boiled off too much and forgot to top off... so?

[griffi]

Had a relaxing brew day yesterday making a nut brown. My volume and boil gravity were spot on the recipe which was supposed to yield 5.4 gal of 1.051 wort. I guess I was a little too relaxed. Boiled off too much and wound up with an OG of 1.057. Forgot to top off and now the Nottinghams are just eating it up. My gut tells me I should just let it go and have a strong nut brown (maybe some inspiration for a name?) But what do others think? Is it ever a good idea to dilute after your beer has fermented out?

 

[RM-MN]

Since what you had boiled off was just water, adding it back could be a solution but if your yeast are past the lag phase you need to avoid adding oxygen to the beer. That would require boiling to drive off the oxygen, putting the water into a sealed container to cool, and adding it without splashing because that would add oxygen to it too.

With that small of a difference in OG that you measured, I'd just let it ferment out and accept the extra strength and a little lower quantity.

 

[bransona]

Your beer is gonna be just fine. Maybe a little stronger than intended, but just fine. I had a batch come out at 90% efficiency so it was WAY higher gravity than planned. Still tastes great, and after a couple of them you forget about how your beer was supposed to be weaker

 

[Hamaki]

I'd just go with it rather than topping off at this point. Curious if the volume was correspondingly low or if your efficiency was higher than expected?

 

[bransona]

And as far as the name...

Choc full o' nuts
Nutjob
Nuttin' but net (or Nothin' but nut)
Nutopia
This one's a real nutter

Ok I'm out of puns and british insults

 

[griffi]

I'd just go with it rather than topping off at this point. Curious if the volume was correspondingly low or if your efficiency was higher than expected?

yes the post boil volume was a 1/2 gal or so low. I blame it on my new blichmann floor burner. Not used to how well that thing works!

 

[griffi]

thanks for the comments. I guess its "out of style" now for a northern english brown but I think I'll just do another batch right on top of this nottingham yeast and try to get it right this time...

 

[bransona]

Eh, what's style really matter if you end up liking it?

 

[griffi]

And as far as the name...

Choc full o' nuts
Nutjob
Nuttin' but net (or Nothin' but nut)
Nutopia
This one's a real nutter

Ok I'm out of puns and british insults

Robust Nut Ale? or too suggestive?

 

[bransona]

No, suggestive is great! I was thinking of so many suggestive ones... lololol. "Bust a nut" for example. You could even go with "Big Nut ale"

 

[spittybug]

Busted Nut since you bungled it....

Not the Right Nut

 

[TX_Brewing]

Uncut Nut Ale

 

[griffi]

Haha now I see where the real creativity on this forum is...