staring gravity ?

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clemson55

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The first brew ever is in the fermenter. :D The beer is a liberty cream ale from midwest brewing supplies. The question is that when I took a hydrometer reading it said 1.091 I was expecting something much lower like 1.040-5 based on what I have read. I couldnt find where they listed a probable starting gravity. I added a little brown sugar (1/4 cup) and some vanilla (1oz) to try and boost the gravity slightly and add some flavor. They shouldnt have done that much though should they? If there was some sediment in the wort that I was taking the reading from would that effect the reading? There was definitely a little bit of sediment suspended in it. Thanks for the help.
 
If you don't mix well, it's entirely possible (and probable) that the wort will stratify - the higher gravity, boiled wort on bottom, the top-off water on top.

Fact is, it's physically impossible to NOT get the right gravity with an extract batch unless you add too much/too little top-off water or forget to add some of the extract. The little bit of brown sugar will have a small (almost negligible impact - and since brown sugar is just refined sugar plus a little mollasses, I wouldn't count on it having much of a flavor impact either).
 
It was mixed pretty darn well, I thought maybe not. You dont think the brown sugar will make a difference? You could still smell it at the end of the boil, it was the vanilla that I didnt think would have an impact cause you couldnt smell it anymore.

Heres a pic!

first batch primary-1.jpg
 
my vote is it wasn't mixed well. you got a sample of the heavy part of the carboy, not a homogenous solution.
it can be REAL hard to get it all mixed. But the fermentation will take care of mixing it up.

if you can post the exact recipe, we can give you a good estimate of the OG.
 
6 lb. Gold liquid malt extract, 8 oz. Carapils specialty grains, 2 oz. Cascade hops, Munton's 6 gm dry yeast

Thats whats in it. Steeped the grains til a rolling boil, added the malt and brown sugar, hops at 45 min left and 10 min left, vanilla at 10 min left
 
Your og should be around 1.047 or so. I don't know how much 1/4 of brown sugar is in pounds, definitely not much so I guessed .25 pound.

I'm thinking that your sample was the heavier wort. No big deal, really, because the yeast know where to find the sugar!

Next time, though, don't bring your grains up to a boil before removing them. Steep them at 150-160 for 20 minutes or so, remove them, and then increase the heat to boiling.
 
They were in that heat range for close to that time I got the temp up to around 150 then went inside and did some sanitizing then came back out and cranked the heat up. I just left them in the last few minutes til it boiled I didnt think that it would really matter. Will leaving them in the extra time have an effect?
 
clemson55 said:
They were in that heat range for close to that time I got the temp up to around 150 then went inside and did some sanitizing then came back out and cranked the heat up. I just left them in the last few minutes til it boiled I didnt think that it would really matter. Will leaving them in the extra time have an effect?

You don't want the grains to go over 170 because that can cause some tannin extraction. Don't worry about it this time. Just for next time, make sure you pull the grain bag out before 170 degrees.
 
clemson55 said:
They were in that heat range for close to that time I got the temp up to around 150 then went inside and did some sanitizing then came back out and cranked the heat up. I just left them in the last few minutes til it boiled I didnt think that it would really matter. Will leaving them in the extra time have an effect?
If you get grains above 170F you start extracting tannins from the husks, which typically produces astringency (mouth-puckering, like over-steeped tea) and probably some off flavor.

It's not the end of the world, especially with only half a pound of grain - may not even be noticeable - but it's a good habit to avoid steeping above 170, because it'll make a lot more of a difference if you do batches with more grain in the future, especially partial mash or even all-grain.

edit: Yooper beat me to it, oh well.
 
Good to know. Would you see a color change in the water if you extracted a lot of tannins? Kind of like when tanning leather they impart a color.
 
clemson55 said:
Good to know. Would you see a color change in the water if you extracted a lot of tannins? Kind of like when tanning leather they impart a color.

No, you'll have color and flavor from the grains. If you extract tannins, the only way you'll know is if you taste it and it tastes astringent like Funkenjaegar said.

Again, don't worry about it now. But this is a "for next time" advice. This might be one fantastic beer, so don't let the little things bother you right now.
 
I'm not to worried about it I tasted the wort and it was nice and sweet. I'll drink it even if it tastes horrible because its my first brew. My buddy who was helping/playing xbox in the living room asked what I'd do if it was terrible and I told him I'd drink 3 or 4 normal beers so I didnt care what mine tasted like anymore then drink mine if I had to.
 
Yooper Brewmistress said:
Your og should be around 1.047 or so. I don't know how much 1/4 of brown sugar is in pounds, definitely not much so I guessed .25 pound.

I'm thinking that your sample was the heavier wort. No big deal, really, because the yeast know where to find the sugar!

Next time, though, don't bring your grains up to a boil before removing them. Steep them at 150-160 for 20 minutes or so, remove them, and then increase the heat to boiling.


What is the formula used to determine 1.047?
 
clemson55 said:
Now I have to go read and find out what attentuation is, and how to figure out my efficiency, thanks.:p

Now that's the kind of thing I LOVE to hear. Read, read, and read some more!

Tannin extraction won't be an issue. There wasn't much grain in there to start with, and it's not like you boiled them for 20 minutes. Plus on my last extract batch, I shoved my thermometer into the grain bag and to my surprise the grains were actually about 12F lower than the water even after 20 minutes. I'm sure they didn't get much over 170 before you pulled them even though the water was much hotter at that point. Not that you should make a habbit of doing it that way, but you know that now.
 
Ok so far I determined that efficiency doesnt really apply because I'm doing extract brewing not partial mash or AG is that correct? In that case what would I put for my efficiency in the equation?
 
depends. How good a job did you do of scraping those cans clean. I usually dip the can into the brew pot and swish the wort around in the can and dump back in so I get all the syrup out. If you do that, I'd think "efficiency" would be in the high 90's. Technically you don't have an efficiency since you aren't mashing and the steeped grains add VERY little to the overall sugar profile. They are there to add color and flavor, not fermentables. If the sugar (converted from starches) content of the specialty grains was that important, you would have done a partial mash with them. What I mean by that is, "who cares about efficiency when using extract?" Since it's too late to get a perfectly accurate OG, just guess and you'll be close enough. The overall point is that your initial gravity reading was wrong. Your future readings will be correct because the action of fermentation will homogenize things from this point on.

So................................................
RDWHAHB your beer will be just as you expected it to be:)
 
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