I made a new brew and need some advice

[frankjones]

Hi folks. Thanks for taking out a minute to read and possibly give input.

Here is what I cooked up. Got the recipe from a post from brewmex41. It's supposed to be a round about sort of sweet stout.

Three pounds two row
Half a pound of carapils
Half a pound of crystal 80l
Half a pound of chocolate malt.

Magnum hops @60

In the fermenter it will get an ounce of brown sugar and vanilla extract and lactose.

This batch is 1.75 gals
Started 3 gals
Did biab

After 20 minutes it started to boil for 60 mins.
It was supposed to get down to 1.5. But it didn't. After 75 minutes of boiling I cooled it. Used muntons ale yeast.

It looks very thick... Smelled good... I'm worried 1.75 gals will be to dilute?

I had a hydrometer and it broke. As I opened it from the packaging. (Midwest supplies will send another)

I couldn't do gravity. I'm hoping it comes out around 6%abv.

How can I know my brew efficiency?

 

[aarong]

The only way to know is with a sg reading. You can take a sg reading for your fg when brewing is done and back track to a rough og depending on your yeast. It will be innacyrate though.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Hello]

^ that but I wouldn't trust accuracy. It'll be okay to not know your efficiency but knowing the ABV would be nice. There's no real way to tell though, from what I know. Buy a backup hydrometer.

 

[frankjones]

I guess when I get to o open and drink one I'll have a Good idea from what kind of buzz I get

 

[Omahawk]

Magnum hops @60

The other variable to think about is your bitterness to gravity ratio. I'm guessing it should be something around 0.6 (e.g., 1.05 SG / 30 IBUs = 0.6). Magnum is a high-alpha hop, and in a low volume batch like this small amounts of the hop can have a big impact on bitterness. Not knowing your gravity (or at least a decent approximation of it) can just add to the uncertainty.

Did the recipe call for an Alpha unit or IBU contribution from the Magnum? I'm assuming the Magnum was something like 14% alpha, and the recipe called for 0.25 oz or so?

As Hello said, a backup hydrometer is a good idea.

 

[pablosbrewing]

I had a hydrometer and it broke. As I opened it from the packaging. (Midwest supplies will send another)

I couldn't do gravity. I'm hoping it comes out around 6%abv.

How can I know my brew efficiency?

If you can get a refractometer AND a hydrometer reading on the finished beer, you can estimate your original gravity and ABV:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/refractometer-calculator/

For small batch all grain a refractometer is really a good idea - needs just a few drops of wort to test.

But - with a refractometer you have to use a calculator once fermentation starts, using Brix scale. So get a Brix only refractometer - the scale is bigger and easier to read. This is the one I have and it works great.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008562GD0/ref=oh_details_o03_s01_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[rodwha]

Not only do I keep an extra hydrometer, but also a floating thermometer. They break too easily!

 

[frankjones]

The hops were just stated as magnum hops. So I got hopsunion brand.

 

[ericbw]

You didn't say how much of the hops you added.

 

[frankjones]

Added half ounce of hops. I like the way it tasted when I transferred it to the fermenter. It was thick.. Tho