Beer alcohol percent

kevc2

I just worked out that my first batch of coopers will turn out at 3.8%, is this normal for coopers? Also how would I make sure that the next batch is around 4.5% - 5%?

Does the amount of water affect the alcohol percentage, is the yeast or a combination?

Thanks

BeerNut

kevc2 wrote: »

Does the amount of water affect the alcohol percentage

Yes: the more dilute the beer is, the weaker it'll be.

With any of those Cooper's kits, the contents of the can plus a kilo of spraymalt made up to 20L should give you a starting gravity of about 1.047, so finishing around the 4.5% ABV mark. More than 20L will give you weaker beer, and less will make it stronger.

That said, I do think a lot of kit brewers don't stir the mix enough when topping up with water so the malt sinks to the bottom giving a low misreading of the gravity.

kevc2

BeerNut wrote: »

Yes: the more dilute the beer is, the weaker it'll be.

With any of those Cooper's kits, the contents of the can plus a kilo of spraymalt made up to 20L should give you a starting gravity of about 1.047, so finishing around the 4.5% ABV mark. More than 20L will give you weaker beer, and less will make it stronger.

That said, I do think a lot of kit brewers don't stir the mix enough when topping up with water so the malt sinks to the bottom giving a low misreading of the gravity.

Thanks a lot for clearing that up, I followed the instructions and ended up with 1.038 starting gravity. I stirred it like mad when I was making it. Anyway I will learn for the next one, thanks for the help!

Tube

1.038 is on the low side, so chances are goo was stuck to the bottom. If you stir the bejaysus out of it after it appears to be done fermenting it will probably take off again. At least that's been my experience.

eurofoxy

i dont think you should stir once fermentation has started as you will be adding more oxygen to the mix which from memory will give off flavours..

if you do need to stir during fermentation to re-start it or whatever give it a gentle stir but try not to sloosh it about too much...

i may be wrong here but not 100% as only on my 3rd batch...

ian_m

I had a similar scenario to you.

If you got a Coopers Kit then chances are you got Brew Enhancer 1 with it. In that case your readings likey to be correct.

I don't know about stirring it up once things have settled down. You will only have to wait longer for it to clear again and you might not want to do that seen as how its your first brew. It probably won't do any harm but you run the risk of contamination.

Bottle up what you have and consider changing your ingredients next time. Maybe add some Brewing Sugar along with the Brew Enhancer or just use Malt Extract. It will still be grand this time round though.

kevc2

Sorry made a mistake with the calculations, its around 4.6% so all is good

Tube

eurofoxy wrote: »

i dont think you should stir once fermentation has started as you will be adding more oxygen to the mix which from memory will give off flavours..

Any oxygen that may be introduced will be consumed if fermentation hasn't finished.