Looking Glass, Brandy

system · August 17, 2020, 9:23am

OK, beer not Brandy.
After two years, Looking to purchase a hydrometer,
to check if my buzz factor and calculations are accurate.
I guess my beers are around 4.5%.

I searched Amazon, only to be a Sailor lost in a Sea of choices.

Which hydrometer would you recommend ?
Hopefully one that doesn’t use a gallon to test.

Thanks !

denny · August 17, 2020, 1:56pm

Check out Brewing America. They have an Amazon store. Best quality I’ve ever used. I like the thermohydrometer. Another good thing is that they use about half the sample size of most.

system · August 17, 2020, 4:47pm

Looks good to me, ordered thermo-hydrometer.
Thanks

denny · August 17, 2020, 7:52pm

Hope you’ll be as happy with it as I am.

system · August 17, 2020, 8:30pm

I’m sure I will, like the temperature adjustments.
Now I wait for the delivery person, bringing gifts from far away.

system · August 18, 2020, 6:23pm

Was just a thought now a reality, hydrometer received.
Did the distilled water calibration test, said at 60 degrees, mine was at 70.
Used the temperature adjustment, a couple thousandths isn’t much.
Hydrometer did a slight tap on bottom of glass tube, will release more gently next time.
Brewing Thursday morning, and away we go.

system · August 20, 2020, 12:49pm

Took my very first OG reading, 1.032 @ 65 degrees.
How do I calculate potential ABV ?
US-05 fermented 3 weeks @ 65 degrees.

Thanks

denny · August 20, 2020, 2:00pm

You can either guess at FG or wait and see what it is.

Megary · August 20, 2020, 2:05pm

This should be close enough:

Expected FG(points) = OG(points) * (1-Yeast Attenuation)
Expected FG(points) = 32 * (1-.75)
Expected FG(points) = 8
Expected FG = 1.008

So for Potential ABV:

ABV = (OG-FG) * 131.25
ABV = (1.032-1.008) * 131.25
ABV = 3.15%

EDIT
If you generally get better than 75% attenuation from US-05 then adjust accordingly. I just used that as an example.

system · August 20, 2020, 2:39pm

Thanks, that’s a low ABV.
A gallon of refrigerated cold water was poured in fermenter, after pouring in wort.
Thought it was mixed up, now I’m not sure. I should have shakened/stirred wort before testing.
Didn’t check for air bubbles either.
If it tastes good and I get a slight buzz after 2-3, I’m fine with that.

denny · August 20, 2020, 2:49pm

Took my very first OG reading, 1.032 @ 65 degrees.
How do I calculate potential ABV ?
US-05 fermented 3 weeks @ 65 degrees.

Thanks

This should be close enough:

Expected FG(points) = OG(points) * (1-Yeast Attenuation)
Expected FG(points) = 32 * (1-.75)
Expected FG(points) = 8
Expected FG = 1.008

So for Potential ABV:

ABV = (OG-FG) * 131.25
ABV = (1.032-1.008) * 131.25
ABV = 3.15%

EDIT
If you generally get better than 75% attenuation from US-05 then adjust accordingly. I just used that as an example.

Thanks, that’s a low ABV.
A gallon of refrigerated cold water was poured in fermenter, after pouring in wort.
Thought it was mixed up, now I’m not sure.
I should have shakened/stirred wort before testing.
If it tastes good and I get a slight buzz after 2-3, I’m fine with that.

When you add top up water, it’s nearly impossible to get it mixed well enough to get an accurate reading. It would probably be better to get a reading of the undiluted wort, then calculate the OG with the dilution.

system · August 20, 2020, 7:54pm

denny:

Took my very first OG reading, 1.032 @ 65 degrees.
How do I calculate potential ABV ?
US-05 fermented 3 weeks @ 65 degrees.

Thanks

This should be close enough:

Expected FG(points) = OG(points) * (1-Yeast Attenuation)
Expected FG(points) = 32 * (1-.75)
Expected FG(points) = 8
Expected FG = 1.008

So for Potential ABV:

ABV = (OG-FG) * 131.25
ABV = (1.032-1.008) * 131.25
ABV = 3.15%

EDIT
If you generally get better than 75% attenuation from US-05 then adjust accordingly. I just used that as an example.

Thanks, that’s a low ABV.
A gallon of refrigerated cold water was poured in fermenter, after pouring in wort.
Thought it was mixed up, now I’m not sure.
I should have shakened/stirred wort before testing.
If it tastes good and I get a slight buzz after 2-3, I’m fine with that.

When you add top up water, it’s nearly impossible to get it mixed well enough to get an accurate reading. It would probably be better to get a reading of the undiluted wort, then calculate the OG with the dilution.

How I do dat ?

denny · August 20, 2020, 8:00pm

denny:

Took my very first OG reading, 1.032 @ 65 degrees.
How do I calculate potential ABV ?
US-05 fermented 3 weeks @ 65 degrees.

Thanks

This should be close enough:

Expected FG(points) = OG(points) * (1-Yeast Attenuation)
Expected FG(points) = 32 * (1-.75)
Expected FG(points) = 8
Expected FG = 1.008

So for Potential ABV:

ABV = (OG-FG) * 131.25
ABV = (1.032-1.008) * 131.25
ABV = 3.15%

EDIT
If you generally get better than 75% attenuation from US-05 then adjust accordingly. I just used that as an example.

Thanks, that’s a low ABV.
A gallon of refrigerated cold water was poured in fermenter, after pouring in wort.
Thought it was mixed up, now I’m not sure.
I should have shakened/stirred wort before testing.
If it tastes good and I get a slight buzz after 2-3, I’m fine with that.

When you add top up water, it’s nearly impossible to get it mixed well enough to get an accurate reading. It would probably be better to get a reading of the undiluted wort, then calculate the OG with the dilution.

How I do dat ?

Let’s say you have 3 gal. of wort that measures 1.050 before you add water. 3x50= 150 gravity points. You add a gal. of water. You still have 150 gravity points, but now they’re in 4 gal. So, 150/4=37.5. Meaning your gravity is now about 1.037

alestateyall · August 20, 2020, 11:08pm

denny:

denny:

Took my very first OG reading, 1.032 @ 65 degrees.
How do I calculate potential ABV ?
US-05 fermented 3 weeks @ 65 degrees.

Thanks

This should be close enough:

Expected FG(points) = OG(points) * (1-Yeast Attenuation)
Expected FG(points) = 32 * (1-.75)
Expected FG(points) = 8
Expected FG = 1.008

So for Potential ABV:

ABV = (OG-FG) * 131.25
ABV = (1.032-1.008) * 131.25
ABV = 3.15%

EDIT
If you generally get better than 75% attenuation from US-05 then adjust accordingly. I just used that as an example.

Thanks, that’s a low ABV.
A gallon of refrigerated cold water was poured in fermenter, after pouring in wort.
Thought it was mixed up, now I’m not sure.
I should have shakened/stirred wort before testing.
If it tastes good and I get a slight buzz after 2-3, I’m fine with that.

When you add top up water, it’s nearly impossible to get it mixed well enough to get an accurate reading. It would probably be better to get a reading of the undiluted wort, then calculate the OG with the dilution.

How I do dat ?

Let’s say you have 3 gal. of wort that measures 1.050 before you add water. 3x50= 150 gravity points. You add a gal. of water. You still have 150 gravity points, but now they’re in 4 gal. So, 150/4=37.5. Meaning your gravity is now about 1.037

I topped up my last batch. I did the math (they math Denny just wrote). It predicted 1052 OG. It took about 12-15 hours (the next morning) before my Tilt hydrometer agreed with that SG reading. The beer was a lager. Once at 1052 the SG sat there for another 12+ hours before it started dropping. So, I think that 1052 was accurate because the yeast seemed to still be in the lag phase.

Point being it took a long time for the beer to mix in that top up water to get the hydrometer SG reading to match what I knew to expect from math.

system · August 21, 2020, 8:25am

denny:

denny:

Took my very first OG reading, 1.032 @ 65 degrees.
How do I calculate potential ABV ?
US-05 fermented 3 weeks @ 65 degrees.

Thanks

This should be close enough:

Expected FG(points) = OG(points) * (1-Yeast Attenuation)
Expected FG(points) = 32 * (1-.75)
Expected FG(points) = 8
Expected FG = 1.008

So for Potential ABV:

ABV = (OG-FG) * 131.25
ABV = (1.032-1.008) * 131.25
ABV = 3.15%

EDIT
If you generally get better than 75% attenuation from US-05 then adjust accordingly. I just used that as an example.

Thanks, that’s a low ABV.
A gallon of refrigerated cold water was poured in fermenter, after pouring in wort.
Thought it was mixed up, now I’m not sure.
I should have shakened/stirred wort before testing.
If it tastes good and I get a slight buzz after 2-3, I’m fine with that.

When you add top up water, it’s nearly impossible to get it mixed well enough to get an accurate reading. It would probably be better to get a reading of the undiluted wort, then calculate the OG with the dilution.

How I do dat ?

Let’s say you have 3 gal. of wort that measures 1.050 before you add water. 3x50= 150 gravity points. You add a gal. of water. You still have 150 gravity points, but now they’re in 4 gal. So, 150/4=37.5. Meaning your gravity is now about 1.037

I topped up my last batch. I did the math (they math Denny just wrote). It predicted 1052 OG. It took about 12-15 hours (the next morning) before my Tilt hydrometer agreed with that SG reading. The beer was a lager. Once at 1052 the SG sat there for another 12+ hours before it started dropping. So, I think that 1052 was accurate because the yeast seemed to still be in the lag phase.

Point being it took a long time for the beer to mix in that top up water to get the hydrometer SG reading to match what I knew to expect from math.

Thanks !

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Looking Glass, Brandy

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