Weak beer

[Philmac]

I brewed AG Gamma Ray (see recipe) last week. I appear to have made an error in putting in too much water to start with- the OG was lower than it was meant to be. I added 500g of dry malt extract and got it up to 1.040. It is now at 1.020.
This is very weak-would i get more activity if i added more yeast?

I have certainly learnt a valuable lesson about getting your volumes right...

 

[IslandLizard]

If it's fermenting there's usually no benefit to adding more yeast, unless you killed it somewhere down the line. With US-05 I'm surprised it isn't done by now, though. What temps are you fermenting at?

Did you measure your current gravity with a hydrometer or refractometer? That makes a big difference once alcohol is present.

A 1.040 beer is indeed weak, but not necessarily undrinkable. Sure, some malt flavor will be missing and it may taste thin, lack of body, unbalanced, etc. due to the error of excess dilution.

What was the cause of using too much water? Don't you use a recipe or water calculator?

 

[deadwolfbones]

I frequently make tasty beers in the 1.030-1.035 range. Don't worry too much about it. You're just going to get a session pale ale.

 

[Philmac]

It was at 20 degrees for the most part- I can’t cool my beer but it was certainly in the optimal range for the yeast.
I measure with a hydrometer.
Do you have a handy water calculator? I used the same volume I had with a previous brew- not the most scientific of ways to calculate volumes. I have a page in my brew book for things I’ve learnt- getting on top of volumes is definitely on the list!...
I’ll bottle it and see how it goes.

 

[IslandLizard]

Brew365 is small, easy, and very handy. There are many others, like Brewer's Friend's.

1.020 from 1.040 still doesn't sound right, unless you mashed extremely high causing tons of (unfermentable) dextrins. I would double check/calibrate that hydrometer.

I frequently make tasty beers in the 1.030-1.035 range. Don't worry too much about it. You're just going to get a session pale ale.

Yeah, I brew those too, but we need to jump through some hoops to prevent them from being thin and tasteless. From careful recipe formulation and higher temp mashing, to using less attenuating yeasts.

 

[mulletmaster]

Was your hydrometer sample taken at the correct temperature or corrected to the calibration temp?