ABV, how to work it out?

[TRXnMe]

As I sit here, quite happy, OK, very happy, I'm wondering if there is anyway to work out the ABV of a brew if you didn't take any hydrometer readings while you were brewing? I just waited for the bubbles to stop and kegged it off.....

As I kegged it I did take a reading, it was pretty much 1.000, which I thought meant it was water...

I've been grafting around the house and garden all morning and into the afternoon, planted some veg out, cleaned the outside of the caravan, walked the dogs and thought I'd earned a pint or two of my first brew, so had one, followed by another :) I'm now half way down my second and really feel quite 'happy' (OK, pissed) a state I don't normally achieve without 3 or 4 pints of pub beer.

So, Have I got a superbrew, or have I turned into a light weight? :)

 

[Farmbrew]

T

Check out the calculator button top LH Corner of the screen. THDF team think of everything!

That Final Gravity is low for a beer - did you put sugar into the brew? If you did and put a lot in then that would drive the FG down and probably strip all the body from the beer.

F

 

[TRXnMe]

T

Check out the calculator button top LH Corner of the screen. THDF team think of everything!

That Final Gravity is low for a beer - did you put sugar into the brew? If you did and put a lot in then that would drive the FG down and probably strip all the body from the beer.

F

The calculator needs the original SG for the beer as well as the one I took when decanting into the keg

Yup, I used sugar, 1kg as suggested in the kit, I'll not be doing that again, I hadn't read much on here before starting the brew off, the last two weeks I've been findin out that apart from sanitation I managed to get most stuff not quite right, but, it does appear to have a lot of alchohol in it.

It's also drinkable, if not really good, I hope my second will be better, I KNOW my third will bee, it's a learning curve :)

I'm now drinking tea as it's work on Monday and I need a clear head :)

 

[RobWalker]

I would assume something's gone amiss with your reading, broken hydro or wrong temp or something, if you're enjoying it it certainly won't be 1.000!

What kit was it? A kit made up to instructions has a set amount of fermentables, so you can get a pretty good idea of the ABV that way.

BTW, I've never had a hangover so bad as the one I had from home made cider!

 

[TRXnMe]

A Cooper's English Bitter kit.

I'm as sure as I can be that the Hydro is working. When I syphoned the brew off I took two samples, they both tasted quite good, but both of them gave me a reading as close to 1 as my eyesight will let me make out. I've seen comments on here about getting the abv below 1, although I've not really understood how, or why..

The brew isn't brilliant, a little better than a 'normal' pub pint, but not as good as a draught ale, it seems to be getting better as it sits in the barrel, although I don't think it will be in the barrel too many more weeks

The kit information reckoned it would brew up to around 4.2, as that's not much more than the usual pub stuff so I'm surprised at how big a kick it seems to have :) I'd like to say pleasantly surprised :)

 

[Moley]

As I kegged it I did take a reading, it was pretty much 1.000, which I thought meant it was water...

Your hydrometer should read 1.000 in water at its calibration temperature, which is most probably 20°C.

1.000 doesn't mean it IS water.

Sugars increase that reading because you get a solution which is heavier than water. A standard kit brew is likely to start off around 1.040 but alcohol is lighter than water so as the sugars are turned into alcohol that SG reading will come down again.

With beers you're going to end up with some alcohol plus some residual (non-fermentable) sugars, so your final reading might be around 1.008 for a basic bitter like yours. I carry a pocket magnifying glass because I can't read the fine graduations on a hydrometer stem without assistance.

My wines are generally around 13% alcohol and might ferment down to dryness around 0.990 but then I will often sweeten them back to 1.000 for a medium wine. The alcohol is still there but I've just balanced it with some sugar.

 

[TRXnMe]

Sounds like I'd better get myself a magnifying glass then :)

I think I've been lucky so far, maybe dumb luck, but my first brew has turned out to be drinkable, so from here on in I'm readding more of the how tos and probably asking a few. hopefully not too dumb, nood questions as I progress through my subsequent brews :)

I just scored two Hambleton Bard King Kegs, complete with S30 gas cylinders off eBay, so I'll be getting busy brewing summat to fill them up

 

[RobWalker]

Good work! You should never turn your nose up at kit brewing, I do mini AG batches and still regularly put kits on. Sometimes there's something good out - sometimes you just want cheap beer! You will find that everybody's got a story to tell about when they started brewing, but few had anything go particularly wrong despite the methods!

Just remember as far as this place goes, the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask :thumb: