I think somethings gone wrong!?

[bigdave]

Weve had to come home early due to bad weather. Over night its gone down to 1016 @ 16 degrees. Would it be a good idea to compensate for the over night temp drop and move the FV back to the bathroom for a couple of days?

[Swiller]

I would.

J

[At. Ailbhe's Brewery]

May I suggest giving it a very gentle stir after you do, to maybe rouse the yeast again? Make sure it's not so vigorous that you introduce air, bubbles or oxygen into the brew as that'll spoil it.

[bigdave]

Well, this morning its down to 1013 @ 19 degrees.

The packaging from the kit states that the finished brew will be 4.5% abv. When the brew gets down to 1010 it'll only be 3.8%, is it really likely that 2nd fermentation will boost the abv by 0.7% or is the kit packaging slightly optimistic?

by my calculations, the brew would need to have an sg of 1005 to achieve 4.5% abv. is this a realistic expectation?

[EoinMag]

Sounds to me like you're brewing a Woodfordes kit. None of them reach the 4.5% on the box. They all come out about 3.8.

Bit of a con really someone should take them up on it, the original brew from the Woodfordes brewery is 4.5%

[bigdave]

Youve hit the nail on the head with the branding. I'll not sit and wait for it to drop past 1011-1010 then.

[Lillywhite]

Sounds to me like you're brewing a Woodfordes kit. None of them reach the 4.5% on the box. They all come out about 3.8.

Bit of a con really someone should take them up on it, the original brew from the Woodfordes brewery is 4.5%

Wrong on two counts:-

Firstly, I usually get an OG of between 1.042-1.044 and a finishing SG of 1.012 which, taking into account priming sugar will give a %ABV in the region of 4.4-4.5%.

Secondly, commercially brewed Wherry is only 3.8%ABV.

[bigdave]

I had an OG of 1.039 and its Admiral's Reserve. Its stuck at 1.013 at the moment (has been for 2 days) but Im optimistic that its nothing a careful stir every day cant fix.

[EoinMag]

Sounds to me like you're brewing a Woodfordes kit. None of them reach the 4.5% on the box. They all come out about 3.8.

Bit of a con really someone should take them up on it, the original brew from the Woodfordes brewery is 4.5%

Wrong on two counts:-

Firstly, I usually get an OG of between 1.042-1.044 and a finishing SG of 1.012 which, taking into account priming sugar will give a %ABV in the region of 4.4-4.5%.

Secondly, commercially brewed Wherry is only 3.8%ABV.

Hmmm, well I never got near 4.5 making Woodfordes kits up to instructions.......strange that.

[Lillywhite]

I had an OG of 1.039 and its Admiral's Reserve.

That's very low. Did you mix your ingredients thoroughly?

[bigdave]

yeah, I thought it was low too but its my first brew so Ive probably skimped somewhere or missed something? Even if its p**s poor, Ive learned a lot from it and know what to do next time.

[EoinMag]

I don't know what the story is, I've done about 10-12 Woodfordes kits and they were all that low....

[bigdave]

I know Ive added 2 pints too much water when I first mixed it and didn't take the OG till the next morning (fermentation hadnt started by that point so I assume it was correct) but despite my earlier concerns, I know I'm going to be left with a drinkable keg of beer.