Can I cheat?

[sclabrl]

Can I add more than the 6 gallons of water to my Midwest Kit to make a bit more?

The kits are probably designed/calculated for 6 gallons right? But is there a way to add a bit more to account for the loss throughout the process? add more ingredients? Easy way to calculate it?

I was just thinking...
more beer is better

 

[gdwolfe273]

You could...but it will probably throw your OG off and the beer wouldn't end up with the same ABV and may taste slightly different than it was intended. Loss sucks, and more beer is better, but I always brew with a target OG and FG in mind. I'm sure the beer would still probably be alright, but just keep in mind it will probably have other impacts beyond just the drinkable final volume of beer...

 

[xmacro]

Not sure which kit you're referring to, but if they say 6 gallons, most likely it's a 5 gallon kit that accounts for boiloff

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

More water...More beer...Lower ABV...

 

[gdwolfe273]

Just realized you did mention adding more ingredients. You can, I am honestly not sure if it would be as easy as keeping the same ratio of ingredients. My guess would be that it still would not guarantee the exact same final product. But it would be closer than just adding more water. Personally, I would say what the hell...as long as it isn't a crazy expensive kit...if you don't mind grabbing a little extra of the ingredients and if you don't mind the possibility that the end result might be slightly off...may as well try and experiment.

Someone on here is probably much much more knowledgable than me on the subject though. So I am definitely interested to hear what other responses you get!

 

[Yooper]

Well, the Midwest kits make 5 gallons of wort, and end up with about 4.5-4.75 gallons of beer.

You can add more water, of course. So you'll have more beer, but it'd be watered down. If you add 1 gallon, you'd be watering down the beer by 20%.

If you like watered down beer, you could add more water. Or you could live with 4.5 gallons of good beer. If you think it'd be good watered down, you could ferment by the directions, topping up to 5 gallons in the fermenter and then sampling the beer when it's done. Take a 5 ounce sample, and taste it. Then add an ounce of water and taste again and see which you like better.

Since beer is all about balancing the hops and malt, I doubt adding water would improve it and instead give you a watery thin low ABV drink. (Remember, you'd be reducing EVERYTHING by 20%, including the alcohol).