bottle my first stout... my hydrometer readings

[momodig]

Bottle my stout today... wow impressed dipped my finger in, tasted awesome!

Anyway here are my hyrdo readings perhaps someone can help what they mean.

Original gravity before adding yeast 1.040.
Final gravity before bottling 1.020

Not a big difference hope it's okay?

It was in primary for 2 weeks, secondary for 3 weeks

 

[Gritsak]

According to Palmer, your only at ~2.5% abv. what kind of stout is it? Kit or pieced together recipe?

 

[MBasile]

Yeah, are you sure about that original gravity reading?

 

[momodig]

It's an Muntons irish stout..

I'm sure of the first reading... I had 13 galons of it, add not sugar to it at all (that's what my local store said to to do)... cut it from 21 galons to about 11-13 galons and add no sugar, except when ready to bottle.

http://www.muntons.com/homebeer/countries/uk/prem_stout.htm

 

[momodig]

http://www.muntons.com/homebeer/countries/uk/prem_stout.htm

 

[momodig]

2.5 abv what does that mean? I'm new to all these abbreviations

maybe 1.040 I read it wrong?

 

[Vuarra]

How many cans did you add to the 13 gallons, and were they US or Imperial?

 

[Vuarra]

ABV means Alcohol By Volume. Some people and groups also measure the ethanol by ABW - Alcohol By Weight.

 

[momodig]

Can's of Muntons? 1 can -- it can make 21L, I basically cut it in half and made about 12 litres.... (sorry I mean litres no gallons) typo.

 

[Vuarra]

Your original gravity reading was wrong, then... prolly closer to 1.05x to 1.06x... nothing to worry about.

 

[momodig]

I just got the hang of reading the gravity ready today sorry... lets estimate and say my gravity was 1.05... and my final ready is 1.20 (i'm confident that reading is right)

What would my alcohol level be.

 

[Revvy]

The formula for calculating ABV is simple,

OG - FG X 131

But for 13 gallons how much extract (cans of goo) did you use? I can of those is typically for 5 gallons of lowish gravity beer, two/5 gallons for a beer around 1.060 og.

They usually are 3.3 pounds/can.

To get a beer in the 1.050-10.060/ 15 gallons you should be using 5 or 6 cans. So if you only used 1 0r 2 cans in a 15 gallon batch that would account for a very weak and watery, low grav beer.

 

[MBasile]

I just got the hang of reading the gravity ready today sorry... lets estimate and say my gravity was 1.05... and my final ready is 1.20 (i'm confident that reading is right)

What would my alcohol level be.

(Original gravity - Final gravity) x 131 = ABV

(1.05-1.02) x 131 = 3.93% I'm not sure what the style guidelines are.

 

[Vuarra]

*Wow... I'm actually going to correct Revvy O_O *

A few posts back, he had said that he meant litres, not gallons

 

[momodig]

Oh sorry... I meant litres... One can of Muntons (goo), the total mixture... water and the goo was approx. 12 Litres.

I wish I hadn't messed up on the first gravity reading not sure how I could have read it wrong.

 

[Vuarra]

It happens to all of us... not worth going nuts over. Like I said, you're prolly looking in the 1.05 - 1.06 range for 12 litres.

 

[Nurmey]

Probably not so much that you read it wrong as a mixing issue. It's hard to get a reading unless you mix until your arm falls off. Extract, being a lot heavier than water, will fall to the bottom so your reading will be more top off water than wort.

 

[momodig]

So did i mess up the batch? again the store told me not add any sugar, till i bottle.

 

[Revvy]

So did i mess up the batch? again the store told me not add any sugar, till i bottle.

Your beer's fine, just relax....It's a pretty common issue for ANYONE using extract and then topping off with water (and that includes partial mashes) to have an error in reading the OG...In fact, it is actually nearly impossible to mix the wort and the top off water in a way to get an accurate OG reading...

When I am doing an extract with grain recipe I make sure to stir for a minimum of 5 minutes (whipping up a froth to aerate as well) before I draw a grav sample and pitch my yeast....It really is an effort to integrate the wort with the top off water...This is a fairly common new brewer issue we get on here...

Since that's the case, you used the right amount of LITERS of water for your recipe, you OG was actually what it is supposed to be for your extract batch NOT the reading you got.

Extract recipe gravities are foolproof if you've added the correct amount of water for your recipe...It's just that usually the READINGS aren't accurate because the wort is heavier than water.

The good news is that the beer and water mixed itself fine during fermentaion....

 

[momodig]

"Since that's the case, you used the right amount of LITERS of water for your recipe, you OG was actually what it is supposed to be for your extract batch NOT the reading you got."

Curious, then why add sugar to wort? I just did another brew today... got a reading of 1.038 (that reading is with added corn sugar) ... though I didn't stir the wort for 5 minutes, perhaps a minute or two hope every is okay

 

[Revvy]

"Since that's the case, you used the right amount of LITERS of water for your recipe, you OG was actually what it is supposed to be for your extract batch NOT the reading you got."

Curious, then why add sugar to wort? I just did another brew today... got a reading of 1.038 (that reading is with added corn sugar) ... though I didn't stir the wort for 5 minutes, perhaps a minute or two hope every is okay

Did your recipe call for adding corn sugar now? That's odd, if a kit calls for sugar added to it, it is usually just table sugar not corn...corn sugar is usually added at bottling time.

As to why kits say to add sugar, it's to boost the ABV WITHOUT adding more body to the beer.....Sugar ferments nearly 100%, so it dries out the beer. AND if the recipe called for sugar added to it, their instructions would have given you the OG for the beer WITH the addition of the sugar.

You can always use an online calculator such as http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe to figure out the og of the beer...Just look at the weight listed on the can as the amount of Liguid Malt Extract (LME) in your recipe, and also the pounds of sugar you added, that along with the amount batch size will tell you what the OG of your batch is.....like I said, even if you only mixed for a minute, your wort and water will integrate fine during fermentation, it just won't give you an accurate OG reading (The final grav will be accurate btw).

Just go by what your recipe said it is supposed to be...

If I wasn't clear before, as long as you ended up with the correct final batch volume of the beer your recipe's gravity will be exactly what it says it will be REGARDLESS of YOUR OG reading. You are NOT converting any grain to extract yourself, the maltser who made the kit took care of that for you, so whatever they say your beer is supposed to be, it IS as long as you dilluted it to the correct volume.

Original Gravity readings for recipes are only altered in Partial Mash and all grain brewing because we as the brewer convert starches in grain to sugar (wort) and there are a TON of variables which come into play in that case and may affect our original gravity.....but in your case not....

You are fine.

 

[ChshreCat]

I do partial mash brewing with partial boils and topping up with water. I have my assistant brewer (child labor) stir the living crap out of my wort after I top it up, and then I take a sample with my wine thief while she's still stirring and everything is moving around in there. Just to be sure!

If you're not mashing, and you follow the recipe correctly and you hit your final volume, listen to the Rev. Your OG will be what the recipe says it is. (assuming the recipe is right)

 

[momodig]

Ok this is where I may have made my mistake. Let explain what I did with my two brews.

Firstly the stout, which I bottled today. The instructions are as follows (the instructions that came in the munton can) 1. Dissolve contents of the can and other fermentable sugars with 2 litres of boiling water. 2. Top up fermenter with cold water to the 20 litre mark. 3. Top up to 23 litres with hot/cold water to achieve approx 70-80F. Also with my stout, I only made it 12 litres -- cut it half, to give it a thicker/more body -- as recomened by my brew store.

Today I just put my Cerenza into primary... (the instructions are the same as above).

Now here are the instructions (can instructions vs. brewer instructions -- the store i go to) my brew store gave me, he said to follow these instead of the ones in the can... I'm going to skip through the boiling process as it's the same as above... Pour in hot word and add cold water to the 23 litre mark (approx)... Add corn sugar until hydrometer reading is 1.038 (or desired alcohol content)... adjust ater to 23 litre mark... add 1 tsp of citric accid....

Now one instructions says to add corn sugar the other not -- did I mess up? buy following my brewer's instructions? perhaps that's my my first batch of beer tastes so bad? I'm confused greatly now... I wish I had paid closer attention to both instructions... I may have caught this error, instead of doing 3 batches this way

**side note** just check the Muntons website and it said for the mexican cerveza (which I just put into primary today) 1KG of brew enhancer... or alternatively 500g light dry malt +250 grams of sugar/dextrose --- I didn't add any of that but corn sugar i'm really messing up my brews here.

 

[momodig]

So did I make a major mistake?

 

[ajf]

The Munton's kit was designed to produce a beer with an OG of ~1.040. There is nothing wrong with this figure if you are making a dry stout (which is what the kit appears to be).
However, the FG should be much lower than 1.020

When you brewed, you cut the volume down to 12 liters, and didn't add any sugar.
1 can LME should produce a gravity of ~ 1.040 if made up to 12 liters, so I would think your OG was fairly accurate and within style.

The only problem with this beer that I can see is that the FG is stuck at 1.020. This could be caused by you fermenting too cold (in which case you may have some bottle bombs in your future), or more likely, it was caused by the yeast strain not being able to ferment the wort. This is especially likely if the kit used the Munton's standard yeast.
From the Munton's web site:
"For recipes demanding the use of sugar our Standard Yeast is ideal. If all malt brewing is undertaken we would recommend that you use our Premium Gold Yeast as our Standard Yeast will struggle to ferment some of the more complex sugars which are more prevalent in all malt recipes."

I would definitely think about using a different yeast for your future brews.

-a.

 

[momodig]

It seems as this post grows, the more confused I get Funny about the standard yeast and such... since the instructions for my stout does not give me a measurement on how much sugar to add... should I be adding corn sugar or regular sugar... I'm very close to giving up on this hobby I'm discouraged, I may have goofed up three batches (21 litres of canadian ale, 21 litres of mexican ale, and 12 litres of stout)... it's steal unclear if I should follow my local brew store instructions or the the instructions that come with the product (inside the can). Still unsure of how your getting 1 can of LME should produce a gravity of 1.040... the instructions are telling me to take the initial reading.

In frustration about to go empty all my bottles of all three batches, they're goofed boyound reason and my first batch tastes awfull!

Should I dump out my stouts aswell? since the FG is wrong? i really don't know where to get more yeast, i just use the stuff that comes in the can...

 

[momodig]

Then why does my brewer's instructions (the ones he told me to use instead of the can instructions) say add corn sugar till OG is 1.040. BTW he said to use these instructions for 2 of my 3 batchess, but not my stout (which he said, make 12 litres instead of 23, add no sugar to primary)

 

[momodig]

I'm totally disapointed with my brewer, I'm looking at a the cans now, and you can buy an entire package, that comes with the malt can and the proper ingrediants to add!! should I dump out and restart? why drink shank beer? and 60+ litres of shank beer

 

[momodig]

Just dumped all down drain -- gonna start from scratch and do as the can instructions say...

 

[ChshreCat]

GAH! Never dump your beer!

 

[momodig]

I got frustrated, the brewer not telling me the proper instructions... I didn't dump the 12 Litres of Stout though...

So tomorow I'm going to my brew shop to make Cooper's Mexican Cerveza -- according to the instructions I need... the can of malt + 1kg of brew enhancer 2 or 500g of light malt +250g of sugar/dextrose -- now what if he doesn't have any of those ingrediants? sugar/dextrose is that the corn sugar or regular white sugar?
And thanks for all the help and patience, I want to get this one right

 

[Nurmey]

Make it easy on yourself (and better beer) and buy 3 pounds of extra light dry malt extract. Get your water boiling, take it off the heat and add the malt. Mix until the malt is dissolved. Add the can of Coopers and mix until dissolved. Cool wort to pitching temperature, top off to batch size, shake and pitch your yeast. Leave it alone for 3 to 4 weeks and bottle.

 

[momodig]

Aye, what I did was follow the instructions (I went out) bought 500g (1.1 pound - i think) of light malt.... and gonna add 250g of dextrose/sugar... as per the instructions See how that works.

That should do?

So do I want an initial Hydro reading of 1.038? or should I just dump the correct measurements of sugar, water and malt in and let it go?

 

[Revvy]

So do I want an initial Hydro reading of 1.038? or should I just dump the correct measurements of sugar, water and malt in and let it go?

As we said over and over and over, no matter what you do, your inital hydro reading will more than likely be off.....BUT THE BEER WILL MIX ITSELF DURING FERMENTATION AND BE THE RIGHT OG....

That's why I gave you the link to the brewing software, you can input the ingrdients and the volume and it will tell you what the OG is.....WHether you mixed it enough, or whether your OG reading said so or not.

Just relax...You probably didn't need to dump the beer you did, I'm sure it would still have been BEER, it just might not have been EXACTLY what the recipe was.....But it would have been tasty just as well.

I can't stress this enough, there is almost nothing that you can do to an extract batch that will ruin it....and even with All Grain brewing, you may not convert all the grain to extract perfectly, but whatever you end up with, will still be beer.....

You just really really really need to relax about it, and just let the yeast do their jobs...they have been doing it for 45 million years, and know what to do....

 

[ChshreCat]

I have to agree with Revvy. With all due respect, you don't seem to be reading any of the replies to your posts. RELAX.

In the meantime, read up on brewing so you don't have to blindly follow instructions and you understand what you are doing more. A little more knowledge will SERIOUSLY put your mind at ease and you won't just be blindly dumping extract and sugar into water and hoping it comes out right.

This is a great place to start: http://www.howtobrew.com/

 

[Revvy]

I have to agree with Revvy. With all due respect, you don't seem to be reading any of the replies to your posts. RELAX.

In the meantime, read up on brewing so you don't have to blindly follow instructions and you understand what you are doing more. A little more knowledge will SERIOUSLY put your mind at ease and you won't just be blindly dumping extract and sugar into water and hoping it comes out right.

This is a great place to start: http://www.howtobrew.com/

Yeah I agree..Looking back it seems you were even impatient for anyone to help you...You posted every 10 minutes this morning, got no answers and just dumped your beer.....you really need to relax...and have a little patience, both for someone to answer...and to let your beer do what it needs to do.

We tried to tell you repeatedly last night, there wasn't anything you did wrong with any of the batches you brewed...just that YOUR READING WASN'T CORRECT.....But the beer was....

 

[momodig]

I give up Revvy good bye! this is the 2nd or third time you reacted to me like this!!

 

[Revvy]

Aye I've looked at: http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe

Just unsure of how to use it appreciate everyone's help.

According to my ingrediants OG 1.012 and Final 1.003

this doesn't seem right.

You just drop down the fermentables menu until you find the ingredient you are looking for....In the case of a commercial canned extract like you are using you have to decide if it is a pale, amber, or dark Liquid Extract.

You select that, then over on the left is the amount.....most cans (though your label will say so) are 3.3 pounds....but use what the label says.

Then click ADD on the right....at that point it will open up another ingredient line and also on the far right give you a gravity for that ingredient you already added....as you keep adding more that gravity will change.

Just make sure that you have the correct batch size clicked (that is that smaller line of text below the add ingredient line) it says

Batch size: 5.0 gallons cancel edit

Just make sure you select that.....

Then add each of the ingredients you add and since you are using hopped extract you can ignore the hops line....just look and see what it says the OG for the volume should be...

ALso most recipe provide that info with the kits anyway.....but if you are adding different stuff this calculator will do it for you.

 

[GOOCHY]

Um, I think Revvy has been giving great advice throughout this thread. The OP's ability to listen, read, or whatever - is the problem - not Revvy.

 

[dontman]

I give up Revvy good bye! this is the 2nd or third time you reacted to me like this!!

Wow! Just wow.

I mean, I like watching a trainwreck as much as the next person but I can't remember someone determined to ask for advice and then just ignore it.