Have I diluted my beer?

[HenrySwansen]

I need some expert knowledge please. I completed my first BIAB and the volume to go into the fermenter was meant to be 20l but I ended up with something like 17.2l. The OG was 1.04 which lined up with the expected gravity. I did a little reading and got the sense that adding additional water to the fermenter at the start of the ferment wouldn't be an issue but I added another 1.5l to the fermenter and the OG dropped to 1.038. I am wondering if I have made my beer too diluted now.

Beersmith calculated the ABV to 5% but now it is something like 3.5%. I realise this all depends the FG but as this is my go at brewing I am worried I have ruined my first batch.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

[micka80]

The only brew I have ruined was from an infection, have made plenty of brews that were not fantastic, I either drank them or mixed with other beers. Point being bottle it and enjoy the Learning curve

 

[Schikitar]

I put a ~1.5L hop tea into the pale I recently brewed and whilst it did dilute it a little once the beer mellowed for a week or so in the serving keg it now tastes fine. I did have a higher OG though but this beer couldn't have lost much in terms of ABV as it still knocks me around a little. I wouldn't worry about it, with that amount it should still come out close to the 5% you are looking for (not sure why BS is telling you 3.5%, that doesn't seem right). Wait and see what you're FG is and do the ABV calc off of the numbers you know.

What you'll find starting out is that your boil off rate can vary and be quite different to others. I don't do a typical 60 minute boil, I boil to volume rather than to time (which is usually much longer than 60 minutes) and as I only do sub 20 minute hop additions I do some boil off calculations along the way so I know when to start doing my late additions and call flameout. You really need to do a few brews to get a feel for your equipment, your initial strike water volumes and your average boil off rate. eg. my electric urn last time was only managing about 1.5L/40mins, took over two hours before the volume reduced down to where I needed it, I use this calculator to work out gravity/volume on the fly - https://www.brewersfriend.com/dilution-and-boiloff-gravity-calculator

 

[HenrySwansen]

Yeah, thanks Schikitar. I brewed on a crazy hot day and I think thats why the volume dropped more than I thought. I'm basing it off BS without changing the FG as I don't know what it'll be. No use guessing until its time to bottle.

Micka80, cheers to that. I'll still enjoy it I'm sure and it meant that I learned something along the way.

 

[mongey]

You haven’t ruined it but you have diluted it
Is there a number missing from you og ? 1040 isn’t getting you 5%.

Just drink it and enjoy it as your first batch and work out where your volume was off

My cube holds 23l. I leave about 5 l of trub in kettle at the end. So need 28 l of wort after the boil to fill the cube with clear wort. . I start with 37.5 l water before mash. I lose 2.5 l to the grain. A vigorous 60 min boil boils off about 6 or7. l leaving the 28 l I need.

But it took 5 or 6 batches to work out my gear and volumes