Overshot OG

Brewed my second all grain batch last night and overshot the OG a little. I was .002 under the target gravity and a gallon short pre-boil. When I finished the boil I had a gravity of 1.070 when I was shooting for 1.056. I was also 1/2 gallon below my target volume. My first all grain batch was almost directly on the money with both volume and gravity.

Should I add water to dilute it down closer to my target gravity? Or should I just ride it out and see what happens?

I would just let it be. I found when I tried to add some water it messes up the gravity measurement because you really have to mix it well. A half gallon short isn't that bad.

I would top it off. Some styles are okay at a higher gravity, others don't do so well.

70 vs 56 is a pretty big difference. I would certainly consider topping it off, but more important, I would try to try to correct the reason for the difference.
If you ended up 1/2g short, I'd concentrate first on getting the right volume.
Consistency makes brewing so much easier.

-a.

david_42 said:

I would top it off. Some styles are okay at a higher gravity, others don't do so well.

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I would too. Actually, adding 1/2 gallon of water would probably mean that you hit your OG much more closely. If you have 4.5 gallons in the fermenter, adding .5 gallons of water would equal an OG of 1.063. You might want to add a whole gallon to get you to 1.057.

ajf said:

70 vs 56 is a pretty big difference. I would certainly consider topping it off, but more important, I would try to try to correct the reason for the difference.
If you ended up 1/2g short, I'd concentrate first on getting the right volume.
Consistency makes brewing so much easier.

-a.

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Based on the amount of water still in the MLT when I was cleaning up I'm pretty sure I rushed my sparge. Guessing the pumpkin slowed it down and I was impatient. The first time AG batch was dead on all my numbers. Guess we'll have to see how the next one goes.

Should I add the water to lower the OG while it is still fermenting? Or should I wait until I either transfter to secondary or bottle? I haven't decided if I'm going to secondary or just leave it in the primary for an extended period.

jesutton3 said:

Should I add the water to lower the OG while it is still fermenting? Or should I wait until I either transfter to secondary or bottle? I haven't decided if I'm going to secondary or just leave it in the primary for an extended period.

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I'd add it sooner. I would have done it right after making the wort. When you pitch the yeast into a higher gravity wort, it can stress the yeast a bit. If it's fermenting, though, you don't have to worry about that.