alcohol question

[ak40kush]

I tool my FG reading today to check if fermentation is complete. by the looks of everything it is. so i did my calculations for my alcohol content and also added the extra .5% alc for bottle conditioning. honestly im a little disappointed with the results. After conditioning the projected alc/vol is 3.1% dont get me wrong the stout is tasting great (despite its warm and flat lol)

Now i havnt racked to a carboy or bottled its still in its primary. is there a way i can raise the alc higher and take and still have accurate hydrometer readings?

any help is appreciated.

 

[carnevoodoo]

What was your OG? I'm assuming that's a dry stout?

Just drink it. There's nothing wrong with a 3.1% stout. I've been looking to make more small beers. Also, are you confident that your OG reading was correct? Post your recipe, please.

 

[camiller]

What was your OG? ... Also, are you confident that your OG reading was correct? Post your recipe, please.

What was the temp of the sample for OG/FG? Did you do the temperature correction?

BTW Regular Guinness is only about 4% ABV.

 

[Joker]

True you are not going to get a buzz off of one or two but is there anything wrong with that. IMHO the reason to homebrew is to bring out the flavors you want not just make high alc brew.

 

[marubozo]

Yep, if you post your gravity readings and temps that will help a lot. Did you have a target ABV for the recipe? Chances are if it's a bit lower than expected you may have just had a slightly lower OG reading if you used an extract kit and topped off with regular water since it probably didn't get completely mixed before taking your sample.

 

[springer]

Do a shot of Jameson then drink the stout...


really nothing wrong with a 3.2 stout. The English brown I have on tap is only 3.7 and is one of my favorite beers.

 

[ak40kush]

OG was 1.030
FG was 1.010
Temp is unknown with specifics
Its an extract stout.
Id just prefer it to be a little higher in % is all.

 

[carbon111]

Was this a kit?

1.03 is kind of lowish for a stout...did you add anything else besides the extract? Some of those canned kits are only designed to make 3 gallons.

 

[Picobrew]

If you did an extract brew with partial, it is highly possible that your original OG reading was artificially low. What did the kit/recipe say it was supposed to be? You could have easily been measuring from an improperly mixed/diluted portion of the wort. Also, as others have said, temperature affects this greatly. Was it really hot when you measured it?

How much extract did you use? Is it a 5g batch? You can't really mess up the OG of an extract recipe - but you can mismeasure it easily. If the kit/recipe says the OG is higher, then it probably is unless you missed some ingredients. 1.030 sounds very low for a stout recipe.

 

[Rick500]

Irish Car Bomb recipe

Seriously though, nothing wrong with 3% if it tastes good.

 

[Joker]

Full or partial boil? Did you add water. Kit or make your own recipe? What kit if kit?

 

[chemman14]

does bottle conditioning really add .5?

 

[Synovia]

does bottle conditioning really add .5?

5 oz of sugar, in a 5g batch, with 100% attenuation, should add about .30.

 

[jigidyjim]

5 oz of sugar, in a 5g batch, with 100% attenuation, should add about .30.

when you say "add about .30" to you mean add .3% ABV?

What's typical attenuation for sugar?

also, i'm measuring out around 3.5 ounces usually for 3/4 cup... so it would be even lower than .30 I would think.

 

[Arkador]

OG was 1.030
FG was 1.010
Temp is unknown with specifics
Its an extract stout.
Id just prefer it to be a little higher in % is all.

What was the recipe? I would be willing to bet your OG sample was not completley mixed with the top off water. It is really hard to miss your OG my more than 5-10% on an extract recipe unless you have too much or too little water.

 

[Synovia]

when you say "add about .30" to you mean add .3% ABV?

What's typical attenuation for sugar?

also, i'm measuring out around 3.5 ounces usually for 3/4 cup... so it would be even lower than .30 I would think.

Yeah, thats what I meant.


Typically, corn or cane sugar will attenuate almost fully. Mix up a pure sugar solution (even in the 1.100 range), add some yeast (and yeast nutrient, etc), and I wouldn't be surprised to see it down in the 1.000 range or even below when its all said and done. My afpelwein started in the 1.060 range and ended at .997 IIRC.

 

[ak40kush]

1) It was a kit.
2) I cant find the thermomiter
3) It tastes great! but last time i did this recipe if you drank 1/2 L of it you would feel a slight buzz so im thinking the acl % is low.
4) the calculation i was taught was OG-FG/7.46 +.5 as the .5% is for extra alc% after priming bottles and conditioning it.
5) all the info on this thread im finding useful so thanks to all of you.

cheers

 

[ak40kush]

OH i for got to put that it is a 5G batch!

 

[ChshreCat]

If you use the same recipe, then you should have had the same result as far as alc% goes. I'm guessing this was a partial boil and your OG was off because you got a light sample from the top of the fermenter while things weren't mixed completely.

 

[z987k]

1) It was a kit.
2) I cant find the thermomiter
3) It tastes great! but last time i did this recipe if you drank 1/2 L of it you would feel a slight buzz so im thinking the acl % is low.
4) the calculation i was taught was OG-FG/7.46 +.5 as the .5% is for extra alc% after priming bottles and conditioning it.
5) all the info on this thread im finding useful so thanks to all of you.

cheers

Give us the ingredients in the kit and your measured FG, we'll tell you the ABV.
If it's a kit, then the alcohol is going to be extremely close as to last time. X amount of sugar in X amount of water will always have the same OG, so there is no way this time it's going to be different by more than .1-.2% depending on yeast attenuation.
You formula is wrong. OG: 1.060 - FG: 1.010 / 7.46 = 0.006702413% That makes no sense.
The correct formula is OG - FG * 131 (1.060-1.010*131=6.55%v/v), the priming sugar adds less than .2%.

 

[ak40kush]

Give us the ingredients in the kit and your measured FG, we'll tell you the ABV.
If it's a kit, then the alcohol is going to be extremely close as to last time. X amount of sugar in X amount of water will always have the same OG, so there is no way this time it's going to be different by more than .1-.2% depending on yeast attenuation.
You formula is wrong. OG: 1.060 - FG: 1.010 / 7.46 = 0.006702413% That makes no sense.
The correct formula is OG - FG * 131 (1.060-1.010*131=6.55%v/v), the priming sugar adds less than .2%.

I forgot to mention the formula i was using said to take the decimal out so instead of 1.030 you have 1030-1010/7.46+.5=3.1

mind you i havnt bottled yet so techincally the stout is 2.6%

 

[z987k]

I forgot to mention the formula i was using said to take the decimal out so instead of 1.030 you have 1030-1010/7.46+.5=3.1

mind you i havnt bottled yet so techincally the stout is 2.6%

give us the ingredient list, I bet you $10 that your OG reading was wrong.

Also as said above 3.5oz of priming sugar will not under any conditions(assuming 5+ gallons) give you .5% alcohol boost. In fact in order to achieve a .5% boost, you would have to be going a 2 gallon batch.

 

[Picobrew]

give us the ingredient list, I bet you $10 that your OG reading was wrong.

Also as said above 3.5oz of priming sugar will not under any conditions(assuming 5+ gallons) give you .5% alcohol boost. In fact in order to achieve a .5% boost, you would have to be going a 2 gallon batch.

What he said.

 

[ak40kush]

lol im just going by what i was told besides if i were to make that bet im broke now. So if you want figurative immagination land cash then i would stupidly make that bet lol.

 

[Joker]

lol im just going by what i was told besides if i were to make that bet im broke now. So if you want figurative immagination land cash then i would stupidly make that bet lol.

I don't mean this nearly as bad as it is going to sound, but after looking at your profile and seeing that you are only 19 it explains why the advice you are being given is not sinking in.

What you were told does not matter. If you used an extract and added the amount you said to the batch size you indicated there is ZERO possibility the OG is not what you are being told it is by the nice people here on HBT.

If you still do not feel the alc level is high enough then I suggest a chaser of *insert fav alcohol here*

 

[z987k]

lol im just going by what i was told besides if i were to make that bet im broke now. So if you want figurative immagination land cash then i would stupidly make that bet lol.

I wasn't serious. Just tell us what and how much you put in.

 

[ak40kush]

I wasn't serious. Just tell us what and how much you put in.

I know you wern't serious nor was I. I just did an easy batch this time of the extract kit and 4 1/2 cups of dextrose. i didn't want to have a more complicated beer this time as my last batch was infected (needless to say after that much work i was disappointed)

 

[z987k]

I know you wern't serious nor was I. I just did an easy batch this time of the extract kit and 4 1/2 cups of dextrose. i didn't want to have a more complicated beer this time as my last batch was infected (needless to say after that much work i was disappointed)

ah yes, the kit and a kilo. In that case, *usually* there is 1.8kg of LME in those + the 4.5cups sugar(roughly .59kg) and you get 1.041OG for a 5 gallon batch. Looks like you might be a little light on the sugar(not that this is a bad thing) to get to 1 kilo. Nothing wrong with this though, I make many beers with a target og around 1.040. Plus with a dry stout the range of OG is 1.036-1.050, so you're well within style.

1.8kg LME + 1kg Corn sugar = 1.049

 

[arcto]

Guinness Draught, sold in kegs, widget cans, and bottles: 4.1 to 4.3% alcohol by volume (ABV); the Extra Cold is served through a super cooler at 3.5°C.

Guinness Original/Extra Stout: 4.2 or 4.3% ABV in Ireland and the rest of Europe, 4.1% in Germany, 4.8% in Namibia and South Africa), 5% in the United States and Canada, and 6% in Australia and Japan.

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout: 7.5% ABV version sold in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and Asia

Good Lord ^^!!!

 

[camiller]

ah yes, the kit and a kilo. In that case, *usually* there is 1.8kg of LME in those + the 4.5cups sugar(roughly .59kg) and you get 1.041OG for a 5 gallon batch. Looks like you might be a little light on the sugar(not that this is a bad thing) to get to 1 kilo. Nothing wrong with this though, I make many beers with a target og around 1.040. Plus with a dry stout the range of OG is 1.036-1.050, so you're well within style.

1.8kg LME + 1kg Corn sugar = 1.049

Guinness Draught, sold in kegs, widget cans, and bottles: 4.1 to 4.3% alcohol by volume (ABV); the Extra Cold is served through a super cooler at 3.5°C.

...

So with a 1.041 SG and 1.010 FG = 4.0 ABV + .3 for the alc added by bottle priming = 4.3 ABV so you pretty well nailed Guinness, congrats.

 

[ak40kush]

So with a 1.041 SG and 1.010 FG = 4.0 ABV + .3 for the alc added by bottle priming = 4.3 ABV so you pretty well nailed Guinness, congrats.

well the other day when i took the sample for the hydrometer reading i taste tested the sample after the reading and it was pretty damn good ive gotta say. but it doesnt taste like guinness so much it tastes more like o'hara. which is still damn good.

Im having a party today so speak of the devil (sorta) ive got some guinness and o'darbys so ill be doing some carbombs and havin other drinks. also 4 bottles of the last home brew (ale) which has aged over a month now and tastes soooo good now. strangely enough it got darker hmm....

im looking foreward to it though
so cheers to all'ov ya.