Norfolk Nog and Admirals Reserve First Brew Questions

[Sirik]

Hello Everyone.

My father and I have been brewing our first beers recently, I have a Norfolk Nog and he has an Admirals Reserve.
We have followed the instructions on the box carefully, and we think we have done everything correctly.
Both of our starting gravitys read as 1.033, and were left in the fermenting bucket for 7 days (the box says 4-6 days in the bucket).
our gravity readings yesterday before transferring the beer to the keg was 1.012 which indicates that the ABV is only 2.7%.
we added some dark spraymalt to the keg for second fermentation, but we are confused as to what has gone wrong to make it such a weak beer.
both of them should be at least 4%.

is this ABV going to change at all in the next 2 weeks in the keg, or is that it and we are stuck with 80 pints of barely alcoholic beer?

any advice for the next time will also be appreciated.

 

[Merry]

Hi Sirik,

1.033 sounds very low for the opening gravity for kits, I've done the Norfolk Nog before and I'm fairly certain the starting gravity was 1.044. It was the last brew I made without using yeast nutrient and it only got down to 1.016 before I bottled it but it still turned out well.

Assuming you correctly mixed 23 litres, I'd be looking at a dodgy hydrometer, or incorrect readings. What temperature was the wort when you measured the starting gravity? Temperature will affect the reading - I believe most hydrometers are calibrated to read 1.000 in water at 20 Celsius. Could be worth checking yours in a jar of water at this temperature.

 

[Sirik]

Hi,

thanks for your reply. my wort was around 30°c when i first measured, and using an online temperature adjuster the 1.033 is the corrected reading for this temperature.

tomorrow i will try checking my hydrometer in some 20°c water to make sure it reads as 1.000

 

[Sirik]

Hi,

This morning i checked my hydrometer in 20°c water and it seems to be reading as 1.002. I have linked to some pictures of it, hope you can see them ok.

http://euxnkg.blu.livefilestore.com...ak97mSu0QMFB8lX-c1JH_Xnl9/SDC10161.JPG?psid=1
http://euxnkg.blu.livefilestore.com...cmQRluK01QJWF3C0gxdxDHhqQ/SDC10162.JPG?psid=1

 

[Merry]

It's not always easy to tell from a photo, but that looks like it's reading approx 0.996 to me. I'm sure more experienced brewers than me will be able to back me up/shoot me down as appropriate.

Check this thread http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=3326 for guidance in using a hydrometer for your next attempt.

I'd guess that the OG would have been closer to 1040 and your FG closer to 1020 which is the point at which kits often get stuck.

Since you've primed & kegged I'd leave it as is, but make sure you keep an eye on the pressure in the barrel. I'm assuming you have a plastic pressure barrel, and you'll soon find that it becomes swollen (you'll notice that the 'feet' notches on the bottom no longer touch whatever it is standing on as the barrel expands.) No need to panic - this is normal (at least it is for me.) I'd draw off a sample to test regularly just to keep an eye on the pressure.

Don't forget to move the Barrel to somewhere cool - i.e. around 10 degrees after a few days to aid conditioning - but be sure to keep an eye on the pressure, as it is annoying to find your barrel stood in a puddle of beer.

Hope this helps, and good luck with the next brew - remember it's all down to experience, you'll find each brew a bit easier than the last and hopefully get better results each time.

 

[Sirik]

Thanks Merry,
A closer look at my picture and physical hydrometer suggests you are right and it is reading at 0.996 in water.
If i correct for this as well as a temperature correction on my OG then I now calculate my brew is at 3.03% ABV.

OG - Read at 1.030, compensate for inaccurate hydrometer = 1.034, compensate for temperature of OG = 1.0375

I will take another FG reading after a few days to make sure i am reading it correctly.

for my next brew i am planning on Brupaks Scammonden Dark. Hopefully I'll get a better result with that kit. :drink:

 

[Growler]

I have done both of those kits :thumb:

I find that it is best to leave them in the FV for 14 days before bottling/kegging

by doing this you are sure that the fermentation has finished and the yeast have cleaned up and it is starting to clear which means you have less sediment in you finished vessel :thumb:

 

[Sirik]

Hi,
Today i took readings from Norfolk Nog and Admirals Reserve, and i am still confused by the readings. The brews still seem too low in ABV for what they say they should be.

The Norfolk Nog Hydrometer reads at 0.996 in 20°c water, the Admirals Reserve Hydrometer reads at 0.998 in 20°c water.

Norfolk Nog OG = 1.030 which corrects to 1.034? read at 30°c wort so this then corrects to 1.0375
Norfolk Nog FG = 1.012 which corrects to 1.016? read at 20°c from the keg so this corrects to 1.0169
this makes my Norfolk Nog brew an ABV of 2.78%

Admirals Reserve OG = 1.030 which corrects to 1.032? read at 24°c wort so this then corrects to 1.0338
Admirals Reserve FG = 1.010 which corrects to 1.012? read at 20°c from the keg so this corrects to 1.0129
this makes my fathers Admirals Reserve an ABV of 2.75%

Do these numbers make sense? what has gone wrong with our beer? the kits say they should be between 4 and 4.5%

 

[Merry]

I wouldn't worry too much, just give it a taste and judge it by that. Given the dodgy hydrometer readings I can't be precise, but I'd guess the OG would have been 1044 and the fermentations have got stuck at 1020 which means it'll be a bit weaker and slightly sweeter than it should.

I'd strongly recommend adding 1/2 teaspoon of yeast nutrient to future brews to avoid stuck fermentations.