When is it too late to add some H20

[brunswickbrewer]

So I've had a stout fermenting for about a week, and thinking that when I originally topped off approximately 3 gallons of wort with some water, that I didn't quite add enough water for the brew to be a 5 gallon brew like the recipe calls for. I'm pretty new to brewing, so right now I haven't really been paying attention to gravities and that type of thing. If I did fall short of the 5 gallons, would it be okay to make up for the shortfall when I rack to the secondary, or is it too late? Thanks everyone.

 

[bradsul]

You CAN do that, sure. But if you were so little off that you couldn't tell it would only affect the gravity by a point or two; if it were me I wouldn't bother. At worst you get maybe one less bottle and a tiny bit more ABV.

If you decide to top up, make sure you boil, then cool the water before you add it to the beer.

 

[Chris_Dog]

I wouldn't add water after fermentation begins. No biggy anyway the beer will most likely be a little bit stronger.

 

[brunswickbrewer]

Well, I think I was off by about half a gallon, but if it is the case that it isn't much, I would certainly take a higher abv. Thanks brad -- So the beer won't be sweeter, just more sugars for the yeast to ferment?

 

[bradsul]

Half a gallon isn't much, so I wouldn't worry about it. There is the same amount of sugars present as there would have been so just a slightly higher ABV and a slightly stronger taste because it's a bit more concentrated than the recipe.

 

[BlindLemonLars]

Everybody has given you excellent advice. I'd suggest not getting too hung up on the volume measurements, and just trust your hydrometer. Lots of wort/beer gets lost to trub, hop absorption, testing samples, etc....5 gallons in the pot rarely translates into 5 gallons in the bottles. Some brewers scale their recipes up to 5.5 gallons, just to allow for these losses.

Above all, don't worry. Worrying is the worst thing you can do for your beer!

 

[TexLaw]

It will make a difference. Coming up a half gallon short on a five gallon batch is a 10% difference from your recipe.

Now, whether it makes a bad difference? I doubt it. Your malt and hops should still be fairly well balanced as concentration affects both profiles similarly. Give the beer a try as it is. I bet you like it.


TL

 

[Soulive]

Try it without adding water but don't be afraid to either. I add water to my kegs when I'm too high on my gravity and IBUs. If my recipe isn't off, I don't add water and just keg however much I've got...

 

[Chris_Dog]

Wow... I thought it would be a bad idea to add water after the fermentation. I was thinking the water would add oxygen.
( I need to keep my mouth shut and lurk some more . It seems I have a lot more to learn)

 

[Soulive]

Wow... I thought it would be a bad idea to add water after the fermentation. I was thinking the water would add oxygen.
( I need to keep my mouth shut and lurk some more . It seems I have a lot more to learn)

No you're actually correct. The deal for me is that I drink the beer before oxidation can rear its ugly head. If I plan on not consuming it that quickly, I boil it before hand to release the o2...

 

[Chris_Dog]

I was thinking distilled water might be useful here.

 

[FlyingHorse]

Wow... I thought it would be a bad idea to add water after the fermentation. I was thinking the water would add oxygen.

Boiling the water first will drive of the oxygen. As long as you're gentle when adding the water, it shouldn;t be a problem.

 

[BierMuncher]

Not adding water now won’t be much of a concern…until you’re down to your last 4-5 bottles.

I always make a habit of scaling everything up by 10%. Grains, water, hops…everything.

I’d rather be faced with a proportionately correct beer that is a ½ gallon north of volume target than a ½ gallon south.

 

[Chris_Dog]

Not adding water now won’t be much of a concern…until you’re down to your last 4-5 bottles.

I always make a habit of scaling everything up by 10%. Grains, water, hops…everything.

I’d rather be faced with a proportionately correct beer that is a ½ gallon north of volume target than a ½ gallon south.

Very True!

 

[brunswickbrewer]

Ok, so let's say I decide I'm going to add some water to my beer ( I haven't yet, just hypothetical here). It seems from suggestions that I would want to boil the water or use distilled water. If I do boil the water, how important is it that I match the temperature of the water that I'm adding to the temperature of the beer? My thought is as closely as I can...any thoughts?

 

[bradsul]

Even if you use distilled water (there's not really any need to) you will still want to boil it. That gives 2 benefits; first it drives out the oxygen in the water and second it sanitizes it so you don't get any nasties in your beer.

I would cool it to room temperature so you can syphon it in (make sure to sanitize your syphon and tubing), you don't want to dump it and risk oxygenating your beer.