Too late to top off with water

[dukesbb37]

So i made a 5 gallon full boil batch last week, and put it in my 6.5 gallon carboy. Since i dont have any markings (first mistake) for where 5 gallons is, it looked like I did everything right.

After racking the beer into a smaller carboy, looks like its short. By about a gallon, maybe less. The problem is that the airlock is no longer bubbling, and theres no activity at all in the carboy. Is it too late to top it off with a few bottles of water?

 

[kingmatt]

The only thing adding water at this point would do would be to dilute your beer. Did you take gravity readings prior to pitching and if so, were they higher than expected?

 

[twistr25]

So you only had a 4 gallon batch? You racked to a secondary and don't have any activity, assuming the fermentation finished, that's ok. You'll also lose a bit of beer to trub. Do not judge your beer by airlock activity, hydrometer readings are THE only way to know what stage your beer is at.

 

[yancydc]

I wouldn't top off at all due to fear of oxygenation. I've also ended up with plenty of batches that ended up around 4 gallons. Did you check your gravity before fermentation? And, more importantly, did you taste a sample? If it tastes good, don't worry about it. It'll just make for a quicker bottling day!

 

[dukesbb37]

No i didn't check the SG.... I usually let me beer ferment for ~8 weeks so i never really have to worry about whether or not the beer is done (I know some beers take longer, but i leave 2-3 week beers for 6-8 weeks so I never thought i needed a SG reading)

Can you explain your fear of oxygenation? Im not sure what you mean.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

No i didn't check the SG.... I usually let me beer ferment for ~8 weeks so i never really have to worry about whether or not the beer is done (I know some beers take longer, but i leave 2-3 week beers for 6-8 weeks so I never thought i needed a SG reading)

Can you explain your fear of oxygenation? Im not sure what you mean.

this is very bad practice to start off...
if you ever had a rouge infection and bottled, you would be living around land mines about to go off (ive seen it)
also wouldnt you want to know the ABV of your brews?!

the water your using to top off indefinitely contains dissolved oxygen or even pouring into your wort will carry some oxygen into the solution..this would cause undesired off flavors for sure

like it was already suggested why would u want to water down your beer? as long as it tastes and looks good you should be.....good

cheers and good luck

 

[duboman]

No i didn't check the SG.... I usually let me beer ferment for ~8 weeks so i never really have to worry about whether or not the beer is done (I know some beers take longer, but i leave 2-3 week beers for 6-8 weeks so I never thought i needed a SG reading)

Can you explain your fear of oxygenation? Im not sure what you mean.

You should get in the habit of taking both a starting and final gravity regardless of how long you typically keep your beer in primary. Gravity readings are the only sure fire way to determine anything with your beer, especially if problems arise or concerns with rackiing, etc. In addition, for a time like this no one can tell you what your beer will be like becasue we have no idea where its at gravity wise

As for oxidizing, if you introduce O2 by adding water not only might you be diluting your beer but you are intorducing o2 which at this point oxidizes the beer and makes it taste like cardboard, not good!