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I just looked at the hydrometer wiki page and it said this: "Alcohol readings on alcometers are only reliable if there are no additional substances dissolved in the mixture (like sugar); and no air or CO2 bubles adhere to the meter during the measurement." But could these variables affect...

Alright, left it overnight and took a reading. I'm still getting 1.020-1.022. First of all, I don't see how it could be that off after leaving it in the primary for a week. There was a very vigorous fermentation for the first couple-3 days. Then I racked to the secondary (apparently...

Done. Will give it another go tomorrow and post the reading. Can you give me any kind of safe or danger range? How much can I be over the 1.012 without worrying about it? Appreciate the help

yeah, they've all been room temp. ~68 degrees, which calls for no adjustment. The strange thing here is that on one side of the hydro instuctions it says 60 is the ideal temp, but on the other side it says 68 calls for no adjustment while 59 needs -.001. Either way though, I need -.01 not...

I have had a few anxious questions regarding my first batch in the past few weeks, but this one is really getting to me. The last thread was my concern of not seeing any signs of carbing yet even though it's only been a few days since bottling (Sunday). Now, however, I've possibly got the...

3 weeks. Check.

Alright, knew I was being premature; just had been reading about it in my haste and found some posts specifying around 70 degrees. It seems from yous guys' responses that 62 to 64ish degrees won't be a problem (correct me if I'm wrong) as long as I wait the 3 weeks which I had already planned...

What do ya think about the towels though, or better yet an unused featherbed I've got laying around, would they kick it up a bit more too? I trust you when you say it'll still carbonate but I've also read a post on here saying that if you don't start carbonating in the first week or so then...

I just bottled my first batch of extract brown ale this past Sunday and have had no visible signs of carbonation yet. I realize it has only been a few days but from what I've read, there's supposed to be a yeast layer forming at the bottom. Well, I've been looking through the forums and have...

Stouts aside... I assume there's no way for the gravity to increase after two weeks in the secondary so I either misread it 2 weeks ago or the other night then? Also, will a reading after bottle conditioning be accurate as well?

Well, just bottled my first batch (Brown Ale) on Sunday; best feeling in the world by the way. It spent 1 week in the primary and 2 in the secondary. I had a thread a couple of weeks ago after racking regarding my hydro reading being about 1.014 when the instructions specified 1.012 as the...

The only description of the grains is "Bag of crushed grains." <---Any idea what these may be for an IPA?? I assume that they are just specialty grains as there are two 3.3 lbs. boxes of Amber LME provided with the kit as well. Either way I've got a better feel for what I'm doing now...

Yeah, Poindexter, that sounds good. Thanks for the thorough explanation. One question. I keep reading 30 min to steep (from Palmer's How to Brew in particular). I'd actually prefer to do it for an hour if that would improve the quality of the beer but will the extra time bring out these...

It's electric. Guess I'll just leave it on taking the pot on and off of the heat. I don't really trust the towels to maintain the heat for half an hour. But maybe I'm wrong.

These are all good suggestions. Obviously a lot of you steep the grains directly in water and then strain them out. Getting to another part of my question though... the process given to me by the LHBS says to just heat water to 155 degrees, add grains, remove from heat, wrap in towel...

Alright, sounds good. I'll try to find something that'll work. If not then I'll just follow the original directions. By the way, if any of you are around Charleston, SC and have the urge to start a Homebrew store there, feel free. It would be nice.

I am going to give an IPA a shot this weekend. It will be my second brew (the first one's in the secondary). This recipe calls for steeping some grains before adding the LME. However, their method for the steep is different than what I've been reading everywhere. They say to bring a...

Drank the beer but didn't completely forget about it. Q1. What is the most likely cause of the specific gravity being off? I would assume it's due to the fact that it wasn't aerated thoroughly enough. I only swirled the bucket around a couple of times before adding the yeast. Q2...

Alright, appreciate it. Will have a (commercial) beer and forget about it for a couple of weeks. Cheers

um... Already transferred it to a secondary. You think there's enough yeast still in there to finish fermenting in the next couple of weeks? Or, am I stuck with the 1.014? Either way I won't touch it till I bottle. Thanks for the assurance.