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Cass

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Well today I went and bought another kit, "The Brew House" again (with the premade wort), this time an IPA. She's in the primary now, and I kept the lid just sitting on top, didn't snap it down, so hopefully this works out a little better than before. My S.G. reading was 1.050, what does that mean? Don't really know a whole lot about the hydrometer aspect of the whole deal. Going to leave it in the primary for a week, the carboy for 2, and bottles for 3 I'm thinking. If there's anything else I should be doing or watching for, let me know.

Cass
 
You don't really need the gravity reading unless you are a beer geek and want to know the alcohol content of the finished product and fret about minor details just relax and have a homebrew went they are ready. If you run into problems it'll come in handy Worry about all that stuff once you get the process down.

Man my typing is going down hill fast I better head to the sack
 
A sugar solution is heavier than water. Alcohol is lighter than water. The starting gravity is a measure of the amount of sugar in the wort. The final gravity measures unfermentable sugars (approximately). Subtracting the two tells you how much sugar was converted.

Checking your final gravity (FG) is much more important when you first start brewing. Most recipes have a target gravity (TG), which indicates the ferment is done. If your specific gravity is close to the TG and remains constant over three days, then it is time to rack the batch to the clearing tank.
 
Cass said:
Well today I went and bought another kit, "The Brew House" again (with the premade wort), this time an IPA. She's in the primary now, and I kept the lid just sitting on top, didn't snap it down, so hopefully this works out a little better than before. My S.G. reading was 1.050, what does that mean? Don't really know a whole lot about the hydrometer aspect of the whole deal. Going to leave it in the primary for a week, the carboy for 2, and bottles for 3 I'm thinking. If there's anything else I should be doing or watching for, let me know.

Cass
I'm a geek. I like to take readings...it gives me an excuse to taste.

Plus, I like to know what I'm drinking...an afternoon session ale (3.5%) or a night cap porter (7.2%).

There is a simple calculation to figure your alcohol %.

Beginning gravity - ending gravity x 1.31

Example:

Beginning 1.050
Ending 1.012
Delta = .038
.038 x 131 = 4.98% alcohol.

Trust me, if you have company over and multiple kegs or batches in bottles, it's nice to let people know what they're drinking.

The geek has spoken.
 
BierMuncher said:
I'm a geek. I like to take readings...it gives me an excuse to taste.

Plus, I like to know what I'm drinking...an afternoon session ale (3.5%) or a night cap porter (7.2%).

There is a simple calculation to figure your alcohol %.

Beginning gravity - ending gravity x 1.31

Example:

Beginning 1.050
Ending 1.012
Delta = .038
.038 x 131 = 4.98% alcohol.

Trust me, if you have company over and multiple kegs or batches in bottles, it's nice to let people know what they're drinking.

The geek has spoken.

Great to know! Glad I took the BG!

Cass
 
Ok I have a new problem... My last brew was a beer bomb, it exploded the top off my primary. So this time I didn't snap the lid down. The Krausen keeps getting higher and higher though (this is the second night) and I noticed it had popped the lid up a bit sometime earlier, so I set it on right again... What should I do if this gets worse? I don't want to screw up another batch.

Cass
 
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