Didn't top off to 5 gal

[kbwhise]

I made a rookie mistake and just realized it.

I'm one day away from bottling and I realized I never topped off my wort in my primary fermenter to 5 gallons with fresh water. I'm making a simple IPA with an extract kit from a local brew shop. I currently have about 4 gallons of fermented beer.

My question is, should I add the extra one gallon of water to my bottling bucket prior to bottling or should I keep the 4 gallons as is? Will this effect how much priming sugar I should use?

Please help! Thank you!

 

[Psylocide]

I'd keep it 4 gallons, as is. You'll just have a stronger beer with more flavor than what was intended.

Priming sugar amount will change, see this calculator:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar-calculator/

 

[flars]

You are one day away from bottling by recipe directions or stable hydrometer readings? I ask because some recipes give a timeline and there are a lot of variables in a fermentation. It might take an extra week for your fermentation to be complete.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Did you get an OG? If you did, it was probably high but, as has been said, that just means it will be a little stronger beer. It will also be a bit hoppier so you may have just converted it to a DIPA. Don't add the top off water. You may like the results. As flars said, check your gravity before you bottle. It should be stable for 3 consecutive days before you bottle. I don't bottle anything in less than 3 weeks - usually 4.

 

[MVKTR2]

This beer is a dangerous substance that must be disposed of properly. As a good friend it must all be shipped to me for proper disposal, I'm just that nice of a guy. Will inbox you my address shortly.

Should definitely check the gravity reading to be sure beer is finished brewing. Oh and be sure to bottle by adjusting your priming sugar down by 20%, guessing you have 5 oz means use 4 oz. Otherwise process should be the same as usual.

 

[JimRausch]

Just for the sake of being a Devil's Advocate, I'm going to disagree with the majority. If you like where your beer is at, then by all means, leave it alone. But..... if you want to have it closer to what you had originally planned, you can add boiled, then chilled water. The big boys do it all the time- they brew a concentrated high ABV batch then dilute it down to target at bottling. Twice I've added water to batches when transferring for lagering- partially to decrease the SG and partially to decrease the amount of head space in my carboy. Both times though, it was less than 1 quart in a 5G batch.
But, I agree 1000% with the "take a SG" crowd.