6 gal batch turned out as 5 gal. What now?

[Dagobah]

Brewed my first batch. It was a 6 gallon batch, basic IPA. Made the newb mistake of not having gallon markers on my fermenter, and used a total of 6 gallons of water (boiled with 2.5, added 3.5 post boil). Had hoped this would be enough.

When I went to rack it to my secondary after a week of fermentation (a better bottle), it was obvious I was significantly short on liquid. Looks like I'm nearly a gallon off (see picture).

It's been in the secondary since Saturday. I had planned on keeping it there for 2 weeks.

Did I screw up? Should I leave it alone? Should I add more water at this stage? Should I reduce my priming sugar ammt to match that of a 5 gal batch?

 

[Stauffbier]

Were you using a recipe kit? You can't start with 6 gallons and end up with 6 gallons after boiling. Most systems lose about 1 gallon per hour to boil-off..

 

[jonmohno]

Just account for the volume when priming. Did you take a hydro reading?

 

[mpenn35]

You'll have a stronger beer. What was your OG and what was it supposed to be? If you were a gallon or half gallon short, your OG should be a little higher than what the kit called for.

 

[Dagobah]

Were you using a recipe kit? You can't start with 6 gallons and end up with 6 gallons after boiling. Most systems lose about 1 gallon per hour to boil-off..

Good to know. Seems to be what happened. When I poured into my 6 gal fermenter bucket, seemed like it was pretty full. I knew there would be boil off, but guessed the extract volume would help account for it. Next time...

I didn't take gravity readings.

 

[gflore34]

Brewed my first batch. It was a 6 gallon batch, basic IPA. Made the newb mistake of not having gallon markers on my fermenter, and used a total of 6 gallons of water (boiled with 2.5, added 3.5 post boil). Had hoped this would be enough.

When I went to rack it to my secondary after a week of fermentation (a better bottle), it was obvious I was significantly short on liquid. Looks like I'm nearly a gallon off (see picture).

It's been in the secondary since Saturday. I had planned on keeping it there for 2 weeks.

Did I screw up? Should I leave it alone? Should I add more water at this stage? Should I reduce my priming sugar ammt to match that of a 5 gal batch?

Hey,

Go ahead and bottle it, what's the worst that can happen? Really nothing, don't give up on a brew, give it chance. As far as priming, don't worry about adding more water, follow the style carbonation guidelines use them to figure out the amount of priming sugar needed. There's some good free priming calculator resources out there such as - http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

 

[BrewChem]

+1 on priming and bottling... just be sure to keep good notes on what you did... wouldn't be the first time someone goofed a batch and ended up with some awesome beer that they wanted to make again...!

 

[Stauffbier]

Good to know. Seems to be what happened. When I poured into my 6 gal fermenter bucket, seemed like it was pretty full. I knew there would be boil off, but guessed the extract volume would help account for it. Next time...

I didn't take gravity readings.

Also.. If you end up with 6 gallons of wort that you are going to ferment you can't use a 6 gallon bucket. You need at the very least 1 gallon worth of headspace if not more..

 

[Dagobah]

So what should I expect? Higher abv, stronger flavor, etc?

 

[Stauffbier]

So what should I expect? Higher abv, stronger flavor, etc?

Without knowing your recipe and the fact you have no gravity readings it's hard to say what to expect..

 

[Dagobah]

Without knowing your recipe and the fact you have no gravity readings it's hard to say what to expect..

Here's the recipe and the original expected gravities:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/first-brew-ipa-what-can-you-tell-me-about-308537/

 

[Stauffbier]

Here's the recipe and the original expected gravities:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/first-brew-ipa-what-can-you-tell-me-about-308537/

Take your recipe and plug it into Beertools.com on the Recipe calculator and set the batch volume to 5 instead of 6 and it will give you an idea of what your gravity was. It will also estimate color, IBU's, and ABV to answer your questions about what it might have changed in your beer by not topping off to 6 gallons..

 

[Dagobah]

Actually looks like it should be fairly awesome. Didn't have enough fields for all my hops, but if this is close, should be pretty good!

 

[Stauffbier]

I'm guessing this was a partial mash. Did you actually get 80% efficiency on your mash? If it was lower then the OG stated above will actually be lower than 1.089..

 

[jonmohno]

Also.. If you end up with 6 gallons of wort that you are going to ferment you can't use a 6 gallon bucket. You need at the very least 1 gallon worth of headspace if not more..

Ehh, i go 1/4 to a half a gallon headspace,if i need a blowoff i use one,very seldom ive needed a blowoff tube though. Low temps seem to keep foam from getting out of hand

 

[Stauffbier]

Ehh, i go 1/4 to a half a gallon headspace,if i need a blowoff i use one,very seldom ive needed a blowoff tube though. Low temps seem to keep foam from getting out of hand

I thought this, too until I had a batch that was fermenting at 62F foam out the top of the airlock in a better bottle that had a gallon of headspace. Every fermentation is different. You've been lucky so far, but one day that 1/4 to 1/2 gallon headspace could bite you on the butt! I also use fermcap-s sometimes now to keep the foam in check..

 

[Dagobah]

I'm guessing this was a partial mash. Did you actually get 80% efficiency on your mash? If it was lower then the OG stated above will actually be lower than 1.089..

Yes, partial mash. Was estimating efficiency. What do partials typically see? Again, I've got no gravity readings, just estimations based on the recipe.

 

[jbaysurfer]

I thought this, too until I had a batch that was fermenting at 62F foam out the top of the airlock in a better bottle that had a gallon of headspace. Every fermentation is different. You've been lucky so far, but one day that 1/4 to 1/2 gallon headspace could bite you on the butt! I also use fermcap-s sometimes now to keep the foam in check..

LOL..I have 4.75 gallons of 1.105 Belgian dark strong ale in a 6 gallon carboy that I used the whitelabs belgian blend in (this yeast smells AWESOME in fermentation!). It ended up blowing about a quart of beer out the blowoff tube. The foam would've gladly risen out the top if I didn't have the stopper/blowoff setup on it.

It was my first time using Fermcap, and I used the correct amount for 5 gallons!!!!

So I'm with ya..and even with Fermcap I've experienced far more then a gallon's space worth of Krausen!

 

[9Frogs]

I did that with my first batch, as well. It wound up being a little stronger, but still a good beer. You will be fine, and won't make the same mistake again. Enjoy!

 

[Stauffbier]

Yes, partial mash. Was estimating efficiency. What do partials typically see? Again, I've got no gravity readings, just estimations based on the recipe.

It's impossible to say without gravity readings, but I kinda doubt you had 80% efficiency. It could happen, but who knows in your case. I would run it again with 68% efficiency and see what that gives you. Then you will have a best and worst case scenario of this beer.. Then you can use your actual FG to compare to both scenarios to get an idea what your OG might have actually been. I'm assuming you're getting a hydrometer if you don't have one. If not... GET ONE! haha...