Alcohol smell!!

[evans5150]

Hey everyone,

You guys all ROCK with your advice!

I have a question. I bottled my 4th brew ever last night. My OG was 1.066 and my FG was 1.014. That's an ABV of 7.9%!!! It is a Pale Ale but turned out much stronger then I thought. The target ABV was 6% but I overshot that by almost 2%!! I don't have the exacts on the recipe with me but this is my question:

I was bottling last night and there was an alcohol smell present when I smelled the brew. It was even present in each individual bottle after I siphoned it in. Will this smell ruin the taste of the beer or will it mellow out in all of your experiences?

The recipe was actually a clone of Three Floyd's Alpha King Pale Ale. I've never had it but I hear it a strong Pale Ale that is very hoppy. Sounded right up my alley so I gave it a shot. I'm dying to try one!!

 

[mjm76]

It should mellow out......it will just need to age for a while.

 

[evans5150]

It should mellow out......it will just need to age for a while.

Cool...thanks.

Can't wait....must drink brew....memorial day weekend coming fast.....AARRGGHHHH!!!! (It's my own stupid fault. I went to bottle last Friday and thought I had enough caps....but I was 20 short so I had to wait until Tuesday to pick more up.)

 

[gonzoflick]

what was your final volume? If the recipe called for 5.5 gallons and you filled to 5 that might have been the reason for the high ABV

 

[evans5150]

what was your final volume? If the recipe called for 5.5 gallons and you filled to 5 that might have been the reason for the high ABV

Good point, gonzoflick. That didn't even come to mind but that makes perfect sense. I don't think in my case that would have caused the 2% increase. The recipe called for 5 gallons and I hit about 4.8 gallons. That's only about .2 gallons short of it. I'm not sure that would cause 2%. Thoughts?

 

[Yooper]

What are you using for your formula? I come up with 6.812% ABV. Still a big beer, but not over 7%.

ABV: (OG-FG) X .131 = ABV

So, (66-14) x .131= 6.812% ABV

 

[evans5150]

This is the site that I used. http://www.homebrew.com.sg/alcohol_calculator.htm

I have another site at home that was bookmarked and gave me the same results. I've never seen that formula before! That is much closer to my target. Is that a well known formula? That's what I get for trusting websites that I've never heard of!!!

 

[Yooper]

I don't know how "well known" it is. It's just the one I use and I get the same result from Beersmith, so I've been sticking with it. There's actually another step to it that figures ABW, too, but I forget it. (I think it was homebrewer_99 who actually showed the whole formula). Maybe you're formula is figuring alcohol by weight instead of alcohol by volume? Then, it would probably be correct for ABW. But since I'm the resident math idiot, I wouldn't trust me on that one.

 

[Kurt]

Charlie Papazian gives a formula for ABW and ABV in The Complete Joy of Home Brewing.

ABW= (OG-FG)*105
ABV= ABW*1.25
1.25 * 105 = 131.25 this is where the .131 comes from, just chuck the decimal point and the first zero and it works out about the same.
Example: OG =1.056
FG =1.014
ABW=.042*105=4.41
ABV= 4.41*1.25=5.5125
OR .042*131.25=5.5125
Although I doubt there is enough accuracy in most hydrometers to measure alcohol to the 4th decimal, so call it 5.5.