ABV

[Bob C.]

I have another question, hard to believe I know. I am making the Brewers Best Imperial Brown Ale. I followed the instructions to the letter. When I pitched my yeast I took an hydrometer reading of 1.06. I was concerned because the direction say it should be 1.071 to 1.075, but what could I do. I did calibrate the hydrometer in water, it was 1.00. Today I kegged it and took a reading, 1.060. Again the directions say it should be 1.016 to 1.019.
What am I doing wrong?

 

[mac_1103]

SG didn't change at all? How long has it been? Did you seen any signs of fermentation (e.g., bubbles, blow off, krausen, heat)? Did you taste the hydrometer samples?

I brewed that kit once a long time ago. It blew the air lock right off the lid about 12 hours after I pitched the yeast.

 

[IslandLizard]

Are you reading that scale correctly?
We typically write down/list 3 digits behind the dot, such as 1.060, 1.016, 1.006.

1.060 means you had about 3 inches of hydrometer sticking above the surface of the sample.
At 1.006, you'd only have about an inch sticking up, give or take.

Did you taste the last hydrometer sample? If so, what was it like?
How many days between brewing and taking that sample today?
Have you seen any action in the fermenter, or airlock?

What was the yeast? How much did you pitch?
You didn't cook the yeast by any chance, pouring it into the hot wort?

 

[Sailingeric]

I hate hydrometers. Get a refractometer, much easier to take an OG reading.

 

[passedpawn]

I have another question, hard to believe I know. I am making the Brewers Best Imperial Brown Ale. I followed the instructions to the letter. When I pitched my yeast I took an hydrometer reading of 1.06. I was concerned because the direction say it should be 1.071 to 1.075, but what could I do. I did calibrate the hydrometer in water, it was 1.00. Today I kegged it and took a reading, 1.060. Again the directions say it should be 1.016 to 1.019.
What am I doing wrong?

If those numbers are correct, then of course you don't have beer in your keg, you have wort. Typically, you want to assess the gravity BEFORE you transfer to keg.

If those numbers are correct, you either forgot to add yeast, or the yeast was not viable (alive). If this is the case, you should immediately transfer the beer back to the fermentor and inoculate with fresh yeast. Get at least two S-04 dry yeast packets, tear it open, dump it into the fermentor. Ensure fermentor is above 60F. Leave it alone for 2 weeks.

 

[Kickass]

Did you take pictures?

Hydrometers can be tricky at first because of the markings but once you understand them they’re invaluable.

 

[scrap iron]

I know it may sound like an odd question, but did you put enough of the sample in the hydrometer tube to float it? You must make sure it floats and is not resting on the bottom.
I remember a post awhile back where a newbie had a similar problem and come to find out he didn't put enough in the sample jar. I put the hydrometer in the jar and fill it all the way to the brim, it's easier to read. Also, most hydrometers say to read below the meniscus line.

 

[Jag75]

Your definitely doing something wrong or your hydrometer is messed up. Did you add too much water when you topped it off ? Curious as to why you kegged it when you reading was showing it wasn't done.

 

[hotbeer]

Extract or all-grain? If extract, I don't really know why your OG would be off, other than you may have added too much water. Or as another said, you didn't float your hydrometer when you took a reading.

If this was all-grain, there are a myriad of reasons why you didn't come up with the same OG as the recipe. But again too much water is likely.

If you did forget to pitch the yeast, then that would explain why it's FG is about the same. Or again, did you not float the hydrometer?

I might just empty the keg back into the kettle and boil it again for 15 to 20 minutes to make sure any infection that might be starting gets taken care of. Then cool and pitch more yeast.

If you are measuring OG correctly, then you can boil longer to get the OG you desire that is more closer to the recipe. You'll have less total volume of wort though. Which might be good as ABV does play a part in how the beer tastes and is perceived if you are wanting it to be what it was meant to be.

pic's of your hydrometer when you take a reading might help us all. Make sure the bulb is off the bottom though.

 

[redrocker652002]

Seems very strange not to have anything at all? I am going to watch this and see what happened.

 

[Jag75]

Brewers best are extract kits . I started out with these kits , they are pretty good as well. I'm very curious to see this hydrometer. I'm also wondering what the temp was when yeast was added and gravity checked. Another question is how long it was in the fv until it was kegged.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Link to kit recipe PDF for list of ingredients and estimated OG,

I looked earlier for a missing ingredient (perhaps 1# DME), but didn't see anything that was a reasonable match.

So, a couple of tables for your trouble-shooting consideration ...

Maybe my math is wrong; but I intended to show my assumptions to help someone else verify the math.

 

[mac_1103]

Brewer's Best Imperial Nut Brown Ale

Pretty sure this comes with S-04 yeast.

 

[mac_1103]

I looked earlier for a missing ingredient (perhaps 1# DME), but didn't see anything that was a reasonable match.

You left out the maltodextrin, but 8 ounces of that is only going to add 4 or 5 points to five gallons.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

revised to include maltodextrin

 

[redrocker652002]

Waiting for the OP to answer some of the questions and maybe add some more to the input.