Black IPA

[KarenHauck]

Five days ago I brewed a Black IPA. It was an ingredient kit I got from Northern Brewers. My OG was 1.080. I've been reading that it should have been 1.070-1.075. I think I'm close enough.
All the sugar really got it off to rocking start! And it quickly developed a nice dark kreusen!
I know it is a long way from being ready to bottle, but I was wondering about what the FG should be. My instructions from Northern don't mention either the OG or the FG.


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[Heavywalker]

What kind of yeast did you use?

Attenuation will affect the FG. For example you have a OG of 1.080 for 80 points of gravity, If you yeast will attenuate at 75% you can expect an FG of 1.020 (80 * (1-.75) = 20)

Figure out the type of yeast you used and the expected attenuation of said yeast and use a formula to calc your estimated FG.

However if this was an extract kit I would think your OG reading is a little off and you are closer to the 1.070-1.075 that the kit states.

 

[KarenHauck]

Thank you! I'll do the math. But I do know how to read a hydrometer.


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[Heavywalker]

You are welcome.

FWIW I wasn't doubting if you could read a hydrometer or not, only that sometimes extract is not mixed well and it can give you readings that are not all that accurate. Extract is very predictable in the amount of gravity points that you get from it so when you miss an SG then it is typically either because the extract is not mixed well or the volume of the wort is not what the recipe calls for.

Cheers

 

[KarenHauck]

Finally had the time to move the Black IPA to the secondary. On brewing day, after all was said and done, I topped it to five gallons. The trub, is that the yuck at the bottom?, was thick. I lost a lot of the liquid. Now in the secondary, I have just under three and a half gallons. Same thing happened with the other "big" beer I brewed, the Russian Imperial. Is there a way to keep it at five gallons? I don't think I'm supposed to add more water now, am I?
Frustrated.


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[rodwha]

Do not add water now.

The only way is to brew a larger volume to start with. No matter what you'll get a trub layer, though your sounds extreme if you lost 1.5 gals.

I generally brew 6 gal batches and get about 50-53 twelve ounce beers with a little left in the bottling bucket, and a little left in the primary from my transfer.

You might get more if you leave it in primary and just carefully rack to the bottling bucket. Give it a little while to settle anything you sucked in.

 

[KepowOb]

1.5 gallons seems like alot of trub... How thick was it? For that much of a lots of have to be several inches.

 

[Yesfan]

I brewed the one gallon version of this kit and got the full gallon out of it. I had a 1.25 gallon pre-boil volume. Sounds like with the high OG reading and having to top up the primary fermenter to 5 gallons, your pre-boil volume may have been off. I lose a gallon per hour in my kettle, so I try to have a pre-boil of around 6.5 gallons to start. That will give me 5.5 going into the primary, then another half gallon loss to trub.

 

[LovesIPA]

Yeah there's no way you should be losing that much to trub. I typically end up with 5.5 gallons in the kettle and just under 5 by the time it gets to the keg.

 

[KarenHauck]

The trub was an inch and a half to an inch and three quarters! Seemed really thick compared to other beers I have brewed.


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[KarenHauck]

It was an extract kit. Instructions said to boil 2.5 gallons of water. Then top it off at the end. I did. Not sure where I went wrong, if I did go wrong.
However, it does smell great!
The more I brew, the more I learn, it seems like there is even MORE to learn!!
Thanks for your advice!!


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[LakeErieMonster]

A tip: always boil as close to the 'into-the-fermenter' + expected boil off.

 

[KarenHauck]

Thanks. I'll work on that. Sometimes following directions too closely isn't as good as it might seem.



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[rodwha]

It seems many of the directions are rather generic and vague, and not always the best way to do it from what I've read around here.

 

[KarenHauck]

Oh, I certainly agree with that!


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[BradTheGeek]

The instructions are likely meant for a beginner/ease of use and assume you do not have a brew kettle that can handle larger volumes. If you can handle larger volumes, my experience has taught to do what was said above. Boils as much as you safely can and top off less.

 

[masskrug]

If it is an extract kit it will finish at 1.020.

 

[Hanso]

Except that you'll have to be careful about IBU. Boiling a more dilute wort will extract more IBU from the hops, and many kits specifically assume you will be boiling with less and topping off the fermentor with water. So a word of caution is that if the kit instructions are vague and say to top off at the end, then likely you will need to back off the hops a little bit. Use a calculator and you'll be fine, don't follow the kit instructions blindly if you decide to diverge from the instructions in one aspect and not offset it with another, you may end up with a more bitter beer that what is intended.