So I’m done! Everything is bottled and I sadly never took an OG reading (extract kit, states "O.G. is 1.043, ready in 4 weeks). Sat in primary for 2 weeks, took a reading today while bottling and I show a little higher than 1.010 unless I’m reading or wrong. Any idea what that means? I’d like to have a remote idea that my beer has 4-5% ABV. Pic below.
http://instagram.com/p/ZdhGrGx3aW/
Assuming your OG was around 1.043 the ABV is about 4.3%.
Looks like an FG ~1.009 unless I’m misreading the hydrometer.
A good quick estimate (which will generally be within ±0.2% ABV) is: 131*(OG - FG) = 131*(1.043 - 1.009) = 4.5% ABV.
Balling’s formula (more complicated but potentially more accurate, especially at high gravities) gives 4.4%.
Sounds to me like your ferment went successfully. Remember that hitting the region of 1.010 is not always the signal that it is done. Depending on beer and yeast type and the extract and grain profile can give differing results. Some beers- even relatively low gravity finish around 1.020 and are perfect like that. It isn’t necessarily an incomplete fermentation. Conversely, certain styles such as “Belgian” may be optimal finishing much lower than your current beer @ 1.009!