Interesting gravity

[shotgunsteve]

I'm somewhat new to brewing, maybe have done 10 wort kits and one grain/extract kit.

This latest kit was a full 23 litre wort (from Paddock Wood brewery in Saskatchewan) of toucan stout. You only have to add yeast and there are no instructions other than OG should be 1.05 - 1.055.

The gravity that I measured was only 1.04 so I boiled 500 grams of DME in about a litre of water, let it cool and added it. The hydrometer smashed before I could take another reading. So I let a pack of wyeast English ale sit for an hour after popping it and added.

The beer fermented for 5 days within the temp range of 19-23. Had a healthy krauzen but never boiled over. When I borrowed a friend's old hydrometer it read 1.01. Can this really be right already? I'm wondering if the hydrometer might be broken....

 

[shotgunsteve]

P.s. we've now racked to secondary too. I'm thinking we should have left in primary

 

[podz]

Beer fermenting down to ten ten in five days is right on track.

 

[mkyl428]

Sounds about right monitor the gravity for a week or so to make sure it's done and bottle er' up!

 

[shotgunsteve]

Great to hear thanks guys for the quick responses! Not having the usual guidelines and also making many past beers that ended above 1.02 had me worried.

What is the most sugar or DME I could safely add at bottling?

 

[mkyl428]

use a priming calculator like this one

 

[shotgunsteve]

The beer has been sitting in the secondary for a week now. After doing some calculations I expect ~5% ABV. I'd like to jack this up further, is it possible to add some sugar to the carboy - say enough to goose it to 6 or 7%? Or is it too late now

 

[rmyurick]

Steve, you could do that (add sugar), but the beer will probably turn out better if you don't. It would add alcohol, but probably detract from the taste, especially for a stout.