Standardisation / Blending

[Chris Craig]

Here's a great article on how to blend a strong beer with water to get a larger volume of a weaker beer.

http://byo.com/stories/item/237-blending-for-volume-techniques

[brew]

My problem with 15G is boil size just like brian_s so dilution is in my future. I wonder though, if fermenting in multiple fermentors might be a way around the de-aeration thing? If I diluted as it comes out of the boil kettle, the O2 in the dilution water would be a good thing for the yeast, no? Or maybe boiling the dilution water is just a good idea for sanitary reasons?

[Chris Craig]

I think that if you blend pre-fermentation, you may want to boil the water, though I wouldn't do it personally.  In any case, I'd prefer to ferment the larger volume rather than blend it afterward.

[brew]

Yeah I think me as well - also a nice way to deal with the whole oxygen problem of diluting after fermentation is over... saves time as well since I can boil a couple gallons of water in the kitchen for a few minutes while the boil kettle is doing its thing - not really any extra time on the brew day and no extra boil adventures later on after fermentation is done...

[Chris Craig]

I think that making 60L of beer from a 40L boil is pretty awesome.  Great for your house pale ale!

[Brian_S]

I have yet to hit an infection issue by adding well water (straight from the tap) while kegging. (Assuming I make the appriopriate OG brew.)

My fermenters usually have about 15L each and then I top with another 5L or so at kegging.  On this topic I recommend making a 15L mark of your fermenters pre-fill.  It saves errors on the back end.

Like I said....if I'm spending 7 hours brewing anyway why not add a bit of extra malt and hops and come away with 3 kegs.

B