idiot newbie adds too much water

[simonind]

I'm making the Youngs American Pale Ale as a re-introduction to brewing after 25 years and rather stupidly I've just made up my wort to 5.5 gallons rather than 5 because I misread the instructions.

Should I take any remedial action or will the primary fermentation complete with a few litres more than I intended? The specific gravity was about 1040 which didn't seemed way out of whack.

Any advice appreciated

Thanks
Simon

 

[Personal91]

I'm making the Youngs American Pale Ale as a re-introduction to brewing after 25 years and rather stupidly I've just made up my wort to 5.5 gallons rather than 5 because I misread the instructions.

Should I take any remedial action or will the primary fermentation complete with a few litres more than I intended? The specific gravity was about 1040 which didn't seemed way out of whack.

Any advice appreciated

Thanks
Simon

Chill, it's only 10% extra volume, if you are worried about abv loss add some sugar to make up for it :)

 

[dad_of_jon]

Chill, it's only 10% extra volume, if you are worried about abv loss add some sugar to make up for it :)

and perhaps add a hop tea as part of your priming solution

 

[Personal91]

and perhaps add a hop tea as part of your priming solution

Not a bad idea, quite a good one actually....

Please check the temps that apply to the hops you use tho as some hop essential oils become volatile ( break up and escape from the tea solution) at temps as low as 60C

 

[chesters-mild]

Don't worry! It should ferment out OK, as you say the OG was about 1040, you may find that the final gravity will be a wee bit less than the instructions if say 1010 then you will have a beer of about 3.9 abv. and at that strength it will still be drinkable.
Many of us here often 'brew short' - do not use as much water in a kit brew i.e. 4.5 gal. rather than 5 gal. -
I have often, just makes the beer a little stronger that's all.
So enjoy watching the beer ferment - and enjoy drinking it even more in a few weeks time!
Cheers

 

[simonind]

Thanks for the reassurance, it's supposed to end up at 1008 and I have hop pellets to add once its below 1010 so hopefully I'll just end up with a 4.2% brew rather than 5.5% which still has some flavour.

With the brew belt on it's still not up to 16 degrees yet so it hasn't started fermenting in the garage, another downside of adding too much cold water, doh!

On the plus side I'll bottle a bit as well as filling the pressure barrel so I'll have a good comparison of the two conditioning steps!

Cheers
Simon

 

[simonind]

So I've started sampling and I must admit I'm impressed. Not quite clear yet but smooth with a slightly dry flavour.

The secondary fermentation doesn't seem to have generated much pressure in the barrel, I can maybe pull a pint then I have to inject some CO2, I'm not sure I have a leak as I'm getting some pressure build up, it's just not what I was hoping for. If I use a sparklet then some of the gas seems to escape via the pressure release which seems wasteful, is it likely the pressure release happening too soon?

Either way this has convinced me an S30 cylinder is the way to go.

 

[suffolk]

Just drink 2 pints instead of one, that way you can get another brew going much quicker :)