Skimping on Water in Primary

[daveafrank]

Hey guys, I have recently brewed a brown style ale and when we were filling up the primary with the remaining cold water to get it to 5g, we thought it would be a good idea to stop at 4 gallons. Now I'm not so sure...haha

The beer will have a stronger, but I'm sure a sweeter flavor, which isn't my desire. I considered putting in some more water as it goes into secondary. But could I also not add priming sugar when I go to bottle? Doesn't that knock off a little in gravity?

Thanks!

 

[IffyG]

I'd probably add boiled and cooled water to the beer when you transfer. Leaving out priming sugar when you bottle will just leave you with flat beer, so I wouldn't recommend that.

 

[Bamsdealer]

If you're looking for an imperial brown, just bottle the four gallons. If you're looking for a standard brown ale, rack it onto another gallon of boiled and cooled water. I don't know if your beer will be much sweeter, but the four gallon batch will have a slightly heavier mouthfeel and an extra 1-2% alcohol.

Don't skip the priming sugar.

 

[daveafrank]

Thanks! Well maybe I'll just leave it as is. A thicker stronger beer is totally fine. I just didn't want to make it syrupy.

I'm hoping the hops will be a little more pronounced as well.

If you're looking for an imperial brown, just bottle the four gallons. If you're looking for a standard brown ale, rack it onto another gallon of boiled and cooled water. I don't know if your beer will be much sweeter, but the four gallon batch will have a slightly heavier mouthfeel and an extra 1-2% alcohol.

Don't skip the priming sugar.

 

[Krazykripple]

Thanks! Well maybe I'll just leave it as is. A thicker stronger beer is totally fine. I just didn't want to make it syrupy.

I'm hoping the hops will be a little more pronounced as well.

as i understand it a higher gravity/thicker wort will decrease hops utilization, so the hops will be less noticeable. you could always dry hop it if you want more hop character