I'm in the final stages of my very first beer, which is a Belgian wit. Everything has gone great so far, and I will be bottling in just a few days. I have a pretty high alcohol content (around 8.2%, which I would like to bring down), and I think my volume is the reason; I only have maybe 4 gallons of beer.
When bottling day comes, I will be boiling some sugar and adding that to my beer before I bottle. My question is, can I boil the sugar in say a gallon of water, and add that? I want to bring my alcohol content down a bit, and hopefully lighten the color of the beer.
It would make sense to me that I could do this, since what I have right now is essentially a "slightly dehydrated" beer. If I can do this, then at what point do I take my "final" hydrometer reading?
So the questions again, in quick and to the point form: 1. Can I add a gallon of water to my beer before bottling? 2. If I do this, when do I take a "final" hydrometer reading?