first brew Low ABV?

[lakeslad]

hi all i have brewed my first batch of coopers Canadian blonde, SG was 1030 looks like FG is 1020 this is what 1-2 %abv, is this right? seems very low Alcohol for me. if it is can i get it going again to up it?
any advise appreciated.

thanks
Lee.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Check out this thread posted right below yours. My guess is that it explains the issue you're having.... what was the expected OG from the kit? Cuz with extract, if you used all the extract/sugars and the right amount of water, you didn't miss your OG. Also, are you reading with a hydro or refractometer? With the latter, you need to do a correction due to the presence of alcohol. There's online charts for that.

 

[lakeslad]

thanks ill give it a read, i used a hydrometer, as it was a malt kit it didn't say what OG to expect, i did use brew enhancer sugar instead of normal sugar as they recommended.

 

[unionrdr]

You most likely didn't get the wort & top off water mixed well. That'd give a false lower reading. The yeasts fermenting action will mix it though.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

According to this site, the OG on that should've been 1.042-44. I'm not sure if that's with the brew enhancer, or not, guessing it is. So, I'd say that you were probably closer to that and had a diluted OG reading. That's very common when using "top up" water. It's also quite common for extract batches to finish around 1.020. Check gravity in another day or two, and if it's the same, bottle 'er up.

 

[lakeslad]

According to this site, the OG on that should've been 1.042-44. I'm not sure if that's with the brew enhancer, or not, guessing it is. So, I'd say that you were probably closer to that and had a diluted OG reading. That's very common when using "top up" water. It's also quite common for extract batches to finish around 1.020. Check gravity in another day or two, and if it's the same, bottle 'er up.

will do many thanks.