Add water after fermentation?

[gonzoflick]

OK so I brewed an American hefe the other day. It was getting dark and when I poured from my kettle into temporary bucket I thought it was to the 5 gallon line. Well I racked to primary and let sit. The next day fermentation was going very well but the water line seemed far lower than my previous brews. Im guess I only got 4.25 gallons of wort into my primary

Question is. Since I dont want to disrupt the yeasties in primary, can I just add some water to the keg and rack my brew on top of it? I will purge with Co2 and shake it up. Has anyone ever done this?

 

[joety]

I've never added that much, but any time I've topped off after fermentation has started I only use boiled water and gently siphoned it in to avoid oxidation. If I'm going to secondary for a longer period of time I prefer to reduce the headspace in the carboy to a minimum.

 

[gonzoflick]

OK so boiled water cooled down and racked into the primary? My OG was a few points high so I know it needs a little more H2O

 

[GloHoppa]

I would say leave it. Water contains a good amount of dissolved oxygen. Your yield will be a little low, but if I were you I would sacrifice a few bottles to guarantee that my beer wouldnt oxidize.

 

[Saccharomyces]

If you bottle you can just boil extra water with your priming sugar and add that to the bottling bucket.

 

[Bert]

I would say leave it. Water contains a good amount of dissolved oxygen. Your yield will be a little low, but if I were you I would sacrifice a few bottles to guarantee that my beer wouldnt oxidize.

Preboiled and cooled water should be fine, though.

 

[menschmaschine]

If you bottle you can just boil extra water with your priming sugar and add that to the bottling bucket.

+1. I've done that a few times with poorly attenuated beers. Remember, you're diluting ABV, IBUs, and SG, so don't over do it. You can use this formula to figure out all three (using whole numbers):

C1V = C2V2

C= Concentration, V = Volume