2nd brew, comments, questions

[JLivermore]

All right, did this a 2nd time, went for an english pale ale out of a brewer's best kit.

STILL did not have enough ice, had to run out to the store for another bag while the pot was sitting in the sink...

The directions say sprinkle the yeast into the fermenter. The directions on the yeast say rehydrate. I went w/ rehydrate which might not have been the best given my next issue.

Too much water added. OG should be 1.042 - 1.046. This was 1.03.

How bad is that and is there anything I can do about it now?

 

[beerman0001]

Nothing you can do now. How good did you mix in your top off water?

 

[JLivermore]

well stirred after i added the yeast

 

[Whattawort]

Congratulations! You just made beer. Don't worry about the end product until you reach the end. I have some change in my pocket that says you'll be at least a little sad when the last bottle is gone.

 

[Dougan]

I did this this spring, ended up toppign off way too much. Beer was watery, but i still liked it.

 

[Kahless]

I re-hydrate dry yeast in a sanitized pot with just a bit of boiled water that has cooled to <40 degrees celcius - maybe a cm from the bottom of a small pot, not too much. Rehydration can get the brew off to a good kick start, and I've had delicious beer since i've started rehydrating the yeast (although there'll be all sorts of things at play there)

I have found myself getting carried away with adding water to my brews - sometimes I'm just like "woagh, wait that's at 23L now, s**t!".

You could add some maltodextrin, an unfermentable sugar, it's supposed to increase the mouthfeel. It's definitely not required though and you're still going to end up with beer, just a slightly different beer than was planned (and slightly more of it too!).

 

[CarboyBoy]

Too much water added. OG should be 1.042 - 1.046. This was 1.03.

Unless you added over two gallons too much top off water for a 5 gallon batch, the problem is more likely that the top off water wasn't mixed in completely, and that the sample for your hydrometer had a disproportionately large amount of water in it. That is, if your target is 1.045 for a 5 gallon batch, and if the top off water was completely mixed in properly, you'd need to have topped off to 7.5 gallons in order to be at 1.030.

It's not unusual for people to add an extra quart or half gallon to the final volume. You'll end up with extra bottles of fine, fine brew. I'm sure yours will turn out great!

 

[duboman]

+1 on a poor mix and poor reading. It is extremely difficult to thoroughly mix top off water and wort. In addition, unless you added a ridiculous amount of top off water it is also very difficult to not hit your numbers in extract brewing.

 

[JLivermore]

Good news, thanks.

This is a bit embarrassing but I brewed this thinking the first batch I brewed would last a couple more weeks and the timing would be perfect.

Keg emptied last night.

 

[Kahless]

Awww, gutted. I bet we've all been there! Good luck with the remainder of the brew (and with being patient )