Should I fix it?

Quick summary: i thought I had a full mash kit, it turned out to be a mash-extract kit, so I used less water.

Long version:
I decided to move from kit-n-kilo to BIAB. Got a kit (IPA), split it in half so that I could use existing kitchen pots instead of having to invest in equipment. I followed the recipe, started the mash, hit the temperatures and times, and then moving on to the next step in the recipe, it turned out that I overlooked that I was supposed to buy extract to be added right now. Trying to salvage it, I decided to just boil off water and not go to full volume - still using the full amount of hops. Instead of 9.5l, I now have 6l in my fermenter. I'm contemplating getting some extract (mail order being my only option) and then adding it and 3.5l of water to give the yeast a second round, or I could just leave it like that and bottle it.

What should I do? My wort was a bit below the gravity it was supposed to have, so it'll be more around 4-5% ABV and my uneducated guess is that it won't be as dry as intended with more specialty malts. Does that sound like it'll go horribly wrong or could it become an interesting beer?

Well,if it was a partial mash kit,where's the extract that should've cone with it???

skw said:

Long version: I decided to move from kit-n-kilo to BIAB. Got a kit (IPA), split it in half so that I could use existing kitchen pots instead of having to invest in equipment. I followed the recipe, started the mash, hit the temperatures and times, and then moving on to the next step in the recipe, it turned out that I overlooked that I was supposed to buy extract to be added right now. Trying to salvage it, I decided to just boil off water and not go to full volume - still using the full amount of hops. Instead of 9.5l, I now have 6l in my fermenter. I'm contemplating getting some extract (mail order being my only option) and then adding it and 3.5l of water to give the yeast a second round, or I could just leave it like that and bottle it. What should I do? My wort was a bit below the gravity it was supposed to have, so it'll be more around 4-5% ABV and my uneducated guess is that it won't be as dry as intended with more specialty malts. Does that sound like it'll go horribly wrong or could it become an interesting beer?

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Did you do a starch conversion test after maintaining the mash between 149° and 157° (ideally around 153°C) for a while? If yes and your wort contains enough convertible sugars, then I would not touch it (especially if the fermentation started). (you will gain some degree of alc. when bottling anyway). Considering your options, I think your decision to just boil off water and not go to full volume was good (if you converted the starch). Since this is supposed to be an IPA, more bitterness should not be a big problem (if you like bitterness). What kind of speciality malts did you used from the kit? Was there any kilned regular malts also?

He refered to it as a mash-extract kit. Which leaves me to wonder,was it a "partial mash" kit,or "extract with steeping grains" kit? Either way,it should've had extract in it with the grains,etc.

The short version should have mentioned what kind of beer you are brewing, a couple numbers you're trying to hit, and the volume you are shooting for. Until we know what your final goal is, we can't help.

The malt mix that I used was:
1 1/4 lbs Pale Ale
3/8 lbs Munich
1/4 lbs Caramel 20
1/4 lbs Caramel 60

What I should have had but didn't have was lbs of Pale Ale extract. The extract got lost in miscommunication between me and the guy in the store. I take the blame, I should have checked the ingredients list for completeness before turning on the stove - I was under the mistaken impression that I had an all-grain kit. That explains why the grain bag seemed so small.

It was supposed to go mix to 2.5 gallons, right now it's 1.5 gallons in the fermenter, having some nice krausen and airlock activity. OG was supposed to be 1.071, I read 1.060.

It's intended to be an (A)IPA with Hallertau and Pacific Gem hops.

Well,you def had enough base malt to convert the whole mess. But with all the crystal & munich,it might be a lil sweet. And pacific gem is a high alpha acid NZ hop. I used it to bitter my PM NZ IPA yesterday. Although it is said to have flavor qualities too,like blackberry & floral oak. Could be interesting.

My advice stay: Don't touch it!
1.060 is high enough actually. With 1.071 it would have probably needed an higher pitching rate. You should expect a beer between 5.5 and 6% ABV. How many cells (yeast) did you pitch in? (Wha kind ? dried or liquid? starter or not? do you know the strain type?).

unionrdr said:

But with all the crystal & munich,it might be a lil sweet.

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I fully agree with that but I still would not touch it as the fermentation started. He can hope that the extra bitterness will compensate for the sweetness.

Well,if the pacific gem hops were added at,say,25 minutes left,it could give some bittering as well as flavor. Have to wait & see.

Thanks for your input. I've pitched a dry packet of US-05, which is my current yeast of choice. I've had good luck with it so far.

I've decided to let it ferment out fully and do the other half of the kit following the instructions. That way, I'll get two different beers from one kit and will learn about how using less pale malt influences the taste of beer.

Good idea. On the yeast subject, I found the characteristics of the yeast you are using:

http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFA_US05.pdf

As you can see there are 6 billion cells per gram in the package you have. Since package is 11.5 grams, you have around 69 billion cells in a pack. For a 6 liters batch you would need around 30-36 billion cells (around 1/2 a pack).

Bottom line you need 1 gram of this yeast per liter of wort (that has less than 1.060 OG). If the OG is higher (between 1.061-1.075) you would need around 10-12 billion cells per milliliter of wort. Which is what you approxiamately did with your 6 liters 1.070 wort by adding the whole pack. If you ever do an even higher gravity beer (above 1.075), you would need almost 18 billion cells per milliliter of wort.

Overpitching yeast can lead to: Too fast fermentations, thin body/mouthfeel, low ester production, and autolysis (Yeasty flavors due to lysing of cells). While underpitching can lead to too high FG, stuck fermentations, excess levels of diacetyl, too much sulfur compounds, ester and fusel alcohol formation, increased risk of infection.

Yeast, yeast strain and to control the temperature at which you ferment the wort (at different stages) will have a bigger impact on your beer than doing all grain vs extract (many homebrewers that I have encountered over the last 25 years don't know that).

This thread is quite old, but now that the last bottle of this batch was emptied, I feel like I should tell you guys how it ended.

The beer went through all the usual stages - fermenting, bottling, carbonating, conditioning. First taste: sweet, great mouthfeel, and the bitterness (ended up with almost twice the hops than intended) did not bother at all behind that sweet maltiness. A friend of mine declared it his favorite beer (even after tasting the next batch, which was the same kit except following the recipe with added extract). I'll definitely try to repeat what I did there, it came out as surprisingly good beverage.