Zero Percent Alcohol

[kontreren]

I've gotten the same SG reading 3 days in a row and just for kicks measured the alcohol content with an alcohol meter. SG 1.001, Alcohol 0.0%, Temp 19 celcius (think meters are set up for 20 celcius). So what have I done wrong. The recipe/method used is listed in recipes under First Batch thread. Thankx, Soon 2 B Sipping O'Douls.

 

[Dr Vorlauf]

What was the initial reading?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Ignore the alcohol potential scale - it's not really useful when brewing beer, though it can be useful when measuring the OG of a wine that is expected to finish at about 1.000. The formula you want is this:

ABV = (OG - FG) x 131

 

[kontreren]

What was the initial reading?

I saw the formula mentioned above somewhere before but I forgot to measure the OG but I don't think it would be real high because no grains used, just malt syrup and other syrup. Oh well one way to find out.

 

[quixotic]

Did you go off a recipe? You can guesstimate your ABV with the estimated OG from the recipe.

 

[bergman1118]

ok.. is this after you have pitched the yeast and fermentation has already gone its course? if so then this is an indication that fermentation is over and your ready to rack to secondary or bottle. i have never used an alcohol meter so i wouldn't be able to help you out there, but your abv is typically determined by a formula that involves using your original gravity (OG) and final gravity (FG).. so unless you know both of those you don't know your abv (unless there is an alternative method of which i am unaware).

if 1.001 was your OG, then it is possible that the sample you took was diluted w/ water and is not accurate. if you used a decent amount of extract (like 6 lbs) in your wort then you definitely are going to make alcoholic beer.

 

[The Pol]

That is the POTENTIAL alcohol scale, it has absolutely no meaning and cannot measure alcohol content. It doesnt measure anything, except sugar, so therefore it does not tell you how much alcohol is IN your beer. If you took an OG you'd have seen that the "potential alcohol" scale would have read between 4-5%... not because there was alcohol in your beer before fermentation, but becasue a hydrometer can read SUGAR only, not alcohol.

 

[Rick500]

I saw the formula mentioned above somewhere before but I forgot to measure the OG but I don't think it would be real high because no grains used, just malt syrup and other syrup. Oh well one way to find out.

Malt syrup and "other" syrup will contribute to OG. The specific gravity is a measurement of the density of the liquid, which goes up when you add syrups. There's nothing about extracting sugars from grains yourself that will do anything different to the OG than malt extract syrup (except that malt extract syrup is highly concentrated).

 

[david_42]

Since you used extracts and syrups, just plug the numbers into The Beer Recipator 2.2

A 1.000 finish means you probably used a fairly high percentage of simple sugars.

 

[bsay]

Liquid/dry malt extract is grain, so when you say you used no grain....you secretly did (even without your knowledge). Malt extract is just that - grain extract, rather even better, it is sugars extracted from grain. Your beer is alcoholic. Don't believe me? Drink 4 or so and see for yourself.

 

[Edcculus]

There is no way you can end up with 0% alcohol. If you used extract (pre-made wort), you WILL have sugars. Water has a SG of around 1.000. If you add extract to water, there is absolutely no way to have a SG reading of 1.000. Therefore, if you added yeast, there is no way to end up with 0% alcohol.

Like others have said, %alcohol is calculated based on the original gravity (before fermentation) and the final gravity (after fermentation). Alcohol has a similar specific gravity to water. Water with stuff dissolved in it (read sugars) has a higer specific gravity. When yeast eat sugars, they convert it to CO2 and alcohol. The more the yeast eat, the more the specific gravity will drop. If your specific gravity drops from your original reading, you have alcohol. How much all depends on how high the original gravity was, hence the term "high gravity" for beer with a lot of alcohol.

 

[kontreren]

There is no way you can end up with 0% alcohol. ...

That's awesome to hear. So then should malt extract not be cooked at all or be cooked less than regular grains or at lower temps or anything special?

 

[Rick500]

You can boil extract in your wort for as long as you want (usually 60 minutes), but all it really needs is to be boiled long enough to kill any nasties that might be living in it (10 or 15 minutes).

I usually put 25% or so of my total extract volume into the wort at the beginning of the boil, then add the rest 15 minutes before the end of the boil. The late extract addition keeps the wort from becoming as dark as it would if it were all cooked for the entire 60 minute boil. Not a problem for full-volume boils, but if you're only boiling 2 or 3 gallons, you'll notice that the color is darker than it would be if you'd done a full-volume boil. Late extract addition also gets you improved hops utilization.

Read through this site; it'll help you a lot: How to Brew - By John Palmer

 

[hopsalot]

+1 on Yuri

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Read this. Seriously, if you are interested in the hobby it is the best advice I can give.

 

[Moonpile]

Read this. Seriously, if you are interested in the hobby it is the best advice I can give.

+1 to that. Read How to Brew at that link. Read it a few times. Brew again, read it a few more times, lather, rinse, repeat.