First batch in over 10 years

My daughter needed a science project and somehow the discussion turned to fermentation, and guess what was decided! I still had all of my equipment from years ago, but it was covered in dirt and dust so I figured it would be best to buy new. At least now I have two cappers.

Anyway, the batch went really fast, I still remembered all the steps and what to watch for, like keep the dirty 11yo hands off the sanitized equipment! The one question I have is with the sg. It came up only at 1.035 instead of 1.045. I read in a thread below that you need to stir the wort thoroughly to mix after you've added the water, which I may not have done. I guess I shouldn't worry. The airlock was bubbling this morning so I guess the yeast is doing its thing. The room is at 68 most of the day, but we turn it down at night.

As for the science side, we're going to measure the CO2 emissions using a larger airlock/gathering tube, and then estimate the sugar conversion based on the emission if we can keep track. If not, we'll just use the sg measurements. (I'll bribe the science teacher with the results.:cross: )

The biggest problem I have right now is that I don't have any bottles. We're very good about recycling.

zacster said:

The biggest problem I have right now is that I don't have any bottles. We're very good about recycling.

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well chief, you can't recycle more directly than cleaning, re-filling and capping them yourself!

Best science project EVER.

Yeah, that's what I keep telling SWMBO.... I am doing this in the interest of SCIENCE!

You'll need the biggest plastic bag you can find to accommodate the CO2 (probably several). She should run the calculations to estimate the volume based on 75% conversion of sugars to CO2 & alcohol. I think you'll both be surprised.

I transferred the batch to a secondary fermenter today and took a taste. It was a lot clearer than I remember any of my prior attempts being. And it tastes pretty good so far. SG was down to 1.012, which is correct for the recipe.

I'll have to do the calculation on the conversion, since we weren't able to capture the CO2.