Alright, I just brewed my first batch. It’s a Red Ale. The original gravity on the kit called for between 1.048-1.052. I measured it at 1.046. Is this going to kill the batch? :-\
PLENTY close enough!
That is close enough. As long as your sanitation was good and you keep an eye on your fermentation temps, your beer should be good. There are a lot of variables that can contribute to missing your OG, so take good notes.
My guess is that you have an extra pint or two in there. 2 points of gravity is nothing.
What temperature was your sample? A higher temp than 60 will give you a lower reading.
even at 1036 it wouldn’t be “ruined” just different
My kit beers always ended up less than it was supposed to. I think the pre-printed markings on my fermentation bucket were off. I also never got the attenuation the kit said either, but that was probably due to lack of oxygen.
The beer will probably have a bit less alcohol, but you should still get beer.
Welcome to brewing.
Search the web for “hydrometer correction” and you’ll find free calculators that will adjust your gravity reading based on the wort temperature.
I did one of those correction calculators and it came up to about 1.048.
Followup - at which point do I need to pop open the fermenter and take another reading if I don’t see any activity in the air lock?
This is the truth. Lower gravity would just mean lighter beer, not necessarily bad beer.
I know this might be hard since this is your first batch, but leave it alone for two weeks. It’ll probably be done at that point. Opening the fermenter a bunch of times can just introduce more opportunites for oxygen and contamination.
+1
I remember the anticipation for my first batch… And I did so many things wrong! Turned out to be decent beer in the end though
+2
And make sure you take readings two days in a row to make sure it’s done. Don’t go by what the kit tells you it should be. You’ll know it’s done if you get the same reading two days in a row. Your final gravity could be higher than what the kit tells you or it could be lower. Go by the two days in a row reading though. I never had a kit get to the final gravity the kit said it should, but all my beers turned out pretty good (well on that side of things … tinkering with adding additional things later sort of wonked one up : To this day one friend tells me to never attempt a coffee stout again. ;D )