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Enhoffer-Knopfe

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Just tried my very first batch of home brew, Atlantic Amber clone. Partial extract. 2 weeks in the primary, 4 weeks in the secondary, 3 weeks in the bottle. Wyeast 2112. Stored the entired time around 72 degrees. Tastes great, alcohol content seems low and almost flat. As this was my first batch I did not test og, too many other things to worry about. As it is I might have scorched the DME, but no burnt flavor. So worried about sanitation I might have pitched the yeast before the wort was completely cooled. Is there anything I can do at this point to raise the alcohol content or am I screwed? Can I use this batch in place of water in my next batch?
 
If the yeast were dead and didn't make beer, then it'd taste like wort (which imo isnt all that tasty). Did you add priming sugar? That may be the carbonation problem, or it may just be one of those beers that takes longer to carb up. I wouldnt use it in place of water for your next batch, not sure what results that would have (plus in the boil the alcohol would go away).
 
I did prime the bottles. I drank 8 bottles and only slightly buzzed, but it did taste like beer. How 'bout using this beer to make up the difference in a partial boil?
 
First asking a question with booze in the title is likely to get you poor answers from the brewers here who appreciate good beer.

However many will try to answer your concerns if you help us.

What was the recipe you used? I'm not sure what a partial extract is and I'm not familiar with that beer. From the recipe we can predict pretty accurately what the OG should have been.

Also what was your process, especially how did you bottle?

After 3 weeks in the bottle it should be carbonated however sometimes it takes longer than that. For normal gravity beers you really should not notice the alcohol. The bite in beers is usually from carbonation and perhaps from hoppy bitterness. It may be that this beer is less carbonated than beers you normally drink affecting your perception.

Once it is bottled it is not worth the effort required to add sugars and referment to increase the ABV. Enjoy it for what it is. Using beer to make your wort will not help the ABV as the alcohol will boil off. How it will affect the over all result I'm not sure. Again it is probably not something you want to try.

If you don't care for it right now set it aside for a few weeks and try it again. Repeat until either it is good or you really need the bottles/space for a new batch. You may be surprised how it improves.

Craig
 
well if u had a slight buzz then pitching the yeast into too hot of wort isnt your problem, if that were the case there would be NO alcohol. and i definately would NOT use this as water for your next batch i could see that being really nasty tasting because u already have the malt and hops and stuff in that batch then adding even MORE malt and hops would probably make a terrible tasting beer
 
Thank you. Sorry about the boozy question, my fo pa. I was just wondering if low alcohol would have caused the lack of carbonation and if there was a solution. I'm a noob so partial extract may have been the wrong term. I used specialty grains with dme. The recipe came from Tess and Mark Szamatulski's book "Clonebrews," New England Atlantic Amber. I think I'll enjoy this batch and hope for better results with the next one. Any advice on ensuring carbonation with the next batch? Is 1 1/4 cup dme in 2 cups water sufficient for priming in a 5 gallon batch?
 
3/4 cup is the usual does of corn sugar to prime bottles. More is not better. Usually a few weeks will get it carbed up. As far as the alcohol, hard to say unless we know how much extract was used. But, some styles are not necessarily high in alcohol content, no matter how bitter or dark they are. If we know the amount of extract used, we can calculate the alcohol for you.
 
Not so much concerned about the alcohol content as much as the carbonation. I assumed there was some sort of correlation. I figured 2 wks primary, 4 wks secondary and 3 wks in the bottle would be sufficient time for carbonation. I guess I'll need to be more patient.
 
TBH, 3 weeks ought to be enough time (at 70F) to carb most beers. Maybe not to max, but should be very noticeable. And, yes, 1 1/4 cup DME I think is the standard amount for 5 gallons.
 
I did prime the bottles. I drank 8 bottles and only slightly buzzed, but it did taste like beer. How 'bout using this beer to make up the difference in a partial boil?
Sounds like the beer is drinkable so just enjoy it. You could use the beer in cooking where the alcohol content won't matter as much.
 
Just tried my very first batch of home brew, Atlantic Amber clone. Partial extract. 2 weeks in the primary, 4 weeks in the secondary, 3 weeks in the bottle. Wyeast 2112. Stored the entired time around 72 degrees. Tastes great, alcohol content seems low and almost flat. As this was my first batch I did not test og, too many other things to worry about. As it is I might have scorched the DME, but no burnt flavor. So worried about sanitation I might have pitched the yeast before the wort was completely cooled. Is there anything I can do at this point to raise the alcohol content or am I screwed? Can I use this batch in place of water in my next batch?

can you give us the ingredient list so maybe we can get an idea of what your target gravities should have been? And since you didnt take gravities there was NO way in knowing if your beer was done fermenting...

However, if it tastes like beer, enjoy it!
 
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