Should i just bin my hydrometer?

[Bitter_Dave]

St Peters kits are made by Muntons, as are the Woodfordes kits.

Beer enhancers usually contain at least some malt extract but not always. Coopers 1 is brewing sugar and maltodextrin. A ridiculous product. Just buy DME and if you want to cut it with sugar just buy some sugar (you could even buy some nice brown sugar and still save money).

Something else to be aware of is the fact that fermenters can sometimes be off in terms of their measurement markings. 23 litres in my fermenter is significantly less liquid than the 23 litre marking down the side. It's a perfectly good fermenter in other ways but a bit ridiculous that they can't get a simple detail like this right! Variations in the accuracy of OGs might be influenced a bit by the accuracy of these markings, with people adding too much water. Always worth checking how accurate your fermenter is and if necessary adding your own markings.

 

[Bitter_Dave]

I think this blanket rule of adding 3 to 3.5 litres of boiling water to the fermenter for kits is also bad advice on the part of the companies. Much better to add less, maybe a bit over two litres, and then adjust the temp with boiling water at the end. You wouldn't see a professional brewery chucking the yeast in at 25c!

 

[mancer62]

Dark rock have a sticker on the yeast telling u to add between 18 & 24 or 25 degrees which I done...also I added 23l of water to the fv exactly but thinking about it is thus correct?
I mean do u add the 1.8kg of extract and the 1kg of enhancer then 23l of water?
Or does doing actually make the total amount over 23l?
Should it fir example be the extract + the enhancer then maybe 21l or 22l to get to the 23l amount.
I've always added 23l of water maybe this is incorrect

 

[Bitter_Dave]

It is not that 25c is wrong, but in most cases with a standard ale yeast it is preferable to pitch the yeast at the lower end of the spectrum imo, especially as yeast creates its own heat during fermentation so it can rise above this easily. Different yeasts have different tolerances for heat though.

You want to top up to 23 litres, not add 23 litres of water.

 

[Sadfield]

Edit: Just looked up a few there. All kinds of concoctions involving various quantities of DME, dextrose and maltodextrin.

I think I've got some that my dad gave me when he cleared out his homebrew kit, that's dextrose and maltodextrin. Haven't found a use for it.

 

[Larse]

Dark rock have a sticker on the yeast telling u to add between 18 & 24 or 25 degrees which I done...also I added 23l of water to the fv exactly but thinking about it is thus correct?
I mean do u add the 1.8kg of extract and the 1kg of enhancer then 23l of water?
Or does doing actually make the total amount over 23l?
Should it fir example be the extract + the enhancer then maybe 21l or 22l to get to the 23l amount.
I've always added 23l of water maybe this is incorrect

Yeah. As @Bitter_Dave says, you top up TO 23L. If you look at the instructions that @An Ankoù posted on the previous page, the process is to add 3L of boiling water first to help dissolve the extracts and then top up to 22.5L (23L would be fine).

That seems to be how you've come out low on the OG. If you started with the 3L of boiling water and then added 23L, you've ended up with 26L which comes out at 1.036 OG according to Brewer's Friend.

 

[An Ankoù]

I've always added 23l of water maybe this is incorrect

Yes it's incorrect.
As @Larse said, the final volume should be 23 litres. The extract and enhancer are part of that volume. It's best to use a fermenter with a graduation scale on the side and top up just to the 23 mark.
When you come to bottle the beer, you'll get a bit less than 2 3 litres because of the yeast deposit left in the fermenter. Don't worry about it. Just reckon in bring a few bottles short.

 

[Sadfield]

You could argue that in order to reach the correct abv, you should add water until you hit the desired OG listed in the instructions....ah, there's the problem.