Top up during fermentation

[izrafel]

I am getting into extract and specialty grain brewing. At this point i'm only doing 1 gallon batches, due to a really small living space. Having made one batch so far, I know to expect a lot of foam during the first few days of fermentation. My question is, can I produce a wort of only half a gallon (but using ingredients from a 1 gallon recipe), have that ferment in the 1 gallon jug with airlock, let the heavy foam period pass and top up with boiled and cooled water halfway through the fermentation (say, 1 week in)?

Hope this makes sense. I realize I could avoid my issue above by buying a bigger jug. I just want to know if this method can still produce a tasty beer or if it will totally fail. Thanks for your time, and I appreciate your answers.

And sorry if this has been answered somewhere else - I did try to find a similar question before posting this.

Cheers,
Phil

 

[724b]

You certainly can dilute a beer. The big guys do it all the time.

That said, 1 gallon of finished beer that had 100% of the water in it from the beginning will not taste just like a beer that a beer that is topped off with 1/2 gallon to achieve that same volume. Not that one's going to be better than an another, they are just going to be different.

Your question anticipated my reaction... why not just get a bigger fermenting vessel? A Tap A Draft Bottle or Mr Beer fermenter might work nicely.

 

[eloro]

Yeah you can get a Mr Beer fermenter for about $10. They are 2.5 gallons.

 

[izrafel]

thanks 724b - this was exactly what i was looking for. I'll be getting a bigger vessel soon, but wanted to be sure I could at least produce something good with what I've got now. Cheers.

 

[kyleobie]

It'll be fine, but I agree that a decent sized bucket is a cheap enough investment that it'll give ya piece of mind.

 

[SankePankey]

I am getting into extract and specialty grain brewing. At this point i'm only doing 1 gallon batches, due to a really small living space. Having made one batch so far, I know to expect a lot of foam during the first few days of fermentation. My question is, can I produce a wort of only half a gallon (but using ingredients from a 1 gallon recipe), have that ferment in the 1 gallon jug with airlock, let the heavy foam period pass and top up with boiled and cooled water halfway through the fermentation (say, 1 week in)?

Hope this makes sense. I realize I could avoid my issue above by buying a bigger jug. I just want to know if this method can still produce a tasty beer or if it will totally fail. Thanks for your time, and I appreciate your answers.

And sorry if this has been answered somewhere else - I did try to find a similar question before posting this.

Cheers,
Phil

You should look into 'high gravity' brewing method. There are limits. I don't think that folks usually push it to double strength like you are. Also, they are definitely not starting fermentation and then diluting. The whole idea behind healthy fermentation is to give yeast a known home to party in- don't wreck their home when the party just gets started. Major taste factors are going to be established during and before that high krausen period, too. I'd think that you'll want to water down in the beginning. Pretty sure that's what the pro's do most of the time. They may ferment totally and then dilute (actually I believe that's the normal m.o.), but what you describe is absolute heresy :cross: (not that it wouldn't still make drinkable beer).

But just to play devil's advocate, last brew I did an R.I.S. at 1080, but with ingredients for 1092. After fermentation started I dumped in some boiled DME & water (obviously letting it cool) @ triple strength, or... whatever that brought me around 1092 (just eyeballing it really, not scientific). Beer drinks, fo sho.

 

[djfriesen]

Just be aware that your boil volume will affect hop utilization, so your IBUs will come out differently if you only make up a half gallon batch. You can adjust for it using a calculator, but it's something you should be aware of. This is likely what 724b was referring to when stating that the two batches would taste different.

Also, per Sankey's statement, be careful with how high an OG you pitch yeast onto. Make sure you have enough yeast (via a starter) and that you make sure to top off before the alcohol content gets to the concentration that it starts shocking your yeast.

 

[fixitoscar]

Doing it this way will stress out the yeast and may make some off flavors. The big guys dilute after fermentation. You could adjust your starter to help minimize the stress. Also when you add water your going to have to make sure its sanitized (boil it before adding). I think you really should just pick up a bigger fermenter.

 

[JonK331]

Yeah there are a lot of extra steps needed to ferment a high gravity wort (more yeast, oxygenation, etc.) that you probably don't want to worry about yet. Can you make space in a closet or something for a carboy or fermenting bucket? The footprint is really pretty small.