If I was running spacecraft mine would have crashed....

For those space geeks out there: Mars Climate Orbiter

I started my second brew last night but quickly discovered I had made a rather *ahem* basic mistake. While adding the water to the syrup I began to get worried my primary fermenter would not handle the whole 9 liters required. I was already up to 3 liters and the fermenter was looking pretty full....

I'm afraid I was reading the gallon scale on my fermenter instead of the liter scale while adding the water. I stopped where I was and pitched the yeast I had re-hydrating. All in all, I had an additional 3 liters of water in my wort.

Throwing the lid on in disgust, I tried my hardest to shrug my shoulders and say "it's only beer and we'll see what we get".

After a nights sleep I realized a few more things I did wrong as well:
-I forgot to measure the SG before pitching the yeast.
-I didn't check the temperature of the wort before pitching.

This morning the airlock is bubbling away happily though giving me some hope this batch may not be ruined.

This kit was a Brewferm Diablo. I used 500g of Coopers Light unhopped malt extract in lieu of the sugar. I ignored John Palmers heartfelt instructions and also used the yeast on the top of the can. What can I say, the homebrew store lives quite a few miles away.

Is this brew lost? Any suggestions on what I should do with the additional 3 liters of water in the wort?

So, you have 12 liters instead of 9 liters?

That just means you will have a lower body, lower alcohol beer by about 25%.
Brewferm Diablo Lite.

A little demon not the full head honcho himself....

It will be watered down but still drinkable. Write down what you did in case you every need to duplicate it.

I see your problem, it's liters, you will never make good beer using antiquated measurements. Gallons, quarts and ounces is where it's at for making good beer.

I may be not reading it right, but are you saying that you have 9 liters of wort in your fermenter? Most beer kits are 19 liters or 5 gallons, so you either read the scales completely wrong, or you have a half filled fermenter.

A pepsi bottle is 2 liters, so if your fermenter was looking pretty full after 3 liters then you have the tiniest fermenter ever.

The brewferm kits seem to output lower amounts compared to other kits i've been using. The ones i've brewed output 9Liters total.

So, the consensus seems to be "don't worry, it's only beer" and let it come out a bit lighter.

Should I pop the top and take a SG reading today or just leave it be?

I'd leave it be until you think it's all done then take a reading. If it's the same a day or two later then time to rack.
Sounds like you made light beer?
I have the Coopers fermenter so I've been adjusting to the 23L instead of ~19L also.
I think the wort temp. would be the worse mistake but if it's bubbling you didn't kill the yeast so all should be well.
I pitch the coopers dry yeast as well as done a starter a couple times with it. I haven't noticed any difference. Maybe a few hours before it gets going but I'm usually asleep then so I can't tell.
Enjoy!

wildwest450 said:

I see your problem, it's liters, you will never make good beer using antiquated measurements. Gallons, quarts and ounces is where it's at for making good beer.

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Haha yes, Who wants to end up with gross beer such as Orval, Westmalle, Rochefort or any other of the Best beers ever that are not brewed in the US

IrregularPulse said:

Haha yes, Who wants to end up with gross beer such as Orval, Westmalle, Rochefort or any other of the Best beers ever that are not brewed in the US

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All of those are traditionally brewed using classic measurements, not metric (Orval and Rochefort's brewing predates the existence of the metric system by hundreds of years, and Westmalle's been brewing at least since well before Belgium used the metric system).

It's only relatively recently that they've broken with the traditional method in the name of expediency. There's a reason that even in metrified countries you can still get yourself a pint of beer.

(I kid, I kid)