So you bought yourself a starter kit.
You brewed your first beer and it turned out great.
It's amazing. Friends can't get it enough. They can't stop talking about it but you're not happy.
You're a discerning brewer, and you want to know what can I do to make this beer better.
What is the alcohol content? What is this haze?
What can I do in general to make this beer better? Well, the good thing is that these questions are
all answered pretty simply. [Music Interlude]
Hi I'm Brad with Brewing TV.
And today we're gonna go over the Mad Brewer Upgrade Kits.
It.contains a lot of things here that are gonna help you to improve your brewing and your beer.
One of the most intimidating pieces of brewing equipment to a new brewer is the hydrometer.
But don't be afraid, despite its scientific nature it's not as scary as you might think.
In the most simple terms, a hydrometer measures sugar content.
During the fermentation cycle, yeast consume this sugar to create co2 and alcohol.
If you know how much sugar you have before fermentation begins, and how much remains
an after fermentation is finished, you can calculate the alcohol content of your beer.
In distilled water at 60 degrees Fahrenheit, a hydrometer floating in a sample will give
you a specific gravity reading of one point zero zero zero.
And a potential alcohol reading of zero percent. If you add sugar to water, like when you add malt
extract to your brew, these numbers will increase. Let's say you brew a simple IPA.
If you take a reading of your brew before fermentation, you might see a specific
gravity reading of fifty-four, or one point zero five four, which is also read as 1054.
This is called your original gravity or OG for short.
After fermentation is complete, you take another reading and find your hydrometer is floating at
one point zero one zero, or ten ten. This is your final gravity or FG.
Every specific gravity has a potential alcohol value associated with it.
Placing your thumbnail on your of, and spinning the hydrometer in your hand it gives you a
corresponding potential alcohol of 7%. This number means that if all of the
available sugars in your beer were fermented out completely, you have an alcohol percentage of 7%.
But your beer finished at one point oh one oh, which by turning the hydrometer
you can see has a potential alcohol of approximately one point two five percent.
So 7% minus one point two five percent equals five point seven five percent.
And this is the alcohol percentage of your IPA. To calculate your alcohol percentage directly
from your specific gravity numbers, simply take your original gravity, subtract off
your final gravity, and multiply that by 131. This will give you a calculated alcohol by volume.
The best way to take a sample from your fermenter is with a thief.
First, sanitize and then assemble the three pieces of the thief.
Next, place the narrow end inside your carboy or fermenting bucket until it is
submerged in the liquid. Place your thumb over the
opening to create a seal. Finally, remove your sample
from the carboy and place it in the test jar along with your hydrometer.
Once you're done taking the reading, throw out the sample so you don't risk infecting your brew.
Not only do hydrometers help you figure out your alcohol percentage,
but as you get more experience in brewing they can be a really valuable tool in helping
you diagnose and troubleshoot problems that may arise in any given part of the brewing process.
Along with using blow-off tubing with your carboy,
another great way to prevent a mess during primary fermentation is to use Fermcap.
This anti-foam agent reduces head retention in solutions which can help prevent fermentation from
foaming up and over the top of your carboy. It can also be used during boils to
prevent a boilover - a sticky mess that nobody really wants to deal with.
You only need a few drops per gallon in the boil or during your fermentation.
Once fermentation is complete the Fermcap will settle out onto the bottom of the fermenter.
And will not affect the quality, taste, color, or head retention of your beer.
Haze in a beer can be an aesthetic problem and it can also compromise flavor.
There are several fining agents you can use to turn a beer like this into a beer like this.
First off, there's Whirlfloc tablets. These are essentially a
tabletized version of Irish Moss. And added during the boil these can really help
to significantly cut down on haze in the beer. For best effect, Whirlfloc should be added to your
brew about 15 minutes from the end of the boil. As your brew is cooling, it will work through
particles from suspension, which you will then leave behind when
you transfer into your primary fermenter. If your beer's still hazy after fermentation,
you can add some Biofine Clear. This will really,
really help to clear the solution. You can add about 1/4 teaspoon up
to 2 tablespoons of Biofine a few days before bottling in order to get a bright and shiny beer.
John Palmer's How to Brew is one of the best resources out there.
It'll help brand new brewers and veteran brewers alike.
This book will cover information from never ever having brewed a batch of beer all the way up into
pretty advanced all-grain techniques. I really highly recommend this book.
So at the end of the day, brewing beer is relatively simple.
You're gonna take water, malt, hops, and yeast.
If you add them in the correct way, you could have some pretty awesome beer.
If you don't quite get it right, and you don't treat your fermentation well,
you're still gonna get beer. Probably not gonna want to share
it with a whole lot of people. So do yourself a favor,
get yourself the tools that you're going to need to make great beer every time.
Cheers. [Dramatic band music fades to end]