1st ever brew only reading 1.6% - help

[mikeloretta]

hi everyone had my first kit for christmas, a youngs brewbuddy 40 pint kit. i have followed all the instructions and now 7 days later have re read the hydrometer and it only works out at 1.6% i might as well drink water if this is all its going to reach! is there any way of improving it now or is it too late to do anything with it, there does seem to be the odd small bubble rising but the instructions say it takes 4-6 days to ferment before bottling and leaving to stand. HELP :wha:

 

[Floodster]

Hi,

What is your actual hydrometer reading?

7 days is normally what they put on the kit. It is more 12-14 days.

 

[rpt]

Where do you get the figure of 1.6% from? If you are reading it off the hydrometer, then that is the wrong figure. You work out the ABV from the difference between original and final gravity readings.

 

[mikeloretta]

i calculated using the calculator on this site , og was 1.030 fg is 1.018 so comes out around 1.5- 1.6% should i add more sugar or leave it another few days

 

[alanywiseman.]

What is the final volume of your brew in the bucket?

How long did you stir the wort before pitching? 1.030 is a bit low so it could be that you did not properly stir the wort so have got a low OG reading and 1.018 is a little high to bottle/keg it at yet. Give the brew 10-14 days then start thinking about bottling/kegging.

I would be inclinded to think that your OG would be closer to 1.040 with a predictied FG of about 1.010 if you have brewed to 23L/5 gallons giving a ABV of about 4%.

one last question, what was the temp of the wort when you took you OG?

 

[mikeloretta]

temperature was room temperature when i took the first reading, i have it sat about 1m away from a radiator keeping it relativley stable temperature wise i would have thought, seems i may have to leave it a bit longer then, will take another reading tommorow and post it on here.

 

[jonnymorris]

1.018 is a little high to bottle/keg it at yet. Give the brew 10-14 days then start thinking about bottling/kegging.

If it stays at 1018 is be tempted to give it a gentle stir as it may well be stuck. Take another reading tomorrow and see if its moving in the right direction or not.

 

[pittsy]

yes it hasn't finished yet , i would of thought somewhere like 1010 and what did the kit say original gravity was ? something like 1045 ? yours most likely was higher than 1030 , sometimes the extract and sugar aren't mixed enough and settle at the bottom which gives a low false reading with your hydrometer . If you have used the correct amount of final liquid and added any sugar that was asked for you will have an OG as stated on kit .

 

[mikeloretta]

yes in the instructions it says og should be 1040-1043 so if that is closer to it that means at the moment i have a brew of about 2.9% so slightly better than first feared but will take some more readings over the next few days and keep u posted, thanks for all the advice, if this comes out ok i will do another one but will have to shop around for the best flavours!!

 

[pittsy]

There are many ways to improve a kit , the best is simple buy the 2 can kits that are more expensive (try and get as fresh a kit as poss , liquid extract is best fresh) you can add hops for aroma in your fv after around 5 days (after foamy head dies down ) and also using some quality yeast ( kit yeasts are chosen for there shelf life and not the best for the beer ) and constant correct brew temp will make better beer .

 

[ScottM]

Did you add 23L of water or did you top up to the 23L mark? If you added 23L then you will have most likely ended up with a final volume of around 26L, thus meaning that the final alcohol level will be a bit watered down. If it was only topped up to 23L (by adding around 20L of water) then it probably needed a better stir to begin with. If it wasn't properly stirred that would mean less O2 in the wort and it will take a bit longer for the yeast to do it's thing, thus it may take a little longer than expected.

All part of the fun and the learning

 

[mikeloretta]

back on after a few days of connection problems, it seems to have righted itself as the readings over the last few days have been better 1018 and then ysterday 1010, also todays reading is 1010 although there does appear to be the odd bubble still rising. should i leave a little longer or get bottling!

 

[rpt]

I'd check it again on Sunday - if it's still 1010 then bottle it. This way you will have given it 3 days after fermentation stopped to give the yeast time to clean up after itself. Even better would be to leave it somewhere cold for a few days (after Sunday) to help it clear.

 

[pittsy]

+1 to that