ok so i brewed a irish red extract with specialty grains. the fermentation seemed to stop i took a og reading and got about a 1020, is this a good reading i will measure it tomarrow to make sure it is done fermenting. Also as a rookie mistake i forgot to take the reading after i brewed it so i dont really have anything to work from but atleast it smelled good lol.
always get an initial gravity reading!
When was your brewday? I would recommend just leaving it alone for another week or two if you can wait.
Your OG was what the recipe sheet says as long as you used all the extract and have 5 gallons. 1.020 is probably close to FG. Give it a few more days then take another reading. Leave the beer at least 2 weeks in the primary before you bottle it. You don’t want to rush these things. 
yea i figured it might be close to fg. Im gonna give it another 5 days then take one more reading and then move to bottling. Smelled great tasted ok not bad for a first brew im guessing lol. Also lessons have been learned like taking initial og readings among other things of course.
You want a couple of consistent FG readings to verify that fermentation is done. From personal experience bottle bombs are cool but, “You could put your eye out”. Sorry I couldn’t resist.
if its the NB red extract mine went down to 1.012FG in one week.
yea its the nb irish red kit. Its been about 9 days im gonna give it another 5, then start getting my fg readings just to make sure. Id rather not have any beer bombs even though blowing stuff up is awesome and that is my job id rather it not happen in my room lol.
/slash/get a shard of bottle shrapnel in your jugular.
hey kl smith. i also have an irish red ale fermenting atm, and i was wondering if you have tasted it at all? i tasted mine and it is very good but mine is also fairly sour after 16 days fermenting. kind of wondering if its a normal amount of sour for being so young yet or if that’s just how it is.
i pulled a similar move on my og readings though so i couldn’t do much more than tell you what i have now if you want.
[quote=“carbonzx”]hey kl smith. i also have an irish red ale fermenting atm, and i was wondering if you have tasted it at all? i tasted mine and it is very good but mine is also fairly sour after 16 days fermenting. kind of wondering if its a normal amount of sour for being so young yet or if that’s just how it is.
i pulled a similar move on my og readings though so i couldn’t do much more than tell you what i have now if you want.[/quote]
I brewed mine for a wedding back this summer it was a hit. kegged it in 12 days and 3 days later we were drinking it. There shouldn’t be a sour taste. If there is a sour taste I would think that there’s some type of infection
When i say sour i mean like ipa sour, maybe the word i should have used was bitter?
yeah forgot to do the OG reading in mine also, after I pitched the yeast I was like OH SNAP I FORGOT! So I didn’t wanna risk doing a gravity test and taking the yeast out at the same time. Mine’s been in for 9 days. I think I’ll bottle at 3 weeks.
Yes that would be the word 
hey whats up guys. Yea i tasted it couldnt resist but it wasnt sour.I think ill be bottling it sometime next week pending on if the fg is consistent. Im trying not to rush it but also trying to free up my fermenter for my irish stout im gonna brew and let sit until march. And also brewing up a wheat/slash lime concoction ive been dreaming up ill let ya know how the red turns out befor i bottle it ill give it another taste sampling muahahaha.
I disagree. Special roast can totally give a sour flavor. Hell it’s in the description.
[quote]
50° L. Contributes deep golden to brown color and toasty, biscuity, sour, and tangy flavors.[/quote][/quote]
It might say that in the description but I dont see .25oz of steeping grains ever adding a Sour taste. If you read the desciption of the beer there is no sour taste.
I have brewed this recipe multipule times with no sour taste Though I havent brewed it since last summer.
Mine wasn’t sour either but came out a bit sweet. After 4 weeks in the bottle its just right though.
