ABV in range but pre-bottle flavor seems week

[TBeard17]

Hi. I'm on my 3rd batch of extract and am 2 weeks into the fermentation. It is complete and has hit the target ABV of 4.8 - 5%. It's an American Amber, however, it tastes a little weak (flavor). Almost watered down. The other two i've done were an IPA and an Imperial blonde. I know they have a stronger flavor profile but this seems much weaker. I had some issues when i transferred to the fermenter that caused me to lose about a quart of wort.
I'm wondering a few things:

1. Would that quart or so cause it to taste more watered down since i went ahead and topped off to 5g? I didn't think it was that significant of an amount and it still reached the target FG.
2. Would dry hopping for a week add a little more to the profile and get rid of some of the "watered down" taste?
3. Should I be patient, bottle, and hope for the best?

I appreciate any suggestions or guidance.

 

[Hobby brewer]

Did you happen to check your gravity before and after adding water? I'm going to guess your SG suffered.

 

[TBeard17]

I did not. I've only been checking it pre pitch and during fermentation. if SG was impacted, would that not have also impacted the ABV outcome as well? My FG was in range.

 

[Hobby brewer]

Hmm, I nah if it's a pre pitch gravity you used for your calculation then thats what it should be. Only other thing that comes to mind is if the water wasn't stirred in completely and threw your reading off.

 

[TBeard17]

any thoughts on dry hopping for a few days before I bottle?

 

[ncbrewer]

Welcome to HBT.

If you did a 2.5 gallon boil for a 5 gallon batch and lost a quart of that wort, that's 10% of the sugars. That would be a 10% reduction in the ABV (and flavor) if you got the expected attenuation. I wouldn't worry about it - it will just be a little lower than planned, but probably a good beer. But I'm wondering about all the gravity samples. Air in the fermenter could give it some oxidized flavors. I probably wouldn't dry hop at this point just to minimize oxygen exposure, unless you have capability of purging with CO2.

 

[RM-MN]

Your amber is a little darker beer and it will benefit from some time in the bottle to mature. My porters are darker yet and I have learned to expect them to keep improving (sometimes dramatically) for 3 months or more in the bottle, gaining apparent body during that time.

 

[TBeard17]

Thank you for the replies. i've been super focused on keeping this one closed so i don't think oxidation will be an issue. only a couple of readings taking beer through the spigot very slowly. I think it's the issues with losing some of my wort before transfer to the fermenter. Looks like i'll be bottling tonight then. I guess we shall see in a few weeks. Appreciate the help.

 

[jrgtr42]

How much was your top-off compared to wort? If you had, say 2 gallons of wort and topped off with 3 gallons of water, that missing quart could make a big difference. If you just topped off to replace that missing quart, it wouldn't be as big a deal.
It may be that, it may be something else, and it may just be the recipe. You have beer either way, it just might not be as flavorful as you hoped.