Adding water to FV to increase volume / lower gravity

[ILMSTMF]

TL;DR version. All grain BIAB. Boiled too hard. OG landed higher than target and volume into FV less than target. Topped up FV with water to reach target volume. Ala "how we do things with extract / partial boil". Good idea?

Detailed version.
1078 actual vs 1065 target
4.75 gallons actual vs 5.5 gallons target

I didn't want to wind up with less beer than the recipe called for. The "damage" (not really) is done. I did add water to FV after the majority of fermentation was done. Added the water at the time of adding the only charge of dry hops. Agitated the FV a few times a day to "mix things up".

The tap water was treated with a sliver of campden. The pitcher the water was poured from was sprayed with Starsan before the water went in. The hops and water were added to FV with CO2 streaming through the lid post. 3 days later, the beer was transferred to keg.

If this was a good idea, should I have added the water sooner? Thanks in advance.

* The finished beer turned out pretty good, BTW. *

 

[Gus_13]

Technically dilution is dilution so what you did was fine. What I've done in the past, and seen others do, is top up after you boil and transfer to the fermenter. Figure out how much you need to dilute to the correct volume and achieve your target gravity. That way you have less worries with any infection. I keep RO water around for this just in case. I believe even some large breweries do it similarly to how you did. Essentially brewing a concentrated beer then diluting it to the desired ABV for consistency.

 

[ILMSTMF]

What I've done in the past, and seen others do, is top up after you boil and transfer to the fermenter.

Because this was the first time I've done this, I didn't even think of it as a possible solution. Transferred from BK to FV, volume too low, and I just shrugged it off. It's happened before! Propane can be a ***** like that.

Anyway, yes. If it happens again, I'll be adding the top up water pre-pitch. It was very awkward pouring water into FV mouth with CO2 streaming.
Thanks!

 

[ba-brewer]

If you did not boil the water or do something to de-oxygenate the water you added oxygen to your fermentor.

I often top up my fermentor to increase volume or lower gravity, but I do it before adding the yeast.

 

[ILMSTMF]

I had thought about boiling the water (and cooling it) before adding... Oh well.

If need arises again for top up, it will be done pre-pitch. Thanks!

 

[tracer bullet]

Seems like you kinda got it figured out. This is a sales pitch to get a refractometer or hydrometer, so you can check where you are at the end of boil and make adjustments then. Sometimes it might be water, sometimes it might even be a little extract to do the opposite.

Keep in mind also that water changes volume with temperature. Roughly speaking / rounding off, 5 gallons at room temp can be 5 and 1/4 at boiling temps. So when you look in your kettle just after the boil to see where you ended up, just remember that it's going to look higher than it will be after it cools.

 

[ILMSTMF]

Keep in mind also that water changes volume with temperature

My BK doesn't have markings. Using a ruler doesn't help much either. Fortunately, my FV has a very useful volume sticker. My efficiency is usually excellent. Gravity always either hits target or exceeds it. So, instead of taking a gravity reading near end of boil, I just chill it and transfer to FV. The volume indicator is well enough to let me know if I'm short.
Great tips, especially the note on oxygenation. Glad I asked, thanks all!

 

[hotbeer]

Is your boil kettle stainless or some other metal? Marking it is easy. 9volt battery, wire, cotton swab, vinegar and salt. Easy peasy to make marks. tape and stencils make it prettier than free hand.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...lume-markings-to-a-kettle-illustrated.463099/
I did this to two of my stock pots I use for mashing and boils and it's proved to be very helpful for eyeballing.

Though I weigh everything too. Water is 8.3 pounds per gallon. 1 fl oz is not equal to 1 oz. 1 fl oz of water is 1.0413 ounces.

Weighing your grains after the mash and stuff left in your fermenter let you really zero in on things like water lost to grain absorption or beer thrown out with trub.

Though only if you knew the dry weights before hand.

 

[tracer bullet]

Using a ruler doesn't help much either.

Well - up to you if you care. If not, honestly, that's cool.

If you do then - I'm sure we can help w/ the ruler. It should work quite well and easily.

I marked my kettle w/ a Dremel cut-off wheel, lightly nicked it at each gallon and then guesstimated the 1/2 and 1/4 gallons. I can eyeball the 1/8's. It ain't pretty but it doesn't need to be, it's a boil kettle.

 

[bwible]

I’ve heard of some people marking their long brewing spoons with volume marks and using that.

When I top off I’ve taken to using bottled water or distilled water.

 

[superiorsat]

If I add water post fermentation I boil and cool to remove oxygen. If I add at knock out I usually have a partially full HLT that I keep at 207 degrees to use for clean up, but I'll just pull some out of there. I have my markings on my mash paddle and check boil levels periodically to see if I will end up on target.

 

[Jim R]

My boil kettle has markings for volume but they aren't very accurate. I made myself a ruler with an aluminum rod that I marked at each 1/2 gal level. It is very accurate and more accurate than the kettle markings. There is no reason that a ruler can't work very well if you make it carefully.

 

[ILMSTMF]

If you do then - I'm sure we can help w/ the ruler. It should work quite well and easily.

Oh, I've got a ruler on hand with gallon markings on it (Sharpie). The trouble is that it's kind of tricky for me to see where the wort is landing on the ruler.

I’ve heard of some people marking their long brewing spoons with volume marks and using that.

Yup, I have done that too. Actually much easier to read than the ruler!
...except I usually forget to take it out on brew day. I've traded that spoon for a whisk. :-D

 

[Protos]

I add bottled water every time after racking chilled wort to fermenter. Sealed bottled water is clean, sanitary (UV-disinfected in bottles) and is naturally oxygenated, which is good at this stage. If I added it post-fermentation, I'd have additional hassle of deoxygenating it by boiling.
My fermenter is not totally transparent but the level of liquid is somewhat visible from out side. What I did was adding measured amounts of water to the fermenter and marking the levels on the outer side. Now I have a graduated fermenter, no problems to measure water additions.

 

[Miraculix]

If adding it that late, adding some additional sugar would solve the oxygen problem. Doesn't have to be much, just enough to keep the yeast going for a bit longer.

 

[Ninoid]

Adding a liter or two of water at the end of boil is not a problem. If there is a concern with the fall of ABV, you can always add some simple sugar.

 

[AlexKay]

If your water is deaerated and microbiologically pristine, you can add it at any point, even after fermentation is done. This is in fact what most big producers do: your can of Coors Light probably started life as 15+ Plato wort, and was watered down right before canning.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

FWIW: 'color dilution' for a concentrated boil has appeared in a couple of topics (over the last couple of years) over in /r/homebrewing. "Cliff notes": the outcome was slight darker than expected.

'top off' water additions don't appear to have a meaningful impact on color.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

I would avoid adding it after fermentation is done or substantially complete, although I'm sure you can get away with it most of the time if you do the things mentioned.

I top off every all-grain batch I do, right after flame-out. The reason is I boil in a 6 gallon kettle on stove-top, and my batch target(end of boil) is usually 4.25-5 depending on the beer and what numbers I want to hit. I'm always below 4.25 at the end of boil so I top off up to my target with RO water. I don't think there's any ill effects doing that although it seems like it raises my ph a tad, which I try to account for with acid additions in the boil. I guess hop AA utilization in the boil will be slightly different than the software since doesn't know I have less volume during boil.