English Bitter SNAFU

So over the weekend I popped 2 cherries: My first Partial Mash, and my first Full Boil. I had a nice little recipe for an ESB, everything went well, nice hot boil, good quick chill with my immersion chiller. I must have calibrated my pot volume poorly, because I know I started with 6.5 gallons, based on actual water plus measured first wort and sparge volumes, but when it was all chilled, it looked low by 4 gal. So (stupidly before checking gravity) I added a gallon of water to the kettle and when I transfered to my Ale Pail it measured 6 gallons, not the 5 i thought i topped it off to. I freaked out, but pitched my starter anyway.
After I RDWHAHB I re-calc'ed the recipe in beer smith using my measured OG and volumes and the adjusted gravity and IBU's fit the profile of an English Ordinaty bitter, not the ESB I was trying to make. Not bad since the summer is coming up, probably blessing in disguise. I figure since my snafu was accidentally similar to a partial boil with top-off water, will it really turn out like an ordinary bitter? Or will it have a diluted taste to it?

Well, if the IBUs and the SG ratio (under the OG and FG in Beersmith, just below the recipe) are inline with a bitter, it'll be a bitter! If that's ok, it won't taste diluted.

It should be ok. I target 5.5 gallons even on the kits I purchase even when they call for 5 gallons. I have never noticed a diluted taste to my beers. Enjoy the beer and the learning experience. I sure have had enough of them.


You could have boiled off the gallon of half a gallon of it prior to pitch. It may have darkened your beer some(extract), but you would have had been closer to your target.