Starting gravity reading

[cask is best]

Hi all.
Got a brew going it's a bitter and i think it's a Hambleton bard. I say i think because our Lass bought it for me from our local home brew store off the bargain shelf. Called the bargain shelf because the the kits have a dent in them or are near their sell by date. This particular one had the label missing and had no instructions apart from what the home brew store owner had a rough label made with basic instructions printed on the can. Any way it says use a Hambleton bard barrel use Hambleton bard sterilising agent etc etc so I'm PRESUMING it's Hambleton bard. Anyway to my question. My starting gravity is 1032 now this does not seem right to me any thoughts guys and girls.

Regards :

 

[RobWalker]

i'm assuming you added brewing sugar if it needed it? was it a dry or liquid kit? I *think* that dry kits don't need extra sugar, but the liquid ones definitely do.

Anyway, if it doesn't, it's just stirring affecting your reading. Sugar will be in there and the yeast will find it so nothing to worry about.

 

[StubbsPKS]

Yea, make sure it's stirred up really well as the sugar should be dispersed evenly to allow for a proper OG reading. You'll also want to make sure it's well stirred as that's the primary way of getting enough oxygen for your yeast into the FV :)

Worst case is that it's actually at 1.032 and you will have a slightly weaker beer. Not a huge deal really, especially for a bargain tin :thumb:

 

[cask is best]

Hi Guys. I just added a bag of tate n Lyle. It was a liquid kit.
I have only bothered doing a O.G once. As long as the finished brew tastes good that's been good enough for me but now i have several brews under my belt i thought i might as well start doing things properly.

I was under the impression that the starting gravity would be around 1047ish so was a bit taken aback when it read 1032. Also is it right i take the reading before i add the yeast too as that's what i did.

Regards.
C.I.B

 

[StubbsPKS]

I always take my OG before the yeast is added as I like to drink the sample and it's much better without a bunch of yeast in it.

Plus, it means ALL the yeast goes into the brew and none into the sample which I don't add back.

 

[cask is best]

Just took a gravity reading as my Hambleton bard bitter is nearing the end of fermentation as the bubbles in the air lock are few and far between. It's been 9 days in the f.v nearly always at around room temp apart from the late evening/silly oclock. It started out at 1032 and now reads 1010 i used the site calculator and it works out at 2.9% . I'm going to take another reading tomorrow and hope the final reading will be around at least 1005 to give me a a.v 3.6%. If the reading i have taken today still remains at 1010 can i make it stronger by adding more sugar. I'll be using ordinary sugar [tate n Lyle white] and if so how much more. I haven't got the instructions at hand at the moment but i think it's around 85g. I'll be barreling on Sunday.
Worst case scinario is if it stays at 2.9% as long as it tastes fine all is not lost. But i like to have around four or five pints on a weekend night and know i have had a drink by feeling relaxed. But don't want to be drinking shandy all weekend.
Thanks.
C.I.B

 

[cask is best]

Barreled the bitter and instead of putting 85g of sugar in i put 100g. Does anyone know how this will effect the bitter ie will it be stronger or too fizzy.