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Rehydrating a batch

H

HopToad

Let's say you start out to make 5 gallons, maybe a little plus, five and a half.  After settling, and bubbling away in your carboy it looks like you'll end up with less than five gallons.

To bring the final volume back up to five gallons, is there anything wrong with adding some boiled and cooled water at either the secondary step or as you go to bottle?  And at what point would it be better, if there's a difference?  ???

Thanks

 
HopToad,

If the batch was just a little short of volume but everything else is fine, I would just leave it alone. I would then go back to my notes and try to determine where the volume was lost and make the corrections needed in the equipment profile. If you have done this, the next most common oversight is that the the little box in the Equipment Profile labeled "Calculate Boil Volume Automatically" wasn't checked and the small box on the Recipe Page labeled "Set Boil Volume Based on Equipment" wasn't checked. See screen shots. BeerSmith makes a calculation for absorption but you don't see it.

Preston
 

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I will definitely use the boil volume, final volume calculations properly next time.  However, for now I have pretty high headspace in my primary, and will have even more in the secondary carboy.  I'll leave it alone, but just don't like the way it looks.

Thanks for the feedback

Edit:  There is of course, less open headspace in my smaller secondary, so not so much of a problem.  Will let things settle out and post re the results.
 
You shouldn't worry about the head space.  The fermenting wort is going to create CO2 which is heavier than air.  The CO2 will probably force all of the air out.  If not, it will protect it from any air/oxygen that is left.

If you want to dilute, you can do it at anytime as long as you use boiled, clean water to do so.  From what I understand the big brewers ship some their fermented wort as high gravity to a bottling plant that is closer to the distribution point.  The beer is then diluted to the correct gravity before bottling.
 
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