Coolman Posted November 24, 2018 Share Posted November 24, 2018 Hello, Was hoping someone could clear this up for me before I get to bottling. I've had a Coopers kit (Coopers Draught) in the FV for the last two and a half weeks now. Used kit yeast & Coopers BE2. Filled to 21L. Fermented at an ambient temperature of around 19C. OG: 1.044 FG: 1.018 This calculates to approx. 3.4% ABV. I'm not really bothered by this but it does seem quite low and I'm hoping that the yeast hasn't died out midway through the ferment. I haven't really used kit yeast in the past (I've bought my own from the home brew shop), Is this something that can happen? Any insight would be much appreciated. Cheers, Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naughty Corner Brewing Posted November 24, 2018 Share Posted November 24, 2018 That seems like an awful high FG, although I’ve never brewed that kit. Did you degas your sample before taking the reading with your hydrometer? Remaining CO2 in the sample will throw an apparent high reading? Other than that, the kit yeasts are pretty solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashed Crabs Posted November 24, 2018 Share Posted November 24, 2018 Suggest testing your hydrometre in some tap water should read 1.000 or close to it. That FG is way to high also when you bottle and throw in ur drops or sugar that will give u another .5%ABV so close 3.9% end product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 24, 2018 Share Posted November 24, 2018 It does sound too high for the ingredients. It's unlikely the yeast died, but it may have stalled if the temperature dropped too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coolman Posted November 25, 2018 Author Share Posted November 25, 2018 Thank you all for your responses. I just tested the hydrometer and yes it does read 1.000 when testing water from the tap. I then degassed the sample (by shaking and letting it rest) & got a reading of 1.010-012 which makes much more sense. Coming closer to around 4.4%ABV It was only a couple of days ago that I got what I thought was my FG so it's possible it's fermented a bit more (although unlikely seeing as it had already been in the FV for 2 weeks). But I guess the main difference in the result was the de-gassing. This isn't something I've generally done much of before (the degassing) as I didn't think that it skewed the result all that much. So thanks for your insight, this is really good to know. I guess my previous batches have been a bit boozier than calculated which looking back kind of makes sense... Also interesting to know that the bottle priming adds another 0.5%ABV approx. I assumed it was much less. My main concern was that I'd bottle the beer without any live yeast and end up with a batch full of flat disappointment, definitely feel confident that's not the case now. Thanks again! Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 3 hours ago, Coolman said: I then degassed the sample bubbles definitely lead to false readings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 So you dont waste 250ml beer every time you take a sample. Simply just leave it on your kitchen bench. If its still fermenting you will see it drop, exactly whats happening in the fv. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekymetal13 Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 2 hours ago, Titan said: So you dont waste 250ml beer every time you take a sample. Simply just leave it on your kitchen bench. If its still fermenting you will see it drop, exactly whats happening in the fv. Great tip mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silmaril Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 4 hours ago, Titan said: So you dont waste 250ml beer every time you take a sample. Simply just leave it on your kitchen bench. If its still fermenting you will see it drop, exactly whats happening in the fv. Would the temperature variation make a significant difference? My FV is in the fridge at 21c, the kitchen bench is all over the place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashed Crabs Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 Could always sit it next to ur FV room permitting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 25, 2018 Share Posted November 25, 2018 I've been doing that for a while now. I don't find it makes any difference to the FG having it sit in the kitchen or whatever. It's probably better it be warmer. Look up fast ferment test, it's a similar process. The method described here is basically a crude version of it. It just tells you how far the wort should ferment out. I still take proper FG samples, but they're always the same as the sample left on the bench anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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