First brew tonight 6/8

Simple pale ale recipe DME cascade hops.

I had such a great time. Did my best to keep everything sanitized and only worry is that I had a towel near a fan that was blowing in kitchen, apt set up. Also MY HYDROMETER BROKE!! So don't know the specific gravity. Any suggestions?

rdwhahb, or at least a craft brew. first of many hydros you'll break. i've broken 6, and haven't had 1 for 90% of the brews i've done. i know you shouldn't ferment by the calendar, but i do, and it works for me, and has for years

Type in your exact measurements into here (be as precise as you can about the volume) and you are golden.

Extract and water have a precise amount of sugar so if you knew your measurements your original gravity will *always* follow.

===edit===
give your best guess for attenuation but don't worry as attenuation doesn't effect *original* gravity. (But it is used to predict *final* gravity). Batch size, DME measure, LME measure will determine or original gravity *precisely*.

Your fine and congrats, you just made beer! As for your gravity, I'd just go with what the instructions say and not worry about it. If you stay with this hobby you'll have plenty of opportunities to obsess over missing your numbers.

Congrats!

Trace said:

As for your gravity, I'd just go with what the instructions say and not worry about it.

Click to expand...

If you used the ingredients they provided, and you added water to end up with the batch size they instruct you to, then your original gravity *will* be exactly what the instructions say. Not close, *exact*. (If it's extract, that is.) No need to measure.

Thanks for all the support guys! I used ice as a sort of shock chill and added the rest of the water after. It pushed me closer to 5.2 gallons. ill mess with the website measurements later, for now, a celebratory round!!

Cheers!

+1 to everything that has been said.
As far as the broken hydro goes...yup, welcome to home brewing. If I remember correctly, there is a thread on here somewhere that is keeping a tally of broken hydros, so feel free to search and add to the tally. Pick up a spare or two, or invest in a refractometer to check gravity. The $40 price tag makes you a little more careful (at least it does for me)

Yeah, they will break. Seriously, the most important thing is to have fun and just go with it. Oh, and you will find that sometimes the simplest beers are the best.