I am wondering if I have enough water in my Dead Ringer IPA primary fermentation tank. It's my first brew, and it's based on 5 gallons of beer production.
I boiled 2.5 gallons of water, added my ingredients and did the 1-hour boil w/hops additions.
I poured the wort into my fermentation tank with 2 additional gallons of water, and then topped it off with another 1/2 gallon to bring it up to the 5 gallon mark. I did everything exactly as the recipe specified.
However, after sealing the tank, I noticed that there was a good 1/2" to 1" of sediment that settled out of the mixture to the bottom of the fermentation tank, and wondered if I should have added more water to have 5 gallons of liquid, as it seems that there is a 1/2 gallon or so of sediment sitting on the bottom. (It would have brought the level of the fermentation tank up over the 5 gallon mark, but I am wondering if that 5 gallon mark takes all the sediment into consideration in the recipe.)
Is it possible that the wort is too rich? Is so, can I add more water either to the existing primary fermentation, or possibly to the secondary fermentation tank in a week or so? Or, do the experienced brewers on this forum think that I am safe?
