Jkali860
Active Member
I am new to home brewing and am having a blast. My third batch (IIPA) is happily fermenting away. I am using extract kits and only doing 1 gallon batches to begin, to make things less complicated to start.
On my last batch I made a few days ago, I added a lot of hops. Due to the hops absorbing a lot of the wort, I ended up with about half of the wort I had expected. The same thing had happened with my first two batches so I added water to reach the 1 Gallon fill line on my carboy. I hadn't noticed a watery taste in my previous two beers, but I feel as if I am watering down my beers. For the 1 gallon batches, I start off with about 1.25-1.5 gallons of water to account for the spent hops and boil off of the water. It seems I have underestimated the amount of water I need to end up with a gallon.
My real question is, is it alright to add water directly or will this water down the final product? Any suggestions?
(My water source is well water as I'm located right on the edge of a state forest. After doing some research I would boil the water to ensure its sanitized, but I've done this to all my batches and haven't had a problem.. yet).
Thanks and Cheers!
On my last batch I made a few days ago, I added a lot of hops. Due to the hops absorbing a lot of the wort, I ended up with about half of the wort I had expected. The same thing had happened with my first two batches so I added water to reach the 1 Gallon fill line on my carboy. I hadn't noticed a watery taste in my previous two beers, but I feel as if I am watering down my beers. For the 1 gallon batches, I start off with about 1.25-1.5 gallons of water to account for the spent hops and boil off of the water. It seems I have underestimated the amount of water I need to end up with a gallon.
My real question is, is it alright to add water directly or will this water down the final product? Any suggestions?
(My water source is well water as I'm located right on the edge of a state forest. After doing some research I would boil the water to ensure its sanitized, but I've done this to all my batches and haven't had a problem.. yet).
Thanks and Cheers!