Bulldog, Evil Dog Double IPA

[Kevsan1]

When I did my first hydrometer reading it came in at about 1046, which on my device say potential avp as 7% so I thought that was fine but I just did another reading at day 6 with bubbles every 40 seconds And it’s at 1014 that makes my beer about 4% have I done something wrong

 

[Waggy91]

When I did my first hydrometer reading it came in at about 1046, which on my device say potential avp as 7% so I thought that was fine but I just did another reading at day 6 with bubbles every 40 seconds And it’s at 1014 that makes my beer about 4% have I done something wrong

Yes, you've interpreted the numbers wrong. Your Original Gravity OG, is what you take before fermentation and basically tells you how much sugar is in solution which ultimatly indicates the POTENTIAL strength of the beer if it were to get to 1.000. But you need to wait for it to ferment hence why youve seen a drop in your gravity, youve started to make alcohol. remember alcohol is less dense than sugary water so therefore the hydrometer is less bouyant and falls as more alcohol is made.

When youve reached the end of fermentation your Final Gravity FG should come out somewhere near 1.000-1.005 (depending on your brew etc) then do the math:

OG-FG= How much alcohol youve produced. May i recoommend an app called brewers friend which can help you calculating this and it has a handy calc for adding carb sugar too.

hope this helps

 

[Kevsan1]

Yes, you've interpreted the numbers wrong. Your Original Gravity OG, is what you take before fermentation and basically tells you how much sugar is in solution which ultimatly indicates the POTENTIAL strength of the beer if it were to get to 1.000. But you need to wait for it to ferment hence why youve seen a drop in your gravity, youve started to make alcohol. remember alcohol is less dense than sugary water so therefore the hydrometer is less bouyant and falls as more alcohol is made.

When youve reached the end of fermentation your Final Gravity FG should come out somewhere near 1.000-1.005 (depending on your brew etc) then do the math:

OG-FG= How much alcohol youve produced. May i recoommend an app called brewers friend which can help you calculating this and it has a handy calc for adding carb sugar too.

hope this helps

yes I did my first reading just before putting the yeast in. it was low at 1046? I basically added the wort, then added 20 litres of 24 degree water. I'm not sure how much was in the wort but I guess in total was between 3 and 5 litres, maybe I added to much water ?

 

[Waggy91]

yes I did my first reading just before putting the yeast in. it was low at 1046?

sorry my mistake, that does seem abit strange, i think youve added the correct amount of water, did you get ALL of the wort out the bag? i flushed by bag with hot water to get it all out.

Mine came out around 1.056 and if im honest it was abit strong for me.if yours gets down to 1.005 like mine it will end up a sensible 5.2%.

 

[Kevsan1]

sorry my mistake, that does seem abit strange, i think youve added the correct amount of water, did you get ALL of the wort out the bag? i flushed by bag with hot water to get it all out.

Mine came out around 1.056 and if im honest it was abit strong for me.if yours gets down to 1.005 like mine it will end up a sensible 5.2%.

Ah Ok yes I did flush it all out, I guess I just need to leave it for a few more days or a week, once it stops fermenting, how long do you have before you need to bottle? I was thinking you need to do it quickly but maybe not? will it survive in which case the longer you leave it the better ?

 

[Waggy91]

Ah Ok yes I did flush it all out, I guess I just need to leave it for a few more days or a week, once it stops fermenting, how long do you have before you need to bottle? I was thinking you need to do it quickly but maybe not? will it survive in which case the longer you leave it the better ?

it does sound like its a little watered down but i cant understand why, to be honest if its your first kit and it comes out tasty and alcoholic be happy :).

I left mine for 3 weeks before bottling to really let it settle and mature. with higher gravity beers it takes longer to reach maturity. After bottling i left them in the warm for 2 weeks then tried one to check for carbonation. it was very fizzy so i left them outside somewhere constantly cool for another 2 weeks to mature again. i started drinking them and every week they got better until about week 8 from bottling when they peaked, i still had over half left at this point but you could just leave them 6 weeks from bottling and start there. depends how thirsty you get

The hardest part about brewing is patience. ive done 3 kits but learnt so much by browsing the forum. unfortunatly im in the middle of moving house so wont be able to start another yet.

 

[Kevsan1]

it does sound like its a little watered down but i cant understand why, to be honest if its your first kit and it comes out tasty and alcoholic be happy :).

I left mine for 3 weeks before bottling to really let it settle and mature. with higher gravity beers it takes longer to reach maturity. After bottling i left them in the warm for 2 weeks then tried one to check for carbonation. it was very fizzy so i left them outside somewhere constantly cool for another 2 weeks to mature again. i started drinking them and every week they got better until about week 8 from bottling when they peaked, i still had over half left at this point but you could just leave them 6 weeks from bottling and start there. depends how thirsty you get

The hardest part about brewing is patience. ive done 3 kits but learnt so much by browsing the forum. unfortunatly im in the middle of moving house so wont be able to start another yet.

So I could leave it another week or so, then add hops and then bottle. I was just conscious of how long after bubbles stop I would need to add hops and bottle

 

[Waggy91]

So I could leave it another week or so, then add hops and then bottle. I was just conscious of how long after bubbles stop I would need to add hops and bottle

Yeah it will be fine i added my hops after 2 weeks fermenting for 1 week. Biggest risk is opening it and letting the protective CO2 layer out the FV. The less you play with it the better.

 

[parpot]

My OG was 1.062 and FG 1.006. You really need to give the liquid a long vigorous stir to ensure all the LM is mixed with the water completely. 1.046 is a VERY weak SG for this beer.

 

[Kevsan1]

My OG was 1.062 and FG 1.006. You really need to give the liquid a long vigorous stir to ensure all the LM is mixed with the water completely. 1.046 is a VERY weak SG for this beer.

I think maybe that was what I missed, there is no mention of that in the instructions, it just says top up to 23l

 

[Kevsan1]

I added the 2 hop bags 2 days ago but I don't seem to be getting that strong hop smell I expected. I then bottled tonight and tasted half a pint, it does taste quite strong but does not seem to have much flavour, is this normal or did the dry hopping not work ?

 

[Kevsan1]

I bottled this one back in June and I'm drinking it at the moment. Not terribly impressed with it - I followed the instructions to the letter including the hop addition, but it now tastes nothing like an IPA with barely any hop flavour at all. It tastes like a very poor attempt at a Duvel clone. It's still drinkable (and packs quite a punch - more than a couple and I'm messy!) but it's not what I was expecting and not one I'll do again.

I just bottled mine tonight and I had very little hop smell or flavour, im not sure the tea bag really worked ?

 

[parpot]

Yes I agree, mine was very strong and that out weigh's any thing else, nice strong flavour but not hoppy

 

[Kevsan1]

I guess it’s either that the hops were not great or the bag that they come in does not let the beer absorb it very well! Maybe transferring it to a different bag would work?

 

[parpot]

I don't think it is the hop bag as I have brewed others of theirs with hop bag and no issues, I just think its the strength that over powers the hops. Lovely beer though you just can not drink many, certainly nota session beer!

 

[Ale House Rock]

I added the 2 hop bags 2 days ago but I don't seem to be getting that strong hop smell I expected. I then bottled tonight and tasted half a pint, it does taste quite strong but does not seem to have much flavour, is this normal or did the dry hopping not work ?

I always open these hop teabags and drops the hops straight into the primary bucket - same as i would with any other kit.

 

[Kevsan1]

Ok so it’s a month on from my first brew, I’ve nearly finished it all, Although I’m drinking it and it’s ok I’m not sure I did a very good job so I just started my second batch, I made sure I really have the wort a good 2 min shake, I then added the correct amount of water, I took a reading and got 1.070 which is spot on, last time I hit 1.048. I added the yeast and gave it a good stir. Bubbles started within an hour and by the morning it was going mad, bubbles every second !!! So I’m hopeful this time I get it right. I will also make sure when I add the hops I soak them in boiling water for 10mins and then give them a good stir in !!!!

 

[Kevsan1]

It’s now in the bottles and seems to be fine this time, sg reading puts it at 7.2%

 

[Kevsan1]

I always open these hop teabags and drops the hops straight into the primary bucket - same as i would with any other kit.

Do they not break up and cause any issues? Seems like they go very mushy

 

[glennturner83]

Do they not break up and cause any issues? Seems like they go very mushy

That is what you want