OG Question - oops content inside

Okay, so I brewed an Oatmeal Stout today. I took my gravity reading as I was putting the beer into secondary because I was quite certain that I had my 5 gallons.

Well, I was about a half gallon short.

Becuase I would rather have a half-gallon more beer than a stronger beer, I topped off to make five gallons. Well, I forgot to do another gravity reading, and I don't want to get back into the fermenter after pitching yeast.

So, can anyone help me with a little equation.

If I have 4.5 gallons of 1.052 wort and I add 0.5 gallons of water, what is my new original gravity for the total volume?

I teach English . . . which means I am clueless when it comes to math

According to ProMash, you'll have a SG of 1.047. I doubt you would be able to taste the difference that much.

You would have (4.5/5)*OG points or 0.9*52, about 1.047

Thanks!!! 1.047 sounds perfect for an Oat Stout - I tend to drink them like a session beer!!!!

Did you de-oxygenate the water before adding it?

Chairman Cheyco said:

Did you de-oxygenate the water before adding it?

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no

But since I went through steps just minutes prior to that to aerate my wort for the good of the yeast I was about to pitch, I don't really see why that would matter much.

sonvolt said:

no

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Was it unboiled tap water or bottled water? If you boiled it, you DID remove the O2. Anwyay..... next comment....

sonvolt said:

But since I went through steps just minutes prior to that to aerate my wort for the good of the yeast I was about to pitch, I don't really see why that would matter much.

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you want to aerate before pitching, but not after fermentation has taken off. The yeast can only use the O2 during the growth phase. Once they switch from growing to fermenting the O2 is only a hazzard.

However.... you only added 0.5 gallons of water, so it's probably not too big of a deal anyway.

-walker

sonvolt said:

Okay, so I brewed an Oatmeal Stout today. I took my gravity reading as I was putting the beer into secondary because I was quite certain that I had my 5 gallons.

Well, I was about a half gallon short.

Becuase I would rather have a half-gallon more beer than a stronger beer, I topped off to make five gallons. Well, I forgot to do another gravity reading, and I don't want to get back into the fermenter after pitching yeast.

So, can anyone help me with a little equation.

If I have 4.5 gallons of 1.052 wort and I add 0.5 gallons of water, what is my new original gravity for the total volume?

I teach English . . . which means I am clueless when it comes to math

Click to expand...

Just for clarification. You say you were transfering to secondary yet you added water prior to pitching yeast which is primary. Am I reading this wrong because adding top up water to the primary fermentor should cause no problems other than the gravity to be lowered.

good catch, Blender. I apologize for not reading closer.

Now I am confused as to when he added the water, too.

Okay - I siphoned beer from my boil kettle into my primary fermenter - oxygenating like I always do. During the siphon, I filled my hydrometer test tube and did a reading. Reading = 1.052.

Then, I realized from the markings on my fermenter that I needed another half-gallon of water. I topped up with a half-gallon of water pulled from the front door of my refrigerator (goes through a filter). Spare me the whole "You gotta use bottled water" thing because I have been doing it just like this for years and my beer seems to taste just fine.

Then, I pitched my yeast, sealed the bucket, and put the fermenter away.

See . . . I simply forgot to do another gravity reading after adding .5 gals to my fermenter.

ok.. that's easy and no worries to be had about O2. just use the adjusted OG that eviltwin and david gave you.

you just confused us when you said "secondary".

sonvolt said:

Spare me the whole "You gotta use bottled water" thing because I have been doing it just like this for years and my beer seems to taste just fine.

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By the way, I was not going to give you a song-and-dance about bottled water. My point was whether it had been boiled (to remove O2) or not because I tought you added it to the sedondary.

You can use the water out of your toilet if you want. Makes no difference to me.

For some reason I thought you added the water after it had been fermented, then you would need to de-oxygenate the top-up water. In your case, you're totally fine! My bad.