How picky are you about ABV?

[newfiebrew]

So i've been doing all grain for about a year now and really enjoy it but I have always felt as if I was a bit sloppy in caring what my abv ends up being,within reason that is...lol. Some brewers need to know if it's a 5.8% abv or a 6.0% abv but for me who cares what the abv is as long as its close (within say 1%)

Do you try to hit the numbers exactly (weighing grains precisley etc) or do you just take what comes???

Are you concerned when you get a slightly higher or lower alcohol content?

How picky are y'all??

just curious!

 

[Hello]

I have a target ABV and wish to hit it. That's just in line with my goals where I want to be consistent with my recipe and from batch to batch. However, if I miss it then fine. Unless I am wicked low, I usually just let it ride out instead of adding DME. I do add DME from time to time, but those are exceptions to most of my cases.

 

[DPBISME]

I almost never check. I know I am getting above 85% utilization and I have set Beersmith up that way... So now I just make recipes and brew.

I am always moving to fast on brew day to remember to take both measurements needed anyway.

DPB

 

[Jayhem]

I do not need to be picky because once I build my recipe through BrewSmith I am always within about 0.1% ABV of my target. It comes once you have dialed in your process and know exactly what efficiency you can achieve on malt extraction and boil off volumes exactly. Once you are dialed in if the beer is off by 1% ABV it means it either is not done fermenting or is highly over attenuated!

That said I don't care if my beer is 4.5% or 10% as long as it tastes the way I wanted.

 

[GrogNerd]

I have a fairly wide range of tolerance for everything in my brewing

OG, FG, IBU, SRM, ABV all have hefty ±

 

[Joseph503]

That said I don't care if my beer is 4.5% or 10% as long as it tastes the way I wanted.

As Jayhem put it, I don't care what the ABV is per-say, but I am concerned with efficiency and hitting my target OG. If my yeast happens to attenuate more/less than expected so be it, given that it finished fermenting.
Example: If I'm brewing a 6% beer and somehow only hit 4% i'd be concerned that something in my process was incorrect.

 

[crusader1612]

I have a fairly wide range of tolerance for everything in my brewing

OG, FG, IBU, SRM, ABV all have hefty ±

For homebrew, I like to keep a high abv and a low abv, as the rules for drinking/driving a lower here (0.05/250mg). so can only have a beer or two if driving.
at the pub i pay close attention for the same reason.

 

[GrogNerd]

For homebrew, I like to keep a high abv and a low abv, as the rules for drinking/driving a lower here (0.05/250mg). so can only have a beer or two if driving.
at the pub i pay close attention for the same reason.

.

You see, drinking is a matter of algebraic ratio. How drunk you get is caused by the amount of alcohol you consume in relation to your total body weight. You see my point? It's not that you had too much to drink. You're just too skinny.

 

[KavDaven]

My process or rather force of habit is strong enough and consistent enough that I don't check SG on FG anymore.

In the beginning though, I was very meticulous and concerned. I just couldn't wrap my brain around the fact that I was getting drunk on my own brew. I mean there was alcohol in there! Glass after glass of my very own beer had alcohol. After a year or so of checking myself over and over again, I just gave up and had another homebrew.

 

[drainbamage]

I don't have to be dead on, but I like to be +/- 0.2%. Under the predicted ABV is worse than over it. Like others have said, if I'm way off of the expected value, it means I'm doing something wrong and I want to correct it.

 

[newfiebrew]

For some reason my efficiency is really high and I have been ending up with a higher abv then expected.Maybe i'm crushing to fine or need to be more accurate when weighing my grain, I dunno?

 

[drainbamage]

For some reason my efficiency is really high and I have been ending up with a higher abv then expected.Maybe i'm crushing to fine or need to be more accurate when weighing my grain, I dunno?

Could be that, or you could be mashing at too low of a temperature. What have you been mashing at?

 

[RM-MN]

For some reason my efficiency is really high and I have been ending up with a higher abv then expected.Maybe i'm crushing to fine or need to be more accurate when weighing my grain, I dunno?

The software I use lets me set my expected efficiency to account for that discrepancy. My first couple of recipes I didn't adjust for the efficiency since I didn't know what my efficiency would be and ended up with 7% brews instead of 5% like the recipe stated.

 

[eric19312]

I approach recipe design with target for ABV and final gravity. This makes it easy to think about the beer in comparison to a commercial product.

Then I figure out a grain bill, mash temperature, and yeast selection that will get me there. It is usually iterative process where I set the grain bill percentages and ballpark total weight, then assume attenuation at the middle of my expected yeast's range. Adjust the total grain bill weight up or down to get to my ABV target and look at final gravity prediction. Too high or low adjust the mash temp. Still too high or low consider another yeast with a different attenuation range. When I get close on FG I usually have to look back to ABV and readjust the grain bill, which also changes the FG, perhaps leading to another mash temp adjustment.

I do all this design in software which is predictive but the real test is the brew. I am pretty careful to try to get to my software prescribed original gravity and hit my mash temperatures in order to see how close the beer ends up to my original target final gravity and ABV. When I go to rebrew the recipe ABV takes a back seat and adjustments tend to be made more from tasting notes from earlier brews--however the original ABV target never really goes away as if I am wanting a 5% APA I don't want the recipe to drift up to a 7% IPA just because those taste better to me.

 

[Demus]

This thread shows how many factors affect ABV. Mash efficiency all the way to yeast selection and performance and just about everything in between. Just remember, even the most skilled marksman has to take aim!

 

[dk21]

Personally, this is my hobby, and while I am a precise person that takes a more scientific approach to brewing, not precisely hitting a target doesn't particularly bother me. My OG is generally spot on, but the FG is more up to the yeast than me. As my experience has grown, though, my ability to predict based on a combination of my mash temp and a yeast's average range of attenuation has improved. Keeping good notes is key.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I don't care about ABV at all.

ABW is where it's at.

 

[1977Brewer]

I'm still trying to get my process down to making good beer. I'll worry about numbers when it tastes good. I only take gravity readings to monitor progress. I'll figure the ABV into the bottle and label it as such. Don't wanna own 4 8%er's on a work night thinking it's the one that came in at 4.

This has been said, but we're pretty much only responsible for OG, FG is the yeast's job.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

I am not even doing gravity readings. I let the batch sit for 3 weeks and then bottle. 3 weeks later, voila! We have beer ready to drink! I take a basic recipe and add 3 cups of corn sugar and as long as it is above 5% I am happy. How would I know if not doing gravity readings? I don't. I just run the recipe thru the calculator and from my friends reaction it is usually closer to 6 than 5.

KISS = Keep it simple stupid That is how I operate.

 

[kh54s10]

I use Beersmith for my recipes. I have it pretty well dialed in. I weigh out my grains. I usually hit my OG numbers. I usually measure my FG, just to make sure it isn't stalled. I rarely calculate my ABV. But I would guess I am always within a percent or so. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway.

 

[Dave_K]

I like to be within close range of my target ABV. Do I care if I'm a little off? No, but I certainly want to know if I am.
I record everything so I can either adjust the error in my process or recreate it.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

More concerned with how it taste.

 

[Owly055]

I rarely check FG anymore.......... My process is pretty consistent. The only real concern is that it is fully attenuated because I bottle. I know what my OG is, and what my mashing process will yield (temp control), and I pitch heavy with a good strong yeast culture. I just don't worry about it anymore.

A good tasting product that matches my original goal is what matters to me.

H.W.

 

[Natdavis777]

Im fine with it being +/- 0.2 points and I consistently hit my numbers... If something wierd happens though, like being 1.075 OG when it should have been 1.060, then I know it can throw the beer off flavor-wise. Plus my pitching rate has then decreased.

 

[bragona71]

I like to check OG and FG just to make sure im getting the efficiency I want