Diluting down after fermentation?

[Brownster]

Hi all,
I've just finished my first AG brew, Tribs IPA recipe with a few minor adjustments, my final volume was 17.5 ltrs, the recipe said 20ltr so I came up a bit short.
I think perhaps I should have added some more water before fermenting but I didn't, anyway, it fermented out very well.
The OG was 1.054, FG 1.008
Checking the alcohol this makes it 6.2%, the taste was very nice too, lovely hoppy character.
I thought I'd dilute it a bit to bring the ABV down to about 5% (and get a bit more beer!) so I searched on here and found advice on how to calculate the water to add to a wort before fermenting and used this as a guide.
Calculated like this:
17.5 ltr wort x 54 (og) = 945
945 / 45 (target og) = 21 ltrs, ie 3.5 ltrs
so I added 3.5 ltrs of cooled boiled water with the bottling sugar into my bottling barrel.
By my calcs, that makes it about 5% ABV
It certainly tastes good still but I wonder, should I have not done this or, trying to calc. how much water to add after fermenting?
I guess I was thinking about the original IPA and how it used to be shipped at a higher ABV then watered down, this is all new to me so any advice would be good

[Whorst]

In my experience, it's better to start with a greater quantity of wort and boil down. You'll need to document what's going on with your system. I always start out at about 7 gallons and usually boil off 1.5 gallons, leaving me with 5.5 gallons. This ends up at right about 5 gallons, when include a .5 gallon loss. Also, be sure your sparge water is adequate for the pre-boil.

[maxashton]

Don't dilute now, you'll risk infection and probably spoil the character of your brew already. Just serve as is and bear boil loss in mind for next time.

[stevezx7r]

Saying that, MA, I think he's right with the history lesson - they did used to ship in high abv form before watering it down. It helped prevent infection and the officers used to get the "good" stuff first with the rest being given to the grunts.

I would have left it too, but, if he's after more beer per buck he should be ok (especially as its an IPA so should have plenty of hops to keep it fresh).

[Brownster]

Thanks for all the advice guys, so am I right in thinking that before the ferment, I could have adjusted the volume based on the SG in the way mentioned?
I think I read elsewhere on the forum about diluting down to a desired SG, ie 1045 for around 5% abv, by doing so it shouldn't make the beer to 'thin' ?

Cheers,

Wayne.

[kevthebootboy]

As my old man says, if its not broke, dont fix it, youve got a nice beer there, a bit stronger then you would have liked but still a nice tasteing beer, just dont go mad drinking it!!

[stevezx7r]

Thanks for all the advice guys, so am I right in thinking that before the ferment, I could have adjusted the volume based on the SG in the way mentioned?
I think I read elsewhere on the forum about diluting down to a desired SG, ie 1045 for around 5% abv, by doing so it shouldn't make the beer to 'thin' ?

Cheers,

Wayne.

During my brewdays I usually tend to top up with pre boiled water to reach my desired quantity/gravity or boil down if I have too much.

[hoppingMad]

Its not an uncommon practise for some breweries to "water down" their finished beer to bring the beer to the required gravity/alcohol %.

I guess there are probably several reasons why it might be done. Not the least of which could be to maximise fermentation vessel size ?

[Madbrewer]

Don't Courage do this? I thought Courage Best was a watered down Directors .... (De ionised, sterile, water i think)

[Aleman]

Mad brewer is right, Courage partigyle their beer, and yes the water is deionised, sterile, and deoxygenated