Took a trip up to Table Top today and picked up a Brewer's Best kit, American Amber. It's already in the fermentor but I'm concerned about my Hydrometer reading. The box said OG is 1.054, and my reading was barely 1.015, is that possible?

 

Not real sure what's going on there. I'll leave this one up to Gunner or AA.

Took a trip up to Table Top today and picked up a Brewer's Best kit, American Amber. It's already in the fermentor but I'm concerned about my Hydrometer reading. The box said OG is 1.054, and my reading was barely 1.015, is that possible?

 

I would open it up and take another reading.If it is still the same I would add some honey or some corn sugar.Then take another reading to make sure it's in the 1.050 range. At 1.015 range there will almost no alcohol.

Agree with AA. Very odd for your OG to be that low.

I'm concerned but I did read some forum info and I think the low reading could have resulted from how I took the reading. During the cooling I added 2.5 gallons to the pale. The wort was initially 2.5 gallons but it lost some water during the boil so I had to top the pale off with some more water. Is it possible that when I took my sample the sugars were below the level of the sample thus resulting in a low reading?

 

Also, this recipe had me add bittering and aroma hops during the process without a muslin bag. When I transferred the wort into the fermentor their was what looked like some fragments of hops that went into the fermentor, will this be a problem?

Possible but I think that is probably not the case. I would take another sample and test again. If you do not want to open it again just wait and see if you get fermentation in the next 24 to 48 hours. If the OG is really that low, I am guessing you will not get a vigorous fermentation if much of one at all. Hop fragments in the primary are not a problem at all. They will settle out with the trub and be fine.

Possible but I think that is probably not the case. I would take another sample and test again. If you do not want to open it again just wait and see if you get fermentation in the next 24 to 48 hours. If the OG is really that low, I am guessing you will not get a vigorous fermentation if much of one at all. Hop fragments in the primary are not a problem at all. They will settle out with the trub and be fine.

 

 

I have a bad feeling, it's been over 24 hours with no air lock activity. What could have went wrong? I followed the directions to a tee.

Do not lose hope yet... It may still respond. What is the temp of the wort? What kind of yeast did you use? With an OG that low my guess is that it got over diluted when you added your water post boil.

Don't know what type of yeast, it's a Brewer's Best, yellow package. I'm getting tons of bubbles now, I'm a bit more positive since seeing that.

 

When you say over diluting, what should one do if it calls for 5 total gallons, should I not fill to the 5 gallon mark?

Good. I would leave it be. The only thing you will not be able to fully determine is an ABV, but you can probably figure that one out by having a few beers. ;-)

 

Best advice I would have is to keep it in the middle of the range of the suggested yeast fermentation temp. That is the temp of the actual wort not the ambient air.

 

Was not claiming that you over diluted, just trying to come up with a possible reason that the OG would be that low with all other things being considered. You should absolutely follow the instructions. Extract brewing is always a little tricky that way because your using a concentrated malt extract and adding water to it. If you are getting a very active fermentation you probably just had a bad measurement and all is good. That airlock popping is music to my ears.

I'm concerned but I did read some forum info and I think the low reading could have resulted from how I took the reading. During the cooling I added 2.5 gallons to the pale. The wort was initially 2.5 gallons but it lost some water during the boil so I had to top the pale off with some more water. Is it possible that when I took my sample the sugars were below the level of the sample thus resulting in a low reading?

 

Also, this recipe had me add bittering and aroma hops during the process without a muslin bag. When I transferred the wort into the fermentor their was what looked like some fragments of hops that went into the fermentor, will this be a problem?

 

I never use a muslin bag so there's no worries there. I throw my hops right into the pot. Then I pour the whole thing through a sanitized mesh sieve when I put it in the fermentor. I have also had several recipes that call for dry hopping in the fermentor.

Once again, no activity in the airlock.

Depending on the temperature of the wort it is possible to get a pretty fast fermentation. Does the airlock have any activity? One bubble per minute? When it was bubbling, how fast?

It bubbled like crazy on Monday, but since then I haven't seen one single bubble. Temp is around 71.

71 is fairly warm so it is possible for the bulk of fermentation to take place in 24-36 hours. It is actually probably still fermenting, but at a much slower pace. I would leave it alone until at least Tuesday and then start taking hydrometer measurements. If you get the same reading Tuesday morning, Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, then taste it. If it is okay then transfer to a secondary for another 10 to 14 days. Then keg it or bottle it. I am really interested to see how it turns out for you NF.

I only have two buckets, if I rack it to my bottling buck for the 2ndary can I just bottle it from the same bucket? If I do so would I just add the priming sugar to that bucket after the 2ndary fermentation and just stir it it prior to the bottling?