Confused about my first brew

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

elmo

Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2022
Messages
18
Reaction score
18
Location
Chatham, New Jersey
Hi guys,

New member here, I started my first extract kit a couple of weeks ago and hoping you can help me.

I got the Northern Brewers Chinook IPA
Everything went well at brewing stage, transferred to a 5g carboy and it was bubbling nicely for a few days
I had a foam over. I think I dealt with it well, just cleaned up, let some air out and used sanitized hands and cloths throughout. It continued to bubble nicely.

2 weeks in. I just transferred to another carboy for secondary fermentation (and added hops as per instruction) transferring a nice clean looking dark IPA and not transferring any of the gunk from the original carboy. Everything looks 'fine' i think. The original carboy still has quite a bit of crust on it from the foam over but cleaning will be no problem.

My question is regarding the gravity. It's been 2 weeks and I just checked it. It says it's only about 1.5% alcohol right now and gravity about 1.08 Does this make sense do you think? Is everything ok so far?

Planning to leave for secondary for about 2 weeks.
 
Im using an OLD hydrometer. Should I just order a new Refractometer?

I have my numbers as 1.17 gravity when I tried it before fermentation.
 
Im using an OLD hydrometer. Should I just order a new Refractometer?

I have my numbers as 1.17 gravity when I tried it before fermentation.


wait so it went from 1.170->1.080? a 90 point drop? i want to see a pic of this hydro! i can't believe a kit from northern brewer would be that high an OG....

how many gallons did you make, i'll look up the kit if you answer that...

and the ABV on a triple scale is supposed to be subtracted from the original reading....

edit: if you're saying it was 1.017, and your final gravity was 1.008 (on a triple scale 1% but that's supposed to be subtracted from first reading) then i'd say the extract wasn't mixed into it throughly for the first reading....
 
'if you're saying it was 1.017, and your final gravity was 1.008 (on a triple scale 1% but that's supposed to be subtracted from first reading) then i'd say the extract wasn't mixed into it throughly for the first reading....'

Sorry yes. This. Still learning how to read the hydrometer! :)
 
'if you're saying it was 1.017, and your final gravity was 1.008 (on a triple scale 1% but that's supposed to be subtracted from first reading) then i'd say the extract wasn't mixed into it throughly for the first reading....'

Sorry yes. This. Still learning how to read the hydrometer! :)


ok, then that 1.017 was probably a false reading... if you did have a refrac, you could compare the two readings together to figure what the OG actually was....


4. Bring to a boil and add the 6 lb s Pilsen malt syrup and
1 lb Pilsen dry malt extract. Remove the kettle from the
burner and stir in the Pilsen malt syrup and Pilsen DME.


i read the directions sorta for that kit, at point in that step did you take the hydro reading?


sugar is miscible with water, but it play's hard to get with it too...
 
damn i just looked up temp too, 1.017 would be around what a hydro would read in near boiling hot wort, with a gravity of around 1.050 in reality....

what temp was it when you got 1.017?

:mug:
 
I think I was probably not sober or not reading the hydro correctly!! :)

When I checked it, I had just added the yeast so I want to say about 80F. But honestly, after your info, I genuinely dont know if I used they hydro correctly or read it correctly.
Anything I can do now to check it without being sure of the OG?
 
Anything I can do now to check it without being sure of the OG?


yeah, compare the hydro sitting at 1.008, with what ever BRIX a refrac tells you...punch both into a calculator and being that ethanol lowers a hydrometer reading, and raises a refrac reading...you can get a good idea of how much alcohol is causing them to read different...cool trick i learned here a while back. it's come in handy on multiple occasions...
 
Ok brilliant, let me try that in the AM. Thanks for the guidance! Im a complete noob at this but learning day by day, your feedback is really appreciated.
 
I would say, don’t worry about the numbers on this brew & treat it as a learning point. Before your next brew do some research, there’s plenty of stuff on the internet & YouTube is fantastic for learning how others do things, they’ve already made the mistakes so you don’t have to. ps welcome to home brewing.
 
Original Gravity1053
I would say you could trust the OG from NB. Extract should have pretty much been spot on as long as you followed the directions. There is nothing like poor mash efficiency to screw up your numbers. With a FG of 1.008 you should be sitting at 6%.
 
Last edited:
My first try was a NB kit. I want to say it was the kit you are using. I followed the instructions spot on, and seem to remember getting the OG and FG that the kit said it should have, plus or minus a bit for y water profile and how many beers I had while I was doing it. LOL. Keep at it, I am still new too and learning a ton. Good luck.
 
Original Gravity1053
I would say your could trust the OG from NB. Extract should have pretty much been spot on as long as you followed the directions. There is nothing like poor mash efficiency to screw up your numbers. With a FG of 1.008 you should be sitting at 6%.
This. I don't even take OG readings with extract brews. The ppg (points per pound per gallon) of the extract is very accurate, and any points from specialty grains are predictable enough that the calculated gravity will be accurate enough for most purposes. I would just take a second FG reading at least three days after the first one to make sure gravity is stable if bottling.
 
Back
Top