Made a measurement mistake. Is my first batch of beer ruined?

[Gnarbacon]

Hello all. I'm new to the forum and I'm also a first time brewer. I look forward to becoming a part of the brewing community here and learning from you all.

So...my problem. I recently just brewed my very first batch of beer(caribou slobber). My girlfriend bought me the deluxe brewing kit from Northern Brewer for Christmas and that was the beer included(a clone to my all time favorite beer). I took the kit apart to organize and ready all of the components for brew day except for the second carboy, which I left in its box knowing I would not need it for some time. At this point I was completely unaware that the two carboys were different sizes(5 and 6 gallon), assuming both were 5 gallon. So me, being the lazy that person I am, measured the carboy based on the pictures in the instructions. Needless to say, I wound up with only 4 gallons of beer thinking it was 5. It spent one week in the primary fermentor and it's been in the secondary for almost two weeks and I just now noticed the problem. Stupid, I know. I recently had shoulder surgery and I've been on pain meds so I'm blaming my idiotic mistake on that lol. Anyways, is my beer ruined? Can I add a gallon of water at this point to fix it? I would hate to have completely ruined my first batch of beer. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[MyNameIsPaul]

It'll just be stronger, leave it. You made beer, congrats! You'll know better next time, no biggie.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[sfgoat]

It's not ruined at all. I would pull a sample and taste it before I did anything. If you like it as is then keep it as is. If you thinks it's too concentrated or strong then yes you can dilute it with a gallon of water. Just make sure when diluting to not splash it or mix it to vigourously or you might oxygenate the beer, which is bad. However in my experience most are too paranoid about how easily oxygenation can happen.

 

[Gnarbacon]

Thanks, guys. I actually did try a sample the other day when did my final gravity reading and I thought it tasted great. I was just worried if the higher concentrated mixture would effect the bottling and conditioning phase. I guess I'll just have a stronger beer than I intended. Can't be mad about that! Haha

 

[GASoline71]

Funny how most "mistakes" in this hobby can actually turn out great beers. Congrats!

Gary

 

[Chadwick]

Yep, the previous posters are correct. You made beer. Possibly even a better beer than you intended to make. The only sad thing about it is that you don't have as much of it. Still, no worries. It'll taste fine.