Yet another dumb top-off water question

[Mermaid]

Broke in my new 36 qt kettle and patio burner yeterday.

It was insanely windy and had trouble regulating the flame, so it boiled like crazy.

Started with 6.5 gallons. Ended up with about 4.5 of wort. Took OG readings and they were WAY over what I was expecting (1.09 vs. 1.055).

Topped off with 3/4 gallons of bottled water Took another reading and it was 1.06.

1. How did I manage to create the monster wort? (it was an AG batch, 10lbs. of Belg Pils, .65 lbs. of Crystal 60L mashed overnight at 150F)

2. How badly did I screw up my beer by topping off with water?

Using Wyeast 3787 yeast.

 

[david_42]

1. I'd guess an error in your first reading, because the dilution ratio doesn't work out. Was the wort warm for the first test?

2. I doubt you'll have any problem, but I'd boil any top up water in the future.

 

[arch1tect]

I don't think you can pull 1.090+ with that little bit of grain but to reach something that high you'd need to have 95% eff for a 4 gallon batch. to reach into that range. Even at a 5.5 gallon setup you may be above 1.050 for 80%. Also 3/4 of a gallon would net you about 1.077.

Have you done a reading of your water? What temp are you doing your readings at?

 

[Mermaid]

Wort was cooled to 70F. I was pretty shocked it was as high as it was.

I mashed overnight, and used the 5.2 pH stabilizer powder for the first time (1 tbsp per 5 ga). My tap water is pretty awful for brewing, 9.2 out of the tap and loaded with chloramines (I also use campden tabs for that).

Batch sparged, collected a total of (again) what I thought was almost 7 gallons. I just boiled off way more than I thought I would.

Thanks for the feedback guys - I will just RDWHAHB and see what happens. I'll take a reading after a week and see what it's doing. At this point there's nothing I can do except wait.

 

[Alellujah]

I have a thing about starting new threads, so I'm "hijacking" this one . This issue is very similar to mine, but I haven't added any water YET.

I made a barleywine last night that came out to 1.124, but only about 4 gallons of wort (with a layer of trub on the bottom). I've already pitched and fermentation looks strong and healthy.

That OG is way higher than what I wanted, and volume is about a gallon and 1/2 shy. So the question is, is it too late to top up with a gallon and 1/2 of boiled and cooled water? I know all my readings will be off, but I just want more volume at a lower OG.

Thanks in advance!