Adjusting Hydrometer Reading...

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Hooliganism

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I took my initial reading of 1.043 at 118 degrees (F) and recalibrated it to 1.051.

The problem was that I took that measurement when it was at 3 gallons and I added 2 more gallons to the carboy.

Since I don't have a wine thief, is there anyway to recalibrate for the extra 2 gallons on water I added (without awkwardly pouring it out of my glass carboy)?
 
I believe this is the correct calculation.
51(3)=x(5)
153=x(5)
X=30.6.
After dillution your new gravity reading should be roughly around 1.030.
 
I would also add that attempting to accurately adjust a hydrometer reading from 118F down to 60F is asking for trouble. Just leave the sample sitting around for a couple hours until it cools off a bit so you can get a more accurate reading.
 
I bring the wort/beer to 60F, which I think is a good tasting temp anyways. Usually I stick the tube in an ice bath (tall plastic cup filled with water/ice).
 
If you'd topped it off and then measured, all your problems would have been solved. As mentioned above, high-temp gravity readings are notoriously unreliable, but when you get under 100 degrees, temp corrections can be found here: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/hydrometer.html

If you plug your pre-topoff gravity into any brewing software, you can adjust the batch volume to see what it would be like after topoff. For those times you don't want a 1.030 beer, I'd do this so you know how much water to add to hit your target gravity.
 
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