boil size batch size

When it says batch size is 5.5 such as in BMs Centennial pale ale i am assuming that means I should be putting 5.5 into my carboy. Is that correct. I am pretty sure that it is but here is where I am confused. Most kegs are 5 gallons. Do I just waste the .5 of a gallon or will that be left behind mixed in with the trub? Or should I scale it to 5 gallons. I think I am woryring to much

Short answer - yes you put in 5.5 gallons. But after the beer finishes, there will be about .5 gallons of sediement - things like dead yeast, hop bits that make it into the wort, and trub that got in.

This leaves with about 5 gallons to get into bottles/kegs

And no, you don't have to really worry. It won't drastically affect things if the volume is a bit off this way or that way.

B

I just brewed this yesterday. I think I was a half gal over due to not counting on the half gal volume of liquid extract in the pre-boil.

I asked and got the same answers as you just did, don't worry about it. In the end I think I ended up with a little over 5 gal anyway. It was easy and it's bubbling away nicely today.

If you undershoot and boil off too much liquid, should you add some tap water to bring it back up to 5.5 gallons (or whatever your batch size is)?

When I brewed my first batch of beer, I ended up with only about 4.5 gallons in the fermenter bucket... I contemplated topping it off with tap water but decided against it.

Now that I'm finally drinking it (woohoo!) it does seem a bit strong. I suspect its from being too concentrated? (I let it sit in secondary for 2 months in the basement, but it still tastes 'hot' - more like a Baltic porter than a Dry Stout).

theIrish said:

If you undershoot and boil off too much liquid, should you add some tap water to bring it back up to 5.5 gallons (or whatever your batch size is)?

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Yes, you should top it off to match the recipe total. Otherwise your og will be too high as you have discovered. 1/2 gallon out of 5 gallons is 10% and will make a big difference in the brew. The total wort depends on the recipe though and not always 5.5 gallons. Most extract kits are for a 2.5 to 3 gallon boil and top off to 5 gallons even.

HomebrewMTB said:

Yes, you should top it off to match the recipe total.

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I was trying to follow RICLARK's all grain recipe for Guiness Draught Clone, which already had all the water calculations.... but I didn't account for any evaporative losses. It turned out great btw, despite my many errors (undershot my mash temperature, fermented it too warm, didn't use enough water, etc.) Thanks for posting your recipe RICLARK! These forums are such a great resource.

I was overly paranoid of getting an infection so I didn't want to add any unboiled water at the time and I was unsure if I needed to. I guess my tap water is probably safe and will top it off next time.

Do you more experienced brewers plan for evaporative losses and add water to your brew kettle, or use extra sparge water, or just top off the fermenter?