Watering Down Your Beer

[Insight]

I may get lynched for this but hear me out...

A friend of mine came by Saturday 2 weeks ago to do a spot of brewing with me. It was his first time (aww...) and he's usually a "whatever the missus picks up on sale" kind of drinker. He's been pretty chuffed with the beer he's tried at my place, so wanted to learn what's what.

I selected a fairly basic APA recipe right in the middle of the style guidleines so as not to overwhelm the poor guy's tastebuds. 1.056 -> 1.013, 5.6%ABV, 40IBUs, 0.72 BU/GU.

I have just had a taste and while it is damn fine right now and perfect for me, I think the bitterness will be slightly too challenging for my friend. My idea was to "water down" the beer a bit to drop the IBUs. Obviously this also has the unfortunate side effect of dropping the ABV and FG also.

I am wondering whether this will acheive its goal? The BU/GU ratio will remain the same no matter how much water I add (checked in Beersmith), so while the beer becomes less bitter, it also becomes less malty - possibly negating the intention.

Will this beer taste less bitter after adding 10-15% water back?

 

[matti]

All I can say...
He is a bloody good friend hehe.

You need the malt profile to balance that kind of IBU
I'd be careful adding water and add all before the fermentation began.

The water you add is most likely around pH 7+
The wort is around pH 4.5.
I am not sure what affect that will have yo the final produce.

 

[pint of lager]

The beer will probably taste the same, as you pointed out, the BU:GU ratio will stay the same, so the balance will be the same.

Don't forget, if you are adding water, you need to boil it up first to remove dissolved oxygen, then need to introduce it to the fermenter as gently as possible so that there will be as little turbulance as you can achieve.

Brewing a stronger strength brew and then watering it back down is a large brewer trick. You need a smaller boiler, less energy needed to boil the brew, smaller fermenters and less cooling and heating during fermentation. This means it costs less money to brew.

 

[rich_lamb]

I'd say leave it for a while. If you screw with it you've a good chance of stuffing it up, while time will reduce the bitterness all by itself (or at least smooth it out a lot).

 

[joecast]

what stage is the beer at now? still in the fermenter?

would it be possible to split the batch. i agree with you that the beer as is might be a bit much for your friend (arent lcpa and moo brew both around mid-30 ibu?), but it would be a shame to possibly ruin it for both of you by watering down to something undrinkable. so maybe dilute half the batch with 10% water (filtered or boiled if possible). maybe give hima taste first up before hand to see his reaction. he may even think its not bitter enough :beerbang:
good luck

 

[blackbock]

Watering down worked for one of my IPAs. I kept 1/2 at full strength and watered down the rest. Both tasted almost the same, except one had more of a kick.

 

[Lukes]

Watering down worked for one of my IPAs. I kept 1/2 at full strength and watered down the rest. Both tasted almost the same, except one had more of a kick.

Same here but 1:18 ratio and just used no name soda water at the racking to keg.
Was not too worried about infection as it was for that day session drinking.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

You could blend it with another less bitter beer

Cheers

 

[Insight]

The beer is done fermenting and is sitting at 1.013, right about where it should be. I had thought to boil up some additional DME with the "watering down" water and allow this to ferment out. Unfortunately I am out of town for two weeks starting Thursday and won't have time to allow the added fermentables to finish before bottling.

It may be that a couple of months in the bottle with mellow the bitterness to a newbie's palatable level. Or it may be that my mate will break through the lupulin threshold with a crate of 40 IBU longnecks! :chug:

 

[jonbob]

When I was new to the world of good beers it was the bitter hoppy beers that made me switch from whatever was on special at the bottle shop. Just let him taste it and see what he thinks , maybe even have a tatsing with him of a few different types of beer, give him something to compare it against.

 

[AlphaOne]

if it is nessacary, just add a small amount of soda water to the glass before you pour the beer. that way you can both drink it the way you like

 

[PartyPooper]

Don't forget, if you are adding water, you need to boil it up first to remove dissolved oxygen, then need to introduce it to the fermenter as gently as possible so that there will be as little turbulance as you can achieve.

I don't understand - how can boiling remove dissolved oxygen? I've never been good at chemistry, however,I do know that water is H₂O so if you remove the oxygen, all you're left with is Hydrogen (a gas). Of course, boiling doesn't split water into Hydrogen and Oxygen (it produces water vapour instead) so I'm not sure what you mean by dissolved oxygen in water from the tap. Can you enlighten me please.


Cheers
PP

 

[glennheinzel]

Is this an April Fools joke?

 

[RussTaylor]

I don't understand - how can boiling remove dissolved oxygen? I've never been good at chemistry, however,I do know that water is H₂O so if you remove the oxygen, all you're left with is Hydrogen (a gas). Of course, boiling doesn't split water into Hydrogen and Oxygen (it produces water vapour instead) so I'm not sure what you mean by dissolved oxygen in water from the tap. Can you enlighten me please.


Cheers
PP

Google is your friend - "Dissolved oxygen analysis measures the amount of gaseous oxygen (O2) dissolved in an aqueous solution. Oxygen gets into water by diffusion from the surrounding air, by aeration (rapid movement), and as a waste product of photosynthesis. "

 

[PartyPooper]

Oxygen gets into water by diffusion from the surrounding air, by aeration (rapid movement), and as a waste product of photosynthesis. "

Ahh, so the pumping station adds it during the filtration process - now I understand. Thanks.


Cheers
PP

 

[Weizguy]

I agree with Jon. If he's a good mate, he'll understand that's the way of things.

Don't shield him from reality. Real beer has bitterness, and he'll have to learn to come to grips with that fact.

He will thank you for your honesty.

my 2 cents...Les

 

[lagers44]

My Old man used to water his brew down 30+ years ago , he'd make a stronger brew then add 1/4 cup water to each bottle at bottling time. I remember him saying "no point falling about after just 1 bottle ".
It obviously works for lowering the alcohol volume.

"Real beer has bitterness, and he'll have to learn to come to grips with that fact." ........????? Not all beer needs to have an aggressive bitterness , balanced beer still tastes good . Not every palate is tuned to like bitterness most kits are like this.

 

[3GumsBrewing]

Ok, hear me out guys, this is a question I would not mind answered

Brewed a really nice Weizenbock on the weekend, brewed it so that I would end up with 19L at about 8.5%. Now I must have miscalculated along the way, had the boiul to strong etc, but I ended up with only 15L and that is still after I had pitched my 1.5L starter of WLP300.

I think the beer might end up to strong/bitter and I would not mind entering this into a comp so I want to get it back up to the guidelines, can I water this beer down when I put it into the keg with around 2L of boiled and cooled water?
What about the soda water route, is that the best way to go?

Cheers
DK

 

[Brewtus]

This was dealt with by the British in Ireland about 120 years ago. They call it Black and Tan. Mix a lighter, pale beer with a darker stout or porter to make it less heavy and bitter.

 

[dig]

+1 for blending

a dash of Corona or TED will dilute the bitterness more than the body.