Topping up?

[newfiebrew]

Hey guys...I realized I want to top up my 5g all grain batch by one gallon as I only yielded 4gallons instead of 5g. Can you top up after being in the fermenter for a day or so or before bottling to increase volume and maybe reduce my ABV a little? I decided not to top up before putting it in the fermenter but now want to do it.


Have mercy I'm new to this:

Jamie.


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[Hopper5000]

What was your OG? Did you hit your numbers or were you a bit strong? You can top off. I would boil water and then cool it and throw it in. It will dilute the beer a bit though. If you add a gallon of water to 4 gallons of beer water it's potentially diluting it about 20%. I would add it during fermentation.

 

[Locksmith]

Yes you can, but often it is best to just leave well enough alone..

Did you take an OG reading? If not, I would be wary as you have no real way to know just how much to adjust. Often times guessing when topping up can lead you with a watery beer.

If you are sure that you need a bit more volume I would just wait and add it to your priming solution, let it ferment out normally with the 4 gallons. That way you can take a taste when its done to be sure how much you want to water it down.

 

[newfiebrew]

My final gravity was supposed to be 1.054 but mine was 1.078 !!

I do not trust that reading because there was a lot of trub floating in the sample that I took the gravity reading from and realized after I should have waited for it to settle but I didn't

I was short a gallon anyhow so I figure maybe topping up would help if truly my gravity was high.



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[fearwig]

You can definitely do this, but assume a 20% reduction in IBU and FG too. Whether you like the result is subjective, I guess. I regularly top up before fermenting, it's not entirely different.

 

[newfiebrew]

So does debris trub etc that was heavy in my gravity sample effect the gravity reading?



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[fearwig]

I think opinions are mixed on that but I haven't noticed it to have an effect (i.e. trubby sample tends to measure out about the same). I think it depends on how much of that trub is floating around in semisolution, the physics are beyond me.

 

[jeff13]

Matter that is not dissolved into the liquid does not change the density of the liquid. The trub will not effect the gravity ready.

 

[fearwig]

I don't know, a pool full of packing peanuts will give you more buoyancy than a regular pool, right? Because of the upward pressure from each piece of styrofoam.

I guess if the solids are heavier than the medium it shouldn't matter if they're in temporary suspension. I have heard people argue about this endlessly and I can't decide if I'm missing something by saying simply "no". Either way it doesn't seem to matter in practice.

 

[m1k3]

Maybe just top up a half gallon (2 liters). Not sure what style it is but a gallon of water in 5 gallons seems like quite a bit. A gravity in the 1.060s would probably be "close enough".


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[newfiebrew]

It is a brown nut all grain recipie from this site but my OG was way high at 1.078 instead if 1.054. I ordered my grains online and assumed the weight they sent was correct ie 4 lbs was 4 lbs not 4.5 lbs so maybe I actually used more grain than I should have... I need to get a good scale to confirm what I get grain wise .


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[newfiebrew]

If trub has no effect than the reading is way high so I need to dilute for sure.

 

[fearwig]

Efficiency can vary a lot in AG, that led to some of my early batches being overshot (and underpitched). They may also round up on the measurements so you have more if you need it, I never did many kits so I can't say if that's common.