VERY low alcohol content

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thezdawg

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So I have just finished my second batch of beer (a bock) and I noticed that both batches had very low alcohol. The bock, for example, was only about 2.8%. What's going on?! I have noticed that my basement tends to run on the warm side for fermentation (about 77 degrees F); could that be it?

I was using a kit and followed the instructions religiously (it being my first few batches after all), so I'm not sure what else could be going on. Any ideas?

Thanks!
 
There's a lot of potential variables here, and it's hard to make a call on this without more info. Things like starting gravity, length of fermentation, and what kind of yeast all play into it.

How did you know you were ready to bottle?
 
What was your OG on both batches?
How long did you leave the beers in primary? Kit instructions frequently tell you to ferment for x days w/o confirming fermentation is complete.
77° is much too high for almost any ale w/ the exception of Saisons.


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OG: 1.043
FG: 1.021

I left it in primary for a week, although I stopped seeing signs of fermentation before the end of the second day.
 
That FG is really high. What yeast did you use for the bock because 77F is way out of range for that style? The yeast probably stressed out and gave up.
 
You didn't let it ferment long enough. Seal it up, let it sit for another 2-3 weeks. 1 month primary is my rule of thumb.
 
Which yeast did you use? If it was dry yeast did you rehydrate before pitching? If it was liquid yeast, did you make a starter if the yeast was old?

Do you take your SG readings with a hydrometer?

Did you rack to a secondary vessel or bottle it after one week?
 
I pitched the yeast dry, and bottled after a week. I use a hydrometer to get the SG readings.

It looks like that may be the part of the instructions that I shouldn't follow, bottling after a week.

It's also possible that the yeast had been sitting in the kit for awhile.
 
2.8% ABV is about the maximum a 1.7kg kit, without anything added, will produce in a 5 gallon / approx. 19 liter batch.

You could use two kits in a single 5 gallon batch (called a toucan), to get up to about 5.6% ABV but then you will be double-hopped (you might like that). Alternatively, you could use 1 kit, 1 x 1.5kg can of unhopped extract, and 500 grams of DME to hit somewhere between 6 and 6.3% ABV.

Last kit I made, I added 1kg of DME to put me up around 5.3% ABV.

Kit instructions suck. I don't use sugar, as in the white stuff, to make beer, either.

I'm assuming you used sugar, since you hit 1043. Even if you did get down to 1012 or so, your alcohol is still only going to be around 4%...
 
That's a new idea, I'll have to try that out next time (I'm not against double-hopping at all). Unfortunately, I'm moving soon so it will be awhile until I get up and running again. I'm also looking at ideas to bring that temperature down (cheap ideas), has anyone had luck with the "rubbermaid bucket full of water and frozen water bottles" approach?
 
I'd watch out with those bottles. They may turn into gushers (when you open them) or grenades (exploding). They will likely be finishing fermentation in the capped bottles and massively overcarbonated.
 
Wow, bottling after 1 week! Dang, that beer wasn't finished. As mentioned above, handle those bottles with care.

I hate some of the horrible directions that come with beer kits. Bottling after a week is not at all what you should tell a new brewer to do, ever.
 
Wow, bottling after 1 week! Dang, that beer wasn't finished. As mentioned above, handle those bottles with care.

I hate some of the horrible directions that come with beer kits. Bottling after a week is not at all what you should tell a new brewer to do, ever.

+1 to all of this... kit instructions seem to (nearly invariably) suck... and leave the poor newby brewer stuck with problems or unsatisfying results.

I learned after my first batch that, regardless of kit direction giving a number of days... do gravity readings of samples...and usually let that sucker sit for at LEAST 10-14 days... if not longer.... also...the aging and chilling times listed in the kit are probably low, to get you feeling like you can do the whole process fast and have beer... each batch takes its' own time to be ready... and may be a total of 6 weeks or more depending on beer style... not the 2-3 weeks some kits tell you.
 
Never base your beer on being ready for bottling based on airlock activity. Always take hydrometer readings and record results. Once there are no changes in readings, then you may bottle. Take as many notes on each beer you make, it will give you a reference to look back at.
 
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