A question for the veteran homebrewers

[gbing]

So, my hydrometer has been reading steady for 3 consecutive days and I believe bottling day has arrived ( just in time for St. Patty's Day!)
I lost some wort volume when transferring from the brewpot to primary and again when racking to secondary ( trying to leave as much trub behind as was reasonably possible)
My question is, can I compensate for this lost volume by increasing the volume of my priming solution, or will doing that have an impact on the conditioning process?

 

[wyobrewer1]

Shouldn't be a problem at all.

 

[unionrdr]

I wouldn't add water at this point, it'd thin the beer out. but I do start with 2C of spring water in a small saucepan to boil a couple minutes. Then stir in the weighed amount of priming sugar till the water goes clear again. By that point, it could be more like 1 1/2C. That usually compensates for 2-3 hydrometer samples for me. doesn't change things enough to tell.

 

[philipCT]

You probably don't want to do that. It is likely to mess with the profile of the beer you so carefully brewed.

The losses you incurred are standard brewing losses. The right way to handle this is to note the losses at each step of the process, and correct for it on your next brew by increasing the sweet wort collected.

 

[IslandLizard]

As said before, adding water will only dilute your beer. Usually not good.

Although 3 days of same gravity is a decent time, it is only valid if you're at or near your target FG. For example, bottling a 1.030 would most likely fire back at you.

 

[gbing]

Thanks guys.... once again this forum has pointed me in the right direction! !