Five Way Expert
Posted 23 July 2014 - 07:28 AM
Question... is it ok to add water to top off after pitching?
I guess I had assumed that it had been pitched already.
As long the water is sanitary (i.e., boiled and cooled), that should be fine to do.
I'd prefer to add the top-up water before the primary ferment really kicks in, so topping up right after pitching the yeast should be ok.
Cheap Blue Meanie
Posted 23 July 2014 - 07:33 AM
a this point I'd add it as boiled cooled water to the keg
Five Way Expert
Posted 23 July 2014 - 07:42 AM
I'd lean towards topping up at the end of primary. That way, assuming the top-up water was boiled and cooled, the yeast in the primary could scavenge any O2 that gets mixed in with the top-up water.
If added at kegging, that might make it tougher to avoid oxidizing the batch.
Just a thought.
Cheap Blue Meanie
Posted 23 July 2014 - 07:47 AM
I'd lean towards topping up at the end of primary. That way, assuming the top-up water was boiled and cooled, the yeast in the primary could scavenge any O2 that gets mixed in with the top-up water.
If added at kegging, that might make it tougher to avoid oxidizing the batch.
Just a thought.
good point
Disliker of Nut Kicking
Posted 23 July 2014 - 09:13 AM
Question from a non-scientist...
What does it take to reduce the oxygen levels of the water? I had assumed... and maybe incorrectly, that boiling it (in addition to sanitizing the water) would do that. Am I wrong?
I guess what I'm hearing is that it is best to top off before the end of primary fermentation.
Or is another option to blend it with a small batch of a neutral, low hopped beer? Maybe even something "commercial" that is say... more along the lines of "water" (cough BMC cough).
Living Legend
Posted 23 July 2014 - 09:19 AM
Marathon brewing at my house the next couple of days because my brew buddy is getting married and we are brewing all of the beer. Last night was our first batch and it was a Saison. Started with 7g in the boil kettle for a 5g batch. 4g ended up in the fermenter. If it wasn't beer for his wedding I wouldn't be so upset but this really makes me mad. I need to watch my "rolling boil" and turn down the burner. Can't believe I lost 3g in an hour. Just venting. Try and do better tomorrow.
Why not just add some water to get the volume back? If your volume is short, your OG will also be higher than you planned, so adding water would restore both volume and OG. FWIW, I start with 8 gal. to end up with 5.5.
Cheap Blue Meanie
Posted 23 July 2014 - 09:23 AM
Why not just add some water to get the volume back? If your volume is short, your OG will also be higher than you planned, so adding water would restore both volume and OG. FWIW, I start with 8 gal. to end up with 5.5.
damn, I start with 7 to get 5.5
Anti-Brag Queen
Posted 23 July 2014 - 09:31 AM
damn, I start with 7 to get 5.5
similar here - 12 down to 10.5, 10 or so actually makes it into the fermentor.
Comptroller of Annoying-assed Threads That Go Too Freaking Long
Posted 23 July 2014 - 10:43 AM
like I said, I just didn't think about adding water last night. Gravity was obviously higher. 13 points. I guess you adjust your water to grain ratio? I usually do 1.25qts/lb. Do you keep that ratio and just add more water for the second strike to get 8g? I know you try and get equal runnings from both sparges.Why not just add some water to get the volume back? If your volume is short, your OG will also be higher than you planned, so adding water would restore both volume and OG. FWIW, I start with 8 gal. to end up with 5.5.
Living Legend
Posted 23 July 2014 - 10:45 AM
like I said, I just didn't think about adding water last night. Gravity was obviously higher. 13 points. I guess you adjust your water to grain ratio? I usually do 1.25qts/lb. Do you keep that ratio and just add more water for the second strike to get 8g? I know you try and get equal runnings from both sparges.
My usual ratio is about 1.65/lb. Sometimes as high as 2. That usually gets me pretty close to equal runoffs, but I don't sweat it too much. After the mash, I just use as much sparge water as I need to get to my boil volume. I use the Water Needed calculator in Promash to get me in the ballpark.
Anti-Brag Queen
Posted 23 July 2014 - 10:55 AM
like I said, I just didn't think about adding water last night. Gravity was obviously higher. 13 points. I guess you adjust your water to grain ratio? I usually do 1.25qts/lb. Do you keep that ratio and just add more water for the second strike to get 8g? I know you try and get equal runnings from both sparges.
I adjust water the grain ratio on nearly every batch to make sure my sparge isn't too big b/c I don't want to have to dump 6 gallons of really hot water into my tun. I usually adjust the ratio such that my sparge is 4 gallons or less.
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