Priming Sugar Question

[Ammo0000]

Hi, this is my first post so I figure I'll do a quick introduction before getting to my question. My name is Steve. I'm in the USAF currently stationed at Hill AFB in Utah. I just within the last month picked up home brewing. At the moment I have a hefeweizen bottled and a belgian wheat in the fermenter. I'm using pre-made kits put together by my local shop using all extract. My wife actually got me into brewing because she makes her own wine. We were in our local homebrew/winemaking shop and I decided what the hell. I'll give it a shot, so here I am. The hefeweizen has been bottled for about a week and a half. I popped a few in the fridge this weekend to see how they're coming along and they were so smooth. I know it's a bit soon to be drinking them but I just wanted to see how they were doing.

Anyways, on to my question. Probably a noob question but oh well. So on the hefeweizen I used a hydrometer to figure that it is about 3.8% alcohol before bottling. I know the finishing sugar is primarily for carbonation, but does it increase the alcohol content any? Thanks in advance.

 

[bob1852]

It will add ~0.25% ABV

And welcome to HBT

 

[MalFet]

Yes, but trivially. Something on the order of two tenths of a percent, I'd think.

Welcome

 

[KevinW]

Kind of depends on how much priming sugar you used, a pound or so for a 5 gallon batch would give you more alcohol but would also give you some serious bottle bombs!:cross:

I agree with everyone here, very little alcohol!!

Good luck and keep on brewing!

 

[Ammo0000]

Yea it was only 3/4 cup of sugar. So I can estimate that my beer is about 4% then?

 

[HoboBrewery]

Yea it was only 3/4 cup of sugar. So I can estimate that my beer is about 4% then?

Yea just about. Interestingly enough based on a typical hef you're 1% off target abv. How long did you let it age before you bottled it? How much extract/grain did your recipe call for? Maybe you diluted your batch with more water than anticipated? Whatever the case, enjoy the hobby, keep a written log of all variables you change up and keep doing what works well. In no time you'll be brewing double batches, kegging brews and stumbling alot. Lol I know from experience.

 

[Ammo0000]

I didn't really let it age much. It took 7 days to ferment. Took a gravity reading, waited 3 days, took another gravity reading with no change. I bottled it that day. I used an all extract recipe. The kit I bought was for a 5 gallon batch and came with 6.6 lbs of light malt extract. I boiled it with about 3 gallons of water. When I transferred from the pot to the fermenter, I filled it up with water to the 5 gallon mark on the bucket so I don't think it's diluted. The before and after gravities respectively were 1.043 and 1.013. What should it have been at? Oh I'm enjoying it alot. I have one of those Mead Composition books that I'm keeping all the info about everything I do in it. By the way, I didn't list all my steps above. I was just answering your questions.

 

[rycov]

did you calculate abv with the original gravity that you measured? or the one that the kit said you should have? a lot of times the measured OG can be inacurate with partial boils because its hard to get an even mixture. if you put in all the extract, and end up with the final volume your supposed to have then chances are your original gravity was pretty close to what the kit suggested it would be.

 

[Ammo0000]

The kit didn't specify what the OG should be. I poured the mixture into the fermenter, then added the water up to the 5 gallon mark. After that is when I took the reading.

 

[Calder]

6.6 lbs of LME = 235 gravity points. That will give you an OG for 5 gallons of 1.047. Pretty close to what you measured. LME is pretty predictable, so either your reading was slightly off (what temp was the reading and did you account for the temperature), or your bucket volumes are slightly off. Either way, it won't make much difference. Hope it turns out good.

 

[lou2row]

Thank you for your service Steve, and welcome to the boards.

 

[Ammo0000]

6.6 lbs of LME = 235 gravity points. That will give you an OG for 5 gallons of 1.047. Pretty close to what you measured. LME is pretty predictable, so either your reading was slightly off (what temp was the reading and did you account for the temperature), or your bucket volumes are slightly off. Either way, it won't make much difference. Hope it turns out good.

The thermometer sticker on the side of the container when I poured everything in including the cold water was around 82 if I remember correctly. I didn't know there was a specific temperature that you were supposed to take gravity readings at. As for the bucket volume, they are manufactured with the measurements on them.

 

[Ammo0000]

Thank you for your service Steve, and welcome to the boards.

Thanks man. I've been doing it for about 8.5 years. I plan on going for retirement.