Should I Add Water?

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BoxBrewer

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So I brewed an amber ale recipe given to me by a local shop on Friday, which was 2 days ago and all went well, until today I realized when I looked at the ingredient sheet that the recipe was for a 3 gallon batch, but I only made it for 2.5 as I thought that was what the guy at the shop said it was for...

So I'm wondering if I should add half a gallon to the already partially fermented beer? Or should I just leave it? Beersmith puts the OG with 2.5 gallons at 1.059, but with 3 gallons it goes down to 1.049, which seems to be much better. Also the FG changes from 1.018 to 1.015.

Thanks in advance for the advice.
 
I'd leave it alone. Sometimes mistakes turn out very tasty! A little more alcohol is not necessarily a bad thing.
 
do not dilute at this stage. just have yourself a little stronger beer and correct it next time you brew. just remember the difference in volumes and dont necessarily use this as a basis for assessment on this batch.
 
Ok, well sounds like leaving it alone will be ok. Thanks folks. I'll try to remember to post up how it turns out ;)
 
What would be wrong with diluting. Oxidation would be the only real worry. Not disagreeing if there is a real problem but... What is the real problem?
 
oxidation, risk of contamination, and, for me at least, really it's a question of value added. He's going to have a very drinkable beer either way and i just dont see it as a big enough concern to justify the effort of dilution.
 
If you bottle couldn't you just use a half gallon worth of water with your priming sugar when it was time? I'm no pro, so that question mark is more of a question than statement.
 
If you bottle couldn't you just use a half gallon worth of water with your priming sugar when it was time? I'm no pro, so that question mark is more of a question than statement.

I was thinking of this too, but I am no expert either :cross:
 
If you bottle couldn't you just use a half gallon worth of water with your priming sugar when it was time? I'm no pro, so that question mark is more of a question than statement.

I'm in the same boat. I brewed a five gallon batch a week and a half ago, and had more water boil off than I had anticipated. I ended up with exactly 5 gallons in the primary fermenter, and after racking to secondary, I have just a little over 4 gallons. This was supposed to yield 5 gallons, and my OG was 1.063 (the target for the recipe was 1.061).

Would adding more (boiled/cooled) water at bottling time really be a bad idea?
 
In that case I would say you shouldn't add water, since when you made it initially you had 5 gallons. You're going to lose volume to trub and evaporation, I think.
 
To update, this beer isn't very good... It definitely seems a little "strong", and it didn't clear very well... Oh well. I'll let it sit in the bottle for a while to see if it mellows out.
 
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