Low level in secondary

[Marianne Pankhurst]

I have a low beer level in my secondary because i did not top up after my hop boil. Am i able to add water to the secondary?

 

[Kerrbrewer]

Is this an extract kit brew? Is your final gravity higher than expected? Adding water will lower the gravity.

 

[Marianne Pankhurst]

It is an all grain IPA. I have just racked it to the secondary and it tastes like malt liquor.

 

[Yooper]

What was the OG? And the OG you were planning on?

 

[whiskeyjack]

Racking to secondary with an IPA ? Most recommend skipping a secondary especially for an IPA or APA. Well, several other styles as well but just to keep on track your secondary should be your bottles or keg. The more you rack the more O2 you pick up and that style does not need extended aging. Drink asap

 

[Marianne Pankhurst]

I am following a recipe that has me 1 to 4 weeks primary and 2 to 8 weeks in glass carboy secondary. My gravity at primary was 1.08 and now at secondary is 1.016. The recipe has a original/final gravity : 1.052/1.012.
This is my first homebrew so i am not familiar yet with what is good or bad.

 

[kevin58]

I am following a recipe that has me 1 to 4 weeks primary and 2 to 8 weeks in glass carboy secondary. My gravity at primary was 1.08 and now at secondary is 1.016. The recipe has a original/final gravity : 1.052/1.012.
This is my first homebrew so i am not familiar yet with what is good or bad.

At this point I would just accept what I got and chalk it up to a learning experience.

 

[Kerrbrewer]

Without knowing your process, BIAB, no sparge, batch sparge etc its hard to know exactly what went wrong. Your OG was too high, meaning you had more sugars in solution than expected. Chances are you had a water volume mistake, boil off more than calculated, not enough sparge water etc. Once you learn your system things will come together. Your beer tastes like malt liquor because you abv is around 9% thats heavy duty stuff right there!

 

[IslandLizard]

I am following a recipe that has me 1 to 4 weeks primary and 2 to 8 weeks in glass carboy secondary. My gravity at primary was 1.08 and now at secondary is 1.016. The recipe has a original/final gravity : 1.052/1.012.
This is my first homebrew so i am not familiar yet with what is good or bad.

Start ignoring kit directions, especially where they want you to rack to secondary after xx weeks. Most beer will be fermented out in 2-3 weeks, there is no need for secondaries, they tend to cause problems like oxidation and infection.

Instead of kit directions, read related threads in HomeBrewTalk (HBT) and the (old) online version of Palmer's How to Brew or buy his newest edition.

I would not add water at this point. I'd say that beer you've got there is done, dry hop it for 3-5 days, then cold crash for a 1 or 2 days and bottle. Timing is of the essence with IPAs, the hops fade fast. Drink ASAP.

 

[Miraculix]

I am following a recipe that has me 1 to 4 weeks primary and 2 to 8 weeks in glass carboy secondary. My gravity at primary was 1.08 and now at secondary is 1.016. The recipe has a original/final gravity : 1.052/1.012.
This is my first homebrew so i am not familiar yet with what is good or bad.

Just for the record, it is perfectly fine to thin out wort which has a to high gravity with water, prior to fermentation. So next time, if you do not want a beer this strong, just water the unfermented wort down till you got your desired original gravity. But stir very well in between the measurements, otherwise you might get false readings.

It might even work to water it down after fermentation has finished. Some wheat beer manufacturers in Germany are doing this. Fermenting strong wort to increase ester production and then dilute it after fermentation to hit the desired abv. You might just want to try it if you cannot stand a beer with about 9 abv.

 

[kh54s10]

You also need to concentrate on getting the proper volumes when you brew. It sounds to me like you didn't allow for boil off. (the evaporation of the water during the boil) You do need to account for this or you will have the same problem next time.

 

[marose67]

Only if your FG is higher than expected. I probably wouldn’t. You could dry hop it to offset the malt liquor taste.

 

[IslandLizard]

Let me get back on what I said before about not diluting your stronger than expected beer with water after fermentation to lower the gravity/body/alcohol level. You could do it, but it's not ideal, for a few reasons, it's much better to get correct volumes before boiling, and correct gravity before pitching yeast. So after the boil you can add water to correct for too high gravity.
In this case, to dilute after fermentation you should only add water that contains no oxygen to prevent oxidation of the beer. A jug of distilled or RO water off the shelf from the supermarket would be fine. Do not use fresh RO water from the machine, as it will contain O2 from filling the jug. Or alternatively, boil some tap water for 10 minutes to drive off the O2 and let it cool before adding.

Important:
1. Any water you use in brewing should be free of chlorine or chloramines. Most if not all municipal water contains one or the other. Dissolving and stirring 1/4 Campden tablet in 5 gallons of water will remove them effectively in a few minutes. Jugs of water you buy from the supermarket shelves may contain chlorine for longer shelf life, so check with your nose.

2. Controlling fermentation temps toward the lower range for the yeast you're using is essential to make good beer. The malt liquor flavor you're getting now can be both from the higher alcohol, as well as higher ferm temps, producing fusel (higher) alcohols. So read up on how to control your ferm temps.