Rackerman
Well-Known Member
I've read in a couple different sources you should add water to the carboy once you've completed the boil, crashed the temp and transferred to the carboy. I've only done three all-grain brews (and three brews ever) and I'm pretty inefficient with the boil; I'm basically ending up with 2.5-3.5 gallons by the time the beer ends up in the carboy. What am I doing wrong to end up with so little liquid - if anything? Can I make up for it by doing what I've done for the last 2 batches - add water to the carboy to get to 5 gallons? Should I be adding water to the boil kettle, pre-boil instead? Should I not be adding water at all?
As an example - I brewed 5 weeks ago a Dunkle with Champaigne yeast WLP715 (Dunkle-Barley Wine sounded like a good idea at the time). I ended up with about 3 gallons of liquid in the carboy. I added approx 2 gallons of water and have kept it heated at 70 since. The yeast activated in the first 24 hours. 5 weeks into it I'm not getting a gravity reading and it tastes like watery formaldehyde - but smells like booze... maybe my hydrometer is broken... Did I destroy it by adding water?
As an example - I brewed 5 weeks ago a Dunkle with Champaigne yeast WLP715 (Dunkle-Barley Wine sounded like a good idea at the time). I ended up with about 3 gallons of liquid in the carboy. I added approx 2 gallons of water and have kept it heated at 70 since. The yeast activated in the first 24 hours. 5 weeks into it I'm not getting a gravity reading and it tastes like watery formaldehyde - but smells like booze... maybe my hydrometer is broken... Did I destroy it by adding water?