Top off water when AG brewing?

[zeapo]

Is it possible to top off an all grain batch after its chilled, in the fermenter, before pitching the yeast? Just as if it were an extract batch. Is this something possible or should I just go with the lower volume?
I'm always a gallon short because of my brew kettle size.

 

[Brew-Jay]

You'll either have more beers with a lower OG, or fewer beers with a higher OG. Did you get the OG you were shooting for? If so, you should probably just leave it. If you ended up high then a little top off of boiled and cooled water won't hurt.

 

[DirtyOldDuck]

If your brew kettle is to small to do full boils for 5 gallon batches, why not do three gallon batches? Or even four? Recipes are easily scalable, especially with full boils.There is no law that says you have to do five gallon batches, otherwise I would be breaking it with ten gallon batches.

 

[zeapo]

My target OG was 53 and I got a 60. Would mixing boiled and cooled water harm my batch in any way? I just want to get a full keg for once.

 

[zeapo]

Does anyone think it would be possible to formulate a recipe that would put 5.25 gallons in my fermenter, but using top up water for the last gallon or so, and still get good hop utilization and all the flavors I want?

 

[DirtyOldDuck]

If you have 4 gallons of 1.060 wort and want to get to 1.053, you can add .53 gallons of water, which still leaves you a half-gallon short. If you add a whole gallon it will take you down to 1.042. Remember, diluting your wort will change the bitterness/hop utilization as well. Personally, I would go with the four gallons this time and either do smaller batches (maybe two 2 1/2 gallon batches) or buy a bigger pot.

 

[zeapo]

Thanks for the info, I'm just going to buy a bigger pot lol