Apologies if this is going over well trodden ground but looking to speen up the process of going from newbie to legitimate amateur brewer.
I have done a couple of batches with fresh wort kits/hops (very happy with them) and wanted to do a test comparison for quality against a decent tin with some decent additional ingredients.
I pitched a tin of 'Mangrove Jacks' Belgian Ale 11 days ago (along with 1kg of Brewer's Choice 'UltraBrew' malt and dextrose) and it has been fermenting at circa 22deg to 26deg. Original Gravity was 1.036 and when I racked it, it was at 1.012.
I knew I wasn't going to get a chance to bottle the beer for at least another 2 weeks if I didn't do it last night so I took a punt on bottling it up DESPITE the fact that the airlock was still producing a bubble once every 2 to 5mins.
I am now panicking that I went at this too early and should've let it carry on. The Hydrometer readings suggest alcoholic content is quite low. Have I:
1) Stunted the final alcoholic content of the beer... or does the info above give you enough evidence to conclude that it is simply a low alcohol content brew?
2) Just capped a load of grenades which are going to explode as the primary fermentation was still very much in progress based on the frequency of bubbles being produced?
3) What other things should I look for when trying to judge if it is 'early but ok' or 'too eearly to bottle'?
I normally am happy to wait as long as possible for nature to take its course but I have another, higher quality brew, I want to load into the fermenter!
Thanks in advance to all who provide feedback
I have done a couple of batches with fresh wort kits/hops (very happy with them) and wanted to do a test comparison for quality against a decent tin with some decent additional ingredients.
I pitched a tin of 'Mangrove Jacks' Belgian Ale 11 days ago (along with 1kg of Brewer's Choice 'UltraBrew' malt and dextrose) and it has been fermenting at circa 22deg to 26deg. Original Gravity was 1.036 and when I racked it, it was at 1.012.
I knew I wasn't going to get a chance to bottle the beer for at least another 2 weeks if I didn't do it last night so I took a punt on bottling it up DESPITE the fact that the airlock was still producing a bubble once every 2 to 5mins.
I am now panicking that I went at this too early and should've let it carry on. The Hydrometer readings suggest alcoholic content is quite low. Have I:
1) Stunted the final alcoholic content of the beer... or does the info above give you enough evidence to conclude that it is simply a low alcohol content brew?
2) Just capped a load of grenades which are going to explode as the primary fermentation was still very much in progress based on the frequency of bubbles being produced?
3) What other things should I look for when trying to judge if it is 'early but ok' or 'too eearly to bottle'?
I normally am happy to wait as long as possible for nature to take its course but I have another, higher quality brew, I want to load into the fermenter!
Thanks in advance to all who provide feedback