Add water to the fermenter during the fermentation

[mariano]

My name is Mariano. I am initiating me into the world of beer and then to plan yesterday, I made my first attempt. I had some problems with the densities, times, quantities, etc., the result was that I got a lot less beer than it should have obtained (a little more than half). Now my question is, if the beer has about 12 hours in the fermenter, can I add 1 to 2 liters of extra water now? Is there a problem in doing this? (I have to open the fermenter).

I was looking a little more about the densities, and I'm correcting it, so that I think could have a little more water, and I do not know if it's late.

I appreciate any help.

Regards.

 

[MrHadack]

Hi Mariano,

Yes, you can add water to the fermentor. Just make sure it is purified. You want to be careful that you do not dilute the beer too much, though. Have you taken a OG reading of the beer?

 

[mariano]

Hello,

thank you for the reply. Yes, i did take a OG just after put it in the fermenter, it was about 1033, but, my error in all the process was taking the density, without take in account the temperature, i am learning and correcting now lol. I guess these 1033 were about 1037-1038 doing the correction now with our current temperature. I have now, about 6 and half liters (sorry, i use metrics) of beer in the fermenter. I wanted to add 1 or 2 litters for get a little more, i was supposed to get 12 liters with this process (i got a "kit" of ingredients and some steps), but for take wrong the density (so I thought I had much water, in Brewing i got 1028, but that really was about 1048 correcting now, and added 2 liters of water to the fermenter), a small and unconfy pot (some lost beer in the floor), some lost trying to filter a little, and not much space to work is the ammount of beer I got.

Regards.

 

[MrHadack]

Ok, I understand.

Did your kit tell you what your OG reading should have been if everything worked out correctly?

 

[mariano]

Yes,

it said the OG should be betwen 1030 and 1040 in the Brewing (recomended), but not more. It didn't have some goal more than this. Is not these kind of instant kits or so very detailed thing, but this people sends a bag with malt or malts (depending the kind you buy -in this case was a Pale Ale-), the hop, the yeast and a little paper with the basic steps for make in this example, 12 liters of beer of this kind.

Could i try adding this extra water? Anyway, i don't search perfection right now, this first try is more for learn all this things i am missing for the next time.

Regards.

 

[billl]

If your extract kit called for x liters of beer in the fermenter, you should just add water to get to that point.

Just FYI, OG measurements on extract kits are often unreliable. The concentrated boil doesn't blend well with the topoff water and you'll get different density measurements depending on which area you sample. Fortunately, since there is a known amount of sugar in each kilo of extract, all you have to do is make sure the volumes are correct and you'll automatically get the density correct.

 

[mariano]

Hello bill,

there is a chance i am making a mistake because i am very beginner, english is not my first language but for what i "think" and i did search on google fast, this here is not an extract kit, what i got is just malt (in this case, pilsen), and the sugar depends of the specific malt, the status, and how the water can get it for what i saw. The first step i made was put the malt in water at the correct temperature and keep the temperature and this process for 2 hours, move it, add water, and all this, so the water can take the sugar from the malt.

Please, if i am wrong tell me. Maybe i am confused but i saw there are some kits that yes, is for example a can that you just need to boil and put to the fermenter, idk if you say these ones.

Regards.

 

[billl]

My mistake then. If you started with just the malted grains (not syrup or powders) then there are more variables to worry about. You can still top up with whatever water you want. You'll just need to be able to calculate the density yourself. Personally, I would think a 1.048 pale ale would be just fine, but if you would like a lower alcohol beer, you can always add water to lower that.

Just so you know, those corrections for temperature are not reliable once you get too far from room temperature. If you are using a hydrometer to measure density, you'll want to cool the sample to near room temp before taking a measurement.