TsunamiMike
Well-Known Member
New homebrewer here with extract kits, I decided on Brewer's Best Watermelon Wheat to be my first brew.
I have a couple of questions more or less for clarity:
1. STEEP GRAINS: In the recipe instructions it says to use 2.5 gallons to be put in the brew pot and begin to heat, it gives you a tip that 2.5 gallons is a minimum to boil and says to feel free to boil more without adjusting the recipe. Once this is done you follow the schedule all the way to "cool wort and transfer", the instructions say after cooling wort "add water" to the fermenter to bring your wort to approximately 5 gallons. My question is what is the BEST amount of water to start your boil as I assume you want to add the LEAST amount of water after the cooling phase, correct?
2. FERMENTATION: OG was 1.047 <OG range: 1.046-1.050>when sealed in the primary fermenter. This recipe specifies that the wort ferments within 24-48 hours, mine did it in less than 24 as bubbles were releasing out of the airlock. It says to take a gravity reading at the 4-6 day mark, I took mine on the 5th day and was in the FG range @ 1.012 <FG range: 1.009-1.013>. The instructions say it is optional to use a secondary and I had a glass carboy so I racked it prior to the finish of the fermentation as it specified and leave it for 2 weeks. The fermentation <bubbling> has stopped as of the 7th day in the primary, and per the instructions I still have to wait another 7 days prior to bottling and then another 2 weeks to bottle condition at the minimum. It seems to me that if I did not use a secondary I would probably be bottling it now, is that true? Is the Brewer's Best team trying to avoid "bottle bombs" and that is why it wants me to continue to wait?
3. ABV CALCULATION: I understand how to calculate the ABV but am concerned that it doesn't match my instructions. My Instructions say that OG range is 1.046 to 1.050 and the FG range is 1.009 to 1.013 which produces an ABV range of 4.8% to 5.3%. When I calculate what I started with OG 1.047 and what I tested prior to moving from the primary fermenter to the secondary was a FG of 1.012 which if you calculate those it comes out to an ABV of 4.59% < (1.047 - 1.012 ) x 131.25 = 4.59 > which is below the range stated on the instructions. What am I doing wrong?
BTW I have checked these forums for answers and I do see some people don't think the secondary is needed but was hoping to create my own thread to ease my mind. I am going to start a Brewer's Best American Cream Ale tomorrow, these directions have less steps than the wheat so this should be interesting!
I have a couple of questions more or less for clarity:
1. STEEP GRAINS: In the recipe instructions it says to use 2.5 gallons to be put in the brew pot and begin to heat, it gives you a tip that 2.5 gallons is a minimum to boil and says to feel free to boil more without adjusting the recipe. Once this is done you follow the schedule all the way to "cool wort and transfer", the instructions say after cooling wort "add water" to the fermenter to bring your wort to approximately 5 gallons. My question is what is the BEST amount of water to start your boil as I assume you want to add the LEAST amount of water after the cooling phase, correct?
2. FERMENTATION: OG was 1.047 <OG range: 1.046-1.050>when sealed in the primary fermenter. This recipe specifies that the wort ferments within 24-48 hours, mine did it in less than 24 as bubbles were releasing out of the airlock. It says to take a gravity reading at the 4-6 day mark, I took mine on the 5th day and was in the FG range @ 1.012 <FG range: 1.009-1.013>. The instructions say it is optional to use a secondary and I had a glass carboy so I racked it prior to the finish of the fermentation as it specified and leave it for 2 weeks. The fermentation <bubbling> has stopped as of the 7th day in the primary, and per the instructions I still have to wait another 7 days prior to bottling and then another 2 weeks to bottle condition at the minimum. It seems to me that if I did not use a secondary I would probably be bottling it now, is that true? Is the Brewer's Best team trying to avoid "bottle bombs" and that is why it wants me to continue to wait?
3. ABV CALCULATION: I understand how to calculate the ABV but am concerned that it doesn't match my instructions. My Instructions say that OG range is 1.046 to 1.050 and the FG range is 1.009 to 1.013 which produces an ABV range of 4.8% to 5.3%. When I calculate what I started with OG 1.047 and what I tested prior to moving from the primary fermenter to the secondary was a FG of 1.012 which if you calculate those it comes out to an ABV of 4.59% < (1.047 - 1.012 ) x 131.25 = 4.59 > which is below the range stated on the instructions. What am I doing wrong?
BTW I have checked these forums for answers and I do see some people don't think the secondary is needed but was hoping to create my own thread to ease my mind. I am going to start a Brewer's Best American Cream Ale tomorrow, these directions have less steps than the wheat so this should be interesting!
