Topping off

What would the consequences be if I were to top off the wort in my bottling bucket before I bottle? I'm about 1/2 to 3/4 gallons shy of 5. Can I top it off or just bottle what I have?

would you rather have ~45 bottles of good beer or ~53 bottles of watered down beer?









I am hinting that you should not, not, not, not top off in the bottling bucket

Yeah, that's what I thought...

I used to think that I HAD to have 5 gallons of beer when it came time to bottle. But then I realized what Berserker stated.. would you rather have less of a good beer or more of a watered down beer? After realizing that I have never cared about how much beer I get in the end.

I have a similar decision to make. Here's my thought process though. I add ingredients for a 5 gallon batch but add slightly less water or boil off more than I thought but it's only water I lose so now the beer is more concentrated than it should be. If watered down beer is a concern why don't we use 5 gallons worth of ingredients then only brew 4 gallons making it stronger?

Obviously I don't know because I'm a noob in every sense of the word, just sayin', that's all.

So I boiled to 5 gallons but left a half gallon in the boil pot. (Really should just take the whole volume to primary in future.) Now I have a little over 4.5 in primary and I need to decide whether to top off in secondary, especially since I will end up leaving behind even more volume. Shouldn't I worry about too much airspace in secondary? My brew book says to top off into the neck.