Woodforde's nog ABV query

[dolcevita]

I started a kit of Woodforde's nog on 4/10/13, with an OG of 1.042. It's finished brewing now - SG stable at 1.012 and clearing in the FV. Using the calculators, this gives me a final ABV of 4.0%, excluding the bit extra that comes with bottle conditioning.

The kit states that the ABV will be around 4.5%, and the instructions say to bottle once the SG is stable below 1.014. To get to an ABV of 4.5% I would need fermentation to continue until an AG of 1.008 is reached. So my question is this: are kit ABV indications really just a very broad guideline? This is my third successful kit brew so far (I threw out the brewferm kriek - disgusting stuff, even with a whopping ABV) and none of them have come out within 10% of the quoted ABV. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm judging my brews by whether I like the taste of the stuff, not whether it has sufficient alcohol content, but as a newbie I'm curious as to whether I'm doing something wrong or whether I should just go with the flow, enjoy my beer and not worry about the ABV.

For information, these are the stats so far:

Beer kit; Kit guideline ABV; Actual ABV; Difference

Wilko golden ale; 4%; 3.4%; -15%

St Peter's ruby ale; 4.3%; 4.8%; +11.6%

Woodforde's nog; 4.5%; 4.0%; -11%

I've made the nog as a Christmas brew, which is why I was hoping for something a bit stronger, but I suppose I could always just doctor it with some vodka to boost the alcohol content, although that really does feel like cheating.

Any views/comments/tips would be much appreciated!

 

[NickW]

Kits are often over exaggerating their ABV, quickness of fermentation and "ready to drink" times. I would just let it mature and enjoy it :thumb:

Doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong, unless you hadn't sufficiently stirred the wort to get a proper gravity reading..

 

[GavH]

Not forgetting there may be an additional 'ABV uplift' through the addition of sugar for Secondary fermentation. Cooper's state that an additional 0.5% should be added to the OG-FG/7.46 result. That said, I think that's probably a bit over-exaggerated and the realistic figure is more like 0.1-0.2% for a 1/2 tspn per 500ml bottle. Thoughts? :hmm:

 

[RobWalker]

that and you probably havn't quite stirred the extract properly, which messes up your readings....

 

[rpt]

that and you probably havn't quite stirred the extract properly, which messes up your readings....

+1

 

[Stew]

I have just finished fermenting one of these (kegged 13 days ago now) and only manged to get the FG down to 1.014 from an OG of 1.043, so only gives about 3.7%. Not too bothered though as it's a cracking taster :thumb: