Is my porter really this mental?

[calumscott]

I brewed the Burton Bridge Porter and bottled it the other day. For once I actually took an O.G. and F.G. reading...

...and by all accounts (and not taking into account what the 1/2 tsp of dextrose in the bottle is going to bring to the party) I'm getting a calculated ABV of around 7.5%!!!

So that plus the half (that I've seen somewhere to add for the conditioning ferment) is an 8% porter... does that sound right or was I already stocious when I took the OG...?

It was brewed using the tin + 1.2kg dark spray malt in 5 galls.

Thoughts?

 

[WelshPaul]

Adding priming sugar usually ups the ABV by 0.15% or so, not 0.5%.

 

[markp]

It would help if you posted the OG and FG so we can check your thinking/calculations

 

[calumscott]

It would rather wouldn't it!!

OG: 1068
FG: 1012

+ 1/2 tsp dextrose per 500ml bottle.

I did mean to add that to the original post but I'm blaming it on it being Friday...

 

[WelshPaul]

Yeah, that should come out at around 7.7% after priming.

 

[nuggitmv]

i make that about 7.5% :drunk:

 

[earthwormgaz]

:

Sounds like the badgers nadgers to me duck! Post us a bottle :lol:

 

[WelshPaul]

i make that about 7.5% :drunk:

I was accounting for approx 0.15% extra from the priming and the brewery standard of rounding up to the nearest 0.1%. Plus, 7.7% looks a little more potent on the label! :)

 

[calumscott]

Hells Bells!! I really hope this one turns out well... : :drink: :drunk:

 

[calumscott]

...and that aside - those in the know, would you say that OG was right for the amount of stuff I lobbed in? One 1.8kg tin and 1.2kg of spraymalt in 5 galls?

 

[RobWalker]

The made up versions seems to be 4.5% and that's with 1kg brewing sugar added too, so I think you're actually looking at 4.8% roughly - you've only really added 200g extra sugar. Your brew might suffer though, the point of brewing sugar is to raise ABV without affecting taste much - using all spray malt will create more body than the original kit, so if you find it a bit heavy when you taste it, chuck some sugar in and let it ferment again!

Readings can be inaccurate because of stirring - you don't get that problem with all grain and cider, etc. Go easy though, just in case! Did you brew it short?

 

[calumscott]

Brewed it exactly as it said on the tin - 40 pints - it recommended the use of medium or dark spray malt and I like 'em dark and heavy so I went with all dark.

I'm puzzled now. I did have to give the thing a right good thrashing with a balloon whisk to disolve the malt fully but I would have expected that to have included lots of bubbles which would make the mix less dense not more - granted the O2 that actually disolves would add density but I'd expect it over all to be not too far off the truth.

I guess the proof will be in how much of a pudding a couple of bottles makes of me!!

 

[RobWalker]

If you threw spray malt into the bucket you have no chance of proper stirring, it's like glue before its heated in water! You need to mix properly for like 10 mins, fully heated then cooled to have any real chance of a good og reading.

 

[RobWalker]

Oh and, you're not wrong about that - I measured a pathetic 1040 on a honey beer, which goes no way to explaining why I was drunk after 3 pints of it :-P

 

[calumscott]

So this is getting very dirinkable!!! It's not quite as mental as the hydrometer readings would suggest, I must have misread the OG, or forgotten it a bit, or written a digit wrong or something.

It does have *some* welly though! I'm half way through a third bottle and there's a distinct blurriness that I can't blame entirely on getting up at half six...

...that'll do nicely!

 

[Ravabelli]

I kicked this off in the FV 9 days ago with 1kg of dark spray malt well mixed in.

OG was about 1046 and after 9 days at about 20-22c it's still at 1014.

The kit instructions reckoned it's ready for bottling at 4-7 days.

Should I bottle at that high a SG or wait? There are still patches of bubbles on the surface. Maybe add a little yeast to be sure?

Any advice appreciated. First time I've used a hydrometer and my other brews have been fine with guesswork and instructions.

 

[mattyhall22]

The commercial Burton bridge porter is only 4.5%, I have drunk many a pint of this from source but never tried to brew one of their kits.

I suppose I should try a couple of them at some point :

 

[calumscott]

Wow, there's a thread from the past. Good luck, it went downhill from here. I've still got a few bottles that are great for making stew...

 

[rpt]

1.014 is not a particularly high FG and would be about 70% apparent attenuation which sounds OK to me.

 

[BIGJIM72]

I quite like GWs version of their summer ale,or Golden Delicious as he called it