First Brew Day Results

[thanme]

So today I did my brew using this recipe.

Everything seemed to go pretty well. Took almost forever for the bloody wort to cool down though!

My OG came out at 1041, which according to my book is a bit low. The book suggests I should get around 1048. Did I do something wrong or is that ok?

Also, the book (which is Homebrewing for Dummies btw) suggested I should take my first gravity reading by dipping the hydrometer into the top of the fermenter rather than from the tap. Is there a reason for this? Or is it just a different way of doing it?

Lastly, I pitched my yeast in some pre-boiled, room temperature water prior to the wort being cooled enough for it, and while I waited, it basically sat in a covered container on my kitchen bench til it was ready, and I just gave it a stir every now and then. Is this going to be a problem? I figured it probably wouldn't as there wasn't much fluctuation in the temperature, but then again, I wouldn't know

Thanks for everyones help to get me this far

 

[manticle]

1041 is not bad. Most kits are designed around 1040.

Generally it's better not to drop the hydrometer into the fermenter but to use a vessel like a tube to measure, taking the sample from the tap. Possibly they suggest that because the first sample from the tap may contain malt and give a false reading. However dropping the hydrometer into the wort increases the risk of infection. That said, when i was young and stupid (about a year ago) I used to do that quite often and never had any trouble (except reading the thing accurately is not amazingly easy). I wouldn't recommend the mistakes I made to be made by you though. As I once mentioned recently somewhere else: I made the mistakes so you don't have to.

Yeast rehydration method sounds pretty spot on - boiled water, cooled to temperature, covered. No worries there.

 

[ianh]

Basically Kit & Kilo should have OG of about 1.039. Yeast re-hydration method good.

Can I promote my spreadsheet Link which is designed for Kit and Extract brewers and has a heap of useful info.

cheers

Ian

 

[roverfj1200]

To cool the wort after a boil up I put all the ingredients plus the boil in the fermenter and drop in 2 or 3 litres of frozen water to cool it off quick. Top up with water to your final amount and pitch yeast.. Saves on the long wait..

Cheers

 

[AntCoop]

The excel program that ianh has provided us is very good for newer brewers.

It helps show guidelines for different styles and also has most popular K&K cans + specialty grains that can be steeped to improve the basic K&K new brewers start out using.

Also if you feel up to trying Extract brewing and doing your own boils with bops for bittering, flavour, and aroma additions it is most helpful in designing your own beers and getting the bala

 

[brettprevans]

NME. it all sounds fine. I plugged your recipe in and got 1044. so 1040 is ok. temp will vary the hydro readings also.

if you made up the recipe as stated you should only have less than 10L of hot wort (give or take). fill up with another 9L of cold/cool water and it should be quite cool. so long as the wort is 30C or below (which im sure it was), your fine.

Basically Kit & Kilo should have OG of about 1.039.

Ian just be careful about thw way you word advice. a newbie out there might read your comment and think that all k&k recipes should be 1039 and never higher.

 

[thanme]

Thanks guys. That's very reassuring. Now I'm patiently waiting for fermentation to start

I'll definitely prepare some cooler water for next time. Not sure why that didn't occur to me

Thanks for the link to the spreadsheet. I can't get to it at work, but I'll have a squiz when I get home and sounds like it'll be useful for next time.

So what do you generally do to get a higher OG reading? Is it simply less water??

 

[RobboMC]

So today I did my brew using this recipe.

Also, the book (which is Homebrewing for Dummies btw) suggested I should take my first gravity reading by dipping the hydrometer into the top of the fermenter rather than from the tap. Is there a reason for this? Or is it just a different way of doing it?
fluctuation in the temperature, but then again, I wouldn't know

Thanks for everyones help to get me this far

This site is littered with new brewers who get faulty OG readings from the tap. Once I got a really low OG from dipping in the top,
weeks later I realised as I went back thru my brew method that I forgot to stir the fermenter after adding the last lot of cold water.
Variations up and down the mixed wort are really easy to get, and it's too easy to get extract stuck in the tap.

Even dipping in the top, assuming a sanitised hydrometer, can be difficult as you can't get a decent line of sight to the hydrometer scale and there's usually lots of floating bubbles and froth.

If you want a truly accurate OG get a wine thief and siphon a sample from the middle of the wort, measure and discard it.

But remember it's a HOBBY, have fun and enjoy drinking the results. It can be just as good to estimate
the OG from the ingredients.

I use the dip in the top method with a hydrometer washed three times in boiling water.
But remember the plastic measuring tubes don't take kindly to boiling water, whoops new tube needed!

 

[brettprevans]

to get a higher gravity you just need a more concentrated mix. so either less water or more ingredients. or both.

Robbo's advice re hydro samples is good.

 

[thanme]

Cool yeah, I guess I won't take the OG reading as gospel then Just a good measure to see how close it is to the estimate.

Well, got home this evening and the airlock was bubbling way. Seems I did something right
Thanks again for the help!