Oops, too much water... options?

[oxfordhurricane]

First time posting. I live overseas in a place with no home brew supply stores and with a 3 week delay for ordering from the States. I wonder if you guys could help me figure out how to solve my problem with what I have on hand.

I was adding water to 5 gallons to a red IPA partial mash kit from Austin Homebrew Supply kit when I was distracted by something and overfilled it by somewhere around a half-gallon. (I was filling it out of a distiller unit which is very slow, and I walked away from it for too long.) The kit's OG is supposed to be around 1.059, but mine came out 1.046. I wanted this beer to be a tad on the strong side, but it looks like now it's going to be below 5%. I went ahead and pitched it. The fermentation's just died down, and am planning on dryhopping tomorrow. But I'm still thinking I'd like to add some sugars to up the alcohol content. Is this a good idea, and if so, what should I use?

I have:

a. 1lb of 2 row caramel malt 60L that is like 3 years old, but sitting in a closet unmilled in a sealed bag and seems no different than when I bought it.

b. several pounds of corn sugar, also on the old side, but again, sealed and appears fine.

c. Plenty of local options for refined, brown, or rock sugars.

Should I add sugars, and if so, what would you do?

Thanks a million

 

[wilserbrewer]

While you could add some sugar, that will dry or perhaps thin it out further with the only benefit of upping the ABV. While not a great idea IMHO, the time to do that was back when the yeast was still active, now that fermentation is over, I think I would let it be, drink and enjoy. Trying to boost the beer now will do more harm than good IMHO.

You missed an IPA, so you are left with a pale ale
Live learn and enjoy.

edit....you seem determined to do this, and with the nearest LHBS 3 weeks away...so if you want to sacrifice flavor and balance for more alcohol....go ahead and dump a pound or two of corn sugar in your fermenter and report back....it's only beer

 

[swerner]

I'd leave it as is. My bet is, that it'll be pretty damn tasty.

 

[jfk69]

Another vote for leaving it as is. I'm sure it will still be good, and you risk messing it up too much to bother trying to play with it.

 

[krackin]

Leave it be and order up for another batch. Bottle up when ready, condition your batch and try it before brewing the newly arrived supplies. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[flars]

Bottle your Pale Ale, keep it warm for at least three weeks, then chill one for about two to three days, for the first taste and conditioning check.

 

[JohnSand]

I'd leave this one alone too. In the future, keep some extract on hand to adjust your gravities.

 

[oxfordhurricane]

Thanks everybody for your help. My wife is now saying "I told you so." I'll let you all know how my pale ale (session IPA?) works out in a few weeks. Cheers!