Woodfordes wherry too much water

[joel_m]

Hi,

First time brewing and first time on the forum.
I have just started my first beer a woodfordes wherry using bottled water and realise after I'd made it up that I'd added 3lt too much (26 litres instead of 23). The OG was 1.033 and if I get down to the final of 1.014 I calculate that it will be about 3% which is fine but I was wondering what effect this will have on the taste of the beer? Is it worth scrapping it and starting again?

Fermentation started about 13hours after it went in the fermenter and 3 days later its still bubbling away nicely (although it has slowed a little). I'm trying to be patient and have resisted the temptation to remove the fermenter lid as I don't want to contaminate it. The foam on top is starting to die away leaving a brown tide mark I can see throughthe side of the vessel so I guess something is happening! The gas coming out of the airlock smells like beer (and quite nice too) I'm really hoping though my mistake hasn't ruined it. Does anyone have any advice? Or experience in the same silly mistake?

Its very addictive I'm already looking at what to do as a second brew! Want something tanglefoot or greenking IPA like.

Thanks for any help or advice.

[KevP]

I'd be tempted to throw a 500g bag of spraymalt in, making your kit to 26l wont hurt it apart from being a little thin and obviously weaker.

[brysie]

hey joely,

shame about the water- easy mistake.
dont chuck it though, it will be fine. and youre right to leave the lid on. i put clingfilm on top of my fv`s under a loose lid.
that way i can have a peek without disturbing things.
personally id leave it another few days and then take a reading. it might be more like 2.5% if it gets down to 1014 but hey....
...if it tastes good youll be able to drink shedloads of it and still be able to drive home after.

[joel_m]

Yeah I did think about asking what I could thow in it to increase the strength but decided that as ita my first attempt and I've already make one mistake probably best just to leave it alone and let it do its thing. Figured providing it'll still turns in to a drinkable beer albeit a weak one I'd rather lots of weak beer than no beer at all!
Thanks for the reassurance, do you think it'll condition ok and generate enough CO2?
Was going to split it between bottles and a keg as I think there is too much to fit into my keg now and I have 12 glass ceramic style stoppered bottles.

Thanks again!

[brysie]

should be fine mate.

i might be tempted to prime with a bit more sugar though as that will raise the abv a little bit. dont go mad and spoil the taste though.

[joel_m]

Hi I might try that as I checked it with a hydrometer today and the SG is at 1.011 the airlock doesn't seem to be bubbling that much anymore.
The beer inside (apart from being flat) had no vinager taste or smell so thats good (certainly smells like beer). But it was quite bitter so I think a dab of extra sugar and time to mellow then fingers crossed I'll have beer.

[Number of the Yeast]

I am certainly no expert having only brewed 6 kits, but i also managed to make a Woodfordes kit up with 26 litres of water about a month ago. This was an Admiral's Reserve obviously i was annoyed at my mistake as this was my 5th kit and until that time had not committed any basic errors. Well at least to the best of my knowledge. However i can say (backed up by 7 other mates i had round for an Ale Tasting Session at the weekend, i limited them to halves, can't spare too much!!!) that it still tasted fairly decent. It wasn't the most favoured brew but they still gave it 7.4/10 on average. So i think your brew will be alright! Good luck in the future and enjoy.

[joel_m]

Cheers good to know I'm not the only one! I think it will taste a little weak but as a first attempt if I get something drinkable out the other end I'll be happy! Going to keg it tomorrow if the SG is still constant so fingers crossed.
Was thinking about doing a summery ale next ready for the BBQ season I was looking at Woodfords great eastern. Has anyone tried this kit? If so is the beer any good or are there better light kits about? Also anything to add to it to make a nice summer ale?
Sorry lots of questions!

[Number of the Yeast]

Yes you are right,it will be a bit weakened but still drinkable. I have tried the Woodfordes Gt Eastern Pale Ale kit. I was very happy with this Ale and so were my fellow Ale Tasters of last weekend. This was the best of the pack, 7 out of 8 of my mates(late 30's early 40's-so reasonable experience of drinking a wide range of lagers/bitters/ales etc over a fair few years) made this the best of the five i offered. It's all a bit subjective but they gave this 8.8 out of 10 on average. As said before i have only done a few kits and don't have experience of other Kit Pale Ales, but very, very pleased with this one. Hopefully other brewer's suggestions will come to light which i will be keen to try out also with regard to quality pale ales.

[joel_m]

Well The SG has held at 1.006 for 24hours now so I think I'll keg and bottle it today. Then off to the local Brew shop (well localish) for my next attempt. Think I will try the Woodfordes Gt eastern as it seems to have some pretty good reviews from what I've seen plus you say it was a good pint.
I was thinking of adding some extra light spray malt and maybe some dried elderflowers as I saw somewhere that it becomes similar to Wells Bombardier Burning Gold, which is a decent drop of ale.
If I add extra spray malt (or sugar for that matter) do I need to add more yeast?

[brysie]

hi joel

interestig idea with the elderflowers.
i think id probably just brew the kit with the lme included. that is unless you specifically want to make the brew stronger.

[joel_m]

Yeah I was thinking about trying to push the alcohol to around 5% but I've no idea how much extra spray malt would be needed to do that! So I think you are probably right as this is only my secound brew I should probably stick to the Kit until I've got a bit more experience then have a play! Also I guess its hard to adjust the flavour of a beer I havent tasted!
Might still give the elderflowers a bash though and see what happens!

[brysie]

thats the spirit.
you could try making a brew with the elderflowers in a cafetiere and letting it stew for half an hour before adding it to the fv.
the only trouble i can see is that the wherry kit makes a really nice pint for a kit and you might muck it up.
however you could be onto a winner and make an even better one by experimenting.
i did one a while back and added 250g of dark muscovado sugar. wasnt as good as the origional, but it has improved over time.

good luck

[joel_m]

Thanks Brysie thats a really good tip with the cafetiere I was going to boil it up in a pan and then run it through a sieve but that is a much better and far less messy idea!
Going to give it a crack today I think, I only want a hint of the flavour so I'm going to use some of the elderflowers, but not to many maybe 30 grams or so.
Was toying with throwing a vanilla pod in too... but I think thats getting over ambicious so I'll try that next time!

Tried my wherry today still a little sweet so I guess secondary fermetation isn't finished but there is pressure in the Keg and its clearing plus it taste like it'll be a decent beer in a couple of weeks! So fingers crossed!

[brysie]

nice one

be interested to hear how this one turns out.