Just put my new brewing system together. Well, almost together. Still have some work to do but I couldn’t wait to get brewing so I jumped the gun a little. Anyways I made a Light American Lager for the guy that welded my kegs for me. didn’t calculate what was going to be left and grain absorption and such. In short instead of 5 gals I ended up with 3.75 gals.
My OG reading should have been 1040 and it was 1060. As stated this is a LIGHT Lager. Guy drinks Bud Light. I’m thinking even though it may turn out to be tasty he won’t care for it with his Bud Light taste buds.
Would you dilute? If so when?
I’m thinking when I wrack it to the carboy I should add a gal of distilled water.
Ferment it out and add water at bottling. Here is a great resource, which includes the necessary formula to calculate how much water to add:
If you are bottling you won’t have to worry about oxygen in the water; the yeast will consume it during bottle conditioning. If you’re kegging you should boil the water for 15 minutes to reduce the amount of oxygen in the water and then cool and use it quickly. Avoid splashing or agitating the water, or it will reabsorb oxygen. You can also simply add 1/4 teaspoon of ascorbic acid to 5 gallons of beer to scrub the oxygen introduced by your dilution water.
from the article:
If you boil your water, quickly cool it and use it immediately, you shouldn’t need to take any additional steps to reduce your beer’s oxygen content.
(Note: you can boil your bottling sugar in your dilution water to save a step.)
Not boiling the dilution water risks oxidation of the beer. The head space of the bottle is already filled with air.
I would taste the beer as is. It may be pretty good, even though the ABV is higher than intended.
You can add the dilution water at any time. Now or later doesn’t matter. However you do need to boil it to remove oxygen (then chill it obviously before adding).
I would dilute it if the guy is expecting homebrewed Bud Light – probably don’t want to leave it concentrated. But that’s just a guess.
Good article. I searched info which said the same. The yeast eats the oxygen before it starts working. My concern is over oxygenation when the yeast kicks into gear. After it finishes would be preferred but I think I have a window now.
Since I kept it a little chilly it has yet to take off. So I’m adding boiled distiller water now. Then bring it up to temp. I’ll tell you what happens next. :cheers:
I’m going to wait and see how it come out as is. After I try it I’ll decide if it needs to be thinner, watered down, and more bland to match BL. :lol:
Tonight I’m going in the other direction creating a beer with TONS of flavor. A Choc Porter is going to get produced. I plan on splitting it in half and making Choc Coconut and a Choc Candy Cane for a Christmas Beer.
I know I know it sounds funky. But it’s a Ladies request from my wife and friends.
They also maye have me scrap my coconut and do a Choc Pumpkin instead.
Wracked the beer off to a glass carboy at midnight last night. Gravity read 1010. Besides looking like apple cider it smelled and looked very nice. I’m going to give it 4 or 5 days and take another reading. When it stops working I’ll cold crash it at 35 degrees and let it clear out.
Even though I screwed up my first beer off this system I think it may turn out fine.
I have since made a Brown Ale and a SN Tumbler clone which both worked out great as far as processes and final amounts of beer. Also went from taking well over 6 hrs for my first batch down to 4 for my last. :cheers:
[quote=“dmtaylo2”]You can add the dilution water at any time. Now or later doesn’t matter. However you do need to boil it to remove oxygen (then chill it obviously before adding).
I would dilute it if the guy is expecting homebrewed Bud Light – probably don’t want to leave it concentrated. But that’s just a guess.[/quote]
You shouldn’t have to boil it if you add it before fermentation; oxygen in the water is a good thing at this point. But you should boil it if sanitation is in question. I just completed a brew that required a 90 minute boil, ending up with four gallons in my fermentor instead of five, so I added a gallon of store bought, unopened distilled water. That way I could be assured that the water was sanitary.
That’s a great looking beer CTJay! Clarity looks pretty good, head and lacing are fantastic! you should be proud of that whether the Budlight guy likes it or not!
Thx Dan.
That was the first glass. Looked great but wasn’t carbonated enough. I dropped the temp to 35 degrees and put it under 35lbs or pressure late Friday night. I’m going to bleed off the pressure and let it rest a little before trying it again.
Brewed up a Vienna Lager yesterday. Today I’m kegging my Tumbler Clone and cold crashing an IPA as well as a Choc Porter. May try to brew another SMaSH IPA tonight using Cascade. The Mosaic I did came out great.
Think I may have a little problem??? Am I a brewing junky if I brew 3 beers a week? :shock:
Really only thing slowing me down from brewing more is vessels.
If I think my beer or foods suck I’ll be the first to say so. Thankfully I have not had to state that as of yet not am I hearing that from anyone else. :cheers:
I hosted Thanksgiving for 22 people. After dinner I broke out a few kegs for people to try. The lager was KILLED! Phone calls were made. People in and out with a slice of my pies in one hand and a beer in the other. Choc Porter is almost gone and my DIPA is spitting foam.
Happy to report the Lager was a hit. Already have 2 more in first stage. 100 percent Vienna Grains in one and a Heineken for the other.
