Ugh, stupid mistake.

I racked off an IPA today and noticed I had more beer than I should have. I looked at the primary bucket and realized I had filled it to 6 gallons, not 5 in the primary. There's nothing to be lost it letting it age for a bit and giving it a taste, but I suspect I've got a batch of watery garbage.

Probably not. Maybe a bit lighter in body than you planned, but still beer. What was your OG and SG?

If you had added too much top off water to a 3% mild brown ale, you might end up with something less that stellar. But a little too much added to an IPA...worst case is you end up with a very nice...upper end APA.

ChshreCat said:

Probably not. Maybe a bit lighter in body than you planned, but still beer. What was your OG and SG?

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I stopped measuring years ago when I realized I was never going to change anything based on the results.

ChshreCat said:

Probably not. Maybe a bit lighter in body than you planned, but still beer. What was your OG and SG?

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I'll know in a couple of weeks when I keg it.

I'm going to make one of those rolling kegerators this summer.

Wont be THAT big of a difference, I wouldnt worry about it.

Bender said:

I'll know in a couple of weeks when I keg it.

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How are you going to fit 6 gallons of beer into a 5 gallon keg? Maybe you should brew up 4 gallons of something and do a blended batch?

Parker36 said:

How are you going to fit 6 gallons of beer into a 5 gallon keg? Maybe you should brew up 4 gallons of something and do a blended batch?

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I spent the afternoon thinking about what to do with that extra gallon. I may get one of those caps to force carb a soda bottle and put it in a couple of them.

Eis IPA.

Freeze it!

Bender said:

I stopped measuring years ago when I realized I was never going to change anything based on the results.

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That's my thought process. A little bit of a weak argument if something goes wrong.....but none the less get's the job done.

I'd keep a dozen empty bottles nearby with about 1/2 - 3/4 of a teaspoon (around 2.5 grams) of priming sugar in each one and once your keg is full, just transfer the racking hose over and fill them up. Cap them and store them away indefinitely as emergency beers when your kegging pipeline runs dry.

An IPA like that will age nicely and you can compare a bottle conditioned along side your kegged version.

yeah I always keep some bottles around in case I decide I want to bottle a 6 pack or so from each batch...

I also do have a carbonator (I use it to re-carb 2 liter soda water since I use it so rarely) but I have never used it for beer.

Sounds to me like you have to drink that gallon of beer or it'll go to waste. You know what you must do now....

If I have extra, I'll drink a pint flat and use the rest for cooking.

EvilTOJ said:

Sounds to me like you have to drink that gallon of beer or it'll go to waste. You know what you must do now....

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Damned straight. Bender no function beer well without.

So I kegged this today and have enough extra to fill two two liter bottles. It smells and tastes good. Like some suggested, it's not an IPA, but it's a decent ale.