For those of you using a secondary

[jarrodaden]

Are you topping off the secondary with sanitized water to get back to the correct volume? I tried a secondary for the first time. And I was really disappointed with the yield. I barely got 36 Bottles.

 

[Meatyboy]

I don't. I'm not terribly concerned about infection, but when you add that extra half gallon or so you're diluting your beer which could give it a watery taste or at least not as full bodied.

 

[periwinkle1239]

Yeah agreed, don't do that. Please don't add water to beer.

 

[Meatyboy]

Yeah agreed, don't do that. Please don't add water to beer.

Adding water to a home brew is like adding ice to the finished product and drinking it with a straw.

 

[tally350z]

If you can. Scale up your initial recipes to compensate for the loss during primary ferm. All the trub loss or blowoff. For my IPA's I have a 6.5 g carboy and try to primary around 6 and when I transfer to secondary to add my hops I tend to have just about 5 g or so.

 

[heckler73]

get better at racking - get every drop. I use a cane with a little black cap, and tip the primary to get it all into the secondary. Most batches are up to the shoulder on my carboy. Don't worry about picking up some yeast or trub - it'll settle.

 

[Gixxer]

+1 for adjusting your recipe to account for losses

 

[basilchef]

i use a secondary because it allows me to brew more beer with my current set up. if you know your system then you can plan ahead by "upping" the initial grain bill and leaving 5.25 to 5.5 gallons of wort. then when racking to a secondary you will still yield your five gallons. NEVER water it down.

 

[amandabab]

I don't top off because I don't really loose any extra. I use a cane for control instead of a auto-siphon and tilt the carboy.

 

[jsv1204]

Ditto's - I wouldn't top off. Scale up a bit to get the volume you need. An easy way is to keep a few pounds of DME handy. You can add it during the boil so you can hit your target SG (after you add the water to your brew kettle).

 

[pjj2ba]

I would only top off for flavor reasons. I brewed a German Pilsner this winter. I overshot the OG a bit. I wanted to submit this for a competition, and this put it over for the ABV for the style guidlines. When I kegged it, I tasted it of course and decided that it had plenty of flavor and could handle some dilution. I topped the keg up with nearly a half gallon of sterile water. Scored 40 pts and took third in the NHC regionals. So yes, you can successfully dilute a beer, but I wouldn't to it just to reach a bottle count.