What effect does the amount of water have on the finished product? I got a bubbler and it didn’t have any graduations on it so I eye balled it to 5 gallons after the temp break. Looking at it now I’m pretty sure I’m about a half gallon short. Also, the first step is always to boil 2.5 gallons of water and add the malt syrup to that. Would it be OK to boil the syrup with only 1.5 gallons. Thanks in advance.
If your batch ends up less than 5 gl, it will increase the OG, making a stronger beer. Of course there will be fewer bottles out of the batch as well.
I wouldn’t go less than about 2 gl for the boil, or you may run the risk of scorching the malt extract if you do not remove it from the heat source and let the bottom of the kettle cool. The wort will be less fermentable if the sugars in your malt extract get scorched (burnt).
I would say that you will wind up with a fine beer, nothing wrong with it, just a bit stronger than the kit had intended.
If you’re brewing something hoppy, you’ll get really poor hop utilization if you reduce your boil volume too much as well.
Thanks for the info!
I have a similar question. rut6er asked if he was too short on water because he had a bubbler and “it didn’t have any graduations on it.”
I got a plastic 6.5 gallon bubbler from NB last week. It has six evenly spaced outdents.
I brewed a Russian Imperial Stout from a recipe. It was a “full boil” in a five gallon pot. OG is supposed to be 1.090. Mine was 1.102.
After it was cool, I put the wort into the bubbler. It was way below the fifth gradation, so I topped it off with water. OG dropped to 1.048. Alarmed, I pitched a yeast starter I’ve been fussing over for days. It is bubbling this morning. So my questions are:
- Are the outdents gallon gradations, or something else?
- How much liquid is in the picture below?
Extract brew, Grants?
You may have not pulled a thoroughly mixed sample, as the extracts tend to settle a little bit when topped off with water.
You said you did a full volume boil, but if you added water after the fact then you didn’t really. Full volume for a 5 gallon batch would have been maybe about 6 or 6.5 gallons taking evaporation into account.
I don’t have a bubbler, I have a regular glass carboy, so unfortunately I can’t help and tell you how much you have in there. Based on what you have, I’d say you’re maybe a little short of 5 gallons, perhaps 4 or 4.5.
My carboy also doesn’t have graduations, so I had to fill it with 5 gallons measured from my bucket, and mark off with colored tape where the level was.
Extract brew, Grants?
Yes. More extract than I’ve ever used before, 6.3 lbs of dark malt extract, 6.3 lbs of amber.
You may have not pulled a thoroughly mixed sample, as the extracts tend to settle a little bit when topped off with water.
Huh. Like cowboy coffee, pour in cold water, grounds drop to the bottom?
So if it was really 5 gallons at 1.102 and I added a gallon of water, and there was settling before I dipped a hydrometer sample off the top, the math says I may have six gallons of 1.085 OG?
You said you did a full volume boil, but if you added water after the fact then you didn’t really. Full volume for a 5 gallon batch would have been maybe about 6 or 6.5 gallons taking evaporation into account.
Yeah, you’re right. I only have a five gallon pot. Started full of water, huge amount of extract kept it topped up. I think I’ve got a diluted 6 gallons.
I don’t have a bubbler, I have a regular glass carboy, so unfortunately I can’t help and tell you how much you have in there. Based on what you have, I’d say you’re maybe a little short of 5 gallons, perhaps 4 or 4.5.
My carboy also doesn’t have graduations, so I had to fill it with 5 gallons measured from my bucket, and mark off with colored tape where the level was.
Huh. It didn’t occur to me to fill the Big Mouth Bubbler with water from a reliable vessel before using it (though I did sanitize it).
Somebody must own one of these things and be able to eyeball it…
I received a plastic big mouth 6.5 gl for Christmas this year. I took a reliable vessel and checked the graduation marks…they seem to be pretty darn close to perfect. Now the buckets I’ve got…that’s another story. I have also heard that the seals are a little bit suspect on the plastic big mouths. I had air lock activity for 3-4 days, then nothing, but I could see there was pressure being produced by the airlock being slightly lifted, so no worries.
Namaste!!!
I received a plastic big mouth 6.5 gl for Christmas this year. I took a reliable vessel and checked the graduation marks…they seem to be pretty darn close to perfect.
Okay. I now see on the product page that they’re supposed to be graduation marks.
Now the buckets I’ve got…that’s another story.
I am beginning to doubt the reliability of my brew pot and a $1.97 blue Walmart bucket used for sanitizing. Really messes with the head.
I have also heard that the seals are a little bit suspect on the plastic big mouths. I had air lock activity for 3-4 days, then nothing, but I could see there was pressure being produced by the airlock being slightly lifted, so no worries.
Huh. Not a problem here. I just replaced the two-stage airlock, which has now started blowing a constant stream of foam, with one of those three piece airlocks, which seems better able to deal with the pressure.
Anyway, thanks!
With extract OG is very simple. If you use all the extract/fermentables, and you hit your volume for the recipe, your OG will be as specified. Wort stratification is often an issue when using top off water. Once again, if you used all the extract and hit the correct volume you’re golden.
Great, certainly what I wanted to hear.
