Topping up boil volume with water?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

onelegout

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Messages
248
Reaction score
6
Heya,
I was trying to mash/sparge ending up with 6 gallons of wort to compensate for evaporation in the boil.
I've just run out of sparge water leaving me with 5 gallons of wort. I don't really want to dilute the wort after the boil, so can I just add water as it boils off? Surely only the water will evaporate anyway? and as my SG of the 5-gallons I collected is reasonably on target, it shouldn't matter, right?
Is there any reason why I should worry about adding water to the boil to compensate for evaporation?

thanks,
H
 
If you add water before or after the boil to get your final 5 gallon amount you will end up with the same beer. If you boil down 6 gallons to 5 or if you boil 5 down to 4 and add 1 gallon you should end up with the same S.G.
 
It will effect hop utilization slightly. The larger the boil volume, typically, the better the hop utilization. That may not be a factor for you, though.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top