Wait. Did I just brew... brown Bud Lite?!?!?

So in the midst of primary of my first brew. It's a brown ale, which (according to the recipe sheet) had an OG of 1.062 and a FG of 1.016.

Went into the fermenter on Saturday night with an OG of 1.058, and it's already down to the 1.016 - which according to the handy dandy hydrometer is a mere 2% alcohol. Airlock bubbling's down to *maybe* once a minute. I realize that it's only 4 days into fermentation, but... really?

I mean, at this point, I'm thinking it's only going to come out to 3%? That doesn't seem right... did the yeast maybe not fire correctly, or am I being paranoid/stupid, and there's still plenty of tasty alkimahol to be produced?

Looks to me like you're more at 5.51 % ABV. I, like the maven EdWort, keep this bookmarked.

Rooftop Brew » ABV and Gravity Calculator

Your hydrometer sheet is either wrong, or you're reading it wrong. 1.062 to 1.016 is an apparent ABV of slightly over 6%. Don't worry... your beer is fine.

dwarven_stout said:

Your hydrometer sheet is either wrong, or you're reading it wrong. 1.062 to 1.016 is an apparent ABV of slightly over 6%. Don't worry... your beer is fine.

Click to expand...

Ahem.

I was going off the scale on the hydrometer itself.

*cough*

I'll, um, shut up now!

shecky said:

Looks to me like you're more at 5.51 % ABV. I, like the maven EdWort, keep this bookmarked.

Rooftop Brew » ABV and Gravity Calculator

Click to expand...

just add to bookmarks thanxs

When you realize that the lower your FG goes, the less alcohol that scale says, you realize that "you're reading it wrong".

Don't worry. You're new brewer number 1,382,058 to make that mistake.

That scale is mainly for wine and things that will finish around 1.000. You read it when you take your OG and it tells you how much "potential" alcohol you have.

Yeah, looks like you were just reading the potential alcohol portion of you hydrometer. I believe that gives you a rough estimate of your abv prior to to fermentation, but not after.

And if you want figure out your %ABC and don't have the internet handy, its just (Original Gravity - Final Gravity) X 129

*wipes away a tear*

I love you guys!

Or you can go OG - FG devided by 7.36

1058-1016=42/7.36=5.7ABV

Dont know if this is the best way to figer it but one I found on the net

Hydrometers for me are a love/hate relationship.

Just buy the digital one

I always took the High potential, subtracted the low potential, and went to the nearest full percent. I'm not marketing my beer, nor am I going to a tasting, so I just want a ballpark estimate.

Too funny. I had the same concern last night when I took my readings and looked at the hydrometer. Great tool here - thanks.

ubermick said:

Ahem.

I was going off the scale on the hydrometer itself.

*cough*

I'll, um, shut up now!

Click to expand...

ahh, yes that is the potential alcohol scale, and is used on the OG, not the FG.

I bet the scale shows 5.5% at the 1.060 mark

Subtracting the FG potential alcohol from the OG potential alcohol gets me very close to the calculated ABV%.

It jibes with the software calc as well. :rockin:

LandofOZ said:

Just buy the digital one

Click to expand...

they have those?

$*^$#@$ this hobby will break me.

...around $1500 for a dirt-cheap one.

I'll stick to the $10 analog hydrometer.

yeah but shiny! and blinky...something to stare at through the homebrew induced haze on brew days.

carbon111 said:

Subtracting the FG potential alcohol from the OG potential alcohol gets me very close to the calculated ABV%.

It jibes with the software calc as well. :rockin:

Click to expand...

As a follow up...

Just for the heck of it here are the ABV figures for my last few brews. On the left is the "simple" number from the OG-FG potential alcohol scale on my hydrometer and on the right, the calculated one based solely on specific gravity:

Cherry Tree Porter 6.7% - 6.5%
Black Star IPA 8.3% - 8.4%
Jack Rabbit Bitter 5.3% - 5.6%
Red Silo IPA 7.5% - 7.6%
Cascade Amber 5.5% - 5.3%

"Close enough for jazz"

Or you can go OG - FG devided by 7.36
1058-1016=42/7.36=5.7ABV

Another way which makes more sense to my simple mind is:
1.058-1.016 = .042 x 131 = 5.502%.
I think your got a little more than a brown bud light.

When people ask me what the ABV is, I just say around strong, medium or bud light.