First off, normally I crash and decant my starters and then pitch the slurry. I recently brewed for the first time on my Spike Solo+ 20 gallon system and was aiming to get 11 gallons in my fermenter.
I missed some volumes and only had 10 gallons in the fermenter. This was a lager and I made a 4L starter. I didn't make the starter soon enough so I didn't really have enough time to crash it all the way and decant it.
So, I decided to pitch the entire starter. I figured this would also help me get to the 11 gallons I was shooting for in the fermenter.
My question is around the effect on gravity and ABV of the end product. Post boil, before pitching I had a OG of 1.051, which is what I expected. I Measured via digital refractometer and also my tilt hydrometer matched that.
When I pitched the starter, my gravity dropped down to around 1.044. I knew pitching the entire 4L would bring down the gravity.
If I were to use my OG of 1.051 and my FG of 1.011, I would have expected an ABV of 5.3%. If I change my OG to 1.044, it shows my ABV around 4.2%.
But here is where I am confused. I didn't add plain water to the fermenter to bring the volume up. The starter that I added was basically beer. Shouldn't my finally beer have an ABV somewhere between 4.2% and 5.3%? I have no idea what the FG or the ABV of the starter was that I pitched, but I assume it was in the 1.010-1.012 range. But it is basically beer that I added. I know it brings down the OG of the wort in the fermenter, but instead of starting with 10 gallons of 1.051 wort with 0% ABV, I am now starting with 11gallons of 1.044 wort that already has some percentage of ABV to it.
Just curious as to how this actually effects ABV since I have no real way to test and measure the actual ABV of the finished beer. This isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things and I don't really care if my Mexican lager is 4.2%, 4.7% or 5.3%, I am just curious about the science and the process of this method.
I missed some volumes and only had 10 gallons in the fermenter. This was a lager and I made a 4L starter. I didn't make the starter soon enough so I didn't really have enough time to crash it all the way and decant it.
So, I decided to pitch the entire starter. I figured this would also help me get to the 11 gallons I was shooting for in the fermenter.
My question is around the effect on gravity and ABV of the end product. Post boil, before pitching I had a OG of 1.051, which is what I expected. I Measured via digital refractometer and also my tilt hydrometer matched that.
When I pitched the starter, my gravity dropped down to around 1.044. I knew pitching the entire 4L would bring down the gravity.
If I were to use my OG of 1.051 and my FG of 1.011, I would have expected an ABV of 5.3%. If I change my OG to 1.044, it shows my ABV around 4.2%.
But here is where I am confused. I didn't add plain water to the fermenter to bring the volume up. The starter that I added was basically beer. Shouldn't my finally beer have an ABV somewhere between 4.2% and 5.3%? I have no idea what the FG or the ABV of the starter was that I pitched, but I assume it was in the 1.010-1.012 range. But it is basically beer that I added. I know it brings down the OG of the wort in the fermenter, but instead of starting with 10 gallons of 1.051 wort with 0% ABV, I am now starting with 11gallons of 1.044 wort that already has some percentage of ABV to it.
Just curious as to how this actually effects ABV since I have no real way to test and measure the actual ABV of the finished beer. This isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things and I don't really care if my Mexican lager is 4.2%, 4.7% or 5.3%, I am just curious about the science and the process of this method.
