Watering down strong brew

[purewhitesnow]

Some advice needed. I have just fermented c. 9 litres of a pilsner style beer and it is coming in at c.6.5 % which is too strong for my taste.
I am thinking of watering down with c.2 litres of sparkling water to reduce the ABV and hoping using fizzy water will prevent oxidisation.
Is this generally good practice to achieve a lower ABV? Or is there a better way to avoid producing rocket fuel?
Thanks

 

[Stevieboy]

I wouldn't water the whole brew down - I'd mix as I went - shandy style. In retrospect of course - take an OG reading and adjust before fermentation.

 

[foxy]

Some advice needed. I have just fermented c. 9 litres of a pilsner style beer and it is coming in at c.6.5 % which is too strong for my taste.
I am thinking of watering down with c.2 litres of sparkling water to reduce the ABV and hoping using fizzy water will prevent oxidisation.
Is this generally good practice to achieve a lower ABV? Or is there a better way to avoid producing rocket fuel?
Thanks

Watering down is how the big boys play, saves on fermenter space. Brew strong and dilute. Just use boiled water to dilute your brew pour it in carefully no splashing and you will be fine.

 

[Donegal john]

Would have made better practice to water down before it fermented out so your starting gravity was where you wanted it. You can water down now but risk oxidation etc. Not sure what the sparkling water will do to prevent that.
For me >6% is the norm lol

 

[The Baron]

Watering it down will do exactly that it will water down the alcohol but also the body of the beer and make it thinner in taste. If you want to water it down do as Foxy suggests and you could even syphon in the water to eliminate any splashing if you really want to.
Me I would set the beer to one side and brew the same beer but lower in gravity then blend together, that is if you have the room and patience to wait

 

[An Ankoù]

When I'm brewing something weak and sessionable, I invariable brew it on the cooker-top in my 12-litre pot and then water the wort down with either boiled and cooled water to 15 or 20 litres or with bottled, still, low-mineral water if I'm too lazy to do the former. This is common practice in commercial brewing- Guinness do it all the time, I understand.
As you've already fermented the beer, I'd drink it as it is or, water half the beer down to see whether it works ok at the end of fermentation.

 

[purewhitesnow]

Thanks to everyone for your advice

 

[marshbrewer]

I'd be tempted to brew something lower abv, and then blend the two after it had fermented, as has been suggested.

 

[purewhitesnow]

For the lagering process is it a case of racking the beer into another bucket so that it is off the trub and leaving in a cold fridge for 2 weeks?
Then prime and bottle?
Cheers

 

[purewhitesnow]

Watering it down will do exactly that it will water down the alcohol but also the body of the beer and make it thinner in taste. If you want to water it down do as Foxy suggests and you could even syphon in the water to eliminate any splashing if you really want to.
Me I would set the beer to one side and brew the same beer but lower in gravity then blend together, that is if you have the room and patience to wait

Thanks for the advice. I'm very close to lagering. I only have basic equipment so going to keep it in a cold fridge for 10 days. Is it best to rack to beer into another vessel before doing this so its off the trub or does it not matter?
Cheers

 

[The Baron]

I really do not like using a secondary as the moving of beer from one FV to another does risk oxidising the beer unless you do it with care/no splashing etc. There are 2 thoughts on leaving it on the trub, one camp says it does not really matter as long as it is not on it for a long time so in that camp 10/14 days is ok and even longer then the other camp says not to leave it on the trub IMO I would leave it if it is just for 10 days and not risk any oxidising

 

[An Ankoù]

I really do not like using a secondary as the moving of beer from one FV to another does risk oxidising the beer unless you do it with care/no splashing etc. There are 2 thoughts on leaving it on the trub, one camp says it does not really matter as long as it is not on it for a long time so in that camp 10/14 days is ok and even longer then the other camp says not to leave it on the trub IMO I would leave it if it is just for 10 days and not risk any oxidising

Furthermore, it'll help the yeast clean up any unwanted transition products and you've got little chance of autolysis because the temperature is low. Having said that, I have always racked my lagers off the trub for cold conditioning before bottling. Now that we're in the lager season, I'm going to give the Baron's way a try and see if it makes a difference.

 

[foxy]

Thanks for the advice. I'm very close to lagering. I only have basic equipment so going to keep it in a cold fridge for 10 days. Is it best to rack to beer into another vessel before doing this so its off the trub or does it not matter?
Cheers

If you haven't got John Palmers book it pays to get it. Once you have read that and understand the basic principals then read Dave Millers Home Brewing Guide.
http://howtobrew.com/book/section-1/fermenting-your-first-beer/transferring-the-wort