New to brewing.. Fermentation Question

[NorCalHB]

So I have a Amber Ale in my primary right now. Pitched the yeast and took a hydo reading. Reading was right around 1.046 or so and it started fermentation as normal (so I read). Temp has been right around 66 degrees for the last several days. It has been 10 days since I pitched so I decided to take a hydro reading. My reading was 1.020. Im not really posting this because Im worried, Im more so posting this because I want to learn.. Is this a normal hydro reading for an ale ten days into fermantation?

 

[Daddymem]

Apparent Atttenuation = [(OG-FG)/(OG-1)] x 100

~57% in your case. What is the expected attenuation of your yeast?
Extract or All Grain batch?

 

[ChshreCat]

+1 there's no real "normal" reading since it varies depending on your recipe and process. That's why I like using Beersmith. I punch everything in and it does the math for me and gives me an idea of what to expect.

 

[NorCalHB]

Makes sense.. All beers are different so there is no real "normal".. It was an extract kit and about the yeast.. no clue. It was the crappy yeast that came with the kit that came with my brewing equipment kit. So when you say 57% you mean fermantation is 57% complete?

 

[Daddymem]

"Apparent attenuation percentage is the percentage of sugars that yeast consume."

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew_terms.html

Extracts will tend to attenuate less. Did the kit give an expected FG? What kit?

 

[NorCalHB]

I ordered a starter kit from truebrew.com and it came with an amber ale extract kit. The expected FG is 1.012- 1.014 is what the instructions say. Is 1.020 okay for being 10 days in?

 

[Daddymem]

Give it three days with same reading to see if it is done. It appears to have gone lazy.
Munton's dry yeast? (I have heard less than stellar things about that, but have not used myself. US-05, US-04, Nottingham are my go to dry yeasts)

Did you aerate? If you are just starting out, check out the cheap and easy aeration gadget.

HBT has a nice wiki on attenuation, scroll down for things that affect attenuation.
Attenuation

 

[NorCalHB]

Give it three days with same reading to see if it is done. It appears to have gone lazy.
Munton's dry yeast? (I have heard less than stellar things about that, but have not used myself. US-05, US-04, Nottingham are my go to dry yeasts)

Did you aerate? If you are just starting out, check out the cheap and easy aeration gadget.

HBT has a nice wiki on attenuation, scroll down for things that affect attenuation.
Attenuation

Ok, lets say I give it 3 days and all 3 days the reading is 1.020.. Is that okay? Even though the kit says it should be 1.014-1.016? It was my understanding that if I bottled before it reached the suggested FG I might have a few bottle bombs in my closet..

 

[Daddymem]

If the hydrometer reading has stopped at the same place for three days you are probably fine. If you want, let it sit more. I usually leave my beers in bulk for a month before I bottle.