Well yesterday was my first try at brewing beer. I bought a simple brew kit from Brooklyn brewing and did not have any troubles following the instructions on their website for the everyday ipa. but wheni was finished and putting my brew into the gallon growler to ferment i only had maybe three fourths full. The website it is possible to happen and to just fill the rest of the way up with water. is my beer ruined for having to add so much water? any ideas? I am a novice! Cheers
Pretty sure it should be fine. During the boil, a lot of water evaporated, so you need to add that back.
Ah, well that makes me feel better. I just didnt know if there would be a problem because i added a significant amount of waterthe to it.
I can't boil the entire volume of my wort right now, so I have to add water every time. I wouldn't worry about it. If you followed the instructions closely you'll probably be pleasantly surprised when you pop open that first bottle of delicious beer.
start over. How big was your batch size and how much headspace do you have in your fermenter? Also, did you follow a grain bill, get gravity readings, etc. on your process.
Pretty sure these Brooklyn kits are very simplified. They come complete to make a 1 gallon batch, including the jug. I get the impression OP topped it up. Gravity readings etc are most likely not called for with a kit like this.
It has a tube that connects to the top through a hole and is kept in water to allow pressure to release. Yes, the kit was very simplified. Didnt want to get in over my head the first time at it. I plan on getting more advanced as i learn more. i guess all i can do is wait! Eh?
Relax. It will likely be similar to what was designed, and it's unlikely that it was designed to be bad. Worst case, you'll end up with a gallon of beer. if there's anything wrong with it, it's probably not a result of adding water.
Relax inded. It's possible you added too much warer, but the worst is that it'll be lighter than planned. I've done a couple of those, and what I did before pouring the beer-to-be in, I measured a gallon of water and marked the level on the outside. IIRC, it came to about the shoulder of the bottle, about where it gets the widest below the neck.
I brewed the same kit about 5 weeks ago and also had to top off the wort to fill the gallon jug (from the sounds of it, however, perhaps not as much as in your case). At any rate, I just cracked my first beer the other night and was pleasantly surprised how well it turned out. I did make one slight modification to the recipe and dry-hopped with amarillo for about a week before bottling. Glad I did too—smells wonderful. That being said, the ABV was closer to 5% than the 6%+ ABV listed in the Brooklyn Brew Shop recipe book. A tasty brew nonetheless. Speaking of bottling, I popped a Cooper's carbonation drop into each swing-top bottle and racked right from the jug into the bottles. After a little more than a week, the ale was well carbonated and produced a sizable frothy head. Best of luck with your batch—I'm sure it will turn out fine!
Thanks for the replies, calmed me down for sure! I was just thinking it was drastic, but now i see it is more common. Ill let yall know how the batch turns out. Quick question- there is also about one inch of sediment on the bottom. Normal?
Normal. It means your yeast has grown, multiplied, eaten sugars and pissed out alcohol. Some of it may also be hops trub. To put your topping-up in perspective, most extract brewers doing a standard 5 gallon batch boil probably 3 gallons of wort, ending up with about 2.5 after evaporation. We pour that in the carboy, then top up the rest (another 2.5 gallons) with water. So your amount was not drastic. Cheers.
Thanks for the info! should that be strained out? or is that the yeast sediment that ends up in the bottle?
No there is plenty of yeast left in suspension in the beer, even though it may look clear. That's all the yeast you need to carbonate. Most folks would probably tell you to try and minimize the amount of that sediment that gets into the bottles. You'll want to hover the end of the racking cane just above that sediment. Good luck.
I also got about an inch of yeast fallout and hop sludge in my carboy after fermentation was complete. As jmw said, just hover the racking cane above the sediment when you bottle. I was able to remove just about all the ale when I bottled without much difficulty, though an auto siphon and clip worked wonders (two highly recommended pieces of equipment). I also stuck the carboy in the fridge for three days before bottling. Not only did this help to clarify the beer, but the leaf particles from dry hopping also fell out of suspension. Aside from a touch of haziness, my ale finished considerably clear.
Beer consists of mostly water anyways. Dont know the exact percent off the top of my head. Lots of extract beers you half to add lots of water at the end like that.
Having extra top-off water on hand, even more than you think you will need, is going to be a part of your regular brewing routine. Nothing to fear, as long as you pay the same attention to sanitation with it as the rest of the stuff going into the fermenter.
