First of 3 extract kits I’ve had sitting around…

Recipe

Official recipe - I bought this kit from Brew Your Own Beer.

Characteristics

ExpectedActual
OG1.045-1.0491.037
FG1.011-1.015
ABV4.25-4.75%

Fermentation Notes

  • 9/4 Pitched higher than I’d liked, about 80°F.
  • 9/5 Tilt hydrometer reading 1.025 @ 77F
  • 9/6 Tilt hydrometer reading 1.015 @ 77F

Notes

  • Brewed on 2024-09-04

As usual with extract kits, I came in lower than expected for the OG. After reading up on it, it might’ve been that I didn’t mix the top-off water well enough. The heavier, colder wort might’ve sunk to the bottom and the lighter, warmer top-off water might’ve stayed on top.

Reading that, I sanitized a whisk and stirred for a bit which wound up equalizing the temperature a bit (some of the top-off water was hot to try and bring things up from the mid-50s from sitting outside all night). The gravity improved a couple of points, but only about that much (1.035 -> 1.037).

I’ll see how it settles out after fermentation.