5 gallons imperial or US in a recipe?

So, I'm borwsing around and trying to wrap my head around recipes and how adding different fermentables affects OG and what not. I can see where there might be room for a fairly significant error. Most recipes are designed for a standard 5 gallon batch. But is this 5 US gallons(19 litres) or 5 imperial gallons(23 litres). I have 2 5 gallons carboys but they are 23L carboys. So that is actually 5 imperial gallons. If i were to follow a standard recipe listed on this site for example and fill the carboy to the top. I could end up with an extra gallon of water. This would have to have a drastic affect on the outcome of the final product.

Is there a standard? Do I assume that 5 gallons is US gallons unless specified otherwise. Also there are a couple of recipe calculators that ask for batch size in gallons but don't specify US or imperial should I assume if these are US based sites that these are US gallons?

Any input would be great. Thanks.

Assume 5 US gallons for recipes posted on this forum (unless stated otherwise). There are no guarantees, though. Recipes come from all over the world, and "a pint's a pound the world around" does not hold true! The origin of a recipe or website should offer clues as to whether the units are imperial or US. I don't recall ever seeing a calculator that uses imperial gallons, but I don't use online recipe generators very often, either. I have seen recipes that use imperial units.

thanks for the reply. i assumed that most would be us gallons but wanted the general consensus.

It's a common problem here in Canada. I bought a new car in the spring and wanted to work out the mileage. Litres per hundred kilometers means nothing to me but it's easy to calculate. Do I convert to US gallons per mile, or UK gallons? How was the car's mileage advertised here in Canada?

Anyway, I think Yuri has it right for your question. The bulk of the members here are US citizens so that's what your recipe will be based on.

Also, you can always run the recipe through a calculator if there is any doubt.

I would be pretty comfortable assuming that people were talking US gallons. If it is anything else it is usually specified. You will notice that most recipes from Canadians will say 6US Gallons (23 litres), as well all of Orfy's tend to have both size batches identified.

What I don't get is why Americans want to make less beer every batch?

lady_brewer said:

What I don't get is why Americans want to make less beer every batch?

Click to expand...

Proof that were not the culture of absurd over-indulgence that were often associated with.

That's why I use litres.

No mistakes.
It means I have to do a lot of mash initially if I want to brew someone else's recipe.

Try converting QTS/Lb t Litres/KG

Orfy said:

That's why I use litres.

No mistakes.
It means I have to do a lot of mash initially if I want to brew someone else's recipe.

Try converting QTS/Lb t Litres/KG

Click to expand...

Funny... I was looking at/for this info earlier

I normally don't point out typos or get up in arms over them, but I bet it is only brewers that would mistype "math" as "mash"

This site has everything you'd ever want to know about units:

http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/

This site has a convenient free recipe calculator:

http://hbd.org/recipator

Ray

lady_brewer said:

Funny... I was looking at/for this info earlier

I normally don't point out typos or get up in arms over them, but I bet it is only brewers that would mistype "math" as "mash"

Click to expand...

Freudian slip or just

2.61L/KG

If you do not know if a recipe is US gallons or UK gallons then you can always just go with UK since it is less amount then check gravity . if it is too high then add water to US .
Muntons is bad about this . They call for UK pints . Also in same recipe for liters and pints ( unspecified ) and UK gallons .