Mistake in fermenter volume

[MaceBrewer]

So, totally new to homebrewing. The recipe called for 5 gallons of water to make the wart, which I boiled. When I was done, I had 4 gallons. I know NOW that I was supposed to add water to get back to 5 gallons in the fermenter, which I didn't do. Now it's time to bottle. My question is: do I boil 4 oz of sugar in two cups of water per the directions or should I boil a gallon of water and the sugar to get back to 5 gallons?

 

[jeffpn]

If it were me, I’d add the gallon at packaging. All I’d do is sanitize a one gallon vessel, and fill it with the tap water I use to boil. Pour it into the batch. Next time you’ll know to account for boil off, and start with 6 gallons.

 

[Medarius]

So, totally new to homebrewing. The recipe called for 5 gallons of water to make the wart, which I boiled. When I was done, I had 4 gallons. I know NOW that I was supposed to add water to get back to 5 gallons in the fermenter, which I didn't do. Now it's time to bottle. My question is: do I boil 4 oz of sugar in two cups of water per the directions or should I boil a gallon of water and the sugar to get back to 5 gallons?

you need to recalculate the amount of sugar to use for bottling so you don't over carbonate . Priming Sugar Calculator -

 

[J A]

You now have 4 gallons of beer. It's higher gravity than you intended...that means that if it started out to be a 1.050 original gravity, it ended up being 1.060 or more and will therefore be at least a full percentage point higher in ABV. The higher gravity will change the way the hops are utilized and the beer will be more bitter than it was intended. That being said, it might be quite a fine beer as is and the 4 gallon volume might be just fine. You could choose to dilute it to the proper volume and as long as everything is kept perfectly hygienic, it'd be fine and you would use the amount of priming sugar suggested in the directions. If you choose to have 4 gallons of stronger, hoppier beer, you'd have to adjust the priming sugar by 20% to compensate for the lower volume as mentioned.

 

[MaceBrewer]

You are right on the nose JA, it's hoppier than I expected it to be. It still didn't taste bad though. Thanks for the info, I think I'll be taking some advice from all of you. Rather and risk infection I'll just bottle the 4 gallons and use the calculator Medarius linked to for priming. I'm going to try my hand at another one tomorrow but I'll slow down and read the directions a bit closer.

 

[J A]

I'll just bottle the 4 gallons and use the calculator Medarius linked to for priming.

There's a priming calculator right on the website here...there are a lot of calculators that take care of everything you need. Just click on the "Tools" menu bar at the top of the page.

 

[Hawkbox]

I'm still getting the final volumes down, the easiest thing is to accept that you're not bang on and keep going. Adjust for the variance.