Hey guys got a question. Brewed up the bourbon barrel porter today, and ended up with about 5.5 gallons in the fermenter when done. Checked gravity and I was at 1.059 after aerating and before pitching. I did add 1 cup of brown sugar to it and aerated again without any change in OG. Should I just let it be and chances are it will be fine? Any suggestions appreciated…
-Dan
I would just let it ride. It will be fine. Better off not messing with your wort after you pitch. It’s not worth the risk of contamination.
When did you add the brown sugar? I hope you boiled it before you added it.
Relax, dont worry, have a beer. was the taget was 1.065? or 1.053? was the recipe for 5 gallons, or 5.5 gallons? extract or all grain?
[quote=“kcbeersnob”]I would just let it ride. It will be fine. Better off not messing with your wort after you pitch. It’s not worth the risk of contamination.
When did you add the brown sugar? I hope you boiled it before you added it.[/quote]
I didn’t … Is this going to cause major issues? I aerated well after adding it… I pitched after all this was done.
Target was 1.065 5 gallons and extract.
[quote=“danfalcone”]
I didn’t … Is this going to cause major issues? I aerated well after adding it… I pitched after all this was done.[/quote]
^probably not. I think you’ll be fine
you were low on gravity because there was an extra half gallon of water. You would have hit 1.065 if there was a total of 5 gallons after the boil. All will be fine, you’ll just have a lower ABV beer. May or may not be better that way. Still beer, and if you did everything else correctly, it will be good beer
Agreed. Should be fine. You can also hit higher OGs if you add less water in the end. I’ve dont that a few times. :cheers:
[quote=“danfalcone”]
I didn’t … Is this going to cause major issues? I aerated well after adding it… I pitched after all this was done.[/quote]
After the boil, anything that touches the wort needs to be sanitized. This includes new ingredients. Even water should be boiled and cooled before topping off. The universal exception is hops, which have natural anti-microbial properties.
You run a small risk of infection if you don’t adhere to this rule. Since it’s done, I wouldn’t worry about it. Chances are you’ll be fine.
sugar out of the package SHOULD already be sterile. a big reason for boiling it in water is to dissolve the sugar so it mixes with the wort better. I also wouldn’t worry about it
Good news is that it was a brand new package and the measuring cup was sanitized. I’m sure it will be fine. Airlock is bubbling already after 2 hours so we shall see where we are in a week. Thanks for the responses everyone.
Sugar is too hygroscopic to support nasties, so I wouldn’t be worried about it. I dump sugar in my fermenter without sanitizing and have never had any issues because of it.
Your brown sugar probably hadn’t dissolved when you took your second gravity reading. That would explain why your OG hadn’t changed. You should be fine.
1 cup of sugar is only going to raise the OG by a maybe .001. 1lb raises it by .009 in 5 gallons.
[quote=“erockrph”]Sugar is too hygroscopic to support nasties, so I wouldn’t be worried about it. I dump sugar in my fermenter without sanitizing and have never had any issues because of it.[/quote]+1 If it’s any comfort, I dry-prime all my bottled beer (weigh out the cane sugar in a little cup and pour it into each bottle) with no issues.
One cup of brown sugar weighs about half a pound give or take.
One cup of brown sugar weighs about half a pound give or take.[/quote]
I measured about 6oz.
I’ll amend my statement with 1c of sugar only raises the OG by ~.003-.004 points in a 5 gallon batch.
As the OP has 5.5 gallons, I believe it will be <.002 of a raise in OG.
