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Date: 29 Jul 2006 15:02:46
From: mr jones
Subject: 4 gallons should be 5
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I brewed a 5 gallon kit. It is now in secondary (about a week). I
noticed that I only have abut 4 gallons in my carboy. I am going to
rack my brew to a corny key. Should I add a gallon of water to the
corny first.
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Date: 30 Jul 2006 00:51:27
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: 4 gallons should be 5
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On Sat, 29 Jul 2006 15:02:46 -0500, <dadeli11@comcast.net > wrote:
> I brewed a 5 gallon kit. It is now in secondary (about a week). I
> noticed that I only have abut 4 gallons in my carboy. I am going to
> rack my brew to a corny key. Should I add a gallon of water to the
> corny first.
It depends on where the gallon of water went. If you think that you
just didn't add enough water to begin with, then topping up with an
extra gallon should work fine. If, however, you think you brewed it
right but that you lost a gallon of the wort due to transfering from the
kettle to the primary, or racking from the primary to the secondar, then
topping up now will just water down the beer.
John.
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Date: 30 Jul 2006 17:33:28
From: Todd
Subject: Re: 4 gallons should be 5
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In other words check the gravity. If it's high, add enough water to get it
back to where it should be. If it's not high, you lost some beer somewhere,
but don't add water.
Todd
"John 'Shaggy' Kolesar" <spam@shagg.net > wrote in message
news:slrneco0ob.arq.spam@weizen.shagg.net...
> On Sat, 29 Jul 2006 15:02:46 -0500, <dadeli11@comcast.net> wrote:
> > I brewed a 5 gallon kit. It is now in secondary (about a week). I
> > noticed that I only have abut 4 gallons in my carboy. I am going to
> > rack my brew to a corny key. Should I add a gallon of water to the
> > corny first.
>
> It depends on where the gallon of water went. If you think that you
> just didn't add enough water to begin with, then topping up with an
> extra gallon should work fine. If, however, you think you brewed it
> right but that you lost a gallon of the wort due to transfering from the
> kettle to the primary, or racking from the primary to the secondar, then
> topping up now will just water down the beer.
>
>
> John.
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Date: 31 Jul 2006 13:52:15
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: 4 gallons should be 5
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On Sun, 30 Jul 2006 17:33:28 GMT, <Noname@NoSpam.invalid > wrote:
> In other words check the gravity. If it's high, add enough water to get it
> back to where it should be. If it's not high, you lost some beer somewhere,
> but don't add water.
It's in the secondary though, what do you compare the measured gravity
against to know if it's correct or not? I agree that would be a good
way to tell if you need more water or not if fermentation hadn't started
yet.
John.
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Date: 31 Jul 2006 15:44:16
From: Ric
Subject: Re: 4 gallons should be 5
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John, may I try to phrase the question somewhat differently - it might help
Mr. Jones, and will certainly help me; If i start with a recipe for a 5
gallon batch, but after boiling the water and malt and hops, I put it into a
carboy and discover that I have less than the 5 gallons the recipe said I
would - is it reasonable to asusme that I lost the half gallon, or gallon
(whatever the 'shortage' is) to steam during the boiling, and should replace
with clean water?
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Date: 31 Jul 2006 15:56:48
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: 4 gallons should be 5
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On Mon, 31 Jul 2006 15:44:16 GMT, <replytogroup@aol.com > wrote:
> John, may I try to phrase the question somewhat differently - it might help
> Mr. Jones, and will certainly help me; If i start with a recipe for a 5
> gallon batch, but after boiling the water and malt and hops, I put it into a
> carboy and discover that I have less than the 5 gallons the recipe said I
> would - is it reasonable to asusme that I lost the half gallon, or gallon
> (whatever the 'shortage' is) to steam during the boiling, and should replace
> with clean water?
The problem is that there are several ways to lose volume.
Yes, if you lost it due to steam during the initial boil, then just add it
back. In this case, the beer ended up stronger than it was supposed to be
since you lost water during the boil. Adding the extra gallon of water
will "fix" the beer and put it back at the strength it was supposed to have
started at. Once you get some experience with your equipment and learn how
much you lose to steam, you'll want to start the boil with enough water that
you end up at your target. IE, if you're making a 5 gallon batch and boiling
the full amount, you usually want to actually start with something like
6 gallons so that you end up with 5 at the end.
However, if you did the boil correctly but you didn't siphon it all out of
the kettle, or if you left a lot behind in the primary when siphoning to
the secondary, then you probably don't want to add anymore water. In this
instace, the beer was made to the correct strength, you just lost some of it.
If you add water now, you will end up with a weaker beer.
John.
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Date: 31 Jul 2006 11:26:11
From: yddraig
Subject: Re: 4 gallons should be 5
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Leave it alone, it won't hurt much if your beer is stronger than it
shuld be, but watery beer yuck. My first batch (over ten years ago) I
didn't measure right and wound up with 4 gals instead of 5. It was
fine and I was on my way to great hobby and hopefuly a good career.
mr jones wrote:
> I brewed a 5 gallon kit. It is now in secondary (about a week). I
> noticed that I only have abut 4 gallons in my carboy. I am going to
> rack my brew to a corny key. Should I add a gallon of water to the
> corny first.
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