Smaller than expected batch.

[MikeMorrison]

Hey folks. I'm planning to bottle my first all grain IPA this weekend. It looks like I only have around 4-4.5 gallons of what was supposed to be a 5 gallon batch. Not sure where I went wrong. Should I go ahead and bottle what's there or should I top it up to 5 gallons first? If I just bottle what's there do I need to adjust the amount of priming sugar?

[mikeorr]

Personally, I'd leave it as-is - but still check the gravity (OG) to see what you've got. It may help identify where your missed your numbers.

If the OG is around expected, then you likely either didn't use enough water in the first place (strike water, sparge, etc..) or you had a higher loss than expected (deadspace in mash tun, higher grain absorption). If your OG is higher than predicted, it's possible your boil off rate is higher than expected.

[darciandjenn]

I'd adjust the priming sugar, personally. I think Beersmith will do the calculation for you. if you don't have Beersmith, I like this calculator because you can adjust the units:
http://www.thescrewybrewer.com/p/brewin ... s.html#bpc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[MikeMorrison]

Thanks guys. I do have Beersmith but that screwy brewer is a great resource so thanks for the tip!

[MikeMorrison]

So, planning to bottle this batch tonight. I took a gravity reading and says 1.006! I have original gravity as 1.063 but I honestly am not sure if that was accurate or if I just went with what Beersmith told me. So should I adjust the gravity by adding water? Or just go for it and see how it turns out in the bottles? I'm leaning toward the latter.

[mikeorr]

Just bottle what you've got. I wouldn't add water to beer that's finished fermentation.

[MikeMorrison]

That's what I did. Hopefully it turns out! Thanks for the advice.

Mike