I currently have my first brew in my primary fermenter, an Irish Stout Ale recipe from midwest.
6lb Dark LME Malt extract, 1 tsp. Gypsum
4 oz. chocolate malt, 4 oz. caramel 10L, 4 oz. roasted barley, 4 oz. flaked barley
1/2 oz. 12.5% AAU Nuget hops boil 60 min, 1 oz. 6% AAU Glacier hops boil 2 min
Dry Yeast
Last night, after racking the wort, I took a hydrometer reading without first mixing the wort and H2O. I had vigorously aerated the H2O so that's not causing a problem with fermentation... the bubbling this morning is a testament to that.
My problem is that my hydrometer reading before I pitched the yeast read 1.038 @ 72F. I realized for an Irish Stout this is rather low, and began researching. I found a similar situation on this forum that was caused by not thoroughly mixing the wort. Since the wort is denser than water, it sinks, throwing off the reading with the hydrometer at the top.. similar to the 'rivers' of salt water at the bottom of the ocean.
So I sterilized my hydrometer and spoon, uncapped my fermenter, and slowly swirled for a few seconds, and took another reading. This time it came out to be 1.076 @ 81F, 13 hours after pitching the yeast.
I'm curious to know how this will affect the accuracy of determining alcohol % when I take my FG. I realize everything is fine, save for me opening up the lid after merely 13 hours, risking contamination. But I would like advise from those more knowledgeable than I of this.
Cheers
-Kyle
6lb Dark LME Malt extract, 1 tsp. Gypsum
4 oz. chocolate malt, 4 oz. caramel 10L, 4 oz. roasted barley, 4 oz. flaked barley
1/2 oz. 12.5% AAU Nuget hops boil 60 min, 1 oz. 6% AAU Glacier hops boil 2 min
Dry Yeast
Last night, after racking the wort, I took a hydrometer reading without first mixing the wort and H2O. I had vigorously aerated the H2O so that's not causing a problem with fermentation... the bubbling this morning is a testament to that.
My problem is that my hydrometer reading before I pitched the yeast read 1.038 @ 72F. I realized for an Irish Stout this is rather low, and began researching. I found a similar situation on this forum that was caused by not thoroughly mixing the wort. Since the wort is denser than water, it sinks, throwing off the reading with the hydrometer at the top.. similar to the 'rivers' of salt water at the bottom of the ocean.
So I sterilized my hydrometer and spoon, uncapped my fermenter, and slowly swirled for a few seconds, and took another reading. This time it came out to be 1.076 @ 81F, 13 hours after pitching the yeast.
I'm curious to know how this will affect the accuracy of determining alcohol % when I take my FG. I realize everything is fine, save for me opening up the lid after merely 13 hours, risking contamination. But I would like advise from those more knowledgeable than I of this.
Cheers
-Kyle