2.5/3.5 Gallon First Batch

[RogueKNB]

We are learning as we go and we certainly messed up our first ever brew...we did not add the extra water to our wort in our fermentation bucket, so now we have a very dense 2.5-3.0 gallon batch fermenting in our fatboy. Is this even worth saving to see what comes out or should we just dump it? I am not sure that it is going to be drinkable, but at the very least we thought that we would save it to practice our syphoning/racking and bottling?

[brewerTristan]

By ProMash calculations, assuming you were shooting for a 1.050 beer and didn't dilute with water to get to 5 gallons, your 3 gallon beer has a starting gravity of about 1.083. That is pretty high, especially if your IBUs were for a 1.050 beer. That said, I think it's worth saving - at least taste it, then decide whether you will actually drink it or not. Another option is brewing another beer and blending, but that would be quite difficult. You could even add back sanitized water, I suppose.

[BDawg]

Never throw a batch away until it is both OLD and bad.
Keep it, let it age. Brew a second batch as soon as your fermenter is free.

HTH-

[Chupa LaHomebrew]

Yeah, see how it turns out. It's a strong ale now! Since it's your first batch I'll add, remember to scale back your priming sugar by about half, or you will have some nice sticky bottle bombs.

[The Big Hopper]

I can't tell you how many happy mistakes I've made in my brewing career... Even look at Lagunitas, a commercial brewery, and they made the mistake of inadvertently creating Brown Sugga. Sometimes, despite our best intentions, our beer turns out different than we expected. But it isn't always a bad thing. : )

[bikefoolery]

You could go ahead and add the water now. Just boil up what wasn't added, let it cool to fermentation temperature and add. Right now your yeast are working overtime in that dense wort.

Oh, and no worries, this is one of many errors we all learn.

The Fool.

[mookie1010]

You could go ahead and add the water now. Just boil up what wasn't added, let it cool to fermentation temperature and add. Right now your yeast are working overtime in that dense wort.

Oh, and no worries, this is one of many errors we all learn.

The Fool.

This was my first thought as well, but I've never done it and don't know if there would be adverse effects from doing it. I certainly can't think of any, though it might take a little longer for all the flavors to "mesh" I guess.

[RogueKNB]

Just for reference we put it in the carboy on Friday...not sure if that changes anyone's opinion on adding the water....