Not enough water added to wort?

since this is my first brew i obviously made a few mistakes. Right now my biggest concern is that I did not reach 5 gal. of total wort in my carboy. It never crossed my mind to make a mark on the carboy to indicate 5 gal. This is because I filled a 5 gal. water jug at the store and didn't account for water loss due to evaporation during the boil. Also, I stupidly poured the water into my carboy and then the wort instead of the opposite order.

As of now everything is fermenting fine and I'm relaxed, not worrying, and drinking a microbrew (AV Barney Flatts Stout). Just wondering what impact this might have on my brew (coffee stout) and what I need to consider when it comes to bottling time. Again, this is my first beer and it's in a 6.5 gal carboy from the floor to the top of wort is about 10 inches. Thanks.

I made the same mistake my first brew. I ended up with 34 bottles out of the typical 50 or so. Don't stress it. After all you made beer! Each batch is a learning experience. You'll be fine. After this batch is done mark a 5 gallon line on your fermenter so you know where to fill to...

MStudinski said:

I made the same mistake my first brew. I ended up with 34 bottles out of the typical 50 or so. Don't stress it. After all you made beer! Each batch is a learning experience. You'll be fine. After this batch is done mark a 5 gallon line on your fermenter so you know where to fill to...

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Too funny - I did the exact same thing on my first ever batch. Came out with exactly 36 beers and a puzzled look.

I know it's impossible to wait, but for me, after 3 weeks mine were still sweet. An extra week or two really helped that batch mellow out a bit and taste a lot better.

Did the same thing on my first batch a couple months ago. Mistaked the foam from aerating for the beer level and ended up with a little over 4 gallons. Oh well, still tastes good.