Possible to "correct" OG after it's in the fermenter?

[Aboo]

I brewed my first batch ever on Saturday. (yay!) An Alaskan Amber Ale clone from Apex Brew Wares. Long story short, when I tested the OG after topping it off in the fermentor I was 12 points short. (1.05 instead of the 1.062 target).

It's been driving me nuts so I started reading here, and came to the conclusion that I added about 1/4 quart to much water when I topped it off. Apparently, the recipe was for 5.25 gallons, not 5.5.

My question is this. Can I add some corn-sugar to the fermenting batch to raise it at this point? Or should I even bother? And if I do not, how much of a percentage of ABV will that knock off a brew that's only supposed to be 5.4% anyway?

 

[whoaru99]

I've read many say that it's really hard to get water mixed properly into the wort so there is a least an average or better chance that it's just a bad reading due to the non-uniform mix.

Based on the calculator I used to adjust OG on my last ~5 gallon batch, 1/4 quart (or even 1/4 gallon) too much wouldn't change the OG anywhere near that amount.

 

[Aboo]

BAH! Never mind. I just finished browsing my search results and should have finished reading before I posted. It's highly likely that I just got a "light" sample from the wort/water mix. I'm just going to relax and leave it be.

 

[revco]

You generally don't want to add sugars after the fact since they'll have a hard time dissolving into the mix and could introduce things you don't want in your finished beer. It's better to just let it ferment out, in my opinion, even if you miss your target.

I'm of the opinion that target gravities (OG/FG) are suggestions...based on someone else's setup, not yours. No matter what, you'll end up with beer. The reason we track OG/FG in extract brewing is mostly to determine our actual ABV, which technically, isn't even required if you don't care. Targets are much more important to track in all grain processes, though, because it allows us to measure the efficiency of our equipment to better hit our targets.