Diluting fermenting beer.

[Roobiedoobiedoo]

So I'm on the 9th day fermentating of a weizenbock. All-grain, 1 gallon, OG 1.088. It really kicked off on day one and now it seems I've lost some volume to krausen and flocculated yeast. It was right up to the full gallon mark when I pitched and now it's a few inches below. Doing 1 gallon batches doesn't leave me much so I was wondering what the consensus is on topping up with water during primary? In such a high gravity beer I think a little dilution might actually help the overall drink-ability. Any thoughts?

 

[Rockn_M]

You can. I've done it. Make sure that you boil and cool your water to the temperature of the fermenting wort. Your FG will probably be a bit lower than anticipated but shouldn't casue any real issues.

 

[MrHadack]

I would wait until the fermentation is complete. That way you can taste a sample, then add some water to the sample, and see if it would dilute it too much. This way you can test a little at a time without running the risk of ruining an entire batch.

 

[Roobiedoobiedoo]

I was planning to use pre-boiled water for this if I did decide to dilute. The sample testing is a good idea too. I've been planning to give it 14 days before I check the gravity, just to make sure it's good and fermented. I'll post the results when I have them. For anyone interested I've got a few threads about this weizenbock.

 

[Roobiedoobiedoo]

I was thinking of adding pomegranate to this beer when I was in the early stages of putting it together. Today I realized I could kill two birds with one stone. I picked up an 8 oz container of pom and a 4.3 oz package of pom arils. I used a funnel and tubing to dump the juice straight into the carboy thru the bung hole (lol) The arils I just spooned in thru the neck of the carboy. I figured the antioxidants in the pomegranate ought to cancel out any oxidation from splashing. I didn't rack to secondary over the fruit because I didn't want to disturb the beer too much, I'm trying to take JZ's advice and stick to primary only.