Low OG/Volume problem

[nacnud]

Hey Guys,

I did my second MaxiBIAB yesterday with mixed results. I seem to have an issue with efficiency because I was aiming to end up with 18L at an SG of 1.049 but before diluting (after the boil) I had 15.4L at 1.052. When diluted to an OG of 1.049 this only comes out at 16.3L total.

I had a similar outcome with my first attempt and the beer ended up too bitter for my taste. It has just (finally) dawned on me that with these lower than expected volumes I'm still using the same amount of bittering hops as originally planned for an 18L batch. I don't want another unpleasantly bitter batch so I'm wondering what the best course of action is from here? The wort is already in the fermenter and the yeast was pitched last night.

I'm thinking of doing a mini batch today without any hop additions and adding it to the fermenter to top up to 18L. Luckily I have all the required grain on me. Would this work? Is there any issue with adding more wort at this stage in primary?

The beer I'm attempting to make is a version of DrSmurto's Golden Ale using Pale Ale malt instead of Pilsner and Centenial and Cascade due to the lack of available Amarillo at the moment. Was hoping for about 30 IBUs.

Thoughts?

 

[mmmyummybeer]

Mini batch should work fine. You will need to post more info on your recipe and IBUs, for help calculating your beer to 30 IBUs.

 

[nacnud]

I was hoping that by just adding more wort and no new hop additions it would even out to the original planned IBUs?

Recipe was:

Grain:
Briess Pale Ale Malt 2.4kg
Munich 1 0.8kg
Wheat 1.0kg
Caramunich 1 0.25kg

Hops:
Centennial 10g @ 60mins
Centennial 15g @ 20mins
Cascade 15g @ 5mins

Mashed 90 mins at 66 degrees. Sparged at 78 degrees. 60 min boil.

Planned IBU 30.4
Planned EBC 16.4

Might dry hop a little cascade. Haven't decided yet.

So what I've got at the moment is 15L at 1.049 SG. What I would like is 20L at 1.049. (I said 18L in OP. I was mistaken).