A couple of questions.

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Okay, so the other night I made a Sierra Nevada Pale spin-off using Simcoe, Willamette, and Cascade hops.

Anyway, I only used about a 2-2 1/2 gallon wort, very stupidly. I put all of the ingredients it called for, adjusted for hop/AA differences, and everything went just fine, but the wort was only about 2 gallons, and I had to use 3 gallons of water. Will that affect the beer very much? I'm assuming it will......

Also it's been 4 days now, and no bubbles. I'm keeping it at my parents house for convenience and my dad said on the second day it was bubbling once every 10-15 seconds. I wouldn't be worried if not for that last part. Any ideas?

Also does problem #2 have anything to do with problem #1?

Thanks in advance,
-Kelly
 
this sounds a lot like my first brew. i did a partial boil with about 3 gallons of final wort and added it to two gallons of cooled pre-boiled water. i'm not sure exactly how it affects the beer but it turned out pretty damn good. and i'm not surprised it isn't bubbling anymore... of course that doesn't necessarily mean it's done fermenting but it's not uncommon for your beer to finish fermenting within a few days. i'd do some sequential hydrometer readings on it, see if it's done and either let it clear in there for a bit or rack it to secondary to clear and then bottle after a few more weeks.
 
If the recipe was for 5 gallons, then you did the right thing. You will always boil off some water, and topping off to 5 gallons at the end is correct. An average batch for me is to start with about 3.5 gallons, boil off maybe a half gallon, and top off with about 2 more gallons (rough numbers, but you get the idea;))
 
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