Diluting beer?

[JMathie77]

I recently discovered that big commercial breweries brew big strong batches of beer and then dilute it down to get more from a batch. (Which makes sense from a business standpoint). But I was curious if smaller breweries ever do this or if any homebrewers do this. Could I technically make a really strong 5 gal batch and dilute it down to make 10 gals and still have it turn out delicious? I'm sure it would take some time to get the recipe just right if so.

 

[MrFancyPlants]

The only tricky part (other than getting your recipe right), is getting the oxygen out of your water that you are using to dilute. The best way to do this (IMO) is to dilute before fermentation. You could force carb water, but I don't like to waste the c02 when the yeast can provide it virtually free of charge. Also, I am not sure if just because you have force carbed if it actually drives off all of the oxygen, although I'm sure it eventually would especially when combined with some venting.
I managed to fill a 15.5 sankey for a wedding and I was working with 2 x 5 gallon kettles on the stovetop. I ended up blending 3 batches together to bring the abv up to 6%, but I could have done the same with two batches, or if I was happy with a 3% beer, I could even do it in one batch.

 

[Bellybuster]

Dilute preboil, did it last night. I can only hold so much in my BIAB system when mashing so, mashed higher gravity and added water before the boil. You have to adjust your hops bill though

 

[JMathie77]

Dilute preboil, did it last night. I can only hold so much in my BIAB system when mashing so, mashed higher gravity and added water before the boil. You have to adjust your hops bill though

Is that how the commercial breweries are doing it is preboil?

 

[JMathie77]

Dilute preboil, did it last night. I can only hold so much in my BIAB system when mashing so, mashed higher gravity and added water before the boil. You have to adjust your hops bill though

Is that how the commercial breweries are doing it, preboil?

 

[lumpher]

think of it this way: you can boil 3 gallons, then pour it on top of 2 gallons of cold water in the fermenter, right? ...

 

[Mark_]

The best batch of beer I ever made was an accidental dilution. Back when I was extremely new at brewing I made 5 gallons of a fairly hoppy Citra pale ale. It was my first time trying to cold crash so I just turned down the temperature to near 0F. Several days later I looked inside and couldn't figure out why my 5 gallon batch was now almost 6 gallons.

ACK! It sucked all the starsan in from my overflow jug. It had a clear layer of Star San at the top of the brew bucket. Not one to just give up and pour things out, I siphoned as best I could the diluted layer from the top of the bucket down to 5 gallons and bottled it.

3 weeks later it was the best Citra brew I have ever made, and I have made quite a few batches. I have been unable to reproduce the recipe to this day. Dilution is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[slym2none]

Us extract brewers do this (adding water right before fermentation) all the time. IDK why it wouldn't work for AG...

 

[WI_Wino]

Is that how the commercial breweries are doing it is preboil?

I don't think so, I believe they dilute post fermentation, right before packaging. There was an older brew strong episode on this topic.

 

[MDExile]

Charlie Papazian has a recipe in "The Homebrewer's Companion" called QuarterBock. The theory is a strong beer is brewed with all of the complexities and flavors, then diluted to make a lower alcohol beer with a higher flavor.

He starts out with one gallon of a high gravity (1.096-1.100 per the recipe), and dilutes after fermentation with 3 gallons of deaerated water. He suggests deaeration by boiling, then chilling.

I've never personally tried it, so your guess is as good as mine.

 

[Calder]

Big breweries do it because fermentation space is a premium, and limits production. This way they can make more beer in the same time with the same equipment.

You would need to deaerate the water before adding it to the finished beer. Boiling it will get rid of a lot of the O2, but I don't know if that is enough. What you are gambling with, is staling of the beer due to O2.

Fermenting high gravity worts produce more esters. I read somewhere that if you ferment a with with 2X the gravity, you get 4X the esters. So unless you have excellent temperature control you will have difficulty reproducing a normally fermented beer.