Temp and ABV help

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Lfreda, Sep 11, 2016.

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  1. Lfreda

    Lfreda Initiate (0) Sep 7, 2016 Maryland

    They pale was really muddy and the abv was really low, thought it would help,which it did a bit....the cream stout is a kit from Northern Brewers, Watknees cream stout. We added a pound of honey with 15 minutes left in the boiled. Yeast was Safale s-04. OG 1.140. second reading as we started secondary was 1.020
     
  2. Lfreda

    Lfreda Initiate (0) Sep 7, 2016 Maryland

    The pale ale was my first attempt. Done in a bucket,,, I got anxious when there was no activity in the airlock, so I took a couple of hydrometer readings on consecutive days kept getting the same reading,,, 1.020,,, also there was hardly any Krausen at all, so I just assumed I messed up the pitch or did something to stall the fermentation. Now we are using conical fermenter
     
  3. DrMindbender

    DrMindbender Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2014 South Carolina

    I assume you're doing 1 gallon batches if you added only 1 pound of honey and reached such a ridiculous OG? That gravity change actually comes out to a 15.75% ABV...still crazy high for a normal sacc IMO. Interesting
     
  4. Brewday

    Brewday Zealot (721) Dec 25, 2015 New York

    You can call it "Paler Ale" or try adding some dry yeast.
     
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  5. Lfreda

    Lfreda Initiate (0) Sep 7, 2016 Maryland

    It is a five gallon batch,, but, you are really making me second guess our hydrometer readings
     
  6. DrMindbender

    DrMindbender Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2014 South Carolina

    Is this the kit you brewed? http://www.northernbrewer.com/chocolate-milk-stout-extract-kit
    If so, your original OG from the kit was 1.051...when you add the honey, it went up to 1.060 and with an FG of 1.020, you have a very under attenuated beer (66%) with an ABV of 5.17%, not 17%/15.75%. You can use a brewing calculator like this one (http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator/) to calculate changes you make to any kit you buy.

    It seems that you are consistently producing under attenuated beers. You need to make some sort of changes to your processes because they arent working right yet based on what you've told us about your first 3 batches. I'd suggest you leave your batches alone and don't even look at them for the first week-2 weeks of fermentation...I think you're trying to rush your batches and not allowing fermentation to complete. Just because you might think that fermentation is "complete" based on looking at your fermenter, doesn't mean that it is truly complete or the yeast have finished their job. I think you've secondaried way too early, introducing oxygen and stalling fermentation, ending with most likely very sweet under attenuated beers. Not allowing the yeast to work in the best environment is a good recipe for bad beer in the long run.
     
  7. Lfreda

    Lfreda Initiate (0) Sep 7, 2016 Maryland

    The beer that e are talking about is Watknees cream stout, but you may be right about the process anyway
     
  8. Lfreda

    Lfreda Initiate (0) Sep 7, 2016 Maryland

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  9. DrMindbender

    DrMindbender Initiate (0) Jul 13, 2014 South Carolina

    Then your OG should be within the 1.053-1.057 range (kit OG was listed as 1.044-1.048 + 1 lb honey)...looks like your attenuation was even lower at 64% and the final ABV will be 4.59% based on those stats.

    I say cover your fermenters with a towel or small blanket and don't even look at them until at least 2 weeks after you brew...that way you wont be anxious/tempted to mess with them before the yeast have an average time to handle your brews. If you're still having insufficient fermentation, then you'll need to look at other processes to change, but I'd start with that first.
     
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  10. Lfreda

    Lfreda Initiate (0) Sep 7, 2016 Maryland

    Will do thanks
     
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