Poor mixing and ABV/OG

[Chobby]

Hi all,

Im new to the forums, so sorry if my newbie search terms missed the answer but it's readily available!

A couple of recent brews of mine from kit (Monterey Jack APA and ST peters IPA) had a low original gravity when I first measured them.

After taking some time researching this, I think I should have been more thorough when mixing, which might have been my issue.

My question at the moment, though. Does the poor mixing affect the end ABV as much as my readings imply, or would the end product actually be a higher alcohol than my measurements suggested (i.e. the mixture at the bottom of the bucket is thicker, but will still ferment, meaning the average abv and gravity is higher than my reading)?

Obviously I'll just try to get a better, more even mix in the future - but currently I'm just curious as to whether these brews are actually a little more potent than I initially thought!

 

[Covrich]

If you mixed poorly it would havegiven you a false reading.. They should be there abouts what the kit says the starting gavity is, give or take.

 

[Redwulf]

How many gravity points are you missing? Are you factoring in temperature in the reading?

But yes in theory the fuel is in there for the yeast to convert and the wort isn't exactly static during fermention so if you mixed it per the instructions despite the erroneous reading you should achieve close to the expected abv if you hit the expected F.G at the end of process.

 

[Chobby]

Thanks both.

I've not factored in temperature, typically my beers seem to be at about 26-28c when I take my first reading (just before adding the yeast). My beer seems to sit at around 18c later in the fermentation (when I measure it again).

In my latest brew, it initially seemed likely to be about 1% lower than the intended abv from my measurings - my starting gravity was 1.049, the pack suggests it will be a 5.5% beer and is finished when it's at 1.014.

My expectation would be that I have an original gravity closer to 1.055 or 1.056 to achieve 5.5%.

That's good to know about the mixing and ABV more generally, though. Really appreciate the response!

The good news is that regardless of ABV/false measurements - I've been pleased with the taste of my brews since starting!

 

[Gerryjo]

Seems you haven't mixed correctly assuming the kits are 23l and with a reading of 1.049 @28° adding a correction factor for temperature would leave it at 1.051

 

[Chobby]

That's fantastic to get more clarity and put some numbers to it, thank you!

I'll definitely remember to try a temperature adjustment next time too. Really good to know!