My FIRST brew ever isn't done and already on the SECOND brew!!!

[pjewell]

Whats happening now? Well its amber. A traditional american amber. Mr. Beer has some time left before conditioning...




** Does this sound right for 5 gallons? I have it brewing already...

3 pounds Amber Malt Extract
2.5 ounces Priming Sugar (destrose)
1 oz Cascade Hops
1 ale US-05 (Fermintus brand)
.5 lbs Grains

 

[MultumInParvo]

Thats a good deal of sugar. I would lay off it a little and add in some more extract if you wanted to keep the abv up. Maybe 5 pounds of dry extract and a half pound of sugar. And what are these "grains"?

 

[david_42]

That would be fine for 2.5 gallons. As a 5 gallon batch, you'll end up around 2% ABV.

Also, the priming sugar doesn't go in until you keg or bottle it.

 

[Trevor57]

That is going to be a very weak beer. It's not too late to add more fermentables.

 

[Richabt]

I agree with the others. You are only looking at about 2.7% ABV with this recipe. You need to add more extract to get in a normal range.
At the very least, I would add about 2 more pounds of either light or amber extract. That would put you at about 4.2 or 4.3 ABV.

 

[pjewell]

That would be fine for 2.5 gallons. As a 5 gallon batch, you'll end up around 2% ABV.

Also, the priming sugar doesn't go in until you keg or bottle it.

That is going to be a very weak beer. It's not too late to add more fermentables.

I agree with the others. You are only looking at about 2.7% ABV with this recipe. You need to add more extract to get in a normal range.
At the very least, I would add about 2 more pounds of either light or amber extract. That would put you at about 4.2 or 4.3 ABV.

Oh no. I thought that would be right. So what do I do? Its fermenting right now?


I am a risk taker and I don't care about opening it? Should I go and get some more extract?

 

[danculwell]

http://freshmeat.net/projects/qbrew/

I've found this very helpful since I don't know what I'm doing yet.

 

[pjewell]

http://freshmeat.net/projects/qbrew/

I've found this very helpful since I don't know what I'm doing yet.

haha thanks.

 

[pjewell]

i need some advice. what should I do?

 

[pjewell]

well i stopped by the LHB store and picked up 3 lbs of Light (UHE) Malt and a pound of dried amber and some more hops (willamete) . Boiled for thirty minutes. The total volume that I added to my already fermenting batch was about a half a gallon. I brought the wort down to 80 and poured it into the fermenter.

The yeast seem happy. The air lock is bubbling after just 30 mins.



What is the likely hood that this is going to be ok? haha

 

[Yooper]

Well, it'll be a little light on hops but otherwise ok.

We have tons of recipes here in the database, if you'd like to take a look for your next batch. Making recipes isn't hard, but beer is all about balancing the malt and hops so I think it's a good idea for a beginner to follow a recipe or to use a quality kit. I've had good luck with kits from austinhomebrew.com and northernbrewer.com, and with the recipes from our site; and also from recipes from Brewing Classic Styles, a book by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer.

 

[electric_beer]

You just brewed the batch the day before? I'm sure it will be ok. Just for future reference I believe you need at least 8lbs of extract to get a 5% beer.

 

[pjewell]

Well, it'll be a little light on hops but otherwise ok.

We have tons of recipes here in the database, if you'd like to take a look for your next batch. Making recipes isn't hard, but beer is all about balancing the malt and hops so I think it's a good idea for a beginner to follow a recipe or to use a quality kit. I've had good luck with kits from austinhomebrew.com and northernbrewer.com, and with the recipes from our site; and also from recipes from Brewing Classic Styles, a book by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer.

Yeah I figured it would be. I should have added around three ounces the first go around. I dont like very bitter beer, but I do like balance beer. Hoppie IPA's are something I like to enjoy every once in a while. I did get to read John Palmer's book last night on the www.howtobrew.com which is very informative. I have a pretty good grasp of what I did wrong.

Apparently the yeast enjoyed the malt and really ate it up! I had a little over flow. Lost head room when I added the last half gallon.



Should I dry hop it to help it balance out?

 

[DavidSteel]

My first brew ever isn't done and already on the 5th batch.