Too little water?

[chrisdelay]

I've just bottled my second brew (a hopefully yummy chocolate stout that'll be ready to drink on St. Patrick's day), but about the day after I put my wort in the primary fermenter I felt like something was wrong in the volume of beer that was brewing.

A family emergency came up and basically the brew fermented without me babysitting it. No biggie on that. I racked it into the secondary fermenter (5 gallon PET carboy) and it still didn't look like the beer level was high enough.

I bottled last night and sure enough, I was about 1/2 gallon shy of the 5 gallons.

My questions are this:

1.) When I put the wort into the primary fermenter, could I have simply added the additional 1/2 gallon of warm/lukewarm water? If so, how long do I have to do so? Should I do this before the really violent fermentation happens? Is there any "good" time to do so...any good "rule of thumb" to follow?

2.) Since the ingredients (this was a pre-assembled kit of malt, malt extract, and grains) was intended for 5 gallons of beer, what will the lack of about 1/2 a gallon of water the entire time do? Will it change the overall taste of the beer noticeably, slightly, or not at all?

Thanks in advance!

 

[HOOTER]

I have the same issue. I just brewed my first batch last weekend and ended up 1/2 gallon short. I'd love to know what sort of effect, if any, this will have on the finished product.

 

[sittingturbo]

You can add water to your primary, when you put in your wort, just bring it up to 5g.

What you will have now, is a little bit higher alcohol, a little maltier... Nothing to worry about. I added 1 gallon to much water in a pale ale the other day. I lost 1% alcohol, it turned out like a glorified commercial light beer.... I think have not tasted it, roommate did tho... Now that I'm thinking about it, I am going to open a bottle ans try it...

Your okay, don't worry. In fact I brewed a kit beer last night which I've had laying around for like 2 years.... (Only used the LME) I purposely only used about 4.5 gallons because it was a light summer ale, and I wanted a little bit more goodness.

 

[PT Ray]

If you are going to add water do it sometime before fermentation. Don't want the oxygen in the water added during or post fermentation.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

You certainly could have added water before you pitched.

RDWHAHB, it will be fine.

 

[EvilTOJ]

You can add water if you want, but it's really not necessary. The brew you made will be a little stronger, and maltier, and possibly a little less hoppier tasting, but it's still beer. If you insist on topping it up with water to get the get five gallons, boil for at least 10 minutes and cool it so it drives out all the oxygen.

 

[malkore]

You can definitely add water to the primary, but you should keep in mind that will lower your OG. If you're at the lower range for the style to begin with, topping off another half gallon might push you right out of style. this may or may not matter to you.

since yours was a pre-fab kit, your gravity will be high. I don't see any mention of actual measurements...are you skipping hydro readings completely? if so, tsk tsk...

my last comment is that I would not expect this beer to be ready on St. Patty's Day. You're gonna have a whopping 9 days in the bottle. It won't even be properly carbonated by then, and will still taste green. You could try one to see how it tastes on that day, but its not going to be near its prime flavor until mid-April to May.

 

[chrisdelay]

my last comment is that I would not expect this beer to be ready on St. Patty's Day. You're gonna have a whopping 9 days in the bottle. It won't even be properly carbonated by then, and will still taste green. You could try one to see how it tastes on that day, but its not going to be near its prime flavor until mid-April to May.

Good to know. The two recipes I've done have both recommended like 7-10 days conditioning in the bottle and they're ready to drink. The ale I made (and I barely call it a homebrew, it was malt extract, table sugar and yeast) was quite tasty.

Realistically (and I know this varies from person to person) what am I going to notice about letting the beer condition in the bottle longer? I'm still extremely new to all of this.

And nice profile picture...I *just* had that same picture tattooed on my left bicep last week

 

[Revvy]

My last stout wasn't even drinkable before 6 weeks in the bottle. It's been 2 1/2 months, and it's just hit it's stride.

Remember 3 weeks bottle conditioning @ 70 degrees is the "rule of thumb" but realistically it is dependant on style.

Also if you're using your hydrometer, then I think it is better to have 4 1/2 gallons of beer in the target range, than it is to have 5 gallons that's not... What I do is put 2 gallons of water in my bucket...add the approximately 2.5 gallons of boiled wort (I start at 3 gallons before the 60 minute boil), stir vigorously and take a hydro reading....then I slowly add the remaining 1/2 gallon or so of top off water a little at a time...stirring and taking readings until I hit my numbers. Most of the time, especially using a kit, 5 gallons is where you'll hit the numbers, but sometimes it will be a little less...even more rarely it takes a little more...