[exploid94]

Hello community,

I'm new to homebrewing and have been trying to learn as much as I can about the process. I actually brewed my first time yesterday, it's a Belgian Tripel. I bought the ingredient kit from brewers best. I followed all the steps and watched along with videos to make sure what i was doing was correct. I transferred my wort to the fermenting bucket and started fermenting last night. I was doing more research and i'm finding my OG reading was 1.092, added corrected 0.002 as temp was 77degrees F, which apparently was high.

I was wondering if the OG was too high, even though it's suppose to be on the higher side. I was hoping to get an apv of around the 8.5%-9% range but the estimated calculations i've done set me around 9.5%-10% apv.

If my readings are too high, would I be able to add boiled water to bring it down a bit when i transfer to the carboy for secondary fermentation or would it throw the flavors off?

Since i started at a higher OG, does that mean i need to stop at a higher FG than what was described, or is this the wrong method? I feel i'm just being a little paranoid but wanted to ask around. Thanks in advance!

[denny]

IMO, the key to tripel is not high OG, its low FG.  I shoot for a 1.076 OG and around 1.006 FG.  My last one came in around 1.084 so I added water to get it down to where I wanted it.  Turned out great.  And BTW skip the secondary.

[nateo]

Don't try to stop it at a specific final gravity. Let it do it's thing and see how it turns out. You could dilute it at bottling but it's close enough I personally wouldn't stress about it.

Also don't transfer for "secondary fermentation." Leave it in the fermenter until it hits terminal gravity and then bottle it. Bigger beers are easy to stall during ferment and underattenuated Belgian beers can be sickly sweet.

[neuse]

And not bottling at a higher FG isn't just about beer quality. If you bottle before fermentation is finished, it will finish in the bottle. That could give you exploding bottles.

[dmtaylor]

Welcome to the forum!  You've come to a good place, lots of helpful and experienced folks in here.

I agree with the others.  Personally I would water it down, that's a great idea, and I would do it right away assuming your fermenter can handle the extra volume, or if not then later is fine too.  High gravity can stress out the yeast so that's why I would do it sooner than later if possible, it would reduce the stress a little bit.

I would also skip the secondary step.  When the beer is clear and "ready for secondary", consider just leaving it in the primary for another ~week.  It won't hurt anything, and will allow the yeast to continue finishing fermentation for the last point or two if needed, and to clean up any sulfur or other off-flavors if there is anything present.  A prolonged primary definitely does not hurt anything, it only helps.

Enjoy!

[exploid94]

Thanks for all the info and help guys, I really appreciate it. I think I'll leave it to ferment and monitor the levels and slightly dilute towards the end if it's absolutely needed. The Yeast appears to be doing it's job quite well already and i don't want anything airborne to get in since it's doing it's job. I'll leave it in the primary container for a little longer as you guys suggested instead of using the carboy. I'm taking notes on what i'm doing and how i can improve so this'll all be learning experience for the next batch i do! 

[neuse]

I've thought about this some more - wondering about a new brewer adding water to the fermenter. It opens possibilities for contamination and introducing oxygen (a problem if adding after say two days in the fermenter). Maybe it would be better to leave well enough alone. Any thoughts on this?

[nateo]

I personally err on the side of letting it be. But I've also used more water than necessary when boiling priming sugar at bottling to dilute it a bit. It didn't seem to have any deleterious effects.

[neuse]

I personally err on the side of letting it be. But I've also used more water than necessary when boiling priming sugar at bottling to dilute it a bit. It didn't seem to have any deleterious effects.

That sounds like a good idea.

[denny]

I've thought about this some more - wondering about a new brewer adding water to the fermenter. It opens possibilities for contamination and introducing oxygen (a problem if adding after say two days in the fermenter). Maybe it would be better to leave well enough alone. Any thoughts on this?

If you add boiled and cooled water both of those concerns are dealt with.

[exploid94]

That's actually a thought I didn't have, was to use more water than needed for the priming. I'll have to keep that in mind when it comes time to bottling. At least if i need a little dilution. 

[kramerog]

The best time to add dilution water is during active fermentation because the fermentation will blow out the oxygen and the yeast will eat the rest and because it reduces yeast stress.  A little bit of extra oxygen early in the fermentation of a big beer is generally helpful anyway.