Estimating wort amount?

[Antti]

So made my first try at brewing yesterday.

Aim was for my 5L fermentor to be "fullish". Got about 3L of wort after boiling.

So easy math would say that add 1liter more to sparge, to get to the wanted 4L wort amount. (To leave headspace 1L)

But is there anything wrong with such simple conclusion?

 

[camonick]

Yep, it’s that simple. For this batch, you can also add 1L of boiled and cooled water back to your fermenter to get your volume back to your original goal.

 

[hotbeer]

Though you might want to know what the SG is before you add extra sparge water prior to boil or make up water after the boil.

Otherwise you might be diluting to less than your desired OG or not adding enough water to get down to your OG.

If you use a recipe builder, it will tell you what the pre-boil SG should be as well as the OG into the FV. And there are dilution calculators all over the internet at various sites. Or just use simple math.

Sadly, I use the calculators!