top off

Just a quick question....After I have transfered from the primary(a full 5 gal.) to my secondary(now less than 5 gal.) can I top this off so it is back to 5 full gallons? In the process of transfer, being that there is sediment at the bottom, obviously you lose amount of brew, and same for carboy to bottling bucket. I don't want to lose flavor or have a watered down brew because I wanted to get more quantity. thanks!

The only way to increase final yeild without effecting flavor or body is to increase your pre ferment qty.

No, do not top off your beer. Just brew a bigger batch next time.

You can top off if you want, but you will definitely be watering down your beer and changing the flavour. For me I never bother, I'd rather have a lesser amount of good beer than more of an average beer. You can try making slightly larger batches to account for the loss along the way (I think a lot of guys make 5.5G batches for example).

You will get a lower gravity less tasty brew from doing this. It depends whether volume of body/taste is more important to you.

There is nothing wrong with a lower gravity brew if it fits the style you are after.

I personally would not be worried about the reduced volume.

You don't want to add water now- you'll just water down your beer. I usually make 5.25 gallons in the primary and then have 5 gallons in the secondary. Still, I lose some to trub at times. I just settle for a little less beer that tastes great rather than worrying about the yield. I still might get 48 bottles of a batch, so that's fine with me!

I agree with all above
Quality over Quantity

niquejim said:

Quality over Quantity

Click to expand...

QFE

yea just buy a 6.5 fermenter