We have made a mistake.. please advise.

[tobyho]

Hello

Today we have made a couple of mistakes in our brewing process. It does not look good but before we chuck it all away I am hoping someone can advise.

First mistake - we let the wort of our Way to Amarillo extract pack boil over whilst watching the new WWZ trailer... We reckon we lost appx 25% - 30% of the wort.

Second mistake - we thus added too much spring water to the wort.

We have cooled the brew and took a density reading and it is currently 1.020. It should be 1.050. The beer also looks very diluted. We have added the yeast and put the brew away. Is the beer worth keeping ? Is there anything we can do to it ?

Please advise

Toby :pray:

 

[Pearlfisher]

If you've a LHBS nearby or Tesco/Wilko's you could add a can of IPA to it,should bring the OG up enough.

 

[tobyho]

When you say 'can of ipa' do you literally mean a can of ipa beer ?

Thanks

 

[jonnymorris]

Nope. He means liquid malt extract (I assume). Basically, unhopped wort in a can... or maybe IPA is a hopped malt extract, not sure of the specifics.

 

[ScottM]

Yeah I would recommend getting a cheap IPA kit (single can) and just warm it up to room temp and chuck it in. That way it takes care of the hops that you lost while also increasing the gravity. If you empty it in at room temp and then rinse out the can with a cup of boiling water then top up with cold water before pouring it in you should be good to go.

If it ever happens again don't fill the FV all the way up to 23L. Just fill it till you get the expected gravity, if it's half of the volume then so be it.

 

[tobyho]

Ok. Thanks for the help.

But the shops are all shut now it being Easter. I can possibly get to Wilkinsons on Monday (didn't know they'd stock brew stuff). Can we wait till then (2 days) or even later ? Do we need to add this extra malt ASAP or can we do it in a few days ?

Thanks again.

 

[ScottM]

Ok. Thanks for the help.

But the shops are all shut now it being Easter. I can possibly get to Wilkinsons on Monday (didn't know they'd stock brew stuff). Can we wait till then (2 days) or even later ? Do we need to add this extra malt ASAP or can we do it in a few days ?

Thanks again.

Shouldn't be any harm in waiting, don't worry about it too much? :)

 

[RobWalker]

yes, a few days is fine - your original beer will continue to brew, but it'll still be full of active yeast weeks or months after fermentation :thumb:

 

[tobyho]

Ok. I have been to Wilkos and got a can of their Lght Delicate Pilsner. It was that or Hoppy Copper Bitter.

Is the Pilsner good for the Amarrillo brew we are making ?

The tin makes 40 pints apparently.

Our damaged brew is 18 littes at 1.020 abv. It should be 1.050. And we should have 25 litres I think. The beer is also currently very watery looking.

How much of this Wilko can should we add to the bucket ? And how much additional water etc ?

Many thanks for your help with this.

T

 

[Pearlfisher]

Warm the canin hot water first and empty it all in with just enough hot water to rinse the can out.

 

[ScottM]

Apparently I was using that invisible font again

 

[tobyho]

No. Sorry. I read all your advice. I was wondering if we stick the whole of this 40 pint can in to bucket?

 

[ScottM]

Yes, as said... empty it into the bucket and rinse out the can with a small amount of boiling water. Top it up with cold water before pouring it into the bucket though, as boiling water will kill yeast.

 

[RobWalker]

these 1.7kg kits are just hopped liquid malt extract - its as good as adding 1.7kg of liquid malt to your brew and it compensating for the bitterness at the same time. absolutely no problems :thumb:

 

[Underground]

Out of interest, would the same apply after 9 days? I did a 'calculus' on my beer last night and it seems to indicate it'll end up at 2.3% (but I was remiss enough to omit a starting gravity reading when I finally finished at 3.30am on 'brew night'). It'd be nice if I could get it to finish a bit stronger and chalk up the loss of the 'AG' element to experience - rather than grinding my way through 2 galls of watery small beer...

 

[bobsbeer]

Yes you can add wort extract, DME etc at any point. It will just need time for the yeast to tackle the extra sugar added, but just make sure it's well stirred in.

 

[Underground]

Yes you can add wort extract, DME etc at any point. It will just need time for the yeast to tackle the extra sugar added, but just make sure it's well stirred in.

Thanks Bob - I know this is a silly question but do you know roughly how much? I mashed with 2kg of Maris Otter and 142g of Crystal in 5l of water then added sparge water up to 15l, and topped up to 2 gallon after the boil.... based on the standard recipe given on 'jimsbeerkit'

 

[rpt]

I did a 'calculus' on my beer last night and it seems to indicate it'll end up at 2.3% (but I was remiss enough to omit a starting gravity reading when I finally finished at 3.30am on 'brew night').

How do you know the ABV if you didn't take a starting gravity reading? You need that to calculate it.

 

[morethanworts]

When you say 'can of ipa' do you literally mean a can of ipa beer ?

Thanks

:rofl:

 

[ScottM]

When you say 'can of ipa' do you literally mean a can of ipa beer ?

Thanks

:rofl:

If only, eh