Checked my FV for the first time and.....

[matthew_pullin]

Need some advice please gents

Ok, i did a coopers IPA kit and placed it in the wardrobe to ferment last Saturday afternoon, having been about 5 days i pulled the lid off for the first time to check it and take a reading. In doing so i realized i read the hydrometer incorrectly and in fact the OG was 1038 not 1042! Doh...... It has dropped to 1011 in about 5 days and does not seem very active. i can see the odd little bubble pop to the surface so i guess its still doing something.

Questions :?
1 - Is the drop in SG i experienced about right for the time frame?
2 - Should i be checking daily now to see it the SG stays the same?
3 - Is there anyway i can pep my beer up to be a bit stronger or am i too late? :pray:

Cheers

Matt

 

[bunkerbrewer]

Hi there - drop in SG seems about right, otherwise - leave it alone :)

Trying to make it stronger now will be at the expense of flavour and risking infection. As it's a kit a lower OG probably means you got more beer, so swings and roundabouts :)

Leave it for another 5 days, then do a couple of hydrometer readings a couple of days apart to be sure it's finished.

 

[LeedsBrewer]

As it's a kit a lower OG probably means you got more beer, so swings and roundabouts :)

:wha:

Leave it for another 5 days, then do a couple of hydrometer readings a couple of days apart to be sure it's finished.

:thumb:

The low OG may just mean that the ingredients were not mixed up very well. Think i had an OG of about 1.036 on my Coopers IPA (my first batch) Dont worry about it. Give it time and keep it at a good temp (18-22C) and you'll be fine. After about a month in the bottle my IPA is getting much better. It was drinkable after a couple of weeks though.

 

[matthew_pullin]

Ok cool, its another muck up on my part im afraid the recipe called for 500g of light dry malt and 300g of sugar. I only put 300g of sugar in and hoped the 300g of steeped crushed amber malt would bring it up to scratch. Plus im sittin on 19 lts not 23 so i hoped that would be in my favor too, guess i was wrong :hmm:

On another note iv been reading the back to basics 2 thread at the top of the forum board and iv been inspired. Seems like the thing for me being in a flat with limited space. I think the lower yield would enable me to make some great beer, try brewing loads of different types and not have to drink my way through 40 pints b4 my next batch.

Get ready for a boat load of questions coming your way after this brew is out half gone :party:

 

[bunkerbrewer]

Ah, OK, guess I was wrong too. I put too much water in my first kit (hence lower OG = more beer).

You'll still get a decent pint out of it though :

 

[LeedsBrewer]

if you're planning on doing the back to basics thing i'd suggest getting some electric scales if you don't have some already. When you scale down recipes to small amounts you'll need to be very accurate with the hop quantities etc... get it right to the gram or your beer may not turn out the way you're expecting.

Also check out www.biabrewer.info for good tips on how to do BIAB and Maxi-biab. They have a really good calculator on there for scaling down recipes to your equipment.

 

[matthew_pullin]

Thanks for the sound advice, i have scales so im all good on that part.

Below are some of my all time fave beers so im going to try and emulate these.

Hobgoblin
RamTam
Roaring Meg
Monkey Wrench
Black Adder Stout

Anybody got any recipes?