by weizgei » Tuesday Aug 05, 2014 8:38 pm
When you say "an inch of head", do mean the same kind of beer foam you get when pouring a carbonated beer into a glass? That is unusual, I don't get any foaming at all when bottling, not even with the first few bottles. Can you think of something in your process that might have caused this?
Adding water post-ferment isn't too bad, as you say it was boiled, which removes a lot of the oxygen, so as long as you added it carefully, without splashing everything around, then that should be ok. I agree you should get a new hydrometer though, 15 days should be plenty to ensure it's fermented out, but it only takes one bottle bomb to lose an eye.