Watering down a fermenting wort
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Fatgodzilla
Watering down a fermenting wort
Not really an AG specific question, but I guess I need you smart blokes to get a quick answer. I've got to brew an 8% (min) beer for a club competition. Truth is (and I know I'll get branded a heretic) but I don't want to have 20 plus litres of strong brew when all I need for the competition is 3 750Ml bottles. Now, because I don't have a small fermernter, I'm thinking, make up a (say) 15litre brew, draw off a couple of litres to a secondary (say) just before final gravity and then add water (say 6 litres more) to make a weaker beer. Does this make sense ?
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delboy
You could take the wort from the first run off from the mash tun and guessing you would be in the right ball park for 8 %. Take as much as you need and water down accordingly, boil in a pot and ferment in a demijohn.
The rest of the first runnings could be combined with the sparge run-offs and finished in the conventional manner to leave a much weaker beer.
Doing it this way has the added advantage of using the first run-off from the tun which by all accounts is the best (ie malty etc).
That said either way would work (make sure if you do it your way to throughly boil the water for quite some time to deoxygenate it otherwise you ruin the risk of getting stale beer) and i don't think you'll get any stick for not wanting enough 8 % beer to ruin a liver about you. Although if it was me i'd make it all 8 %, bottle it all and leave it as a once in a blue moon beer just to see how it changes over an extended period of conditioning (months and years).
The rest of the first runnings could be combined with the sparge run-offs and finished in the conventional manner to leave a much weaker beer.
Doing it this way has the added advantage of using the first run-off from the tun which by all accounts is the best (ie malty etc).
That said either way would work (make sure if you do it your way to throughly boil the water for quite some time to deoxygenate it otherwise you ruin the risk of getting stale beer) and i don't think you'll get any stick for not wanting enough 8 % beer to ruin a liver about you. Although if it was me i'd make it all 8 %, bottle it all and leave it as a once in a blue moon beer just to see how it changes over an extended period of conditioning (months and years).
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mr bond
Yeah i totally agree with that.delboy wrote:Although if it was me i'd make it all 8 %, bottle it all and leave it as a once in a blue moon beer just to see how it changes over an extended period of conditioning (months and years).
I think you are talking kit beer here anyway (Yeah?)not AG
if you are keen to learn making a vintage and tasting one a month over 24 months or so is an excellent experiment.
Dave
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Fatgodzilla
Thanks
Good answers from all and contributed greatly to my knowledge. The beer will be an all extract but when I go to full AG in next few months, I'm guessing the same problem will arrive. I've decided to do both logical answers, ferment 15 litres, bottle a dozen longnecks, (one to taste to see if worthy of show entry, two for the show and nine for monthly sampling) then water down and get another 9 bottles of weaker effort for side by side comparison. Got a "Beersmith" calculation to show this feasible. Much thanks for the contributions
Fatgodzilla
Fatgodzilla
