So, about a year ago I made my first attempt at home brewing. I tried a 1 gallon batch of a coffee stout. I made lots of mistakes despite all the reading up I did ahead of time. I think it takes a time through the process to come up with the right. In the end I got 10 bottles of less than stellar stout.
Since then I have purchased more equipment so I can do a 5 gallon brew instead of 1 gallon. It’s a lot of work for 1 gallon of beer. I finally am doing my second attempt, this time a 5 gallon batch of a Bone Dry Irish Stout and it’s an extract brew instead of an all grain. Would love to do all grain, but let’s start out a bit easier for now then probably move into BIAB.
So far, everything is going great. Got a nice big burner with a propane tank for cooking. Got a nice copper coil wort chiller and lot’s of other goodies. The cooking went great and was able to cool everything down using the chiller in about 15 to 20 minutes. Got it aerated and pitched the yeast. After 12 hours it was starting to ferment. By 24 there was a really good layer of krausen on top and lot’s of activity showing in the airlock. When I did this the first time I only got a little bit of initial activity then it was pretty much done. I took an original gravity reading this time as well. Didn’t do that last time, so I have no idea what I got for a conversion, but I know it was bad.
This time I have an original gravity reading of 1.051 and I am fermenting between 64-70 F. It’s whatever the basement temperature is.
Does anybody have any idea what I should expect for a conversion if all goes well on this brew?
Definitely planning to do another batch very soon this time. Not gonna wait a year again between batches.
Glad you gave it another go…welcome to your new obsession!
What yeast did you use? With extract brews the conversion part has already been done so you’re looking at the attenuation of the yeast. You’ll probably end up in the 1.008-1.012 final gravity range with most yeast strains but don’t stress if it’s a little higher. There are free calculators out there that are pretty good but if you plan to stick with the hobby I can’t recommend Beersmith enough. Then you can plug in your recipe and get pretty accurate target numbers. Cheers [emoji482]
Brewing with extract does not involve conversion, but I think you mean to ask about attenuation, or the gravity of the fermented beer upon completion of fermentation. You should expect something in the 1.012-1.016 range since extracts tend to finish a bit higher than mashed allgrain wort at the same starting gravity. But leave it be for at least a week before you check for final gravity. Three days in succession with no change in your hydrometer means it is done and can be bottled.
I used Safale US-05 Dry Ale Yeast and yes I did mean attenuation. Did not know to keep checking it to see it has stopped changing before calling it done. I just figured after 2 weeks it was done and I would take my final reading. I guess the duration can vary depending on temperature?
I personally don’t like taking multiple gravity readings, just seems like a waste of good beer and opportunity to introduce infection. Fermentation should be done in a few days but I’ve found my beers are always better when I just leave them alone for 2-3 weeks!
I watch the airlock and the color of the beer. When the airlock stops burping and the beer changes from cloudy to dark and clear then give it an extra day or two, then prime and bottle.
The biggest thing you can do now is be patient.
The yeast work on their own schedule, not yours. Give them the time they need to do their job. If you are patient, and provide them with a nice cool work environment (stable in the mid 60’s Farenheit), they will reward your patience with delicious beer. I suggest giving them at least 2 whole weeks for your first batch.
The yeast will be working hard cleaning up after themselves if you let them, even if it doesn’t look active any more to your eye. This conditioning period will make a great deal of difference.
You are in the right spot to ask questions. Good Luck and hope this helps