Adding water to make up for trub

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Gunpowder

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I just brewed the one pound Johnny, an imperial ipa with a LOT of hops. I ended up with a ton of trub in the carboy... maybe 3+ inches, so I added the normal amount of water that I usually add... I boil 2.5 gal of water, then I add 3.25 and that usually puts me right at the 5 gallon mark on the carboy. Today I added that and it put me about 3 inches above the 5 gallon mark. This makes sense, given the incredible amount of trub. Did I do this wrong? Should I have filled to the 5 gallon mark? It hardly makes a difference with this brew, its going to be about 10% alcohol with about 130 ibus so maybe watering it down a bit isn't a bad thing....LOL. I'm just curious if people fill to the mark, or if they fill to make up for lots of trub.

Also, you should know, I put almost all of the wort in the carboy, like i usually do.
 
Here's a picture so you know what I mean....

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I'm a dump-everything-into-the-fermenter guy, so my 5 gallon batches are actually 5-1/4 gallons to make up for trub loss. I keep my beers in primary for 3 weeks and by that time the trub has compacted to about 1/4 gallon.
 
You are watering down the wort so you won't get the OG or IBUs that you planned for a 5 gallon batch. If you want to do this on a regular basis, you may want to adjust your recipe for a larger batch size to accommodate the higher volume. No worries though, it will still make beer.
 
That's just the thing, MTB... AM I watering it down, or am I adding water to make up the difference in space that the trub is now occupying? Like I said, I added just as much water as I normally do, except now the level of beer is about 3 inches higher than normal... but the level of trub is also about three inches higher than normal. So in theory, I should have 5 gallons of beer, right??
 
Sorry I misunderstood. I thought you added more than normal. I usually filter through a sanitized mesh grain bag when I have a bunch of hops like that to avoid the situation. That way I know what the volume is without all the extra hop matter. A pound of hops will suck up a ton of water though so you may actually be above your target. :drunk:
 
I whirlpool to try and keep as much break material and hops, out of the fermenter, but I adjust my recipes to account for trub loss. I wouldn't add extra water because you'll be changing your intended brew...losing IBU's and OG. Personally, I'd just rather get my beer I planned on no matter how much I lose to trub.
 
Its totally up to you if you want to add water or not to adjust your batch size. If you have a hydrometer you could check the O.G. and see if you need/want an adjustment to you O.G. Then you will know if you are running true to your recipe or kit.
 
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