HELP with a stout

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Afhuff01

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I got a stout recipe from my local home brew supply store. I did a partial mash, replacing 2lbs of extract with 2.5lbs of 2 row pale barley. I made a yeast starter for this batch 24 hours prior. After adding the wort to my primary and before adding the yeast starter, I measured my S.G. @ 1.028. I am thinking this is a little low. It's been sitting at about 70 degrees in my garage.

After four days all of the head has come off the top and my airlock bubbles about once every 25 seconds. Should I be concerned that it seems like it is almost done? I am debating as to whether or not I should take a hydrometer reading?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

EDIT:

The first picture is after one day in the primary. The second is after 4 days.

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image-2148815851.jpg
 
Your SG of 1.028 is extremely low. It probably started and finished that quick. That's not much sugar to work with. Assuming you finish out around 1.010 you're talking about 2.4% ABV.
 
It's unlikely your SG was really that low for a partial extract brew. If you topped off before pitching, you may have just not stirred things up well enough to get a good sample. What other fermentables were in the recipe?
 
Could CastleHollow's comment have been an issue? Did you top off with water and not stir it well before taking your reading?
 
CastleHollow said:
It's unlikely your SG was really that low for a partial extract brew. If you topped off before pitching, you may have just not stirred things up well enough to get a good sample. What other fermentables were in the recipe?

5lbs light malt extract
2 1/2lbs 2-row pale malted barley
3/4 lb Dark roaster barley 500*L
1/4lb black patent malt
1lb crystal malt 80l
1lb flaked barley
1 1/2 oz N. Brewer loose hops
1 1/2 oz Willamette loose hops

I placed all the grain in to two separate grain bags and steeped for a half hour at 150F. After this was done, I boiled a couple cups of water and poured over the bags after I removed them. I then brought it up just shy of a boil, killed the heat, and added the malt extract. Afterwards I did a one hour boil adding the northern brewer hops first, and the the Willamette hops at the 40 minute mark.

I let all this cool, and added the wort to the two gallons of water I had added to the primary. I the topped off with about another couple gallons of water to get to the 5 gallon mark. After this I took my hydrometer sample, then added the yeast starter and let things go from there.
 
No. I just assumed that pouring the wort in and the topping off would stir it enough. It wasn't longer than 20 minutes that I added the yeast, put in a solid stopper and gave it a good shake to aerate the yeast.
 
Keep some dry malt extract on hand for when a beer doesn't hit its number, if you are concerned about ABV.
This one will be less alcohol than Guinness if it really was 1.028.

Doesn't mean it will suck.
Does mean you should burn through it quickly and make it right, next time.

If you didn't get an accurate hydro reading, it could be meaningfully higher. You aren't going to know the ABV without an accurate hydro or refractometer reading for SG/OG and FG. But it's not worth worrying about, particularly if it tastes good. Looks good.
 
TapeDeck said:
Keep some dry malt extract on hand for when a beer doesn't hit its number, if you are concerned about ABV.
This one will be less alcohol than Guinness if it really was 1.028.

Doesn't mean it will suck.
Does mean you should burn through it quickly and make it right, next time.

If you didn't get an accurate hydro reading, it could be meaningfully higher. You aren't going to know the ABV without an accurate hydro or refractometer reading for SG/OG and FG. But it's not worth worrying about, particularly if it tastes good. Looks good.

Thanks. I took the first hydro reading and it tasted great!

So if I don't hit my mark, how do I figure how much DME to added to bring up my S.G.?
 
DME gives you about 45 points per pound per gallon. Using this formula:

(a#DME x 45)/b gallons = desired SG addition

So if you were interested in raising your SG by 18 points in a 5 gallon batch, you'd need

(a# x 45)/5 = 18, or 2# DME.

The SG of your beer was much higher than 1.028. Your partial mash alone would have given you 1.022 or so, assuming about a 65% efficiency. Adding the DME (you DID add the DME, didn't you? :D) would have put you right around 1.065. What was your target?

Glad to hear that it tastes great, that's what we're all about anyway!
 
The SG of your beer was much higher than 1.028. Your partial mash alone would have given you 1.022 or so, assuming about a 65% efficiency. Adding the DME (you DID add the DME, didn't you? :D) would have put you right around 1.065. What was your target?

Glad to hear that it tastes great, that's what we're all about anyway!

That's correct- your SG reading was simply wrong. The "heavier" extract was on the bottom, while the top off water wasn't mixed in well.

With 5 pounds of extract, the sugars HAVE to be in there. They can't go anywhere, and the yeast will work on them. Your actual OG was probably more like 1.060-1.065. You get 9 SG points a gallon from one pound of DME in a 5 gallon batch- so if you used 5 pounds of DME, that alone will give you a 1.045 SG and that doesn't even include the grains you used.

So don't worry!
 
Afhuff01 said:
I did a partial mash, replacing 2lbs of extract with 2.5lbs of 2 row pale barley.

BTW, if you were trying to do a direct conversion, you're 2 row should have been more like 3 lbs
 
The only DME that was added was for the yeast starter. Otherwise, everything else is what was listed above.

This was a simple off-the-wall recipe at my local home brew shop. Grab the recipe, grab the ingredients, and then go home and brew. No S.G. to start by. No O.G. to end.

If it wasn't mixed well to begin with, I am assuming its probably to late to try and mix now??? Haha.

I'm thinking I may end up with a "non-alcoholic" stout! It's a learning experience. At least my cider is doing AMAZING!!!
 
The only DME that was added was for the yeast starter. Otherwise, everything else is what was listed above.

This was a simple off-the-wall recipe at my local home brew shop. Grab the recipe, grab the ingredients, and then go home and brew. No S.G. to start by. No O.G. to end.

If it wasn't mixed well to begin with, I am assuming its probably to late to try and mix now??? Haha.

I'm thinking I may end up with a "non-alcoholic" stout! It's a learning experience. At least my cider is doing AMAZING!!!

Oh, you did not use the 5 # of DME that the recipe calls for?

If not, well, yeah, you're screwed. :cross:
 
Yooper said:
Oh, you did not use the 5 # of DME that the recipe calls for?

If not, well, yeah, you're screwed. :cross:

I used 5# of liquid... Sorry for not clarifying.

I also took a hydrometer reading last night. It's currently at 1.014.
 
"I'm thinking I may end up with a "non-alcoholic" stout! "

Relax. Your beer is going to be fine. Not mixing enough isn't going to bother the yeast at all. The only thing that it messed up was your measurement. The second they start eating, the wort is going to start churning everything will be mixed up just fine.

That is the great thing about brewing with extract. The fermentable sugar is going to be there. You don't have to worry about it at all. All of the major manufactures put out incredibly reliable and consistent extract products. As long as you use the correct amount of water, your gravity is going to be spot on. If you add a small amount of other fermentables, you are going to be pretty darn close for your OG even if your mash isn't great. eg if you are only getting 10 points from non-extract sources, you can be drop from 75% efficiency down to 50% and still only be off 2.5 points.
 
I am sure its fine. But if you are curious, you can determine the OG using the current gravity from a hydrometer and a current reading from a refractomer if you have one.
 
Well I received the ingredients for this recipe again , except I have 7lbs of liquid light malt extract, and don't have the two row. I also have plenty of light DME on hand in case I need to up my starting gravity.

We'll see how this one goes!
 
Afhuff01 said:
Well I received the ingredients for this recipe again , except I have 7lbs of liquid light malt extract, and don't have the two row. I also have plenty of light DME on hand in case I need to up my starting gravity.

We'll see how this one goes!

Sitting at 1.046 prior to pitching yeast starter!
 
Well I received the ingredients for this recipe again , except I have 7lbs of liquid light malt extract, and don't have the two row. I also have plenty of light DME on hand in case I need to up my starting gravity.

We'll see how this one goes!

How did the last one turn out
 
Oh and do you take all your hydro reading at 60 degrees f.
 
jcam91 said:
How did the last one turn out

The last one came out ok. Not much of a stout flavor but its drinkable. Thanks for asking.

Just took my first hydro sample after 15 days in primary. Sitting at 1.018. All of the apps and programs for brewing say it should get to about 1.015 when it's done. I'll thief another sample tomorrow Saturday and see how we're looking.
 
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