Pre-boil volume question

This will be my fourth batch. I’ve got pretty much everything down pat (for extract brews that is) but I started wondering today about the kits. The first two beers I made were from recipes and not actual kits. The batch I made last weekend was NB’s Cream Ale kit. I didn’t go with the recommended 2.5 gallon boil. I’ve been starting all my batches with 4 gallons of water and then topping up to 5 gallons after cooling. (roughly 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 gallons of water added)

Is boiling this kit and others with 4 gallons going to mess the flavor or hop utilization up at all or should I even worry about it? From the get go I’ve tried to get as close to a full boil as possible because it’s supposed to make a better beer, but is that going to change the beer I’m trying to make on these extract kits that call for 2.5 gallons of water pre-boil?

Thanks for any advice!
:cheers:

Your should be fine. If anything you should increase the utilization a bit.

At the last second I actually changed my game up and made the kit as the instructions instructed ha… I went for my first 2.5 gallon boil and then I had a scary moment when, because I didn’t buy ice this morning, I was only able to get my temp down to 76, even after adding my water to bring it to 5 gallons. I placed the top on the bucket at 6pm and didn’t pitch till after halftime of the superbowl. I’m sure everything will work out alright but wtf!