Water to Wort or Wort to Water

[Indianhead_Brewer]

Quick question that just dawned on me as I was reading some recipe instructions from Northern Brewer. Under my current extract setup I am only going to be able to do partial boils because of pot size limitations. Because of this I am going to have to "top off" with additional water. The kit instructions say "Fill primary fermenter with 2 gallons of cold water then pour in the cooled wort". Isn't that backwards? Wouldn't I want to add water to my wort since that way I would have more control over my OG? For example lets say I may only need to add 1.5 gallons water to get me near my target 1.052 OG. If I blindly just put 2 gallons of water in the fermenter then add the wort I could hypothetically undershoot my OG. Does that make sense?

Also is there some sort of constant rate at which water additions decrease gravity. Like you add X amount of water and it will decrease the gravity by Y?

 

[FastTalker]

You are correct. You can control your OG more precisely by adding your top off water to your wort.

Your gravity will decrease linearly with the addition of water. Just multiple your gravity points by the ratio of your original volume to your new volume.

 

[DonutMuncher]

I am limited to partial boils for now, and I add top-off water to the wort for the reasons you described. I prefer to add the appropriate top-off water to get me close to my target OG, rather than guessing. There are too many factors that can contribute to needing a little more or a little less top-off water to hit your OG. And your OG may not be hit at 5 gallons, but at 4.75 or 5.25.

As to your second question, there are probably calculators out there, but you're correct. Water should be about 1.00 gravity reading. Using simple volume ratios, you can determine how much water gets you to a specific gravity. But for example, 4 gallons of wort at 1.050, and 1 gallon of water at 1.00, would get you (50 gravity points * 4 gal wort / 5 total gal) = 1.040. This is just an example.

 

[helibrewer]

Quick question that just dawned on me as I was reading some recipe instructions from Northern Brewer. Under my current extract setup I am only going to be able to do partial boils because of pot size limitations. Because of this I am going to have to "top off" with additional water. The kit instructions say "Fill primary fermenter with 2 gallons of cold water then pour in the cooled wort". Isn't that backwards? Wouldn't I want to add water to my wort since that way I would have more control over my OG? For example lets say I may only need to add 1.5 gallons water to get me near my target 1.052 OG. If I blindly just put 2 gallons of water in the fermenter then add the wort I could hypothetically undershoot my OG. Does that make sense?

Also is there some sort of constant rate at which water additions decrease gravity. Like you add X amount of water and it will decrease the gravity by Y?

BeerSmith is a great program and will calculate dilutions for you....there are also online and smartphone apps that have dilution calculators.

 

[Indianhead_Brewer]

Thanks for the clarification on the water and the calculations.

Just seems to make better sense to add top off water to the wort rather than the opposite. I would rather have 4.5 gallons of wort at the right gravity than 5 gallons of wort that I overshot because of too much water.

As I get more into this I am going to have to look more into BeerSmith or some other tool to help.

 

[hwilshusen]

If you are making an extract kit (and follow directions) it's hard not to hit target OG range. When adding water to hit og by measurement the water must be thoroughly mixed with the wort. Uneven mixing will give a false reading.

 

[dzlater]

Thanks for the clarification on the water and the calculations.

Just seems to make better sense to add top off water to the wort rather than the opposite. I would rather have 4.5 gallons of wort at the right gravity than 5 gallons of wort that I overshot because of too much water.

As I get more into this I am going to have to look more into BeerSmith or some other tool to help.

The only tool you need is maybe a calculator
It's pretty easy
Volume1 x Gravity1 = Volume2 X Gravity2
or
Volume1 x Gravity1 / Gravity2 = Volume2

 

[Indianhead_Brewer]

Thanks for the calculations (they will be very helpful in the future) and good advice about mixing the wort. After reading an old thread by Revvy that was from a few months back I'm realizing I may be over analyzing things, but as a noob it is helpful to get feedback from people who have been at this awhile.

Thanks again all!

 

[kh54s10]

With my Northern Brewer kits I just followed the recipe and directions and finished up with the five gallons in the fermenter. OG and FG were always within what I could read on the hydrometer.

I really think you are over thinking this. Follow the directions with the right amounts and you will get the desired result.

 

[Indianhead_Brewer]

I way over thought this. Too much time on my hands to worry about all the "What If's". It's amazing how easy it is to get lost in the details sometimes.

 

[h22lude]

If you follow the recipe exactly you should come really close to 5 gallons and the OG. If you use different water volumes during the boil then yes you will need to recalculate the top off amount.

Just dump your wort into the bucket and then dump water up to the 5/5.25 gallon mark and you should be fine. Start at 5 gallon, check the gravity and add more if needed to get to the recommended OG.