Mangrove Jack Irish red ale help

[JeffDragon7]

Hi
im a newbie and just made my first kit, Mangrove Jack Irish red ale.
all went well with the brewing i followed instructions to the letter, info I’ve found suggest this should end up at around 4.4%
my starting gravity I would say was 1045 photo included, I used the calculator within this forum.
SG 1045
INSTRUCTIONS estimated FG 1018
CALCULATOR suggests that would give me 3.54%

am I making an error in my calculations.

many thanks in advance

 

[Pavros]

Just a couple of points/comments but I don't think you have done anything wrong.

Hydrometers are calibrated for a certain temperature (either 18 or 20C) so if your sample is at a different temperature, you need to make an adjustment to the reading.

Which yeast are you using (I have just bought this kit but haven't made it yet)?
I think that 1.018 as a FG is very high even for a kit. I would have expected it to be between 1.010 - 1.014. This would give abv of between 4.05 and 4.6%. However, I have found MJ M44 yeast to be a slow starter but a bit of a beast and would expect that to get below 1.010. I had one kit go from 1.050 to 1.002 with M44.

I find that the abv % given by the manufacturer is usually optimistic mainly to entice purchasers (as is the statement that kits will produce beer ready to drink within 10-14 days!). I use it as a guide and if I get within 0.5% of that, then I am happy. Some kits will even even produce higher than advertised abv%.

 

[Random Badger]

I agree that the FG of 1018 sounds high. Are you sure it had finished fermenting?

 

[JeffDragon7]

I agree that the FG of 1018 sounds high. Are you sure it had finished fermenting?

Just started I was working on the figures given on the kit, I’ll see how it ferments down and report back

 

[JeffDragon7]

Just a couple of points/comments but I don't think you have done anything wrong.

Hydrometers are calibrated for a certain temperature (either 18 or 20C) so if your sample is at a different temperature, you need to make an adjustment to the reading.

Which yeast are you using (I have just bought this kit but haven't made it yet)?
I think that 1.018 as a FG is very high even for a kit. I would have expected it to be between 1.010 - 1.014. This would give abv of between 4.05 and 4.6%. However, I have found MJ M44 yeast to be a slow starter but a bit of a beast and would expect that to get below 1.010. I had one kit go from 1.050 to 1.002 with M44.

I find that the abv % given by the manufacturer is usually optimistic mainly to entice purchasers (as is the statement that kits will produce beer ready to drink within 10-14 days!). I use it as a guide and if I get within 0.5% of that, then I am happy. Some kits will even even produce higher than advertised abv%.

Hi
yrs I’m using the MJ yeast supplied, I’ll see how it goes and report back, I’ll also check the hydrometer to see what it’s calibrated at. Many thanks

 

[Pavros]

I'm home now and just checked my kit. Mine comes with Liberty Bell if the outside packaging is correct. If you search on the forum, I'm sure there some threads about this yeast

I haven't used it before but have used M44 and Empire ale (M15?). From my records, both of those have fermented to 1.012 or lower so I would expect that from Liberty Bell as well. That would make your brew about 4.3%.

I would set it off fermenting and leave it for 10 - 12 days before taking a reading and work out from that whether it is near FG and when to start the dry hop.

 

[Random Badger]

Just started I was working on the figures given on the kit, I’ll see how it ferments down and report back

Looks as though you are using the right source to calculate the ABV Alcohol By Volume ABV Calculator | Brewer's Friend

If the OG is 1045 then to achieve 4.3% ABV you would need the FG to be 1012, which is within the suggested range for an Irish Red Ale (up to 1014) according to: Beer Styles – Original Gravity and Final Gravity Chart – 2017 Update - Brewer's Friend

Out of interested where does it state that the FG should be 1018? Is it in the printed instructions with the kit or somewhere online?

 

[JeffDragon7]

Looks as though you are using the right source to calculate the ABV Alcohol By Volume ABV Calculator | Brewer's Friend

If the OG is 1045 then to achieve 4.3% ABV you would need the FG to be 1012, which is within the suggested range for an Irish Red Ale (up to 1014) according to: Beer Styles – Original Gravity and Final Gravity Chart – 2017 Update - Brewer's Friend

Out of interested where does it state that the FG should be 1018? Is it in the printed instructions with the kit or somewhere online?

Hi, I found it online at MJ site, but reading the answers on here it looks like it will have final gravity lower than that, so I’ll see how it goes. thanks for help

 

[JeffDragon7]

I'm home now and just checked my kit. Mine comes with Liberty Bell if the outside packaging is correct. If you search on the forum, I'm sure there some threads about this yeast

I haven't used it before but have used M44 and Empire ale (M15?). From my records, both of those have fermented to 1.012 or lower so I would expect that from Liberty Bell as well. That would make your brew about 4.3%.

I would set it off fermenting and leave it for 10 - 12 days before taking a reading and work out from that whether it is near FG and when to start the dry hop.

Hi Pavros.
I’ve just checked and mines Liberty yeast as well

 

[JeffDragon7]

UPDATE
Mangrove Jack instructions state, leave to ferment for 7 days then check SG, if 1025 or lower add hop pellets and ferment until 1018.
yeast supplied was Liberty bell, not much happened for 24 hrs then it was off like a steam train with the airlock bubbling every 2 seconds. Today day 4 it seemed very quiet so I checked gravity which was 1012/14
so I added hops and should be bottling once hops have had 2 days To do their thing.
so looking at total 7 days. Average temperature was 21/22 c
does this seem like the right plan
TIA

 

[Banbeer]

Hi, I started this kit on Saturday(24th) and it took a day and a half to start properly OG was 1.054 (used 1kg of light spray malt), I will not be touching it for minimum of two weeks which is when I will add the hops for two days and cold chill it for a further 3-5 days after. It pays to keep it in the FV for a bit longer than 7 days as the yeast will clean up the brew and you will definitely know it's finished.

 

[JeffDragon7]

Hi, I started this kit on Saturday(24th) and it took a day and a half to start properly OG was 1.054 (used 1kg of light spray malt), I will not be touching it for minimum of two weeks which is when I will add the hops for two days and cold chill it for a further 3-5 days after. It pays to keep it in the FV for a bit longer than 7 days as the yeast will clean up the brew and you will definitely know it's finished.

Banbeer thanks for the advice. I’ll hold back awhile I was just worried about it going wrong if left too long.

 

[JeffDragon7]

Hi, I started this kit on Saturday(24th) and it took a day and a half to start properly OG was 1.054 (used 1kg of light spray malt), I will not be touching it for minimum of two weeks which is when I will add the hops for two days and cold chill it for a further 3-5 days after. It pays to keep it in the FV for a bit longer than 7 days as the yeast will clean up the brew and you will definitely know it's finished.

Mine started at 1045 but I used the supplied enhancer but I talked a lady who has run the local brew shop for 30 years and she recommended Spray malt rather than enhancer, so I’ll be trying that next. I have the juicy session IPA for my 2nd brew good luck with your brew mate

 

[Banbeer]

Banbeer thanks for the advice. I’ll hold back awhile I was just worried about it going wrong if left too long.

You can't leave it too long really (ish) I hated bottling (I keg now) so I had a brew in the FV for around 8 weeks before I bottled it and it was really good. Patients is your biggest friend when brewing.

 

[Banbeer]

Mine started at 1045 but I used the supplied enhancer but I talked a lady who has run the local brew shop for 30 years and she recommended Spray malt rather than enhancer, so I’ll be trying that next. I have the juicy session IPA for my 2nd brew good luck with your brew mate

The Juicy session IPA is one of my favourite kits and I have one in the kegerator at the moment, good luck with yours too mate.

 

[JeffDragon7]

The Juicy session IPA is one of my favourite kits and I have one in the kegerator at the moment, good luck with yours too mate.

My problem is keeping kegs cool, no room for another fridge, or is there something I’m missing

 

[Pavros]

UPDATE
Mangrove Jack instructions state, leave to ferment for 7 days then check SG, if 1025 or lower add hop pellets and ferment until 1018.
yeast supplied was Liberty bell, not much happened for 24 hrs then it was off like a steam train with the airlock bubbling every 2 seconds. Today day 4 it seemed very quiet so I checked gravity which was 1012/14
so I added hops and should be bottling once hops have had 2 days To do their thing.
so looking at total 7 days. Average temperature was 21/22 c
does this seem like the right plan
TIA

7 days is NOT enough time for a kit. Yes, it will produce beer but it won't be good. Give the yeast another week to clean up some of the off tastes produced during fermentation.
Refer back to my post at #2 in this thread. Leave it 10 days from starting before adding hops as it sounds like it's just about ready from your hydrometer readings. I would never bottle a kit before a fortnight in the fv.
Don't worry about leaving too long in the fv. I have had a couple of kits take almost 4 weeks to fully ferment and dry hop.
Also don't worry about leaving the dry hop in too long. One of the kits that took 4 weeks was dry hopped for 2 weeks as it took longer to finish than I expected.

 

[JeffDragon7]

7 days is NOT enough time for a kit. Yes, it will produce beer but it won't be good. Give the yeast another week to clean up some of the off tastes produced during fermentation.
Refer back to my post at #2 in this thread. Leave it 10 days from starting before adding hops as it sounds like it's just about ready from your hydrometer readings. I would never bottle a kit before a fortnight in the fv.
Don't worry about leaving too long in the fv. I have had a couple of kits take almost 4 weeks to fully ferment and dry hop.
Also don't worry about leaving the dry hop in too long. One of the kits that took 4 weeks was dry hopped for 2 weeks as it took longer to finish than I expected.

Thanks Pavros, I’ll leave it awhile longer, I’ll be less needy once I’m on brew 2. I HOPE

 

[Pavros]

It's difficult until you get a stock built up

 

[Banbeer]

My problem is keeping kegs cool, no room for another fridge, or is there something I’m missing

Not sure if you're mixing up Kegs (plastic barrels) with Corny kegs (stainless steel with C02) here's my kegerator



I now have three taps (one in the middle) and have also built a shelf so I can get 4 cornies in.