So - my first ever homebrew (Munich malt SMaSH with Cascade) - after three weeks in the fermenter has dropped from an O.G. of 1.046 (although it was really chilled when I measured it), to a S.G. of 1.015, with Wyeast #1028 (London Ale).
By my calculations it's clocking in @ 4.0% - 4.6% ABV depending on whether I temperature correct my initial hydrometer reading, or not. If that's accurate, I can live with that.
I thought the current S.G. seems a bit high yet, but I believe that I may have mashed on the high end of the target range ( 158 F falling to 154 F during the mash ) - and produced more non-fermentable sugars than I would have liked.
But if I plug my ingredients and volumes into the Homebrewsupply recipe calculator using 2.5Kg of Weyermann Light Munich Malt, and the water volumes that I used, it comes out to OG/FG/ABV of 1.046/1.012/4.56% - which seems to be in the ballpark of what I've got.
I'm not going to rush into bottles; I've placed the fermenter bucket (I'm not employing a secondary carboy) into a much cooler environment (dropping to a few degrees above freezing) to "cold crash".
The wort was pretty clear; no more floating yeast colonies, with a pretty well defined trub layer on the bottom from the outside. Some light "dusty" elements still on the surface, but no clumps.
Smell was still beery, but less so than I've sniffed before, and the citrus smell I've been experiencing through the airlock is pretty much absent. I'm also concerned there's a bit of a "harsh alcohol" smell (although not verging into acetone character).
I'll be taking a hydrometer reading again Sunday evening, to see if 1.015 is stable.
So ... all-in-all, does it sound like it's on track? Does it sound like it might be getting close to bottling territory? Anything to be concerned about?
I appreciate any feedback
By my calculations it's clocking in @ 4.0% - 4.6% ABV depending on whether I temperature correct my initial hydrometer reading, or not. If that's accurate, I can live with that.
I thought the current S.G. seems a bit high yet, but I believe that I may have mashed on the high end of the target range ( 158 F falling to 154 F during the mash ) - and produced more non-fermentable sugars than I would have liked.
But if I plug my ingredients and volumes into the Homebrewsupply recipe calculator using 2.5Kg of Weyermann Light Munich Malt, and the water volumes that I used, it comes out to OG/FG/ABV of 1.046/1.012/4.56% - which seems to be in the ballpark of what I've got.
I'm not going to rush into bottles; I've placed the fermenter bucket (I'm not employing a secondary carboy) into a much cooler environment (dropping to a few degrees above freezing) to "cold crash".
The wort was pretty clear; no more floating yeast colonies, with a pretty well defined trub layer on the bottom from the outside. Some light "dusty" elements still on the surface, but no clumps.
Smell was still beery, but less so than I've sniffed before, and the citrus smell I've been experiencing through the airlock is pretty much absent. I'm also concerned there's a bit of a "harsh alcohol" smell (although not verging into acetone character).
I'll be taking a hydrometer reading again Sunday evening, to see if 1.015 is stable.
So ... all-in-all, does it sound like it's on track? Does it sound like it might be getting close to bottling territory? Anything to be concerned about?
I appreciate any feedback