These levels - please help

I made this pumpkin ale on October 9 - http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/...n-beer-recipe-extract-homebrewing.html#_login
It is now day 13 of my fermentation with recipe. With my hydrometer, I am getting readings of 1.013 and only 2% alcohol.

(Hydrometer is in the fermentation bucket, not in a measuring jar - is this ok?). http://www.flickr.com/photos/parakeet/6266307612/ & http://www.flickr.com/photos/parakeet/6265778351/in/photostream

Is this correct? I don't know much about this stage, but I feel like I should be seeing some different numbers there.

If so, what has gone wrong and is there anything I can do at this stage? I was planning on bottling tomorrow.

I believe the 2% you're looking at is the potential alcohol left in the beer (If all the residual sugar were fermentable) You would need your original gravity reading before fermentation to calculate the alcohol. If it is an extract brew it should have very close to the alcohol that the recipe says. (around 4-5%)

Personally I would leave it on the yeast for another week before bottling.

Brew on my friend

Alcohol REMAINING? Really?

I lost the piece of paper containing the original gravity reading, but I have a photograph (http://goo.gl/w2ogs) with the hydrometer's alcohol level (6.5%) so, reading across, I can see that the original gravity was 1.050.



At 1.013, the beer surface is currently shy of the hydrometer's green "beer finish" zone, indicated on the hydrometer's instructions...



As well as my hydrometer, which I bought new for this job (my third brew), I also have my father's old bottling beerometer from the 70s. When I place this in the fementer, it floats at way above the 1.10 black bar zone, I would say at about 1.20 (or is that 1.020?).



The beerometer's instructions say: "It is safe to bottle most beers when the black band disappears below the surface of the beer. For lager and dry grain kits, let is sink slightly further."

What does this tell me about where I stand? What should I do with this information?

Don't know quite what I'm doing but keen to learn.

Many thanks.

(Here is the fermenter...)

robertandrews said:

Alcohol REMAINING? Really? . . . . . . . . .

Click to expand...

Yes really, IF THE REMAINING SUGARS WERE ALL FERMENTABLE. Which they typically aren't for most ales, I doubt your hydrometer will drop much more, the hydrometer is only measuring sugar content, not alcohol.

robertandrews said:

. . . . . I lost the piece of paper containing the original gravity reading, but I have a photograph (http://goo.gl/w2ogs) with the hydrometer's alcohol level (6.5%) so, reading across, I can see that the original gravity was 1.050 . . . . . . . . .

Click to expand...

So the initial reading was appx. 1.050 or 6.5%, So the easiest way to tell what your ABV is: subtract 2% (Remaining unfermentable equivalent sugar left in the beer) from 6.5% (Original amount of equivalent sugar in the wort) = 4.5%ABV (This is a rough estimate) You can find the calculations to convert your gravity readings to alcohol on this forum if you want to get exact.

As far as where you stand, the easiest way to tell if your beer is finished fermenting is with your hydrometer, take a reading about every three days when you sense the beer getting close. If the consequent readings do not change, the beer is done fermenting, most people on the forum suggest after it's done fermenting you might want to leave the beer on the yeast for another 2-3 weeks (or more) to allow the yeast to clean up their byproducts and subsequent off flavors.

Actually the process I use now is: After fermentation starts, leave fermentor alone for three weeks, check gravity/taste sample, wait 3 days, check gravity/taste sample, proceed as necessary.

I hope this helps, Brew on my friend

Ok, so 1.000 is water density, that density increases when you add sugar to it, this sugar gives a potential alcohol forecast, and, as the sugar is converted to alcohol by yeast, the potential alcohol remaining is reduced, the aim being to get the specific gravity to reduce to 1.000 (which is presumably 0% potential alcohol)?

So you reckon there's not much chance of finding that remaining potential 2%? Is it worth stirring it or something, to see what more I can give it, or would that be a bad idea? I have sediment on the bottom, sludge around the surface edge.

Definately do not stir it, If you oxidize it at this point it will taste like cardboard. Your beer is close to if not completely done fermenting. Beer will never get to 1.000 unless you're doing a sour ale. (lambic, Flemish, etc) or wine, cider etc.

No it will not get down to 1.000. It all depends on the recipe you use and the yeast you use but for a typical ale you can expect it to be around 1.010 or so. The % that you read on the hydrometer isn't the ABV of the beer. To calculate the ABV of your beer take the OG - FG and then multply that by 131. So my last beer started at 1.052 and ended at 1.018. So my calculation would look like (1.052-1.018)x131=4.45%

Your beer isn't completely fermented when it hits 1.000. It is completely fermented when you get the same reading 3 days in a row.

The advice I like to give is don't even touch the bucket for at least 3 weeks (unless you are making a session beer but that is a different story). This will give the yeast enough time to fully ferment the wort and clean up after themselves.

Don't go by those colored lines on the hydrometer. Each beer will be different. If you are buying a kit the instructions will usually tell you what your estimated FG will be and it will usually be really close to that.

Pleased to meet another brewer named Robert. I see you got the answer for F.G. guessing. Yup take a reading , get a number, come back in 3 days and do it again; keep a record , and when you have no change let it set for at least a week or more to clean up. The one thing I real think you have to change though is putting the hydrometer in you brew bucket for the reading! Sanitized or not, when you work to get the lid off & leave it open like that you are asking for bad things to happen. Use a wine thief or turkey baster to get a sample and get out. The air has " Air born strangers" ready to make all your hard work turn to bad beer. Good luck & brew on.Cheers

I also find that it's easier to get a proper reading when using a sample in a clear tube. It allows you to have a straight line line of sight rather than looking at an angle into the bucket. You may also want to give the hydrometer a good spin to remove any bubbles that attach themselves to the side.

Here's a little diagram that shows how to take a reading...




Another thing about taking a sample to test is that you can taste it and see how things are progressing. It will obviously be young/green and flat but once you've tasted a few different brews at this point you can start to get an idea of how it will end up.

Happy brewing!

You shouldnt be plooping stuff in your fermenter and then standing over it dropping dead skin cells into it while your breathing hard trying to read a silly little glass tube thats covered with numbers you dont understand..lol...Its frustrating to think about..
Welcome to brewing beer

Hi Robert,

You're correct in that dissolving solids (sugars, in this case) will increase a solution's specific gravity over that of distilled water. Ethanol has a lower density than that of water, so as beer yeasts consume sugars and produce ethanol, the specific gravity of the solution drops until all fermentable sugars have been consumed. There are other solids in beer such as proteins and more complex sugars that saccharomyces cervesiae cannot consume. These other solids usually prevent the specific gravity of beer dropping to the theoretical density of an ethanol and water solution.

Beer hydrometers are not high precision instruments, and therefore you should measure the specific gravity of distilled water to "calibrate" your hydrometer. For most hydrometers, this should be 1.000 at a solution temperature of 59*F or 15*C. If the solution has a higher temperature, the volume change will tend to make the solution slightly less dense, and you will get a lower reading. There are conversion calculators to correct for temperature, but this kind of precision is really unnecessary for most practical brewing applications.

The above information is an attempt to explain the two different readings you are observing for your two hydrometers. Try testing each hydrometer in distilled water at about 15*C and use the one that reads the closest to 1.000 to test your beer.

Ok, I decided to divide my strategy...
I took a reading for the last few days (no other way to do it other than opening up the fermentation bucket; no tap off it; I don't yet have a jar) and it basically hasn't moved. This is about day 15/16.
So I have siphoned half of the 15 litres off in to a secondary container and stirred in about 45 grams of powdered dry malt extract that was mixed with 150ml of luke warm water. From there, I siphoned it in to 12 half-litre bottles, one of which is clear so I can monitor (carbonation evidently began immediately).
I must say, it takes good; just like I expected, minus a few bubbles. I may test a bottle in a week.

So, what do you think of this and what do you think I should do with the remaining flat beer that remains on the sediment in the fermentation bucket, which has the gunky ring around the edge of where the surface was?

Do you think I should just leave it for, say, a week before repeating the above process? Or should I add anything to it or change it in some way first, ie. maybe to deactivate fermentation or something?

Thanks. Great forum.

You may as well finish the job & bottle the rest. The reason people said leave it alone was so all the sediment and gunky stuff would settle to the bottom of the fermenting bucket. Your bucket now has way to much AIR space,so the remaining brew will spoil. Bottle it. Wait three weeks to drink it ,and in the mean time watch the gunk settle in your clear bottle. The gunk is what makes you beer, and by waiting longer the gunk stays in the bucket mostly. You made beer and I sincerely hope it turns out well. Get a hydrometer tube & put a spigot on the bucket for taking samples. Clean the spigot with a spray bottle of sanitized solution after each opening and cover it with something; I use a short piece of 3/8 ID siphon tube plugged on one end filled with solution. It slides up over the end of the spigot;CLEAN/SEALED and ready next time.Good luck and enjoy your beer, hope this helps. Cheers oh ya and boil the water used to prime your beer. Rob