First Brew - Didn't Add Enough Water

[Sanville]

First off, I want to thank everyone of this site for their vast knowledge and making this site a tremendous resource. I have followed countless threads – first while building my keezer – and now that I’m on my first batch. I thought I’d be able to make it through my first brew without having to post a “help me” thread, but here I am.

My first batch was Austin Homebrew’s Kalamazoo IPA – Extract. Here’s my problem. When I was adding water to the to bring it to 5 ¼ gallons after the wort was cooled, I didn’t add enough. I forgot to mark off the outside of the carboy with gallon markers and definitely under-filled. Because it was in a 6.5 gallon carboy, I didn’t’ know by how much, but had a hunch it was off (I added the 2 1/2 gallons, but failed to realize how much I lost while boiling). I transferred to a secondary 5 gallon carboy a couple of nights ago and now see only have 4 gallons.

So, my question: How bad is it to only have 4 gallons of wort for a 5 gallon recipe? I know it won’t be exactly what the recipe intended, but any idea how “off” it will be?

Recipe:

Grain Bag (2lb Vienna Malt, 5 oz Crystal 10L Malt, ½ Cara Pils Mal)
8 lbs Extra Pale Extract
2 1/3 oz Centennial hop

It’s 10 days into fermentation. It took about 48 hours to get it to bubble and after that took off. It has slowed down over the last few days, but there is still activity in the airlock.

Anyway, I learned my lesson (a few that day) and my next batch will go smoother. I’m just hoping this one is decent. Any thoughts?

 

[GenIke]

What's your OG? You probably just made yourself an IIPA. No biggie.

 

[Sanville]

I think my was OG 1.060, which is what the recipe called for, but that was another hiccup. I didn't have a graduated cylinder to measure, so I had to use the plastic thief as a makeshift cylinder, and it was hard to keep level and read. So, I'm not 100% confident on my reading. Again, another lesson learned.

 

[GenIke]

I actually just made an IPA extract kit. I aerated and took a sample for a gravity reading then pitched my yeast and took the bucket in the basement. I cleaned up a little and when I got around to testing my OG, it was higher than it should have been @ 1.079...?

Turns out I added top off water up to 5 gallon when this was supposed to be a 5.5 gallon batch. I just left it. I havent sampled it but I'm 99% sure this will be my best beer yet.

 

[CTR08]

Higher abv... And thus the hoppy bitterness will seem less than original. You might want to try dry hopping for extra hop aroma. Should be just fine, just a different beer. Which happens.