Diluting wort to the right gravity?

Mr Benevolent

I'm just about to brew an extract tripel in the next few days and realised that I have all the equipment, ingredients etc but for one thing - a big pot to brew it in! I have a 5L pot that I used before, but this time I want to do a 15L brew to give 7.5% ABV and 25-30 IBU. It set me thinking. I don't have the money for a bigger pot and don't have the cooker space either. Nor do I have the space or money for a propane burner.

So my idea is to brew it all up in the 5L pot and dilute the wort. I'd have a 1.246 SG and 75-90 IBU. Tripling the volume to 15L in the fermenter would give an OG of 1.082 and IBU of 25-30, bang on target.

Any thoughts?

tteknulp

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

I'm just about to brew an extract tripel in the next few days and realised that I have all the equipment, ingredients etc but for one thing - a big pot to brew it in! I have a 5L pot that I used before, but this time I want to do a 15L brew to give 7.5% ABV and 25-30 IBU. It set me thinking. I don't have the money for a bigger pot and don't have the cooker space either. Nor do I have the space or money for a propane burner.

So my idea is to brew it all up in the 5L pot and dilute the wort. I'd have a 1.246 SG and 75-90 IBU. Tripling the volume to 15L in the fermenter would give an OG of 1.082 and IBU of 25-30, bang on target.

Any thoughts?

You really need a bigger pot ,you could split brew in 2 using a clean bucket/bowl to hold half ,but its messy ,heitons sell pots cheap aswell, 1082 will give you 9.5abv
If you get it to 1010

rubadub

If diluting be sure to stir it very well, otherwise you can get a dense sugary layer on the bottom, and weak solution on top with an incorrect hydrometer reading as its only sitting in the top.

oblivious

rubadub wrote: »

If diluting be sure to stir it very well, otherwise you can get a dense sugary layer on the bottom, and weak solution on top with an incorrect hydrometer reading as its only sitting in the top.

Also a stir would be good to aerate the wort too

drumswan

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

I'm just about to brew an extract tripel in the next few days and realised that I have all the equipment, ingredients etc but for one thing - a big pot to brew it in! I have a 5L pot that I used before, but this time I want to do a 15L brew to give 7.5% ABV and 25-30 IBU. It set me thinking. I don't have the money for a bigger pot and don't have the cooker space either. Nor do I have the space or money for a propane burner.

So my idea is to brew it all up in the 5L pot and dilute the wort. I'd have a 1.246 SG and 75-90 IBU. Tripling the volume to 15L in the fermenter would give an OG of 1.082 and IBU of 25-30, bang on target.

Any thoughts?

Use a tool like brewersfriend.com recipe builder, it will let you set the boil size, target fermenter size and do the necessary.

Mr Benevolent

Well, I got the tripel brewed but the wort boiled over - a pain in the arse but not critical. Ended up with 10 liters of wort at 1.085 in the fermenter. I'll leave it until fermentation slows after a few days and rack it to a couple of PETs. Any ideas on how long to leave it in secondary?

oblivious

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

Well, I got the tripel brewed but the wort boiled over - a pain in the arse but not critical. Ended up with 10 liters of wort at 1.085 in the fermenter. I'll leave it until fermentation slows after a few days and rack it to a couple of PETs. Any ideas on how long to leave it in secondary?

Two weeks in the primary and then bottle, much easer and with out the hassle of secondary

Mr Benevolent

oblivious wrote: »

Two weeks in the primary and then bottle, much easer and with out the hassle of secondary

I've left the hops in the wort, so now that I think about it maybe direct bottling isn't an option.

oblivious

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

I've left the hops in the wort, so now that I think about it maybe direct bottling isn't an option.

Ah ok