Oopsie! used 6 gallons instead of 5.

[MrMonkey]

It's true.

So I brew a super easy Hefeweisen from the SCBS (Salt City Brew Supply).

Finish it off & notice my starting gravity is only 1.032 (I'll spare you the french word to the right side of that)

I used two 2.5 gallon containers of water & then a 1 gallon, then two 16.9 oz bottles to account for the evaporation. Poured it into my 6.x G carboy.

I wanted to make a lighter beer, but maybe not this light.

Recommendations?



Here's my notes if anybody's interested:

batch 6, Hefeweizen from SCBS. 7# wheat LME, 1 oz Hallertau hops (.75 @ start, .25 @ 30 of 60 min boil).

6:58 pm: start wort chiller direct from boil - just kept it on the stove & started pump.

7:01 pm: 150+F
7:04 pm: 125+F
7:08 - 115F - finished draining sink completely, refilled w/ cold, threw in full tub of ice from my icemaker
7:13 pm 60+ degrees F- Too Cold!

Added 2 16.9 oz bottles of arrow head water, temp strip showed 78+F, pitched yeast dry (poured it into funnel & washed it down with these two bottles).

7:36pm on my dresser w/ blowoff tube. 76F

Awe **** - used 6 gal water - 1.032 FG F**k!

OG was supposed to be 1.050, FG I'm supposed to look for is <correction->1.015 according to the instructions.

 

[MrMonkey]

I have 25# of honey sitting here that I got to make some mead or cyser... no rush there, still reading up on it. I also have a Belgain Wit kit on hand so maybe throw in some LME from that kit?

 

[Walking_Target]

Heh.. get some DME and profit?

 

[Cyclman]

Enjoy your session hefe.

 

[MrMonkey]

Heh.. get some DME and profit?

I'm pretty new.....what's 'profit'?

Enjoy your session hefe.

Do you recommend leaving it as-is?

 

[Cyclman]

Yes, drink it, it will be lighter, but that's not a ridiculously low OG.

 

[fizgig]

He means around 2.5 lbs of dme would get you near your gravity you wanted, boil that in enough water to dissolve it, cool it, add to primary. Maybe add 3lbs to account for the water you have to boil in.

 

[J-Drew]

Well, you could leave it alone and see what happens or try to fix it. If it were me, I'd try to fix it. I'm not sure whether or not you are able to accurately measure your LME, but if you can, your results would be a little more "predictable." If I understand your situation correctly, I would take about 1.75 lb. or so of the LME and boil it in five quarts of water. I'd probably boil it for five to ten minutes after the hot break and then ice bath it until the temperature was where you wanted. Then I would siphon off two gallons of your beer from the carboy. Once that is done, I would pour the new wort into the carboy, cap it, and see what happens.

And before I forget, I just want to point out that I trust you understand the importance of sanitation and will keep that in mind as you start messing with your beer.

Here's some of my reasoning in case it helps you make a decision:
1. Without doing anything, your beer will be "lighter," finish dryer, and probably be more bitter than you intended.
2. Whatever you do, leave the honey alone. (It will ferment out and make your beer dryer still.)
3. Even if you try to fix it, I'm sure the beer probably won't turn out as you intended, but I think it could still be pretty drinkable. Doing what I suggest should put you closer to your targets for OG and FG, which affects the balance of the beer.
4. Adding the wort I suggested without any hops will make the beer less bitter, but I don't think it will be so significant as to "ruin" your beer.
5. I'd sleep a little easier knowing I tried to fix a beer and failed than I would if I let a beer ferment that I didn't expect to turn out very well.

Any which way you go, good luck.

 

[buzbey]

I know its not your question but 76 is pretty warm to have it fermenting at. This will increase ester and phenol production. Pitching at 60 is not to cold. Some people pitch at 60 and let the temp rise up to 65 over the next 12 to 18 hours.

 

[buzbey]

if your og was 1.032 when you used 6 gallons it would only have been 1.038 if it was at five gallons

 

[buzbey]

Awe **** - used 6 gal water - 1.032 FG F**k!

OG was supposed to be 1.050, FG I'm supposed to look for is 1.105 according to the instructions.

Your gravity readings are pretty bizarre are you sure you wrote this correctly?

 

[MrMonkey]

I'm going to leave it alone - in the name of science!! (seems I learn most lessons this way).

I'll just brew my Belgain Wit tomorrow & hopefully pay a little more attention. I also have a Merlot wine kit to do... & 3 batches in bottles )) ...& a little hard cider in a gallon jug in the fridge.

 

[MrMonkey]

Your gravity readings are pretty bizarre are you sure you wrote this correctly?

typo - FG is supposed to be 1.015 (ibu 13, abv 4.5%, yield 5 gallons)

Maybe my next tool will be a hydrometer. I already have one, but it's set up for RO/DI (for my neglected reef aquarium) and doesn't read within expected range.

 

[MrMonkey]

I just racked this into secondary, I read 1.008. It was 1.032 when first brewed 11 days ago.

@ 1.008, it seems it's mostly done fermenting, any reason not to bottle now or within a few days? It tastes OK, maybe a little light, and I think I'm showing 3.131% abv. ----it's low 'cause I used 6 gallons of water instead of 5