Topping up an under sized batch

[manson81]

I did up a school night brew last night but somehow managed to cock up and obviously didn't use enough water as I've only resulted in about 16-17L of wort, instead of the 22L I was aiming for!

Quick overview:
BIAB
About 5.6kg various grain
Mashed with 21L and dunk sparged with 10L.
75min boil

I haven't done an OG reading yet as I no chill and it was too hot yet. Will do one before I put it in the fermenter tonight.

But assuming it's not super high due to the lesser amount of wort produced, would I be able to top up the fermenter with plain water and add in LDME to fix the gravity of required?

 

[Red Baron]

Yeah, topping it up with water should be fine. You shouldn't need too much DME to fix the numbers either (the grain and hops should be correct for 22L). If you're pedantic, boil the water first.

Cheers,
RB

 

[Tahoose]

What he said, I reckon you'll be reasonable close to what your were aiming for anyway

 

[manson81]

Cool thanks guys, figured it'd be as simple as that but just wanted to check. Not going to bother boiling the water first, never did with extracts and didn't have any problems.

 

[manson81]

Ended up with 16.5L in the fermenter so I topped it up to 21L which ended up making the OG a touch low, as expected. 100g of DME and it's spot on!

 

[Red Baron]

Good to hear- I wouldn't have boiled the water either for exactly your reasoning, but that's just me (not pedantic at all).