carbonation. Even though I keg most of my brews I still wait the three to four weeks before I sample.

2. Lite beer is just a lower calorie beer. As a generally rule the lower the alcohol the lower the calories. Just add some water to your Miller, and voila.......Miller lite. Lol

Hammy71 said:

1. Some bottle condition and some keg. Most do both. Yes in theory you can carb your beer quicker and therefore drink it sooner. Problem is that while your beer is carbing in the bottle, it is also conditioning. Most beers do better after a few weeks in the bottle for taste reasons, not just carbonation. Even though I keg most of my brews I still wait the three to four weeks before I sample.

2. Lite beer is just a lower calorie beer. As a generally rule the lower the alcohol the lower the calories. Just add some water to your Miller, and voila.......Miller lite. Lol

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So after 10 days in fermenter I can keg it with about 30 psi and let it sit for a week if I can't wait two weeks?