Is it ok to add water to secondary to make the 5 gallon mark

huntfisher · Post by **huntfisher** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:43 am

I've read that adding water during secondary will give an error when taking a hydrometer reading, is it true?

Post by **brahn** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:51 am

I think that depends on what you mean by an error. The hydrometer will still tell you the specific gravity of the beer. However, you won't easily be able to use it to determine the alcohol content of the beer because the water probably has a lower SG than the beer. That means that the hydrometer reading will be lower than if you didn't dilute, but the beer won't have any more alcohol. Is this a big deal? I don't think so. The ABV numbers on homebrew are fairly rough estimates anyway.

Why do you want to add water to the secondary?

huntfisher · Post by **huntfisher** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:15 am

Did not make the 5 gallon mark, so wanted to add some water. What is the margin of error. But, the final gravity will not be affected,correct?

Rezzin · Post by **Rezzin** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:07 am

Even though you brewed a 5g recipe, it's ok if you came in a little under or a little over (this happens more often when brewing all grain). As long as your OG was close to what the recipe indicated, that's the most important thing really. If you brewed a 5g batch with an OG of 1.056 and came out with 4.5 gallons but the gravity was still 1.056, I would not add water to bring it to 5g.

If you really want to add water to bring up the volume, it would be best to do it before fermentation starts. You could try boiling and cooling distilled water and adding it but I think the risk of oxidation is just too high once fermentation has completed.

When I first started homebrewing, it drove my crazy if my numbers were 100% perfect. Now after a few years, I realize that it's not so much the numbers that are so important, it's the procedure and patience that have the biggest factor imo.

Just an FYI, If you had wort with a gravity of 1.050 and you added .5 gallons of water, you'd drop it to 1.045.

lars · Post by **lars** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:14 am

Personally, I wouldn't add any water. Like Rezzin said... I'd rather have 4 gallons of good beer than 5 gallons of ok beer.

huntfisher · Post by **huntfisher** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:08 pm

Sounds like wise advice. I was going to add extra water when it comes to boiling the sugar in water, but I'll take quality over quantity.

thanks

BrewMasterBrad · Post by **BrewMasterBrad** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:07 pm

Good desicion. Many of the beginning brewing books and recipes say to top up with water to achieve your desired volume and I really hate that. As you brew more, you will be able to adjust your process and techniques so you get close to both your desired gravity and volume. The gravity is more important than your volume.