The Gravity Of The Situation

[fretlessman71]

My new IPA went from 1.055 to 1.016 in about 5 days. Sound about right?

[Stodbrew]

Sounds just about right to me.

[fretlessman71]

So we're talking what... about 5% alcohol? How do you figure this out again...?

[Stodbrew]

Is that your terminal gravity? I would think it might go down just a little more.

[Stodbrew]

Originally posted by Stodbrew
Is that your terminal gravity? I would think it might go down just a little more.

But then again, maybe not. :D

At those gravities, Your ABV shouldbe around 5.87%. Sound damn good to me.

[fretlessman71]

OK... so assuming it gets to, say, 1.012 or so, what would it be then? Isn't there a calculator somewhere? My hydrometer isn't very helpful...

[fretlessman71]

I went ahead and racked to secondary a little early just to see what would happen (and to get it off the yeast cake; I'm already in tannin trouble). It was still going about 45 seconds between bubbles when I reracked. I bet if I let it sit another 2 weeks and bottle it will be fantastic. Thoughts?

[Stodbrew]

The calculator I just used is at www.probrewer.com. Go to ressources and then tools.

[Stodbrew]

Originally posted by fretlessman71
I went ahead and racked to secondary a little early just to see what would happen (and to get it off the yeast cake; I'm already in tannin trouble). It was still going about 45 seconds between bubbles when I reracked. I bet if I let it sit another 2 weeks and bottle it will be fantastic. Thoughts?


I think that sounds just about right. I can't wait to try some! ;)

[kgaugler]

Ok, 1.055 has an alcohol potential of about 7.4% and 1.012 has a potential of 1.6%. Subtract and you final should be about 5.8%. Sounds reasonable for an IPA to me:p

[kgaugler]

Another good tool for homebrewing is http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator

[MARK123]

Isn't it og minus fg times 131????

[YamahaXS]

Originally posted by MARK123
Isn't it og minus fg times 131????

good enough for me. i usually multiply by 1.25 for some reason....

[kgaugler]

Originally posted by MARK123
Isn't it og minus fg times 131????

That seems to give a pretty good number too. I just use a chart that I have that lists potential alcohol content by brix. Then another chart that gives the equivalent in brix for sg.

[paul84043]

The most commonly accepted calc (here at least) is (OG - FG)x 131 which would work out to just over 5%.

You're okay to rack as asoon as the kreusen has fallen pretty much regardless of bubble activity. A week is usually the perfect amount of time.

[fretlessman71]

I went ahead and racked early, right through the krausen. It had certainly fallen from a previous point, but it was still there. Should I expect any problems?

I went ahead and did this reading somewhere on here that someone was doing a similar thing... if it's you, speak up!

[MARK123]

I had used wyeast for the first time and read about the diacetyl rest thing and got worried and called wyeast. They put me thru to a "brewing tech" he said not to worry about it and rack to second. I picked his brain some more and he Basically said you can tell from the taste if there are any problems. I think you are fine and the secondary will take care of the rest. My local brew shop tells me to rack in 3-4 days regardless so you still have co2 protection....besides you need to revert back to your old quote...Don't worry!!!
Mine was 10 seconds between and he told me to go ahead....Seems like wyeasts opinion is rack after 4 days regardless cuz you have suspended yeast to take care of it.

[fretlessman71]

Great! I think I avoided getting any off flavors by doing this. Now the question is... once the gravity settles down, do I go ahead and bottle or let it age in the 2ndary....? HMMMM... it's nice to have preferential decisions to make instead of the life-and-death variety... guess 3rd time's a charm! :D

[MARK123]

The secondary is for conditioning and clarity. I think it goes...The higher the original gravity, The longer the secondary. At 5%... 2 weeks should be good and then 2-4 weeks in the bottle.

[stronk]

I'm not exactly the most experienced brewer (on my 2nd batch, the 1st one was acceptable), but as far as my first batch went, I didn't need the secondary for clarity. A few teaspoonsful of finings has made the beer totally clear, and I'm ageing it in the keg.

Maybe kegging is a form of racking to secondary, I suppose.