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Kialya

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I picked up and brewed the pumpkin spice porter extract kit. Being new to this I made some mistakes. While I did the brew properly and sanitized everything like crazy, after the brewing, I topped off the 2.5 gallons I brewed with 2.5 gallons but did not account for boil off.
 
So I know I am already too strong. I fermented 3 weeks and sampled the result and it tastes like way too much spices, especially like cloves. Very strong but not in an alcoholic type strong, just too spicy.

Any suggestions?
 
What did you end up with after topping off with 2.5 gallons? Around 4-4.5?

I don't think that would affect the flavor of the spices to much, its only a half a gallon. At 3 weeks its still pretty young, I'd give it some more time and give the spices a chance to mellow a bit. I don't have a ton of experience with spiced beers but I did brew a pumpkin ale kit last year and I remember that somewhere around 3 months the spices mellowed out and it hit its peak.
 
Did you by chance do the Brewers Best kit? If so, the spices are strong and mellow with time. I have only tried one at one week of bottle conditioning to see if it was carbing, it was. I decided that I would let just sit for about another month before trying it again. I did a search after I brewed it and found that many had the same experience and let it go or used less of the spice pack.
 
When you said that you fermented it three weeks and then tasted it, did you mean you hadn't or haven't bottled it yet? If you haven't bottled, you could add water at bottling.
If you meant that you tasted it after 3 weeks in the bottles, then there is still a lot of time for this beer to improve. Patience is the hardest but most important part of this hobby.
 
It will mellow with time. I tried two yesterday that have been in the bottle for 4 weeks. Much better at 4 weeks. Did you hit your OG and FG?
 
I have had luck adding water afterwards - boil it for minimum 10 minutes to sterilize and evaporate chlorines etc... let cool to room temperature, and dump it right into primary...

someone on here built a calculator to calculate how much water to add based on a desired FG... you'd have to search a bit to find it..
 
As far as water with all the BB kits that I have done, my boil has been 2.5 gal then cool the wort then top off to 5 gal with spring water. I have hit OG and FG every time.
 
The brew is still in the brewing bucket. I did not take any sample reading before fermentation :eek:
I might do a combination of all this good advice and take a reading of my fermented brew, then top off with boiled water too and let it sit another few weeks. TY again everyone for taking time to reply!
 
You're being overly cautious.
Your not making a test tube baby or refining plutonium here.
Boil some water, top up your batch, if the specific gravity doesn't change over 3 days, bottled it and forget about it for 3 weeks. Then sample and try not to drink it all before it reaches that 2-3 month golden state.
 
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