I boiled most of my wort away...

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Radagascar

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So I did my second one-gallon batch of beer today and it was a red ale kit from Northern Brewer. I started with a gallon of water (the recipe calls for 1.25 gallons initially) in hopes of boiling away 1/4 of it so I could add some ice water to help the wort cool. After my 45 minute boil and adding my ice water, I transferred the wort to my one gallon carboy and whadya know, I only have 2/3 a gallon of beer. So to remedy the problem I added about a 1/4 a gallon of jugged drinking water, sloshed it around and then added the yeast.

Do you guys think this is going to cause any problems?
 
Did you get an OG?
If you followed the recipe, added all the extract that you were supposed to, then topping it off with fresh water , you should be real close to what your recipe says your OG should be. No problem.
 
I don't have any device to measure the OG. Perhaps that should be my next investment?
 
What you did was a partial boil verses a full boil. It'll work out just fine! Full boil would be if you have one gallon at the end for your one gallon recipe, partial boil is just brewing up the 2/3(or whatever amount) and topping it off with water. Both are acceptable methods of brewing.

Most people will say get a hydrometer, then top off with the amount of water needed to hit the OG. But if just following a recipe kit, not needed. Personally, I've never used a hydrometer, I just taste how sweet the wort is and add the amount of yeast that seems right. Of course, I can't measure my final ABV without the readings, but I can drink a glass when it's finished and guess pretty close. Then I just play it by ear for the next batch. Some people like to take notes, take readings, get all scientific about it, I like to just wing it.
 
BobbiLynn said:
What you did was a partial boil verses a full boil. It'll work out just fine! Full boil would be if you have one gallon at the end for your one gallon recipe, partial boil is just brewing up the 2/3(or whatever amount) and topping it off with water. Both are acceptable methods of brewing.

Most people will say get a hydrometer, then top off with the amount of water needed to hit the OG. But if just following a recipe kit, not needed. Personally, I've never used a hydrometer, I just taste how sweet the wort is and add the amount of yeast that seems right. Of course, I can't measure my final ABV without the readings, but I can drink a glass when it's finished and guess pretty close. Then I just play it by ear for the next batch. Some people like to take notes, take readings, get all scientific about it, I like to just wing it.
Click to expand...

As long as you sort of followed a recipe and hit the approximate marks you'll be fine!
 
Hydrometer for OG readings with extract is a waste of time (as mentioned above, the OG is going to be right). With all grain it's more important since your OG isn't guaranteed. However, I'd still suggest a hydrometer for safety purposes regardless. I've had yeast attenuate further than expected many times, and also had them take longer than expected to get there. So just saying "this is where it's supposed to finish" or "this is how much time I need to wait" will often be fine, it's still not a guarantee. Using a hydrometer to confirm fermentation is done and guarantee no bottle bombs is a worthwhile expenditure in my book, even if you don't care what the ABV is.

Back to the original question, your beer will be fine.
 
A hydrometer reading with a gallon brew is tough, no? (because of the required ounces for the reading being taken from a small batch)
 
BobbiLynn said:
I've never used a hydrometer, I just taste how sweet the wort is and add the amount of yeast that seems right.
Click to expand...

I do the same thing. Plus, I brew all grain, but I don't bother using a scale. I just pour my 2-row into the bucket until it feels like about 10 pounds. Then I take a bowl and portion out my specialty malts. "Feels like about 6 ounces." Then I mash, sticking my finger in to gauge the temperature. "Feels like about 150° F." Gotta be quick though, you can easily burn yourself.

The hop additions are easy, because the pouches come in 1 or 2 ounce sizes. So if my recipe calls for 0.75 oz, I just dump in 3/4 of a pouch.

Then I dump in one pouch/smack pack/vial of yeast and leave it at room temperature (whatever that happens to be, can't tell for sure).

My beer tastes like crap, but it sure is easy to make, and I didn't waste dozens of dollars on useless equipment like "scales," "thermometers," and "hydrometers."

(Where's the "tongue-in-cheek" smiley?)
 
Thanks a lot guys, the next time I brew I'll probably do the partial boil again to help chill the wort faster since I have no ice and it takes forever. My next topic of research is if I should leave the beer in the primary for 3 weeks or the listed 2.
 
Radagascar said:
Thanks a lot guys, the next time I brew I'll probably do the partial boil again to help chill the wort faster since I have no ice and it takes forever. My next topic of research is if I should leave the beer in the primary for 3 weeks or the listed 2.
Click to expand...

With kits I always try to double what it says on time tables. And usually skip the secondary and double that time in primary as well. So if it says 10 days primary, 10 days secondary, go 40 days primary and bottle. The comment about not using scales or anything was funny, I sort of do that, at 155 it won't leave a blister on your finger if you check it quickly.
 
Jints07 said:
A hydrometer reading with a gallon brew is tough, no? (because of the required ounces for the reading being taken from a small batch)
Click to expand...

If you use the (sanitized) fermtec plastic wine thief to take the sample and for the hydrometer test jar, you can return the sample to the fermentor.

The thief + hydrometer are <$20 total and are good insurance to prevent bottle bombs.
 
kombat said:
I do the same thing. Plus, I brew all grain, but I don't bother using a scale. I just pour my 2-row into the bucket until it feels like about 10 pounds. Then I take a bowl and portion out my specialty malts. "Feels like about 6 ounces." Then I mash, sticking my finger in to gauge the temperature. "Feels like about 150° F." Gotta be quick though, you can easily burn yourself.

The hop additions are easy, because the pouches come in 1 or 2 ounce sizes. So if my recipe calls for 0.75 oz, I just dump in 3/4 of a pouch.

Then I dump in one pouch/smack pack/vial of yeast and leave it at room temperature (whatever that happens to be, can't tell for sure).

My beer tastes like crap, but it sure is easy to make, and I didn't waste dozens of dollars on useless equipment like "scales," "thermometers," and "hydrometers."

(Where's the "tongue-in-cheek" smiley?)
Click to expand...
Thanks Kombat, I haven't laughed this hard in quite awhile!:tank:
 

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