noob queation. . . . ABV

Hi everyone. My very 1st brew has been bottled for a week. I tried one today. . . I just had one bottle and it hit me hard. i.e I felt a little tipsy. I am a solid drinker and I usually feel this way after 3or4.

It is a coopers lager kit
I used 1kg dextrose

My O.G was 1039
My F.G was 1013
I added one carbonation drop at bottling

I worked out the ABV to be 3.48% +0.5 for conditioning = 3.98

Is this correct? The beer I drank tonight feels twice as strong.
Is there any other way of working out ABV?

Also thanks for all the info on here it has helped me out so much. I started my 3rd brew today and im loving it!!!!

 

Give it another week in the bottles at room temp. My first beer tasted really strong after one week, despite being 4%. It tasted more like a 10% beer. My second beer, which I had after it was in the bottles two weeks, had MUCH less of that. I expect my third beer, at three weeks, will have almost none.

 

Was your OG measured or was it estimated from the recipe? If measured, did it match the expected from the recipe?

 

Its not the taste thats strong. . . Its the fact that I was drunk after one bottle that leads me to believe that it is way over 3.5%. The taste was really good!

Maybe it will change after another few weeks/months. I was just too excited to taste my 1st brew.

 

It was a coopers lager kit. I measured the o.g. I dont know what the expected gravity was but I would guess its the same all coopers lager kits. I literally just added water dextrose and yeast.

 

Accurate gravity readings are the tell all of ABV. Do you usually drink lite beer, and at what temps did you take your readings? Temp can alter the reading which could have a greater effect in lower ABV situations.

 

Did you really use 1kg of dextrose? Is that part of the cooper's kit? If it's not, it seems like a lot of sugar to add. 1kg = 2.2lbs. I'm not familiar with that lit.

 

Messiah. I took my og reading at 30c my fg was at 22c. Could this mean that my actual og was higher?

Should I be taking sg readings at the same temp. I have very little temp control on my fv. . Well none actually but the temperature seems to stay stable enough.

 

The reason I ask is because with extract beers it is very difficult to get an accurate OG reading if you are topping off with fresh water to get to your final volume - the fresh water sits on top of the wort and resists mixing (no matter how much you think you mixed). A lot of first time extract brewers measure an OG that is lower than it really is because of this phenomenon. Your measured OG of 1.039 seems low to me. The good thing about extract kits is that if you know the recipe and your volumes are accurate, you can figure out what the OG really was. If your OG really was higher, your ABV is also higher.

 

Yeah 'Brew enhancer 1' came with my starter kit and malt extract. I looked it up. BH1 is 100% dextrose. I have moved on to BH2 which is 500g dextrose, 250g maltodextrin and 250 light dme.

This last brew I wanted all Dme but I need to order online as there are no supply stores near me.

 

Any chance you drank it on an empty stomach? For me there is a huge difference between drinking on any empty stomach and after a full meal. Honestly I'd guess it's like a 4:1 difference.

 

Yeah, BeerSmith says that you'd get OG of 1.02 and ~3.2% ABV from the 1kg of dextrose alone in a 5gal batch, not to mention what else is in that lager kit.

Maybe I misunderstand, but maybe your SG readings were off.

 

That makes sense to me. I took the readings from the tap which is low on my fv.
If that is the case how would I get an accurate o.g reading. I have brewed 2kits since then. And both had similarly low o.gs

 

You need to oxygenate the wort anyway, so mix it well before sampling for OG.

 

If you are topping off with fresh water, it is very tough to get an accurate measurement unless you can shake up the wort really really well - not stir...all stirring does is spin the liquid around and around but the fresh water tends to remain on top. However, if it is all extract and sugar, you can calculate an accurate OG - a known amount of extract/sugar dissolved in a known amount of water will yield a known gravity.

What was your recipe?

 

My recipe was very simple.

1.7 kg coopers lager kit
1kg dextrose
Total liquid in the fv was 22 litres

 

According to Beersmith, your OG is about right (~1.04). You should have finished at ~1 with an ABV of ~5%.

 

As corrected, thats still only 3.7% ABV.

http://www.rooftopbrew.net/abv_calculator.php

And an apparent attenuation of 66.67% which is kind of low. I have had it happen though, especially back in the days of extracts.

http://pint.com.au/calculators/alcohol/

 

It's extract so it should always reach it's intended O.G. which should be stated somewhere.

It's almost certainly higher the 1.039 especially with a kilo of sugar.

Goes of to google .... 3.75 lbs of LME, 2.2 lbs of sugar, 6 gallons of beer... Whoa it *is* 1.039!

[edit: *oops* there's a second page of comments I should have read...]

 

Well, it looks like you truly do have a 3.7% beer...guess you're just a lightweight then!

 

Thats what I was afraid of!!!

I know beer that have a good body can sometimes hit you harder but it just seemed like a 8% or more. Im going to have another tonight and see if it was just a one off or if it really seems higher than 3.7%