My First Brew - Woodfordes Wherry

Haynesy · May 19, 2009

Hi all,
I'm completely new to this lark, and Saturday just gone, I kicked off my first ever brew. It's the Woodfordes Wherry beer kit. It seemed to have some good reviews and is simple for a novice like me!
3 days in, and everything is looking good. The yeast seems to have kicked off fermentation and there is a fair amount of brown scum round the edge of the bin and on the underside of the lid. I assume this is expected?

The nagging question I have, which I'm hoping someone may be able to answer for me is:

I took an initial gravity reading before pitching the yeast, and I recorded this as 1.032 (well - I think it was. It was a bit difficult getting it accurate through the froth!). My concern is whether 1.032 is a usual initial gravity reading for this type of ale kit? Does it sound reasonable to you all?
My question revolves around the recommended ABV of the Wherry kit. It says this beer should be around 4.5% ABV. However, it recommends that bottling/kegging can be done when the gravity reaches 1.014. I have seen some simple equations for working out ABV online and with my starting gravity this would be:
(1.032-1.014)x 131 = 2.35% ABV
This is nowhere near the 4.5% expected, and is leading me to believe that my starting gravity was too low... or... I misread it when taking the figure down.

Can someone please explain the ABV calculation, and whether the above sounds like something is amiss with my brew?! Or does the ABV increase during the settling period once bottled/kegged?

Many thanks
Haynesy

jamesb · May 19, 2009

Do you know what the temperature of the wort was when you took the hydrometer reading?

Hydrometers are (usually) calibrated to read correctly at 20degC. Outside of this can cause significant differences and require calculation to get to the right gravity figure.

I don't do kits, but that does sound low to me. Your ABV calculation is quite correct.

Haynesy · May 19, 2009

Hmmm.... thanks for the reply jamesb.

I haven't a clue what temperature it was when I took the reading. I had just topped up with cold tap water, so I doubt it was 20 degrees. Oh well - looks like I will just have to see how it goes!

ano · May 19, 2009

When I did a Wherry it had a starting gravity of 1.040. Finishing at 1.014 seems right from what I remember (seem to recall willing it below 1.015). Don't expect it to reach 4.5 %.

Some points to consider:

Are the measurements on your FV correct? - they can be out by 10% or so meaning you could have put too much water in, check with a more accurate jug, it takes a while but you only need to do it once.
Did you get all the extract out of the tins? - warm the tins in a pan of warm water, swill the tins out with water from the kettle

Other than that you seem to suggest you weren't sure if it was 1.032, maybe 1.042?

Haynesy · May 19, 2009

Sorry to keep asking fairly basic questions...
How low can a gravity reading go during fermentation? Could it realistically go to 1.000?
:wha:

Wez · May 19, 2009

If we assume that using kit yeast you should expect it to drop 70% of the starting gravity points, in this case 70% of 32 which is around 21.5 points. So you can expect your final gravity to be 32 - 70% (21.5) = 10.5 so your FG should be 1010.5

Some yeasts will drop by a different amount, Safale S-04 for example has a 73% attenuation. The 70% figure above is a guesstimate based on the fact that they don't normally drop as low as s-04.

Hope that helps.

ano · May 19, 2009

It's highly unlikely for a beer as far as I know. This is because the hydrometer is (as has been said) calibrated to be 1.000 in water at 20 degrees. Beer tends to be denser as it has lovely malty dextrins and other tasty things which push the gravity higher. Wines and dry turbo ciders can go lower though, 0.990 say.