My first batch - questions/observations

Here is a link that might help you.

 

Ya, their is sometimes a compressor hump inside the freezers, especially the smaller ones. That chart is awesome @minderbender If you have doubt, you could make a couple cylinders of cardboard or poster board with the same height and circumference of a carboy and take that with you to check and make sure the freezer will hold 2 at the same time.

 

Did your recipe give a target Final Gravity, and if so, are you close to it? If you are close, I'd wait two more days and take a second reading. If that reading is also 1.018-1.019, then go ahead and bottle.

If you aren't close to the predicted FG, then we need to figure out why and decide if you've got a stuck fermentation and whether it's worth it to try to get the little buggers eating again, or go ahead and bottle. It's highly likely that your beer is done because 1.018 sounds about right for a brown ale, but some are thicker than others.

 

I'd let it ride for a bit longer, see if it drops any further. If it's still 1.018 then it's bottling time!

I normally give my beers another 1/2 - 1 week (depending on the style) after they reach FG to let the yeast clean up a bit.

 

Were these other threads a discussion of your recipe, process, and OG? If not, I wouldn't take any FG prediction from them and rely on it.

What was the recipe and your actual OG? With that, we can come up with a predicted FG. If you're somewhere close to that, and if your gravity has stopped moving, then it's done.

 

Extract or All Grain? And what yeast strain?

 

Yeah, I'd say about 1.014 for that recipe/yeast strain. But it's conceivable that at 1.018 it's done.

Just a thought... how sure are you about your gravity readings? Have you checked your hydrometer with plain water? Also, you said the OG was 1.052. I noticed that was also the recipe's OG. But is that what you actually measured? I ask because if you ended up with less than 5 gallons of wort (more boil off if full boil, or topping off to less than 5 gallons if partial boil), your OG could have been a little higher, in which case you'd expect a higher FG.

Anyway, having said all that...my guess is that it's done at this point. But if nothing else, at least confirm the FG isn't still moving before you bottle.

 

That's the best reason to check it.

 

You'd be splitting hair to worry about this difference in sugar amounts, so you might as well split the difference between the two.

 

You want to use as little water as possible while being able to completely dissolve the sugar. Precision isn't important. 4-8oz is a reasonable range.

The amount of sugar you posted looks fine.

 

If you are a perfectionist and you want your beer to be right on per the beer's recipe you can add whatever amount of water with your sugar to get you back to the 5-gallon level. But if your FG is already right where you want it, then just add as little water as possible per the amounts suggested above to dissolve the sugar.