Less than 5 gallons in my carboy, Can I add water?

[Bates_Foreman]

So I started with 5 gallons, and I guess after boiling, fermentation etc. I only ended up with about 4 gallons in my carboy. Should i add more water? Can I add more water? I just dry hopped to my secondary 3 days ago. I just dont want the flavors to be too overwhelming since I came up a gallon short.

 

[Nova5]

This late? Dunno. have to shake it good to mix it well.

 

[mikescooling]

If you do it now, it's not going to taste as good (like watery). Keep it the way it is. In a week try 3oz it should taste like yeas and poo, that is normal!! give it another week and it's going to taste like good beer, the 3rd week it will taste like great beer; bottle or keg it.

 

[MrJames]

I would not add water. I have not been brewing long, but I would not add water. I would bottle and not keg. Yes, bottling sucks. But watered down beer is....Coors Light.

 

[granpooba19]

I would not add water. I have not been brewing long, but I would not add water. I would bottle and not keg. Yes, bottling sucks. But watered down beer is....Coors Light.

Why would you bottle it and not keg?

 

[Bates_Foreman]

Do i really need to wait 3 more weeks before I bottle the brew? I keep getting confused by this. Some people say wait a week, some people say 2-3 weeks to a month. I'm brewing an APA. It fermented for a week, then I dry hopped. It's been about 3 days. I don't mind being patient, I just need a straightforward answer! Thanks guys!

 

[mikescooling]

I said 3 weeks, I have spoken!!!!.....JK.. the stronger the beer the longer the wait, by making less beer than intended your ABV% increased. Also if your kit comes with priming sugar don't use all of it, because it's for 5gal.

 

[jonnyp1980]

If fermentation is done and you already dryhopped I wouldn't let go for more than 6 or 7 days. If you leave the dry hops in for too long they produce bad flavors. I normally bottle after 5 days of dryhopping.

 

[Dhruv6911]

Add sterile water pre-fermentation, don't add post-fermentation. The water is not saturated in bitterness profile or fermentables although you would've gotten a better efficiency if you sparged with more water (assuming this was all grain). But adding water before fermentation is fine, it actually will help cool down your wort to ambient temp faster for pitching. Give it a good shake to aerate the added sterile water... it will blend with the wort just fine as soon as the yeast start stirring stuff up.

 

[Nova5]

I would not add water. I have not been brewing long, but I would not add water. I would bottle and not keg. Yes, bottling sucks. But watered down beer is....Coors Light.

Try Mich Ultra.

 

[whoaru99]

Do i really need to wait 3 more weeks before I bottle the brew? I keep getting confused by this. Some people say wait a week, some people say 2-3 weeks to a month. I'm brewing an APA. It fermented for a week, then I dry hopped. It's been about 3 days. I don't mind being patient, I just need a straightforward answer! Thanks guys!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news considering I'm a noob myself, but you're not getting a definitive answer because there isn't one. There are many subjective subjects in this craft.

The barebone, basic bottom line is that you can bottle as soon as fermentation is complete, as evidenced by no further reduction in FG. With subsequent additions like dry hopping the waiting time is, up to a point, how much flavor/aroma do you want to impart from the added process? You could leave it sit a day then bottle, but you're probably not going to get much from the dry hop. See why there is no absolute answer?

My suggestion, if there is indecision based on multiple answers, split the difference then use that experience next time around to factor your longer or shorter decisions.

 

[Yooper]

Normally, you dryhop about 5-10 days before packaging the beer. If you've already dryhopped, you can package when that time is over. You normally add the dryhops about a week before packaging, not when racking if you're going to let it sit for a while.

To see if you should add water, take a little sample of the beer and add 25% water to it. See if it's better. It probably won't be, but only you can decide that.