Underestimated Boil Off

[mixmastermattyp]

I'm about ready to bottle a batch that's been fermenting for the past two weeks, but when I first brewed it, I didn't account for how much water would evaporate during the boil. So I've been fermenting a four gallon batch when it should have been a five gallon batch. Should I add extra water to the priming solution when I bottle it to bring the volume up to five gallons, or should I just leave the volume alone?

 

[VikingChrisColby]

You would probably be better off just bottling it as is. It will be somewhat stronger than you intended, but if the fermentation went well, the beer should be fine.

You could dilute it to its intended working strength if you deaerated your dilution water. However, as boiling is the only (practical) way to deaerate water at home, and it isn't 100% effective, you will be priming the beer to go stale faster than it normally would. If you plan to drink all the beer in a couple months, it shouldn't be a problem. However, if you expect the beer to stick around for longer than that, bottling the strong version is likely to be a better, more foolproof, option.

Instructions on how to "blend for volume:"
http://beerandwinejournal.com/expand-theory/


Chris Colby
Editor
http://beerandwinejournal.com/

 

[Rockn_M]

Probably would be a good idea to leave it as is now. But if happens next time you can always top off during boiling or afterwards but before adding the yeast. Just make sure if you add water post poil to make sure it is was boiled prior to adding.