My first brew, NB Irish red extract, has been fermenting for about a week. I screwed up in the beginning by aerating before taking a gravity reading so I have no idea what the OG was. I also added 1 lb of “sugar in the raw” to the boil based off of some reviews I read. Add to that the fact that I have 4.5 gallons not the 5 it should be because I failed to top off before I pitched. It smells great but how bad did I possibly mess it up? Do I need to add more water to it? Is there still a way to estimate what the OG could have been?
Thanks for any advice for this first timer. I will be taking it slower next time.
With extract your OG should be close to what is specified in the recipe. Even with aerating I doubt it would make much of a difference.
By only having 4.5g rather than topping up to 5 you will just have a higher OG, which means more alcohol. By adding the sugar you uped the ABV and also dried out the beer. My advice to new brewers is to brew the kits as they are and focus on technique before altering recipes. As a newbie if you alter a recipe and it doesn’t turn out, it is hard to determine if there was a brewing error or if there was an ingredient error.
This batch isn’t messed up at all. Take this as a learning opportunity. The only real difference is that you will have a higher ABV.
The kit list an OG of 1.044.
Being .5g short raises it to around 1.050.
Adding 1lb of sugar brings it up to 1.060.
Let it run it’s course. It will be the best 1st beer you ever make! :cheers:
Thank you for the info. I knew that I should have just followed the kit, I got a ahead of my experience level. Next one will be brewed as per the kit.
I appreciate the stats on what the effects of my changes to the OG. I just aerated the wort to the point it had a lot of froth and got impatient to start the fermentation so I just pitched the yeast. It’s good to know that all is well and I look forward to when it is finished. I have a feeling I should be looking for the next kit as this current batch probably won’t last very long.
Sarge. you are fine! enjoy!
I am from Buffalo. stuck in another no so good state. 
What state are you in now Porter? New York state taxes are so high that I’m surprised that they don’t moniter my lungs so they can tax the air I breath.
Taxes on beer is crazy high(along with everything else), makes me so happy to Know that I get to stick it to the taxman when I brew my own beer. I should keep my mouth shut cuz they might find a way to start taxing that as well. Despite the high taxes I do love the Buffalo area. Great people, Great food, Great sports town and an up and coming beer scene.
Cheers.
It has been bottled. I only managed 43 but that is to be expected with a little over 4 gal in the bucket. I tasted the little bit that was left over and it wasn’t to bad but I’m sure it will improve over time. Over carbonating was a worry of mine even though I didn’t use the entire 5 oz bag. I don’t have a scale so I can’t be sure exactly how much I used. Now on to the next batch and not making the same mistakes twice.
