My First Partial Extract! Success! I think... heh heh heh

[The Mad Hatter]

Well, dad and I got our first batch primed and bottled today. It has a very nice light golden color to it. We split the batch in half, I kept half and dad took half home. Hopefully my brother wont drink to much of it heh. We ended up with 39 pints of golden homebrew.

As for my second batch I wanted to stem up a bit from full extract, as that was a bit to easy I thought. I opted to us a receipe I found here. http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter1-1.html

For those of you that are complete n00bs like me, read this book. There is a wealth of information in here. Here is the recipe that I used from Jim's online book. And it smells great.

Recipe
Cincinnati Pale Ale
Ingredients for a 5 gallon batch

4 lb. Pale malt extract syrup, unhopped
2 lb. Amber dry malt extract
12 AAU of bittering hops
5 AAU of finishing hops
2 packets of dried ale yeast

Everything went well I think. I followed Jims instructions to a T, and I had no boil overs so all is well. The question I have so far is about Hydrometers. How do I know what the tool is really trying to tell me? I did get a sample, and it said for a OG it was 1.063 and the possible ABV was 18%. Does this sound to be about correct?

Thanks for the replies in advance, I appreciate it! :rockin:
TMH

 

[Yooper]

Well, good job on the brewing! It sounds like you're having fun.

John Palmer's book is great- I got the hard copy for Christmas a couple of years ago. I still refer to it all the time.

Now, as far as the hydrometer is concerned, it has three scales on it normally. That's called a "triple scale hydrometer". One is the PA (potential alcohol) one is balling/brix and one is the SG scale. The only one most of us use is the SG scale, which is where your 1.063 number comes from. Now, I'm guessing you didn't stir your wort as well as you could have after you topped up with water, because the SG for 6 pounds of extract should be more like 1.046 or so. It should finish up at about 1.010- 1.012.

It's always so much fun to drink what you made! check out the recipes in our recipes database, and see what you want to make next! A good way to go now is to include some steeping grains to help improve the flavor and color of your next beers. There are lots of recipes, and we can always help you if you have any questions.

(PS- I don't know what you mean by "partial extract"- that recipe is an extract recipe.)

 

[The Mad Hatter]

I figured partial extract, just because not everything came from one single can.

 

[Yooper]

Oh, I get it! Thanks for clearing that up.

Congrats on the brewing!

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Np. As for the gracity reading that clears it up a bit better. I did stir the wort up pretty good, but I did not stir it as much as last time. Next time I will have to stir longer.

TMH

 

[Sager Brewing Co.]

For gravity, the temp can also make a difference, my hydrometer came with instructions that included a variance based on temp. So like the normal temp is 70 degrees, so if your wort is a little higher or lower then you add or subtract some gravity points.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

For gravity, the temp can also make a difference, my hydrometer came with instructions that included a variance based on temp. So like the normal temp is 70 degrees, so if your wort is a little higher or lower then you add or subtract some gravity points.

I did not take a temp reading in the Hydro sample, so a new thing has been learned. Also, I checked on my airlock this morning. It was going crazy. It sounded like a war was going on inside my bucket. I work night, so when I got up later today, it was not bubbling at all. It completly stopped. Is it possible that fermintation is complete already? My last batch bubbled for about three days. This one has stopped bubbling. I have not opened it up to look inside to see if there is Krasun or not, but I am sure there is by the way it was bubbling. The temp on my sticky thermometer says 70*.

TMH

 

[The Mad Hatter]

I racked the Pale Ale into the secondary today for two weeks of clearing, then I will bottle. Yooper, you were right on the money. The FG was 1.012 @ room temp of 75*. Now for my following question is the % ABV. My hydrometer showed it a 2%. This seems low to me, or at least I thought that it would come out higher maybe I was under the wrong impression. The brew does smell very very good though. I am assuming it is due to the malt and the Mt. Hood hops? I have not drank the hydrometer sample yet, but I will as soon as it chills a bit. Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it. And its cool as heck to hear dad say "Thats damn good beer" :rockin:

 

[cuinrearview]

To get an idea of the ABV, you want to use the difference of your original gravity reading vs. the final gravity when you rack to the secondary. As was stated, your original reading of 1.063 is probably a bit high from the wort not being mixed with the top up water. The original that Yooper gave is probably closer to what it was. Your final of 1.012 is where it should be, giving you an approximate ABV of about 4.5%

Try plugging your recipe in here: http://beercalculus.com/recipe

I've found this site to be pretty accurate when it comes to gravities and colors, and it will give you the ABV.

Oh, and the % scale on your hydrometer gives alcohol by weight.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

To get an idea of the ABV, you want to use the difference of your original gravity reading vs. the final gravity when you rack to the secondary. As was stated, your original reading of 1.063 is probably a bit high from the wort not being mixed with the top up water. The original that Yooper gave is probably closer to what it was. Your final of 1.012 is where it should be, giving you an approximate ABV of about 4.5%

Try plugging your recipe in here: http://beercalculus.com/recipe

I've found this site to be pretty accurate when it comes to gravities and colors, and it will give you the ABV.

Oh, and the % scale on your hydrometer gives alcohol by weight.

Thank you for the link. Its in my favorites now. 4.5% sounds better. I did drink that hydrometer sample this morning. It was good I thought. smooth, but it did not have as strong of bitterness as what my Coopers Kit did. It should be a very good drinkable brew. I cant wait. I am thinking that for the next brew I would like to do a wheat beer. Do you have any suggestions for a good wheat recipe. I would still like to keep it an extract kit yet, but I do like adding the hops and malt extract myself. Thanks again.

 

[Yooper]

Another way to figure ABV is this:

(OG-FG) x 131= ABV.

So,

1.046- 1.012 x 131=

.034 x 131 = 4.45% ABV

That's how I do it.

As far as a wheat beer recipe, take a look in our recipe database. OR, try a kit from Austin home brew. They are having a sale today, and make really good products. I've done several of their extract kits and PM kits in the past, and was very happy with them. They have really complete instructions with the ingredients, so it goes pretty smoothly.