Darkness during 1st stage fermentation?

Rorie

Hi folks,

I have just mixed my beer and i have it in a nice warm room. My question is, do i cover the bucket to block out light? I saw one video where the guy covered his in bin liners, but no instructions say to do this.

Also, i took a SG reading and it was around 1.035. What should it be at this stage?
Its the Woodfordes NOG kit by the way!

Thanks!

HBO_Staff

Most people do not go to the length of covering the vessel to block out UV light, however it wont do any harm, and you should try to brew away from strong UV light. The finished beer especially should be stored away from UV light if posisble to avoid it developing any slight off flavours. The Norfolk Nog will finish off around 4.5% in strength, the reading you get will vary and depends on the temperature and how well dissolved all the malt extract is etc, as a rough guide they will often start around 1040 and finish around 1014, the priming sugar will then add the last bit of alcohol in the barrel/bottles