Topping Off the Wort

[jwaldman11]

I've got a few successful partial mash batches under my belt now, but I have run into a fairly consistent issue that I wanted some advice on: On two of the three batches, I've ended up with somewhere around 4.5 gallons of wort for fermentation. I didn't want to water down the wort, so I just pitched my yeast and let it ferment for 2-3 weeks, then I siphon into a bottling bucket, add a corn sugar/water solution and carbonate in the bottles for another two weeks. The beers have tasted very good, but they have a tendency to slowly foam up after you open the bottle. If you don't pay attention, it starts spilling over the side, making a mess and, even worse, wasting precious homebrew!

My question is should I top off with distilled water to get to and even 5 gallons (or higher, since I usually take 2-3 hydrometer readings during fermentation) or should I reduce the amount of corn sugar/water solution I'm putting in for bottling? I know that some books recommend topping off, but I don't want to negatively impact the body or flavor of the beer (like I said, I've been happy so far). I don't want to undercarbonate though, so I'm a little concerned about cutting down on the solution. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[unionrdr]

The beers should be in the bottles at least 3 weeks,4 is def better for average gravity ales. & at least a week in the fridge for good head & carbonation. This also gives time for chill haze to settle out. And it also gets that slow foam over to go away. It seems to me that all that co2 in the head space creats a nucleation point for the beer to foam up like it does.

 

[jwaldman11]

The beers should be in the bottles at least 3 weeks,4 is def better for average gravity ales. & at least a week in the fridge for good head & carbonation. This also gives time for chill haze to settle out. And it also gets that slow foam over to go away. It seems to me that all that co2 in the head space creats a nucleation point for the beer to foam up like it does.

That would explain it, as I've been letting the bottles sit for 2-3 weeks and only refrigerating a few days. Thanks for the advice! Just so I'm clear, you're saying I don't need to do anything different as far as topping off worts or changing how much corn sugar solution I put in, correct?

 

[unionrdr]

Yes,you don't need to change any of that. Just do it right the first time,& you won't have to do it again. That was the catch phrase before I retired from Fomoco. The 1-2 week fridge time will make your beers clearer & better head & carbonation,all other things being equal.

 

[TheZymurgist]

Are you hitting the right OGs? If you're coming in too high, then I would say top off. It won't have any detrimental effect on the beer. BTW, you can just use tap water, no need for distilled, no need to boil (I know, SHOCKER! but it works)

If you're coming up only a half gallon short in five gallons, that's just 10% of the total volume, which would mean you'd need to adjust the amount of priming sugar by only 10%, which won't make that much difference. I agree with what unionrdr said about giving the beer time to settle and let the CO2 dissolve into solution.

 

[unionrdr]

I've found through my owen experiments that co2 in the head space,even at cooler temps,doesn't disslove into solution very fast. Hence my 1 to 2 weeks fridge time findings.

 

[jwaldman11]

Great! I'll definitely give it longer in the bottles. I'm actually bottling a Rogue Dead Guy clone tomorrow, so I'll let it sit a minimum of four weeks (three at 70 F and one in the fridge) before even thinking about cracking one open. Thanks for the advice!

 

[unionrdr]

Thaks. Just a lil bit of patient wisdom I've learned over time.