Should i just bin my hydrometer?

Bitter_Dave · Nov 14, 2024

St Peters kits are made by Muntons, as are the Woodfordes kits.

Beer enhancers usually contain at least some malt extract but not always. Coopers 1 is brewing sugar and maltodextrin. A ridiculous product. Just buy DME and if you want to cut it with sugar just buy some sugar (you could even buy some nice brown sugar and still save money).

Something else to be aware of is the fact that fermenters can sometimes be off in terms of their measurement markings. 23 litres in my fermenter is significantly less liquid than the 23 litre marking down the side. It's a perfectly good fermenter in other ways but a bit ridiculous that they can't get a simple detail like this right! Variations in the accuracy of OGs might be influenced a bit by the accuracy of these markings, with people adding too much water. Always worth checking how accurate your fermenter is and if necessary adding your own markings.

Bitter_Dave · Nov 14, 2024

I think this blanket rule of adding 3 to 3.5 litres of boiling water to the fermenter for kits is also bad advice on the part of the companies. Much better to add less, maybe a bit over two litres, and then adjust the temp with boiling water at the end. You wouldn't see a professional brewery chucking the yeast in at 25c!

mancer62 · Nov 14, 2024

Dark rock have a sticker on the yeast telling u to add between 18 & 24 or 25 degrees which I done...also I added 23l of water to the fv exactly but thinking about it is thus correct?
I mean do u add the 1.8kg of extract and the 1kg of enhancer then 23l of water?
Or does doing actually make the total amount over 23l?
Should it fir example be the extract + the enhancer then maybe 21l or 22l to get to the 23l amount.
I've always added 23l of water maybe this is incorrect

Bitter_Dave · Nov 14, 2024

It is not that 25c is wrong, but in most cases with a standard ale yeast it is preferable to pitch the yeast at the lower end of the spectrum imo, especially as yeast creates its own heat during fermentation so it can rise above this easily. Different yeasts have different tolerances for heat though.

You want to top up to 23 litres, not add 23 litres of water.

Sadfield · Nov 14, 2024

Larse said:
Edit: Just looked up a few there. All kinds of concoctions involving various quantities of DME, dextrose and maltodextrin.

I think I've got some that my dad gave me when he cleared out his homebrew kit, that's dextrose and maltodextrin. Haven't found a use for it.

Larse · Nov 15, 2024

mancer62 said:
Dark rock have a sticker on the yeast telling u to add between 18 & 24 or 25 degrees which I done...also I added 23l of water to the fv exactly but thinking about it is thus correct?
I mean do u add the 1.8kg of extract and the 1kg of enhancer then 23l of water?
Or does doing actually make the total amount over 23l?
Should it fir example be the extract + the enhancer then maybe 21l or 22l to get to the 23l amount.
I've always added 23l of water maybe this is incorrect

Yeah. As @Bitter_Dave says, you top up TO 23L. If you look at the instructions that @An Ankoù posted on the previous page, the process is to add 3L of boiling water first to help dissolve the extracts and then top up to 22.5L (23L would be fine).

That seems to be how you've come out low on the OG. If you started with the 3L of boiling water and then added 23L, you've ended up with 26L which comes out at 1.036 OG according to Brewer's Friend.

An Ankoù · Nov 15, 2024

mancer62 said:
I've always added 23l of water maybe this is incorrect

Yes it's incorrect.
As @Larse said, the final volume should be 23 litres. The extract and enhancer are part of that volume. It's best to use a fermenter with a graduation scale on the side and top up just to the 23 mark.
When you come to bottle the beer, you'll get a bit less than 23 litres because of the yeast deposit left in the fermenter. Don't worry about it. Just reckon on bring a few bottles short.

Sadfield · Nov 15, 2024

You could argue that in order to reach the correct abv, you should add water until you hit the desired OG listed in the instructions....ah, there's the problem.

mancer62 · Nov 15, 2024

I included the 3l of boiling water in my total so I haven't added 26l I've added 23l of water but I've it accounted for the 1.8kg of extract and the 1kg of enhancer which would obviously push the beer over the 23l mark on my FV....in future I will be careful not to make this mistake again...it seems so obvious now that it's frankly embarrassing lol...

Larse · Nov 15, 2024

mancer62 said:
I included the 3l of boiling water in my total so I haven't added 26l I've added 23l of water but I've it accounted for the 1.8kg of extract and the 1kg of enhancer which would obviously push the beer over the 23l mark on my FV....in future I will be careful not to make this mistake again...it seems so obvious now that it's frankly embarrassing lol...

Yeah, probably about 2.5l in the extracts. So still close enough to 26L all in.

An Ankoù · Nov 15, 2024

mancer62 said:
...it seems so obvious now that it's frankly embarrassing lol...

That's nothing. The daft things many of us have done are too embarrassing to mention here or anywhere else.
:laugh8:

mancer62 · Nov 15, 2024

Ty all for your help and comments

Larse · Nov 15, 2024

mancer62 said:
Ty all for your help and comments

No problem. At least you can take your hydrometer out of the bin now.

mancer62 · Nov 15, 2024

peebee · Nov 15, 2024

Larse said:
No problem. At least you can take your hydrometer out of the bin now.

Aww. But it does look as if "hydrometer" has returned to good favor. I quite like threads that end with a thrown away hydrometer. I can't easily read the blasted things and spent ages on an alternative* but failed miserably to convince others to switch. And I'm not talking "Refractometers": They're only good for looking cool in front of the neighbours.

* It turned out not to be an "alternative". Hydrometers were the "alternative"! But: Hydrometers do the job more cheaply and more conveniently ... if you don't mind getting the enormous sample out, taking its temperature, and finding the compensation tables. But you do sacrifice accuracy (even if you can be bothered with the "temperature compensation").

Slid · Nov 15, 2024

Larse said:
I've been out of using kits for a long long time. But looking around, there is such a variety of what looks like quality stuff out there. I see Muntons for example supply Fermentis yeasts with theirs. That's a big step up from unidentifiable and often insufficient quantities with the cheaper imports.

There's another English brand called St. Peters which seems to be brewery produced. This is the kind of thing that just wasn't around when I was making kit beer. With kits, you're getting a shortcut through the mash stage. For me, that's the most important bit, so kits should really have a bit more than hopped (and often unhopped) malt extract.

Muntons make almost all the UK beer kits, except, of course, Coopers from S. Australia.

https://www.muntons.com/beer-kits/

jeremy Hall · Nov 16, 2024

I never use a hydrometer. I gauge through the time it's been brewing and the rate of bubbling. If the brew has been brewing for about what I would consider normal for that time of year, and the air valve has slowed to an acceptable rate, or equalised it's pressure, then I bottle the next day. I've never had an issue.

Bitter_Dave · Nov 16, 2024

Slid said:
Muntons make almost all the UK beer kits, except, of course, Coopers from S. Australia.

https://www.muntons.com/beer-kits/

They certainly make a lot of kits. As far as I'm aware they don't make the Festival or Simply ranges, or the Young's or Bulldog kits.

Bjorn Toulouse · Nov 18, 2024

I haven't used a hydrometer since my first few attempts at wine. Simply make beer as per instructions leave to brew for 3 weeks then bottle (in plastic) leave for at least a month (three months for coopers euro lager) then enjoy. Only ever get 21 litre per kit, but still have 21.5 litres worth of bottles just in case.

Should i just bin my hydrometer?

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