Forgot to take OG can i still know abv?

[bathman]

I forgot to take the original gravity before pitching the yeast is there still any way to know the abv in my beer?

 

[Demus]

What's the recipe? If you know the volume of water used you can estimate the OG pretty close, especially if it was an extract batch...

 

[hbtasdfg]

yes. if you know the liquid volume and weight you can calculate the specific gravity. If you have a second identical bucket and fill it to the exact same level with water, then measure how much water that is you have the volume. To get specific gravity weigh the full water bucket then the full beer bucket, subtract the weight of the bucket from each, and divide the beer weight by the water weight.

you also can calculate it if you know the liquid volume and exactly how much ingredients you put in if you used extracts.

 

[fartinmartin]

By taking the SG with hydrometer and the Brix with refractometer you can get the abv.

 

[kh54s10]

If you just pitched the yeast and fermentation has not started, you can still take an OG reading. If you are doing an extract kit, used all the ingredients and ended up with the proper volume you can use the published OG. It will be very close.

Or... Just forget about the ABV and enjoy the beer!

 

[stpug]

By taking the SG with hydrometer and the Brix with refractometer you can get the abv.

...you can get a pretty good approximation of the OG, from which you can calculate the ABV.

Edit:
Here's the nitty gritty:
http://woodlandbrew.blogspot.com/2013/02/abv-without-og.html

Here's the equation:
OG = (-1.728 * FG_hydrometer) + (0.01085 * FG_refractometer) + 2.728

But like someone else said, if you just barely pitched the yeast (or within the last few hours) then you can still get a reliable reading directly from your wort.

 

[Biergarden]

Post your recipe in detail including the amount of water you collected post sparge if you have it.
We can help you figure it out.

 

[peterj]

yes. if you know the liquid volume and weight you can calculate the specific gravity. If you have a second identical bucket and fill it to the exact same level with water, then measure how much water that is you have the volume. To get specific gravity weigh the full water bucket then the full beer bucket, subtract the weight of the bucket from each, and divide the beer weight by the water weight.

you also can calculate it if you know the liquid volume and exactly how much ingredients you put in if you used extracts.

I don't know how accurate that would be because you're losing some of the weight through CO2 production and off gassing. Plus the weight of the trub would throw it off as well.

 

[bathman]

If you just pitched the yeast and fermentation has not started, you can still take an OG reading. If you are doing an extract kit, used all the ingredients and ended up with the proper volume you can use the published OG. It will be very close.

Or... Just forget about the ABV and enjoy the beer!

That might be a risky because I'm predicting it will be above 12%...or awesome??

 

[kh54s10]

That might be a risky because I'm predicting it will be above 12%...or awesome??

Does that mean that because it will be above 12% you will not enjoy it?

Since you know it will be a very high alcohol beer, enjoy one, wait a long while then enjoy another. Probably not more than 2 an evening.

 

[fartinmartin]

I suppose the next input will be about alcohol tolerance of the yeast ?

 

[bathman]

Does that mean that because it will be above 12% you will not enjoy it?

Since you know it will be a very high alcohol beer, enjoy one, wait a long while then enjoy another. Probably not more than 2 an evening.

Could be risky to have a bunch! Haha