First brew: shorted myself a gallon?

[jamnw]

I was looking at my marks on my carboy tonight. Dangit!!!! I am almost a gallon shy.

I know I put 5 in there because I bought 5 gallons of spring water. I counted them again, and I have not started drinking!

This is a hefe, and I've read that there is no need for secondary.

You know what's coming:
Leave it alone?
Oooorrr....
Rack to 2nd and add a gallon back?


Next question.
That seems like a lot to boil off. Is that normal to loose that much in your boil?
I boiled for 60minutes.

 

[rudu81]

It's partly boil off, partly loss in trub, and part loss in equipment. I've never gotten absolutely everything out of my kettle to fermenter, from fermenter to bottling or secondary, and so forth. It's something to calculate into your brewing. I've started to add more top off water so that I end up with more beer. Adding more water now will dilute your beer and it will taste watery. I'd leave it and start with more next time.

 

[ksbrain]

I would leave it alone, and figure out how to adjust your process next time to end up with the 5 gallons you're after. FWIW I start with probably 6.5 gallons of liquid to end up with 5.5 gallons in the fermenter, which gives me around 5 gallons to drink.

Also, you don't have to transfer to another vessel just to add H2O.

 

[trizzant]

I did the same thing on my first batch. That beer in now kegged and although good it still needs a fews weeks to mellow out.

 

[McMalty]

if you are saying that you bought 5 gallons of water for the whole brewing process.....then did you take into account the water you lost as a result of the steam during the boil? If you want to end up with exactly 5 gallons, you have to boil down to exactly 5 gallons of wort or you have to add water to your wort when you rack it into your carboy. Are you doing AG or extract?

 

[jamnw]

It is an extract that i bought with my brew kit I bought.

I bought 5 gallons of water, but did not account for the boil off.

I boiled 3 gallons of wort, and put the other two in the carboy. In my excitement, and a few Sam Adams, I did not account for the boil.
Live and learn....

It's been fermenting for 4 days now. Bubbled like crazy for about 2 days, now down to about 1 every 4 seconds.
Krausen still on top, but seems to be receeding slowly.
Nice thick layer on the bottom.

 

[jamnw]

Thanks for the info. I'll let it ride.

 

[McMalty]

you'll be fine. your result is going to be a beer with a higher ABV and a stronger flavor. If you haven't started taking gravity readings when you brew, you should really start. If you take an initial gravity reading with your hydrometer after the boil and then one before you bottle or keg, you will be able to figure out the alcohol content and the efficiency (attenuation). If you're not doing that, you're kind of in the dark about your brew. If you think that hydrometer readings are too technical, they're not, if u have a smartphone, download the Brewsor app and it will do the calculation for you and will even adjust your gravity based on your sample temperature.