Forgot to take OG reading before brewing

[strangerinthealps]

I brewed my first batch (canned Muntons Nut Brown that came with my kit) on Sunday, but I forgot to take a hydrometer reading to get the OG before pitching my yeast.

4 days in my primary and it appears that fermentation has stopped or at least slowed down considerably. There are no more bubbles coming out of my airlock.

How critical is knowing the OG of your beer? Is it safe enough for me to start taking hydrometer readings over the next 3 days to see if they are stable, and then bottle? Or is there another step I need to take?

 

[jonmohno]

I did the exact thing my first beer.Answer is leave it and to figure the final gravity and origional gravity use a brew calculator. 4 days is when mine seems to taper off, but let it sit at least 2 weeks 3-4 even better before botteling. You dont want to start checking for a finished yet its too early but you can if you want but not really neccesary. og is for figuring out your abv. youll figure a close abv with a calculator.
Do the kits have an estimated og and fg?

 

[juslod]

Because it was a canned kit I am assuming that it was an extract beer. In this case an OG reading isn't imperative because it is really hard to get far from the target gravity with an extract beer, unless you lose a lot of the DME or LME by dropping it or leaving a lot in the container, etc...

Fermentation may be complete in 4 days and you could start doing readings... BUT, I would highly recommend leaving the beer in the fermenter for at least 2 weeks so that the yeast are able to clean up any off-flavors they may have produced during fermentation. You will notice a much cleaner flavored beer if you allow it more time!

 

[Homercidal]

What he said. The OG is determined by the kit. If you didn't deviate from the ingredients given in the kit your OG is going to be dead on (Don't add more or less water either though...)

 

[Revvy]

The grav reading will tell you NOW where on the journey from Original gravity to terminal gravity, your beer really is. You have the OG, if you didn;t take one, the recipe still should tell you what the grav is for that recipe, in extract it is foolproof...Or you can enter the recipe into any beer calculator even the free ones found online.

Your recipe should also tell you what the FG should be..And your gravity reading will tell you what you beer is doing NOW.

 

[McD]

I know the purist's will be hammer the hell out of me but..... I have never checked the OG or FG on any extract brew I have made (#20 in secondary). 2weeks in primary, 2weeks in secondary, what ever it takes to carb, and then drink beer. I have checked PM's OG simply to adjust OG. Never checked an FG.

 

[Ziggybrew]

OG is no biggie. You just won't know the exact alcohol percentage by missing your OG. Taking FG readings over a period of days (when it appears done) will protect you from exploding bottles. Generally, I have gotten to the point of waiting 2 weeks or more to bottle/keg/secondary. Then I don't need to watch it so close.

Patience is the key.... oh screw patience! It's your first batch. The very second it's almost ready, start drinking. Maybe at least one six-pack will survive to full carbonation and bottle conditioning. Your patience and procedures will evolve over the next several batches. Isn't this fun? Keep brewing

 

[strangerinthealps]

Thanks for all the responses. My goal is to have it ready for the Superbowl in 31 days. If I let it ferment another week and a half (for a total of 2 1/2 weeks) and then bottle and sit for the other 2 1/2 week, would that be my best option? Or more fermenting/less bottle conditioning? Or vice versa?

About my recipe, it was a canned kit that I followed, with one exception. The guy at the store gave (sold) me a 2 pound bag of Amber DME to use instead of corn sugar.

What effect would that have on OG, ABV, etc.?

 

[Homercidal]

Not much. You are better off with Extract IMO than sugar for that recipe. It won't dry out the flavor and hopefully will give it a bit more mouthfeel. There is a conversion for sugar and extract, but IIRC it's not enough to really worry about.

2.5 and 2.5 weeks sounds ok. It will likely get better after that if there is any left, but you should be good as far as finishing the fermentation and getting it carbed enough to enjoy.