Would it make sense that using too little water produces a stronger beer?

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Dulwich North

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As a first time brewer, I thought I was carefully following the recipe for a Mosaic IPA from grain. But while I should have had around 5L from the wort, I only got about 3.75L into the fermenting bucket, and my guess is that I must have measured pints instead of litres for the mash/sparge stages (each 1 hour long).

At least on this occasion, stupidity and lack of care hasn't proved a problem and yesterday I was amazed and pretty chuffed when I tried the first bottle. The recipe was for about 7% but the OG/SG calculations indicated just over 8.1%, and it certainly tasted strong. So does it make sense that by using too little (or just less?) water I've ended up with this satisfying result?
 
You could dilute it slightly to bring down the strength. It would change the bitterness of the hops a bit, but I'm not sure how much. Someone cleverer than me will be along shortly to tell you by how much.
 
Measuring the Original Gravity is basically measuring the concentration of fermentables so yes, less volume initially means a higher concentration which means a higher OG and therefore higher ABV (assuming mash efficiency is as estimated)

So far I have always ended up topping up after boiling to get the required volume in the fermenter back to what it should be. This has to be accounted for in the OG reading either by taking the reading after topping up, or alternatively measuring the amount of top up water used.

If you use the Brewer's Friend recipe calculator you can easily change the fermenter volume figures from 5L to 3.75L and see if your figures add up.

I reckon you should be looking at something like 9% if the target was 7%, what were your target OG/FG vs actual readings if you took them?

Certainly sounds like a strong one!
 
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It was a LondonBeerLab ingredient kit & recipe which described the processes ideally for me to get started, but sadly they didn't include target OG/FG numbers, just said they should be recorded and gave 7.2% as the target.

So I did take notes and made phone pics too. Assuming I've read the hydrometer correctly, 1.083 was the OG and FG was 1.015, which the-home-brew-shop's calculator estimates as 8.9%. It punched its weight!

I understand your "measuring the concentration of fermentables" and from what you say, I should have checked the volume after boiling and could have added more boiled (?) water. I'm brewing the same recipe again later this week, but thanks for the Brewer's Friend tip as I do intend to move away from kits once I've found my feet, so to speak.
 
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