Did I make near beer???

Hey all... So I did my first hydrometer test today after 10 days of fermentation... and well my og was roughly 1.036 and my final was 1.01 or 4.5 percent potential alcohol and 1.3 percent alcohol.... giving me a woping 3.2 percent abv if it is finished today... So basically am I tripping or is it that my beer is only half finished and I have a ways to go on the fermentation?

casablanca said:

Hey all... So I did my first hydrometer test today after 10 days of fermentation... and well my og was roughly 1.036 and my final was 1.01 or 4.5 percent potential alcohol and 1.3 percent alcohol.... giving me a woping 3.2 percent abv if it is finished today... So basically am I tripping or is it that my beer is only half finished and I have a ways to go on the fermentation?

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You can always give it some more time if you want to, but after 10 days your fermentation is probably complete. You could always add <insert fermentable form of sugar here> and pitch again, but what you made will come out fine.

I did a Wit that started at 1.040 and ended at 1.010 for a roughly 3.9% abv and it's one of my favorites that I've made so far.

Bottle it, then enjoy it.

casablanca said:

Hey all... So I did my first hydrometer test today after 10 days of fermentation... and well my og was roughly 1.036 and my final was 1.01 or 4.5 percent potential alcohol and 1.3 percent alcohol.... giving me a woping 3.2 percent abv if it is finished today... So basically am I tripping or is it that my beer is only half finished and I have a ways to go on the fermentation?

Click to expand...

What did you use for ingredients for this beer and how much did you make? Your final gravity sounds about right but the OG seems low depending on how much extract you added.
It is possible that your beer has more alcohol in it than you think.

casablanca said:

Hey all... So I did my first hydrometer test today after 10 days of fermentation... and well my og was roughly 1.036 and my final was 1.01 or 4.5 percent potential alcohol and 1.3 percent alcohol.... giving me a woping 3.2 percent abv if it is finished today... So basically am I tripping or is it that my beer is only half finished and I have a ways to go on the fermentation?

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I'm guessing that your beer is finished. 1.036 is a pretty low OG, and I wouldn't be surprised if it finished fermenting in just a couple of days.

What was your recipe?

I need to call my local hbs for the recipe.... For I have two beers an amber ale and a light ale both of which are showing this same result more or less... What is a good example range for orginal gravity? of an average ale?

casablanca said:

I have two beers an amber ale and a light ale both of which are showing this same result more or less... What is a good example range for orginal gravity? of an average ale?

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Hmmm... That is sounding a little strange. Have you been correcting for temperature with your hydrometer readings? Are you certain that there are no bubbles adhering to the sides of the hydrometer? Have you been topping up to way more than five gallons? Are you certain that your hydrometer is properly calibrated (to see if it is, take the reading of some distilled water)?

A good range is sort of hard to say... Maybe 1.045-1.080 for most ales, with some higher and some a little lower.

And i should mention that 1.036 is low, but it's not like impossibly low or anything... Might be good for those days when you just want to sit down and drink a couple dozen beers... I mean, I don't know exactly what the ABV of PBR is, but I'm guessing that it is somewhere near where your brew will be, and your beer will have a lot more flavor to it (to say the least).

edit: oh, and if it turns out that your LHBS just has low og recipes, I would just add a cup or two of DME in future batches (or, better yet, just make up your own recipes!)

As far as I know I did all the corections correctly, and popped the hydro a few times to make sure there were no bubbles.... So if the SG is the same tomorrow should I go ahead and bottle? (not using a secondary this round although I will be from then on).

RichBrewer said:

What did you use for ingredients for this beer and how much did you make? Your final gravity sounds about right but the OG seems low depending on how much extract you added.
It is possible that your beer has more alcohol in it than you think.

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'zatcly

Look at how many threads (especially with respect to extract brewing) contain issues around SG hydro reading and proper mixing of ingredients.