stblindtiger
Well-Known Member
For my very first batch ever, I used the Cincinnati Pale Ale recipe as oulined by John Palmer but I modified it by adding some Crystal Malt specialty grains to it at the start as the LHBS guy suggested. My brew day was last Wednesday.
For the rest of my ingredients, I used sparkling amber dried malt extract, golden light pure malt extract syrup (both after steeping the specialty grains at 160 degrees and then bringing it to a boil and taking it off the heat to add the extracts), simcoe bittering hops (at 60), cascade finishing hops (at 5), and nottingham yeast.
I had a little trouble for the first 24 hours getting it to stay at a stable temperature. It was either too high (highest was 72 degrees) or too low (lowest was 59 degrees), but I rigged together a swamp cooler as was discussed on another thread in here (thanks!) and it has been holding pretty steady between 68 and 70 degrees since then. Any noticable bubbling stopped three days ago, and the guy at the LHBS suggested I sample it after 5 days or so and take a reading.
Well, I gave it the "full" week (I know it should probably be a full two weeks to let it condition, but this is my first beer and I am just anxious to drink a finished product!) and took a sample today. I took the sample by putting a measuring cup in the baby bottle sanitizer for 2 minutes in the microwave. (I hope that isn't going to be a problem????) I was being lazy(and cheap), and didn't want to mix up a gallon of sterilizer for just taking a sample. Do you think that will be a problem?
Hopefully not, but anyway, my real question is this.... I took a hydrometer reading and tried standardizing it as suggested.... At 70 degrees, the beer level was below the meniscus line and looked to be about halfway between the first and second line below the "10 mark" on the hydrometer.
So... I think that means the hydrometer reading was 1.013. Then standardizing that as suggested by the chart in Palmer's book says to add 0.001 bringing the reading up to 1.014? Does that reading sound right? I mean is that about where it should be before bottling? I'm going to take another reading tomorrow, and if it is the same, I'm going to bottle it.
I forgot to take an original gravity reading after making the wort on brew day, so I am at a loss there. I was trying to get the wort cooled off, and the yeast pitched as quickly as possible so I could seal it and I just forgot to take a reading! ....Live and learn I guess.
Well, here is a picture of the beer right now..
It's a little cloudy and flat, but that is to be expected before bottling I guess. The smell and taste was AMAZING! It was a little yeasty yet, but again, as expected! ....I'm so pumped!!!!
So thanks for reading all this!!!! (I know it's long!) But here are my three questions:
1) Do you think I'll be alright sanitizing the measuring cup in the baby bottle sanitizer to take a sample?
2) Does a gravity reading of 1.014 sound about right before bottling?
3) What do you think the alchohol content will be? (I understand not knowing the OG is hurting me here, but anyone know what it should have been?) ...Palmer says it should have been 1.045, but his recipe didn't say to steep specialty grains at the start???? Anyone have a guess at what it will be?
Thanks again!
For the rest of my ingredients, I used sparkling amber dried malt extract, golden light pure malt extract syrup (both after steeping the specialty grains at 160 degrees and then bringing it to a boil and taking it off the heat to add the extracts), simcoe bittering hops (at 60), cascade finishing hops (at 5), and nottingham yeast.
I had a little trouble for the first 24 hours getting it to stay at a stable temperature. It was either too high (highest was 72 degrees) or too low (lowest was 59 degrees), but I rigged together a swamp cooler as was discussed on another thread in here (thanks!) and it has been holding pretty steady between 68 and 70 degrees since then. Any noticable bubbling stopped three days ago, and the guy at the LHBS suggested I sample it after 5 days or so and take a reading.
Well, I gave it the "full" week (I know it should probably be a full two weeks to let it condition, but this is my first beer and I am just anxious to drink a finished product!) and took a sample today. I took the sample by putting a measuring cup in the baby bottle sanitizer for 2 minutes in the microwave. (I hope that isn't going to be a problem????) I was being lazy(and cheap), and didn't want to mix up a gallon of sterilizer for just taking a sample. Do you think that will be a problem?
Hopefully not, but anyway, my real question is this.... I took a hydrometer reading and tried standardizing it as suggested.... At 70 degrees, the beer level was below the meniscus line and looked to be about halfway between the first and second line below the "10 mark" on the hydrometer.
So... I think that means the hydrometer reading was 1.013. Then standardizing that as suggested by the chart in Palmer's book says to add 0.001 bringing the reading up to 1.014? Does that reading sound right? I mean is that about where it should be before bottling? I'm going to take another reading tomorrow, and if it is the same, I'm going to bottle it.
I forgot to take an original gravity reading after making the wort on brew day, so I am at a loss there. I was trying to get the wort cooled off, and the yeast pitched as quickly as possible so I could seal it and I just forgot to take a reading! ....Live and learn I guess.
Well, here is a picture of the beer right now..
It's a little cloudy and flat, but that is to be expected before bottling I guess. The smell and taste was AMAZING! It was a little yeasty yet, but again, as expected! ....I'm so pumped!!!!
So thanks for reading all this!!!! (I know it's long!) But here are my three questions:
1) Do you think I'll be alright sanitizing the measuring cup in the baby bottle sanitizer to take a sample?
2) Does a gravity reading of 1.014 sound about right before bottling?
3) What do you think the alchohol content will be? (I understand not knowing the OG is hurting me here, but anyone know what it should have been?) ...Palmer says it should have been 1.045, but his recipe didn't say to steep specialty grains at the start???? Anyone have a guess at what it will be?
Thanks again!