The Sasn Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Hi Guys, Just done my 1st Coopers Homebrew - i chose a "Real Ale" and followed all the instructions, except i substituted 500grams of Dextros for 500grams of "Spray Malt" which said on the packet was a good substitute for sugar 'pound for pound'. So all seems to have gone well, and i measured the gravity which was 1.041 before i added the yeast. It's been fermenting overnight and bubbling away now, but when i check ABV calculators now on the net, it seems the alcohol percentage will be somewhere below 4% - which seems a bit low. Did i add too little sugar, or is everything as it should be with OG at 1.041? Cheers, Jonno Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted July 4, 2011 Share Posted July 4, 2011 Hi Sasn - I would've expected the OG to be closer to 1031 if you have made the beer to 23L. You should have a beer around 3.5% once you allow for the extra 0.5% for bottle priming. If you want a full strenth beer you'll need 1kg of LDM and maybe about 250g dextrose (optional). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sasn Posted July 5, 2011 Author Share Posted July 5, 2011 Thanks for your response Muddy Waters. The OG reading was definitely 1041, so maybe i'll check the accuracy of the hydrometer. Yeah i'm definitely keen for a full strength beer, so will add more LDM (Light Dry Malt?) next time. Looking forward and planning my next brew already. Cheers, Sasn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty A Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Welcome to the Forums Sasn. Malt is a good wat to add residual sweetness to your beer and give it more body while dextrose is a great way to bump up the alcohol percentage. The only issue I have with using too much dextrose is that it can produce cidery type flavours. So keep to a low amount (like 250g as muddy said) and you should be safe. Good luck with this new hobby/habbit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Sasn - Sometimes you can get a higher reading if your ingredients aren't thoroughly mixed. It wont affect the beer but can give you a false reading. LDM (Light Dry Malt?) [cool] You got it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trusty1 Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 I think Sasn is saying that he REPLACED half of the 1kg (500GMS) of the Dex with LDM, so his brew was 500gms each of dex and LDM. Is this correct Sasn? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 [pinched] Ah, you can always trust Trusty to make sense of things. If that is the case and you did add 500gms each of dex and LDM your OG sounds about right and it should get down to around 1008-1010 and be roughly around 4.5%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 Sasn - Sometimes you can get a higher reading if your ingredients aren't thoroughly mixed. It wont affect the beer but can give you a false reading. LDM (Light Dry Malt?) [cool] You got it! I hate to say it,but it's the other way around. OG readings can be low if the wort/top off water aren't thoroughly mixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted July 7, 2011 Share Posted July 7, 2011 It actually works both ways Leonard. If you get excess fermentables in the tube you will get a false reading - in a similar way that you can get a false high reading if you don't discard the first draw from the tap [cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 It depends on the fermenter type,& if the sample is taken off the top,or from the spigot if one is present,to be more accurate. But,ime,it's usually not a good mixing of the wort & top off water that makes for a low reading. And it also depends on how much "un-fermentables" are present. Long chain sugar molecules can't be broken down by the yeast. They then provide increased mouth feel,etc. But in so doing,they give a false high reading if too much is present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 We take most of our samples from the bottom via the fermentor tap in these parts [cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sasn Posted July 8, 2011 Author Share Posted July 8, 2011 I think Sasn is saying that he REPLACED half of the 1kg (500GMS) of the Dex with LDM, so his brew was 500gms each of dex and LDM. Is this correct Sasn? That is correct thanks Trusty. 500gms of each for a total of 1kg. I'm feeling better that my beer will be over 4%! Well it is still fermenting (started Sunday night), the airlock stopped bubbling yesterday wednesday (the 3rd day) though - it was a warm day here in Stockholm and when i came home from work and saw that the airlock had stopped bubbling i wondered if the yeast had died... [crying] But now spending the past couple of nights reading back through the many many threads here, i see that most of you guys use the airlock as either a Christmas ornament or putting it under the fermenter to tip it back a bit. [biggrin] The room my fermenter is in has ranged from 22c overnight to about 26c during the day, but i have put a wet tea-towel over the fermenter and some ice on top to melt during the days to keep it a bit cooler. By the way i pitched the yeast at 27c and wonder if that was too warm?[annoyed] So i read that the fermenting should be done after 4 days, and then ready for bottling, but the more experienced brewers here seem to favour leaving it for up to a couple of weeks in the fermenter... I actually bought some East Kent Goldings hops whch should arrive tomorrow. The idea will be to drop them in (on a chux equivalent i can find here in a Swedish supermarket) over the weekend and leave it for another 4 days. (having already checked my hydro and confirmed a steady FG over 2 days) Is there any harm in leaving the Real Ale brew in the fermenter a couple of weeks or should i rack it into another fermenter for bottling after it is a constant FG reading? Cheers guys - i'm enjoying my new hobby and reading through all the threads here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilg Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 i have made my 3rd brew new and used the same as Sasn but have a reading of 1035.And all my brews have come out @ 1035 - am I doing something wrong? when other brews get are over 1040's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Without knowing what your 3 recipes are I em guessing you have used the same ingredients on all 3.. ie 1 can & 1kg sugar. I think it is highly likely that it is just coincidental that all 3 were exactly the same OG. Nothing to worry about imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Unless you didn't get the wort & top off water mixed thoroughly. It's not as easy as many think to get them mixed well. I pour my chilled wort roughly into my micro brew FV,then the same with the top off water. Then I spend the next 5 minutes stirring like mad. I wind up with 3-4" of froth afterward. Then test & pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 The new DIY beer kit FV is shaped so that moving the spoon back and forth, rather than stirring in a circular way, produces plenty of turbulent action and a homogenous mix in quick time! [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewtownClown Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 We take most of our samples from the bottom via the fermentor tap in these parts [cool] Being "Down Under", of course we do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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