I'm sorry, but another BIAB question

I have searching around the threads but I can't seem to find the answer to two questions for BIAB.

1) I have a 5 gallon brew kettle, can I do a 3 to 4 gallon boil and then top off with water, like I do for extract or partial mash beers?
2) if so, do I adjust an all grain recipe for a 5 gallon batch or a 3-4 gallon batch?

Wisluggo said:

I have searching around the threads but I can't seem to find the answer to two questions for BIAB.

1) I have a 5 gallon brew kettle, can I do a 3 to 4 gallon boil and then top off with water, like I do for extract or partial mash beers?
2) if so, do I adjust an all grain recipe for a 5 gallon batch or a 3-4 gallon batch?

Click to expand...

1) Yes. (-edit- Don't use chlorinated tap water for this.)

2) Make your recipe out for five gallons to figure out the ingredients and anticipated gravity, then reduce the volume to three or four without changing the ingredients. For instance, 9lbs of 2-row stays 9lbs of two row, but instead of sparging with 4 gallons after you collect your first runnings, sparge with three gallons and add the extra gallon at the end. You'll want to calculate your hop utilization at the lower rate if you're a stickler for that, because the rate will be a bit lower.