priming sugar for 1 bottle - Page 2

cweston · 07-26-2006, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Todd

Quick question, I was right at 5 gallons in the primary, I have a feeling I'll be a bit under in the secondary, should I add some water to hit the 5 gallon mark? This is going to be a strong beer so I'm not too worried about watering it down. I can't see it taking more than half gallon to fill.

Generally, no. Five gallons in the primary fermenter will always yield less than 5 gallons at bottling time--it's normal.

If you have a large enough primary fermenter (a 6+ gallon carboy, or a bucket--not a 5 gal carboy), you can adjust your batch size to 5.5 gallons. If you lose a quart at racking and a quart at bottling, you'll be right at 5 gallons in the bottles. And a 5 gal carboy used for secondary will hold more than 5 gallons. (It's OK for the carboy to be very full in secondary, because you don't get active fermentation like you do in the primary.) I suspect most people here do this.

**the_bird** · 07-26-2006, 09:15 PM

I honestly don't think it matters. You probably won't be able to taste much of a difference if you do top it off. There's a slight chance of infection when you add water (you might want to boil the water first). I would probably leave it be, but that's just me; I'd rather have a bigger beer than more of a smaller one.

Todd · 07-26-2006, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_bird

I honestly don't think it matters. You probably won't be able to taste much of a difference if you do top it off. There's a slight chance of infection when you add water (you might want to boil the water first). I would probably leave it be, but that's just me; I'd rather have a bigger beer than more of a smaller one.

Well it is already suppose to be about 8% ABV so it will be plenty big.