New Batch Irish Ale

Hey, I just did this batch of Irish Red Ale and noticed when I locked down my Carboy I an hour later there was already sediment settled on the bottom. Is that normal, I poured slowly and used a strainer funnel.

The yeast was in a tube called liquod British Ale yeast. I pitched it when the Wort was 74 degrees, shook the yeast and openned it then poured it in and thenn shook the Carboy alittle to areate. Was that all correct ? Also, I had a 1.050 OG when the recipe called for an expected OG of 1.068. What kind of ABV can I expect? Thanks for the help.

Everything sounds OK, though you pitched on the warm side. Could end up with excessive fruity esters if it doesn't cool down quickly enough. I wouldn't worry about any sediment,

Was this an extract, partial boil batch? If so, your OG was probably much closer to the expected OG, assuming you used the proper volume of water - it's just hard to mix the fresh top-up water with all the wort - no matter how hard you think you may have done so.

Your ABV will depend on where it finishes. Assuming your OG was close to the expected 1.068 and that it finishes in the 1.014-1.016 range, you're looking at 7%ish

Thanks. But sorry, dont know what extract means vs partial boil batch...I had 7.5 lbs of Light LME and 1 lbd DME...but now that I think of it there was no packet of DME...could the shop have mixed it in ?

durandf said:

Thanks. But sorry, dont know what extract means vs partial boil batch...I had 7.5 lbs of Light LME and 1 lbd DME...but now that I think of it there was no packet of DME...could the shop have mixed it in ?

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'Extract' refers to using LME and/or DME as your source of sugars for the yeast. This is opposed to all-grain, which uses malted grains as the source of sugars. You did an extract batch. Basically, someone else used the malted grains to extract the sugars, concentrating them down into DME/LME and you simply used this pre-made extract. All-grain brewers essentially make their own extract. Of course, you don't have to be fully one or the other - many brewers will use a mix of grain and extract depending on their system/process.

'Partial boil' means that you did not boil the full batch volume of your beer. If you made 5 gallons of beer, how much did you boil? If you boiled less than 5 gallons, you did a partial boil and then topped-off with water. If you boiled the full 5 gallons (or rather, more than 5 gallons to account for evaporation), you did a full-boil. Most beginner homebrewers start with extract and partial boils. And in most cases when you do extract and partial boils, your actual OG is not very far from your expected FG, assuming you used the proper volumes.

DME would not be "mixed in". If there was no packet of DME then it was left out of the kit. If you did not add in the 1 lb of DME, your expected OG will be lower by approximately 9 points (assuming a 5 gallon batch).

You might check out http://www.howtobrew.com - it is a great guide for beginner homebrewers (and it also contains the info needed for more advanced brewing when you get to that point)

Thanks. That all makes sense...well, could explain why the OG may have been low because there was not a packet of DME...appreciate it. Cant wait to try it out.

I locked down a 5 Gallon Carboy yesterday of Red Ale and have a great fermentation going, its foaming up and going through the airlock....cant wait for this batch