help

[Khryss]

i just started "trying" to brew beer i have a great 6gal caarboy setup and a small 2gal "mr.beer" setup . . well i figured that i wouls try to brew in the mr beer setup first so i cleaned everything real well used the one step in everything and started brewing from the mr beer book the "blue lightning" recipie well its been two weeks and it still has foamish stuff on top and my alleded homebrew guru that i work with said that will dissipate when ready also when i used my hydrometer a week ago it said around 4.8% alc now it says not even 2% alc so any ideas or am i just being paraniod and should wait for everything to settle and bottle anyway?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

We need a little more info like what was the recipie? Did it list a starting gravity and finishing gravity? That is what you really need to know before bottling. I'm guessing the 'foam' is the krausen but that should have fallen within the first few days. Really need to have more info on the recipie to help though.

 

[Jamo99]

The potential alcohol scale on the hydrometer is just potential alcohol. Subtract the second reading from the first to get your abv.

 

[Cheeto]

Khryss,

please post the recipe/ kit that you used
and any other information that you might have
it will better help us give you an exact answer

congrats on your first beer
and welcome to HBT !

 

[Khryss]

recipr is as follows (taken from mr beer book)
1 can (16 ounces) blueberries, with juice
1 cup booster
6 cups cold tap water
1 can high country canadian draft
1 cup honey (i substituted 1 cup agave nectar)

puree blueberries, make wort with the can of mix and blueberries and alleged booster, boil , let cool to between 68 and 76 degrees F , add yeast (which came with 1 can high country canadian draft) wait 5 min , stir viggorusly, let sit for at least 1 week at room temp between 68 and 76 degrees F, then bottle and it lists no specific gravity in recipe
thanks for your help

 

[Cheeto]

did you take a gravity reading at any time?

what was the weight on that can?

 

[Khryss]

High Country Canadian Draft
Like the Northern high country itself, this beer brews up clean, fresh and impressive.

sku# 10025
Flavor: Balanced
Alc/Vol: 2.3%, SRM: 3, IBU: 14


High Country Canadian Draft
WEIGHT 19.4 OUNCES (550 GRAMS)
Along with Booster™ or UME this can will make 2 gallons of beer.

Pale in color and bold in character, this beer is well balanced with subtle notes of hop. Like the Northern high country itself, this beer brews up clean, fresh and impressive.

 

[Khryss]

my hydrometer has 990, 1.000, 10, its ritght on 10

hope that helps (stupid me for buying the economy model hydrometer)

 

[Cheeto]

ok well working with the info that you have given us

your orginal gravity was around 1.040 (+/- .002)

and the gravity is now at 1.012 (+/- .002)

http://www.mtbrewing.com/calculator-abv-abw/
putting that info in to this site gives you an ABV of 3.67%

sounds like an easy drinking beer

 

[Khryss]

and it should be ready for botteling right ?
been frementing for 2 weeks

 

[Cheeto]

am i just being paraniod and should wait for everything to settle and bottle anyway?

to that question I would say wait it out a bit longer

there is a large quanity of fruit and complex sugars in there

your gravity my be low enought to go ahead and bottle

but let it condition for a while longer that way the flavors

have time to mellow and blend

 

[Revvy]

If you're using fruit leave it set for another 2 weels, I have a friend who does fruit beers in a Mr Beer, (did you say you used Oregon Puree, that's what he uses) and he's mentioned it's taken a month in the mr beer keg to finish enough to bottle, and anout 4-6 weeks to fully bottle condition and carb up in the pete bottles.

Oh, btw, there's a fairly active Mr Beer thread on this forum, Shafferpilot and I help out on occasion....https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=46360

 

[Khryss]

thank you all very much