Back watering after overshooting OG?

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MikeMorrison
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Back watering after overshooting OG?

Post by MikeMorrison » Mon Dec 03, 2018 11:22 am

I have a friend who tried his first all grain BIAB on the weekend. He ended up with less beer at a higher gravity than he was expecting. I believe he used a Best Case Best Coast IPA kit and ended up with an OG of 1070 instead of the 1060 ish he was hoping for. Anyone have any experience watering down (GASP!) beer either during or after fermentation? Is there a best time to do it? Is there a way to get a somewhat accurate measurement of ABV if done after fermentation? He pitched yeast on Saturday night so it should be going pretty good by now.
Fermenting: Sticke Altbier, Amarillo Saison, DDH Amarillo IPA with Verdant Yeast
On Tap: Good Morning Spider Hop Harvest IPA

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LiverDance
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Re: Back watering after overshooting OG?

Post by LiverDance » Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:08 pm

This should help. and it's best to do it before fermentation

https://www.brewersfriend.com/dilution- ... alculator/
"Twenty years ago — a time, by the way, that hops such as Simcoe and Citra were already being developed, but weren’t about to find immediate popularity — there wasn’t a brewer on earth who would have gone to the annual Hop Growers of American convention and said, “I’m going to have a beer that we make 4,000 barrels of, one time a year. It flies off the shelf at damn near $20 a six-pack, and you know what it smells like? It smells like your cat ate your weed and then pissed in the Christmas tree.” - Bell’s Brewery Director of Operations John Mallet on the scent of their popular Hopslam.

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mdentremont
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Re: Back watering after overshooting OG?

Post by mdentremont » Mon Dec 03, 2018 2:00 pm

A couple of years ago I did and it was potentially the best beer I've made yet - I had messed up a recipe and ended up with an extra tub of LME. I did some quick calculations that suggested I add around 4 liters so I dumped a gallon of store bought water. I won't try to remember the calculations as I'm sure the link above is much better.

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amartin
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Re: Back watering after overshooting OG?

Post by amartin » Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:54 pm

I’ve done it before. Just be sure to boil any top up water good, not just to sanitize it but also to boil out any dissolved oxygen.


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Buccaneer
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Re: Back watering after overshooting OG?

Post by Buccaneer » Mon Dec 03, 2018 9:27 pm

I've done it a couple of times, including my recent bock, and the beer turned out just fine. I always add before fermentation.

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jason.loxton
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Re: Back watering after overshooting OG?

Post by jason.loxton » Tue Dec 04, 2018 1:28 am

No issue at all doing it before or after fermentation. (If after, make sure that your water is boiled well enough to remove O2.) It's actually a thing pro brewers do sometimes on purpose to max production on their systems. Google 'high gravity brewing'.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=high+gra ... e&ie=UTF-8

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Re: Back watering after overshooting OG?

Post by oceanic_brew » Tue Dec 04, 2018 8:05 am

Do it pre-fermentation, it’s really hard to add water post even if it has been boiled and not oxidize your beer. Commercial breweries have very specific equipment for this.




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MikeMorrison
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Re: Back watering after overshooting OG?

Post by MikeMorrison » Tue Dec 04, 2018 3:16 pm

Thanks everyone! I passed all of this along as well as a recommendation to join the Brewnosers!
Fermenting: Sticke Altbier, Amarillo Saison, DDH Amarillo IPA with Verdant Yeast
On Tap: Good Morning Spider Hop Harvest IPA

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