OG Estimate (Wife Broke The Hydrometer)

[kombatkoala]

I was wondering if it was possible to estimate an OG.

I brewed a batch of Chimay the other day, and my wife got upset that it wouldn't be ready anytime soon, so I brewed another batch of an English (Brown?) Ale I'd seen somewhere.

Well, I'm not sure if she was mad at me, or if it was an accident, but she also broke my hydrometer in the 12 hours between batches, and none of the stores around me have them (except for the really expensive ones). Sadly, I figured this out only when I went to measure my OG, as I didn't think she'd put not one but several pots on top of it.

Is it possible to estimate OG?

 

[joebagodonuts]

Most of the home brew software out there will give you a target OG.
I use BrewTarget.

Of course - that's a target. The true OG depends on so many things - so it is really just an guesstimate.

 

[jaobrien6]

Is this extract or all-grain? If it's extract, you can probably make a reasonable estimate. If it's all-grain, you only can if you have your process stable and pretty much always nail your efficiency.

 

[kombatkoala]

Thanks - yeah, I'm just looking for a general amount so that when I get my new one (LHBS store claimed they were getting a shipment yesterday, but were out today again) and check when I transfer to secondary I can have at least a feel for what it should be or is at.

 

[kombatkoala]

AWESOME - I'm all about the Free (as in beer) software - thanks!

 

[ChshreCat]

Punch all your ingredients in here:
http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe
and it'll give you an estimate.

If this was an all extract batch, the extract will be pretty close. If it's an all-grain, it'll depend on your mash efficiency, but it'll give you a ballpark anyway.

 

[kombatkoala]

Very cool - thanks jaobrien and ChshreCat, it's always fun to learn new tools.