Diluting beer before bottling

[pmaster]

I had a general question about achieving a target gravity for a batch. Let's say you hit an OG of 1.075 instead of 1.065. Could you, at bottling time, use a bit more water with your priming sugar to dilute the wort/beer and have an ABV closer to target? Would taste be somewhat impacted?

 

[BlueHouseBrew]

You can do this. (Indeed, certain very large breweries brew their beer stronger than desired then dilute to package.) There are (at least) a couple things to keep in mind. First, diluting to get to the gravity you want will also dilute the hop character, etc. When done purposefully, the to-be-diluted beer is brewed proportionally stronger in all aspects, not only gravity. So the flavor of the beer may be impacted in that it will have less bitterness and hop character than you were shooting for. Second, it is important to make sure that the water that you add is degassed so that you don't introduce oxygen into the finished beer. Of course, this can be done by simply boiling the water before adding it, which has the added benefit of sanitizing the water.

 

[LBussy]

You could ... provided the water was sterile. It would not be exactly the same as if you had diluted it pre-ferment. The taste would be "different" but it's a crapshoot in what way, except that it would be less strong than it is right now.

 

[lolcats]

I wouldn't do that - You'll screw up your hop profile and flavor

In the future, you should take a pre boil gravity reading and adjust with top off before boiling to hit spot on your target OG

 

[Qhrumphf]

You can do this. (Indeed, certain very large breweries brew their beer stronger than desired then dilute to package.) There are (at least) a couple things to keep in mind. First, diluting to get to the gravity you want will also dilute the hop character, etc. When done purposefully, the to-be-diluted beer is brewed proportionally stronger in all aspects, not only gravity. So the flavor of the beer may be impacted in that it will have less bitterness and hop character than you were shooting for. Second, it is important to make sure that the water that you add is degassed so that you don't introduce oxygen into the finished beer. Of course, this can be done by simply boiling the water before adding it, which has the added benefit of sanitizing the water.

Boiling the water will help reduce the amount of oxygen, and if you intend to drink quickly, that may be good enough (and in the past, that was the method). But modern standards, at least for professionals, require substantially less dissolved O2 in post-fermentation top-off water than can be achieved by boiling alone, and they're instead run through column deaerators.

There's a fair amount about it in Palmer and Kaminksi's "Water" book.

I saw a method used by Tasty McDole that involved pressurizing boiled water in a keg, that while not as good as using an actual dearator, would be better than boiling alone. I don't recall the specifics, but if you search for it it should be easy to find.

 

[CUrchin]

Depending on what it is, I think I'd just bottle it and drink it. I'd rather have strong beer than watery beer. Is it something hoppy or malty? Have you tasted it yet?

 

[LBussy]

Depending on what it is, I think I'd just bottle it and drink it. I'd rather have strong beer than watery beer. Is it something hoppy or malty? Have you tasted it yet?

I think I'm with ya there too ... just because you can do something doesn't make it the best idea.

 

[dokken5]

It would taste like watered down beer. Just make sure that the water is sterile.

 

[pmaster]

Thanks for all the replies. I was actually just asking the question out of curiosity. I do have a batch that I just bottled tonight which was over the target OG, and it got me wondering if that was a technique I might use in the future, if I ever happen to greatly overshoot the OG.

I hadn't thought about the oxygen in the water affecting the beer. I guess I will just make sure to dilute while I'm boiling if I ever need to.

 

[theheroguy]

If you feel the need to dilute it is best to do so before fermentation starts not afterwards.