Slightly diluted?

[PDevlin75]

Here's a question for ya...

I brewed a pale ale 2 weeks ago. I second guessed the volume and boiled longer than originally planned because I thought I was going to have too much. That turned out to be a poor choice, as I came up 1/2 gallon short of my post-boil volume. However, my OG was higher than expected (1.060 instead of 1.056). So I opted to top off with extra water, and my volume and OG hit their exact numbers!

Today, I racked to 2ndary and took a gravity reading. Beersmith predicted an FG of 1.012, but my hydrometer read 1.008. Now either that means that the yeast attenuated at 85%, OR did that addition of water affect my FG just as it lowered my OG?

Either way, I'm sure this batch will be just fine... I'm merely curious how adding a half of a gallon of water may or may not have affected the batch.

I've done extract brewing in the past, and I'm familiar with topping off, but I'm wondering if I'm watering it down a smidge... Not truly enough to care, but still curious enough to ask.

Thanks!

 

[flars]

The amount of fermentable sugars in the wort at a SG of 1.060 or 1.056, with the top off water, is the same, only the volume is different.

Attenuation percentages given for a yeast are more comparing the potential of different yeasts, rather than determining the final gravity of a wort. There are to many variables in the production of the wort and the fermentation which can affect the FG.

I'll often get better attenuation for most yeasts than shown on the spec sheet.