Adding water

[valhalla76]

Hi there people, just wondering, can you add water to finished fermented ale to bring the abv down? Cheers

[Lugsy]

I would have thought so as long as it's been boiled and cooled to kill off any nasties.

I always add water to my beers before fermenting as I boil in a 20l pot but make 23l brews, I don't see why you can't do it afterwards.

[liquidman]

When I've had to water down post boil I've always just used water straight from the tap on the basis that pH only matters when mashing and there are very few "nasties" in british tap water (apart from chlorine)

Andrew

[RdeV]

If you're solely wanting to reduce ABV in an existing beer, it is probably not going to be as successful as brewing it as a lower ABV from the start. If you can, take a glass of the stronger beer and add some water, how's it taste? Now imagine 20L of that.
Adding water to fermented beer is indeed possible though, in fact many commercial breweries do exactly that with economic benefits in mind. I gave it a whirl and while it works, it was nothing spectacular and a PITA. In the home setting, I wouldn't bother unless there's a really good reason.
Another factor that hasn't been mentioned so far is dissolved oxygen, increasing the proportion of that in fermented beer probably won't end well.

[Dr. Dextrin]

Unfortunately, you can usually tell if water has been added to alcoholic drinks - they taste, well... watery.

They usually improve if left for a while. Not sure how long it needs to be for beer, though. A few days at least, I'd say at a guess. Personally, I try and keep my beer well away from water.

[jason123]

Get the OG right at the start and there's no need to add water at the end.