Hydrometer question

[coopd3ville]

I just started my first brew on 9/18 it included the following ingredients

3.52 Lbs can of John Bull Amber (LME hopped)
1.4 Lbs can of Alexander's Pale (LME)
1 Lb Munton's Light (DME)
1 Oz Cascade Hop Pellets
11 g Windsor Brewing Yeast


I boiled one gallon of water, added all the malt and the hop pellets and let it boil for 1 hour. I made my yeast starter and took the wort off the heat, I waited 5 minutes and gave the wort a quick ice bath. Then i combined the wort with 4 gallons of somewhat cold water and added the yeast as well. I put my airlock on. The arilock was activley bubbling for 3 days then it started to slow down. I forgot to take a hydrometer reading when i made the wort. Last night I took the airlock off and inserted a sanatized piece of tubing. I siphened some out to take a hydrometer reading it was 1.020. Is a reading of 1.020 good after 7 days? My plan is to transfer the brew to my bottling bucket next tuesday which would be 14 days in the primary fermenter. I do not have a secondary fermenter, would it be ok to just bottle it after 14 days?

 

[DeathBrewer]

it should definitely go down a few points. i'm sure someone here can calculate what your OG should have been (it's easy with extract...i'd do it, but i'm at werk)

after that you can calculate attenutation and see where you should be based on your yeast's capabilities.

 

[coopd3ville]

Could someone calculate what my OG should have been??

Any sugestions on this brew, i am new and would love some input.

thanks

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Here's a link to an online calculator so you can do such calculations yourself:

http://hbd.org/recipator/


BTW, Brewsmith says that your O.G. should be 1.044. And you'll know when fermentation is finished when your gravity is unchanged for 3 days.

 

[malkore]

assuming an OG of 1.044 from beersmith, I'd expect 1.011~14 for a final gravity.

so, you're not quite there yet. Also don't be surprised if your beer isn't very bitter. with a 1 gallon boil you'll get lower hop utilization.

 

[coopd3ville]

Bernie Brewer
Thanks for the site, that will be a very helpful tool. Now I wont have as many questions.

malkore
So, is it safe to say that for a 1 gallon boil I will have to add more hops to achieve a strong bittering effect. Will this hold true for the addition of hops late in the boil for aroma as well?


Thanks everyone

 

[malkore]

right, you'll probably need more bittering (60 minute) hops to hit your actual IBU for the recipe.
the later hop additions are for flavor and aroma, not bittering, so those stay the same.

its kinda confusing...'bitter' is a flavor, but in beer terms, its more about the bitterness balancing the sweetness of the malt...and hop 'flavor' is a separate characteristic. some flavoring/aroma hops are 'citrus like' and others are 'grassy'.

there are some calculators out there to help you with fixing hops for low boil volumes.

you might also consider another stock pot, and splitting ingredients between the two.
i used to use two 12qt stock pots, dual boil, then combined with 1 gallon of water in my bucket to give me 5 gallons. doing it like that, your wort isn't so thick as to greatly affect hop usage, so you don't have to tweak recipes.

and, 12qt isn't that big...makes good soup pots later on when you decided to go all grain and pickup a 10gallon pot and propane burner

 

[coopd3ville]

The 2 12qt pots is a great idea, I think I will have to pick up two of them soon. This is my first brew so I think I am a few brews away from getting the burner and 10gal pot. I have been looking into it, but I want to get a good understanding of basic fundamentals first and read a couple of books.
Thank you for the insite.


Anyone have any suggestions on good reading material that a new brewer should read??

 

[coopd3ville]

I just checked my gravity last night, 12 days in the primary fermenter, it was at 1.016. I beleive that I am almost at the desired OG. It should only take a few more days until I can bottle it, right???

 

[DeathBrewer]

once the gravity hasn't changed in 2-3 days, it's ready to bottle. i'd check it again on wednesday and you'll probably be good to go.

 

[Orfy]

once the gravity hasn't changed in 2-3 days, it's ready to bottle. i'd check it again on wednesday and you'll probably be good to go.

As long as it is within the expected finish range.