G'day guys

[polehammer]

Polehammer from Australia here. Hope all are doing well

 

[polehammer]

I'm a total newbie and need to figure out how badly I've messed up on my latest brew?

So I added 2kg of table sugar to the homebrew beer tin in my fermenter, instead of dextrose as that was all I had. The 2kg was a mistake I meant to add 1kg but anyway 2 ended up in there. I added some boiling water to dissolve it then topped it up with cold water and added the yeast that came with it.
This was about 3 weeks ago. I've had it running at about 23°c.
The bubbling has slowed right down but it still bubbles once every few minutes.
I tried taking specific gravity to see where it's at and it reads it at 1.000 which I thought was the starting point? So I figured it hasn't worked and it's saying it has a very low alcohol content?
I decided the only way to know was to taste test it and see if I can taste alcohol, so for the good of science I poured out a pint of it.
It looked very cloudy has a very mild but of fizz to it and to me tasted better than I expected. I drank the pint, then had another and can definitely confirm it has alcohol in it as 2 pints did to me what 6 pints normally do and my head as I write this feels like its cracking open.
I'll definitely use the correct ingredients next time!

I realised I've messed up in numerous ways but can anyone please recommend how much longer I should wait until bottling it and adding the carbonate drops? Or just continue to throw caution to the wind and do so now? Any advice is appreciated and please keep it simple as possible as I'm new to most of the terminology involved.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

First off. Welcome! Secondly, I could not help but to read that whole thing in Crocodile Dundee's voice.

It would help to know the entire recipe of what you're brewing. 1.000 is not a starting point - it's about as dry as you can get. That's the gravity of water. Do you remember or did you take gravity in the beginning? If 2kg (4.4 lbs) is all the fermentables you had in there, I'd say 3 weeks is plenty done.

I feel the difference between dextrose and table sugar in this scenario is nominal at best.

To answer your question, I'd say after three weeks and the gravity is 1.000, it's safe to bottle and carb up.

Remember - you didn't mess up, you learned.

 

[polehammer]

First off. Welcome! Secondly, I could not help but to read that whole thing in Crocodile Dundee's voice.

It would help to know the entire recipe of what you're brewing. 1.000 is not a starting point - it's about as dry as you can get. That's the gravity of water. Do you remember or did you take gravity in the beginning? If 2kg (4.4 lbs) is all the fermentables you had in there, I'd say 3 weeks is plenty done.

I feel the difference between dextrose and table sugar in this scenario is nominal at best.

To answer your question, I'd say after three weeks and the gravity is 1.000, it's safe to bottle and carb up.

Remember - you didn't mess up, you learned.

Hahahaha crocodile Dundee that looks like Ned Kelly.
No I didn't take the specific gravity at the beginning. It's the first time I've used it tbh. I've got no idea what the alcohol level is but I'm guessing it's in the vicinity of "bloody high" judging by the condition of my head currently .
I figure it's not going to clear up and will remain cloudy.
Thankyou for the information I'll start washing empties and bottling it this arvo.

 

[IslandLizard]

The bubbling has slowed right down but it still bubbles once every few minutes.

It could be simply outgassing of the CO2 that's in solution, usually driven by (small) changes in temperature or air pressure...

... But it can also still be slowly fermenting because it isn't quite finished/done yet. In that case, it would not be ready for bottling, as continued fermentation inside the bottles can create too much pressure and make the bottles explode (creating bottle bombs!). Better leave it be for another week (or 2) in a somewhat warmer area (22-26°C), making sure it's completely fermented out.

We usually only bottle until 2 gravity readings taken a few days to a week apart are identical.

You're using a hydrometer, right?
Although possible, your hydrometer reading of 1.000 is a bit suspect.
Can you you post a picture of your next hydrometer reading?
BTW, the only scales that are useful are the gravity ones, either in °Brix (0-30°) or "points" (0.980-1.130).

BTW, all the dissolved malt sugars and other sugars in the batch at the start of fermenting increase the gravity, so you would always get reading well above of 1.000. A gravity from 1.030 to 1.070 would be most common for regular beers. But could be even higher (1.070-1.130) with stronger beers.

It would help to know the entire recipe of what you're brewing.

Yeah, posting your recipe would be helpful.

 

[ncbrewer]

Yeah, posting your recipe would be helpful.

Yes - in particular, how much and what type of malt extract, and volume in the fermenter.
And welcome to brewing and HBT.

 

[Broken Crow]

Hahahaha crocodile Dundee that looks like Ned Kelly.
No I didn't take the specific gravity at the beginning. It's the first time I've used it tbh. I've got no idea what the alcohol level is but I'm guessing it's in the vicinity of "bloody high" judging by the condition of my head currently .
I figure it's not going to clear up and will remain cloudy.
Thankyou for the information I'll start washing empties and bottling it this arvo.

I actually thought you looked more like Andrew Hansen from the Chasers, but with a beard grown out... as long as you assembled your brewing gear better than the Chasers assemble Ikea furniture; You made Beer, Congrats! ..yeah; strong beer,,, given that extra kilo I'll +1 the suggestion you leave it longer until you get at least 2 concecutive same gravity readings before bottling.
Was that 'homebrew tin' one of the Coopers kits? If so which one? (I started brewing myself with those)
Oh..and what yeast? Was it included in the kit?
Welocme to HBT!

 

[passedpawn]

Polehammer from Australia here. Hope all are doing well

Good luck and cheers from this seppo

 

[polehammer]

This was the beer I added the 2kg sugar to guys.
I went ahead and added carbonation drops and bottled it before I read any of the new comments.
It's all currently in the fridge.
I did open 1 bottle yesterday just to see how it was and there's no carbonation as yet, it tastes mildly sweet but should be drinkable if it eventually carbonates?

 

[Broken Crow]

I did open 1 bottle yesterday just to see how it was and there's no carbonation as yet, it tastes mildly sweet but should be drinkable if it eventually carbonates?

Yup. Just give it time.

 

[polehammer]

Ughhhh I'm an idiot.
I added the carbonation drops and put the bottles where I usually do, in the old fridge to carbonate.
Problem is this time it was on as I had people staying and needed to use it, so it's been cold the whole time. I opened a bottle last night and it was dead flat.
Will turning the fridge off and waiting for it to warm up start carbonation again or have I blown it?

 

[IslandLizard]

Will turning the fridge off and waiting for it to warm up start carbonation again or have I blown it?

Best not to leave them in the fridge when it's turned off. Turned-off fridges that are kept closed tend to grow mold over time.

Low room temps are ideal for bottle conditioning (and carbonate). After 2 weeks put a few bottles in the fridge for a day or 2 to test carbonation levels.

 

[polehammer]

Best not to leave them in the fridge when it's turned off. Turned-off fridges that are kept closed tend to grow mold over time.

Low room temps are ideal for bottle conditioning (and carbonate). After 2 weeks put a few bottles in the fridge for a day or 2 to test carbonation levels.

Okay cheers mate thanks I'll give it a go and hopefully we get some fizz.