Bottled first batch. A couple of questions...

[tomlivings]

I just bottled my IPA. First batch ever, its an all-grain, been fermenting for 2 weeks. Bottling went fine, easier than I thought it would be. The flat beer tastes good, nice and hoppy, maybe a bit thin, but its got another 4 weeks in bottles yet.

1: I forgot to take a hydrometer reading after the boil, but pre-boil it was 1.052. At bottling its 1.012, are these numbers ok?
2: I also forgot to add water to top it up to 5 gallons, so when I bottled (leaving sludge behind) I only got 3.7 gallons. Does this mean the beer would normally be weaker in flavor and alcohol if I remembered that step?
3: Its a bit foggy, will it clear up at all in the conditioning?

Thanks!
Tom.

 

[marubozo]

1. The numbers look fine and after the boil your gravity should have been a few points higher depending on how much water boiled off.

2. If you didn't top off with water then it was a bit more concentrated, so it may have been a little weaker in flavor and ABV otherwise. It also may not have been noticeable because it may have been more balanced overall.

3. Your beer will usually clear with time. You may still get some chill haze, but if you give the bear long enough to condition and then let it sit in the fridge long enough it will more than likely become very clear.

 

[BendBrewer]

Assuming your pre-boil volume was 5 Gallons, and the fact that you didn't add water post-boil, I calculate your O.G. at 1.070.

 

[tomlivings]

wow! does that mean my beer will come in at 7.2%?

 

[carnevoodoo]

Assuming your pre-boil volume was 5 Gallons, and the fact that you didn't add water post-boil, I calculate your O.G. at 1.070.

I think that might be a little off. He lost some volume in the trub (his end volume was more than 3.7 gallons) and all of that, and there's no real way of telling how much water he started with and so there's no way of knowing that.

 

[BendBrewer]

I think that might be a little off. He lost some volume in the trub (his end volume was more than 3.7 gallons) and all of that, and there's no real way of telling how much water he started with and so there's no way of knowing that.

Yeah there is a degree of assumption there.

 

[tomlivings]

Well thanks guys. I used 'beersmith' and the numbers i put in gave me 5.3% or something which I was a little disappointed with. beersmith doesnt seem to allow me to compensate for the mistakes I made and calculate down the amount of water.
When I tasted it (at bottling) it didnt taste that strong, I guessed around 5%.
Still, Im so happy its coming along well. Tastes good and thats what counts. I should be able to judge the strength when I drink a few bottles of the finished product!
One more thing. If I wanted to simply make the beer hoppier next time, do I just add more hops, say 50% more at each addition?

 

[JJL]

Well thanks guys. I used 'beersmith' and the numbers i put in gave me 5.3% or something which I was a little disappointed with. beersmith doesnt seem to allow me to compensate for the mistakes I made and calculate down the amount of water.
When I tasted it (at bottling) it didnt taste that strong, I guessed around 5%.
Still, Im so happy its coming along well. Tastes good and thats what counts. I should be able to judge the strength when I drink a few bottles of the finished product!
One more thing. If I wanted to simply make the beer hoppier next time, do I just add more hops, say 50% more at each addition?

I wouldn't worry so much about the ABV%. It's really just a number. The important thing is that the flavor and aroma are to your liking.

As for hopping, yes, to make a beer hoppier you add more hops. However, the amount of hops, the type of hops, and when in the boil (or after the boil) you add additional hops will have dramatically different impacts on your beer. Since you are using beersmith, you should be able to plug in your different hop amounts, and it should kick out an IBU number.

 

[BendBrewer]

There is hoppier and there is more bitter.

Increasing the first hop addition will add more bitterness than hop flavor or aroma, so if you like the bitterness of your beer, I wouldn't increase the amount of hops for that addition. Adding more hops to late additions such as the last 15, 10 or 5 minutes of boil will give you the more intense hop flavor and aroma. Also considering adding some hops after Flame Out when your wort gets to 180 ish as you cool.