Another beginner error- underfilled fermenter

CornyKegs 728
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kramer

kramer

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so, my bucket is 6.5 gallons; but, it has no mark or line for the 5 gallon mark. When I filled it with wort and topped off with water, I thought I had it about right. Well, I just pulled the lid to drop a thermometer in there (sanitized), and noticed that there is NO way it's at the 5 gallon mark. It's maybe 4. So my question is- can I just add a gallon or so of 70 degree water to the wort and think no more about it.......or? It's been fermenting for about 4 days so far.
 
I would leave it. You could boil some water, cool it and top off, but if you are going to be messing with your gravity... Plus introducing the possibility of infection (not likely, but it's a possibility)...

No reason to mess with it now, just remember next time ;-) :mug:
 
Just leave it, dont worry i over filled my first batch.....I think of it has a leaning experiance, and trust me ya wont do it a second time...you will be fine, it will still be great:)
 
you should never top off after fermentation starts. before, fine. during or after, no. it'll be stronger, and you'll just have to tolerate that ;) :eek: or something like that
 
lumpher said:
you should never top off after fermentation starts. before, fine. during or after, no. it'll be stronger, and you'll just have to tolerate that ;) :eek: or something like that
Click to expand...

Why is that? That doesn't make much sense. If the beer is too strong and won't be good, why not add water? I don't get that. You don't want to oxygenate the beer once fermentation is underway, but gently adding some water (especially if the water was distilled or pre-boiled) shouldn't harm anything.

But if it were me, and I was unsure about topping off, I wouldn't just add more water without knowing how much to add. Did you take an OG with your hydrometer? If you did, and it's close to what the kit said it would be, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
I made the same mistake. It tasted fine afterwards, just stronger and darker than expected. In fact it was my best brew so far, although that's not saying much.
 
Yooper said:
Why is that? That doesn't make much sense. If the beer is too strong and won't be good, why not add water? I don't get that. You don't want to oxygenate the beer once fermentation is underway, but gently adding some water (especially if the water was distilled or pre-boiled) shouldn't harm anything.

But if it were me, and I was unsure about topping off, I wouldn't just add more water without knowing how much to add. Did you take an OG with your hydrometer? If you did, and it's close to what the kit said it would be, I wouldn't worry about it.
Click to expand...

Yea, I did check the SG right at the beginning. I think it was 1.058....but, I also think i was worried about contaminating it....so it could be off by a couple points. Seems a bit high?

So I'm confused- why would adding some distilled 70 degree (f) water do anything other than change the SG? I mean, I don't really care. If I only end up with x number of bottles of beer instead of y bottles.....no big whoop. If it tastes too strong or bad, that's a different story.
 
codyjp said:
I just boiled more water with my priming sugar. Seemed to work fine.
Click to expand...

Good call Cody. Not sure why I didn't think of that (maybe because I've never brewed before). I'll just add a good gallon or so with the priming sugar at bottling.
 
kramer said:
Good call Cody. Not sure why I didn't think of that (maybe because I've never brewed before). I'll just add a good gallon or so with the priming sugar at bottling.
Click to expand...

i did the exact same thign with my first batch.
first underfilled and boiled some extra water with priming sugar.
came out great!
 
Either way, same thing. Water with priming sugar or now. The only down side would be to end up with a sweet malty beer if you're under by a significant amount of water. dry hop it in the secondary either way, and it will taste better.
 
kramer said:
Yea, I did check the SG right at the beginning. I think it was 1.058....but, I also think i was worried about contaminating it....so it could be off by a couple points. Seems a bit high?

So I'm confused- why would adding some distilled 70 degree (f) water do anything other than change the SG? I mean, I don't really care. If I only end up with x number of bottles of beer instead of y bottles.....no big whoop. If it tastes too strong or bad, that's a different story.
Click to expand...

As Yooper said. A gentle add won't introduce more oxygen to the wort but a vigerous one will. Once about 12 hours have past you want to avoid adding more o2 to most ferments. High gravity beers and meads come to mind as possible exceptions to that general rule.

Better to go with a larger volume at bottling for the sugar solution
 

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