Coopers Dark Ale Recipe Beginner Queries

[RyanS7]

Hi all,

 

I better begin by stating that I am an absolute rank beginner at homebrewing. Rank being the optimal word to describe my first two brews. If your easily frustrated with beginners please ignore my post.

 

My current attempt is a dark ale using the How to Brew recipe of Pale Ale, Liquid Dark Malt and 200g of sugar. I didnt have sugar so I used castor sugar. I was also heavy handed and added 3/4 can of ldm instead of 1/2 a can. My querie is about alcohol concentration. My SG was 1.040 and it has been steady at 1.012 for the last two days. Apparently this gives a concentration of 3.75%. Am I right? I was expecting it to be higher. My fermenter has been at a constant 18C wrapped in a dooner on an electric blanket so I doubt the yeast has stalled. Any feedback will be appreciated.

[Hairy]

Welcome aboard Ryan! Don't worry about asking questions; everyone is happy to help around here.

 

Whilst not being sure of exactly how much LME you added, your numbers look about right.

 

If you are bottling then you will get another 0.5% from secondary fermentation resulting in an ABV of 4.25%.

 

If you want a higher ABV then you need to plan this at the start of your recipe formulation.

 

Anyway, this should be a nice beer. The dark malt will give it good body and you won't notice the lower alcohol.

[RyanS7]

Thanks for the reply Hairy,

 

I'm actually kegging it, but I'm not worried about the lower ABV. I was just concerned I may have done something wrong because I assumed the recipe would result in a ABV of around 5%. Your reply has given me peace of mind and confidence in my brew. I've had a taste and I'm happy with the flavours. Cheers for the help.

[Guest]

If you are kegging then you can naturally prime your kegs and get a little more ABV% from that. Albeit not much but at least a little bit anyway.