Newbie problem

[Steve99]

Hi Guys,
I brew two batches to date and will bottle the first batch next week. I seem to had the same problem for both batches. They were brewed with Coopers kits of 3.75 pounds.

1) My SG is always low (1.036 ...) so my % of alcohol is about 2%

2) I always have to add water to my secondary since I don't have enough liquid to fill it up to the next of the corboy.

Any idea ?

Thanks
Steve

 

[dennc2]

next time ya make one o f those kits add 2 or 3 lbs of DME to it, that will get your og and alcohol up there

 

[compact007]

I'd say always work on crafting a good beer, then you can work on the ABV problem. As for adding water to the seconadary, did you sanatize it by boiling, and that will really only water down more your final product, of you can purge your Carboy with Co2 to clear the o2 out and you should be fine.

 

[Tom Smith]

When measuring the SG, keep in mind that the heavy material (higher density) sinks to the bottom of the fermenter.
You really need to agitate the wort, AFTER you've topped off the primary, and before you take the SG reading. If you don't agitate it, your water will mix with the denser wort, only a little, and float to the top. If you were to measure the SG of the liquid at the top of the fermentor and compare it to the SG at the bottom of the fermentor, you'd likely find that the bottom has a much higher SG.
So stir the wort and water very well to get a nice even SG throughout the batch.
Not mixing it won't really impact the quality of the brew as the fermentation process with all the CO2 being produced will in the end mix everything up nicely for you.

 

[Dark_Ale]

What temp are you taking SG reading? If its too hot you will get a lower reading, to cold a higher reading, I believe they are corrected at 60F. Take the reading at 60 if you can, or use the conversion factors based on temp. I agree adding the DME will help with alcohol% and body of your beer. Just my own opinion, The directions on those cans are not the best. I just have not had good luck with them myself, But they may be great for someone else depending on what kind of beer your making. If you find that in all you do stirring making sure its all disolved, start with a thick brew, add just enough hot water to thin out the malt, then continue to add water until your at your desired OG???????? Good luck on the brew

 

[dantodd]

I don't have a copy of beersmith with me, I'm out of town for Turkey Day.

However; if you are making 5 gallons of beer 3.75 pounds of extract will always yield a very low alcohol beer, especially if you are thinning it out with water in the secondary. There is usually nearly twice that amount of extract in a 5 gallon recipe.

 

[Ellie-ut]

Ive never really liked the coopers kits for making really full flavor beer. I do like most of the true brew ones I have tried, they have more extract in them.

Youll get bored with the kits soon enough....

 

[Schlenkerla]

I am suprised none of the senior members hit on this yet....

Maybe you are adding too much H2O.

Try this; Top off to 5 gallons or to whatever the batch calls for after brewing. (After Boil top-off)

Make sure its not imperial gallons, the level is different than US gal.

Do not add water to the secondary. No matter what is lost going into the 2ndary.

The CO2 in the 2ndary ferment will purge out the O2 if you rack early enough.

You lose beer in the racking process, by getting beer off the yeast, and then you are diluting the beer with water!!!! Hence the lower alcohol.

Chalk up the loss of beer in the process of transfering.

Less beer with the correct ABV is better than more beer with low ABV. Right??

Good Luck on the next batch. -

 

[Brewsmith]

From the looks of the original post, Steve99 is using only one can of extract. That will give a gravity of about what he's reading. Use two cans to get the gravity up to normal ~5% abv levels.

No need to add water to the secondary. If you started with 5 gallons in the primary, whatever ends up in the secondary is fine. If you add water, you're only diluting it.

 

[dantodd]

So, what have you decided to do on your next batch Steve?

 

[Schlenkerla]

I am suprised none of the senior members hit on this yet....

dantodd - I read this on thankgiving evening but didn't reply, sorry... You are right 3.75 lbs is low. - 1lb / gallon is kind of standard.

Steve99 - The 3.75lbs/5gal is OK for session beer. Like after lawn mowing or soon to be snow blown'. You can add the balance, .75 -1lb, of corn sugar or 1.25 lbs of light/x-light dry malt extract (DME) to boost the abv. DME is better, too much corn sugar will make it taste cidery, so limit it to 1.13lbs max on corn sugar. Don't add water anytime after you bring the wort up the recipe level. (this case 5 gal.). If you loose h20 in the blow-off or racking consider it a good loss of fusel resins and dead yeast (dropping out hanger-over causing stuff) Be that farts or headaches. I assume you don't want either!

 

[Jim Karr]

Well now, farts are OK..........Headaches are not.

 

[boo boo]

Well now, farts are OK..........Headaches are not.

And that only depends on if it is me doing them.

Adding too much water vs malt to a recipie will give a low gravity/abv and also make it watery tasting. Topping up in the secondary is best left for your wine.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

I don't understand.

What's wrong with farts?


My dog seems to like 'em enough....

 

[Schlenkerla]

Their OK as long as you don't confuse them for sharts!!!!

 

[Steve99]

But I've been told no to leave any empty space in the secondary to avoid oxidation ... Is that true ?

For my other batch, the girl at the store gave me a 1,5 KG of dextrose instead of 1,0 KG and she also gave me a Beer enhancer or something like that. Tried everything yesterday and my OG was 1,050 which is great since my previous one was 1.032.

 

[Schlenkerla]

But I've been told no to leave any empty space in the secondary to avoid oxidation ... Is that true ?

For my other batch, the girl at the store gave me a 1,5 KG of dextrose instead of 1,0 KG and she also gave me a Beer enhancer or something like that. Tried everything yesterday and my OG was 1,050 which is great since my previous one was 1.032.

Don't worry about the extra space. If the airlock is active, it will leave a CO2 blanket on top of the beer. Its best to tranfer to the 2ndary before it quits in the primary. Its always best to use the right sized container, but some fluid loss is unavoidable. I have never had an oxidation problem even with an extra gallon of space.

1.5kg = 3.3lbs

I hope you only used a 1/2 a kg or it will be too much sugar. Sugar should be less than 30% of the fermentables. If you added 3.3lbs with 3.75lbs malt, then the sugar is 47% of the fermentables.

 

[dantodd]

But I've been told no to leave any empty space in the secondary to avoid oxidation ... Is that true ?

For my other batch, the girl at the store gave me a 1,5 KG of dextrose instead of 1,0 KG and she also gave me a Beer enhancer or something like that. Tried everything yesterday and my OG was 1,050 which is great since my previous one was 1.032.

1.050 sounds pretty good. I would suggest staying away from dextrose and "beer enhancer" in general. they will increase your alcohol but will do little or nothing to add flavor.

If you are happy with the level of hops in your first brew then you can get some unhopped liquid malt extract (LME) to make up the gravity you want. (another 3.75 pounds will give you approximately 1.050) this will give you a beer with significantly more flavor. If you think the beer you made the first time could use more hops just use 2 cans for your batch.

I would probably go with a second can of the same hopped extract just to see the outcome. Then you'll have one super light beer, one beer with low hops/malt plus sugar and one beer with heavier hops/malt. From those three batches you should have no problem adjusting to your taste.

Where do you live? If you live in the US there are a lot of pre-made recipe kits that you can buy online which are a pretty surefire way to get drinkable beer from the start.

 

[Steve99]

Thanks to everybody for answers ! The brewing family is fantastic and I'm getting plenty of advices.

Where do you live? If you live in the US there are a lot of pre-made recipe kits that you can buy online which are a pretty surefire way to get drinkable beer from the start.

Yes, I live in Canada and I don't have lots of speciality stores around here in Montreal ...

 

[boo boo]

Steve, if you live in Montreal, then you are close to a lot of homebrewers. Ever heard of the MontreALERs brew club? Google them or you can join the Mob ( http://barleyment.wort.ca/biz/?biz=48 ) We now have members across the nation.
Either way brewing great beer don't have to be hard. You'll find a wealth of info here for the asking and a great bunch of people to boot.

If you secondary as I do then you can use a 5 us gallon carboy which will have less headspace to worry about

 

[McCall St. Brewer]

Steve,

I wouldn't add water to the secondary. If you are upset that you are not ending up with 5 gallons in your secondary, that is a common problem. The best solution is to get a 6.5 gallon primary. That way your blow-off stage won't end up blowing a bunch of year beer out the blow-off tube and you will have more beer left to put in your secondary.

 

[Steve99]

I'm not really worry about the quantity, it's the quality that first matter to me. I have been told of the danger of oxydation if I leave an empty space in my secondary. Is that really true ?

 

[Tom Smith]

Hey Steve,
I wouldn't worry about oxidation unless it is being poured into the secondary in a way that it is mixing with the air (getting agitated) as it would if you were dumping it in. If you are using a syphon hose, and placing the hose at the bottom of the secondary so that it doesn't splash, then you will be fine.
Even in the secondary, CO2 is being produced, and you will get a nice layer of CO2 floating on your brew which will keep out regular air (oxygen). CO2 is heavier than air.