Whoops - too much water...

[NZGirl]

I think I put about half a gallon too much water in my batch.

It's a Brewtec Lager (NZ Brand) kit and I used a can of liquid sugar.

According to my OG (1.030) I'm going to end up with a pretty low alcohol beer... maybe 2.5% to 3%. I'm ok with that, I don't mind a low alcohol beer...

I'm only worried it will be too watery. Should I try to fix it? And if so, how? Or will it be fine as it is?

Edit: Instructions say OG should be 1035 - 1040 and FG should be 1012 with a liquid brewing sugar... so you can see my OG is well under.

 

[VTBrewer]

I wouldn't mess with it. Was this a partial boil, and did you give it a good thorough mixing prior to taking a reading? What was the temp of the wort when you took it?

 

[NZGirl]

The temp is about 78 - I mixed it very, very thoroughly... but the recipe said to make like this:

2 litres boiling water
1 can of extract (1.5kg)
1 can liquid sugar (1 kg)
17 litres cold water

and instead I went like this:

2 litres of boiling water
1 can extract (1.5kg)
1 can liquid sugar (1kg)
and topped up to 23 litres...

I could kick my own ass.

 

[VTBrewer]

It will definitely be lighter bodied than intended, but will probably be quite drinkable. Some will say to boil some dme in water, cool it and add it, but I typically live with whatever my OG is. Your alcohol content may not be as low as you think, especially if you get good attentuation and can ferment it down to the 1.006 - 1.007 range. Good luck!

 

[Panzermann]

I wouldn't sweat it whatsoever, just call it a "Special Edition" lol

 

[FxdGrMind]

Wow. you aren't letting any moss grow on that fermenter!! Didn't you just bottle from it??

78Deg when you took the OG? I measured mine at 75 deg and someone said there is a calculator out there as the Hydrometer is calibrated to 60 deg. So as you are lower on the OG but Higher on the Temp. It should do the same as mine, the OG is really higher when you adjust for the Temp variation from 60.
You are probably really close to the 1.035 est.

 

[Eves]

Temp doesn't affect gravity nearly as much as one might thing. For instance at 100F 1.050 is really just 1.056. Not a signficant difference. Howver, it might close the expected gap...so...1.030 at 78F is really just 1.032. So...not too far away. It might even be that the wort wasn't mixed all that well when you took your sample and that could account for some more of the missing gravity. Don't worry about it. I am sure it is going to be a great brew.


This site has simple tools for brewing calculations like temp/gravity corrections: Brew Calcs - Brewing Calculations Reference

 

[Flattop]

Yup i would be tempted to drop in some dme or lme.... say 50-100gms the dme will add alcohol but more importantly it will add body to a watery brew.
You could consider dry hopping it around day 4-5 to give a bit more flavor and nose as well.

 

[NZGirl]

Could I add some dextrose? Would that add more body? Or only more alcohol?

 

[NZGirl]

Wow. you aren't letting any moss grow on that fermenter!! Didn't you just bottle from it??

78Deg when you took the OG? I measured mine at 75 deg and someone said there is a calculator out there as the Hydrometer is calibrated to 60 deg. So as you are lower on the OG but Higher on the Temp. It should do the same as mine, the OG is really higher when you adjust for the Temp variation from 60.
You are probably really close to the 1.035 est.

Yep, I bottled from it yesterday... put this new batch in today... gotta get the pipeline flowing... I've got another batch in a second primary that has been there for twelve days so will bottle that after another nine days.

Also have a small 2 gallon batch of apfelwein going... haven't yet tasted any of my brews as the one I bottled yesterday is my first, lol.

I could have ninety 750ml bottles of crappy beer coming up.

 

[Flattop]

Could I add some dextrose? Would that add more body? Or only more alcohol?

Dextrose will add mostly alcohol
not much for body Dried Malt adds much more body....