Too much water in primary- Can I add some DME?

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UKbrewguy

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So I brewed a Harpoon Winter Warmer clone today. Everything went perfectly until I realized that I added too much water to my primary. I now have 23L vice 19L that I was supposed to have. My target OG was 1.056 but it came out as 1.042. I pitched the yeast a few hours ago and fermentation has not started yet. Should I add some DME boiled in water to bring up the final ABV or just let it ferment and attempt to enjoy a watered down beer? Thanks!
 
i would relax, not worry, have a home brew, and mostly leave it alone.

but i'm a newbie looking for any excuse to drink a home brew
 
If you boil up a lb of DME you will get to about 1.050, in the middle so it's completely up to you as to how far you want to go with this. IMO you just leave it alone, enjoy the beer and remember to pay closer attention the next time around:)
 
UKbrewguy said:
So #1 DME + 1 cup water pitched directly into fermenter? Will that alter flavor, etc? Thanks!

If you use extra light DME then no on the flavor. 1 cup of water would not be enough for a #1, you just need to use enough to dissolve the DME into a boil.
 
So I brewed some light DME in 3 1/2 cups water, which dissolved without issue. I added 1/2 oz leaf hops to the wort and let it boil for 15 min or so. After cooling to 65F, I very carefully added it the the primary, re-sanitized the airlock and walked away. The airlock activity before I did this was slowwwwww...to the point that I was concerned that fermentation was slowing before it had ever really begun. After the DME mix was added, fermentation took off as you would expect. I'll let you know how this turns out in a few weeks. Thanks for the advice!!
 
Yup i did the same thing yesterday endud up with a 6 gallon batch instead of 5. Im not worried about it tho im sure it'll be just fine, usually all my batches are like 4 to 41/2 do to trub loss ect.
 
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