Brewing small batches...using what?

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Steiner

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I am interested in brewing small batches of several new ideas. I want to stay away from brewing 5 gallons of something I don't know what it should taste like. I'm mainly considering apfelwine, mead, and some more aggressive beers.

I wanted to know what I can use to brew these small batches. I'm talking primary fermenters and secondaries. I know you don't want a lot of head space in the secondaries because of oxidation, yet I've only got plastic 6.5 gal primaries and 5-gal glass carboys. As recommended by a member in another thread the one possibility I can think of is my two 2.25-gal Mr. Beer fermenters. However, being that the Mr Beer fermenters don't have an airlock, would that still be ok? Would there need to be any alterations done? I'd probably refit the spigot so I could use my vinyl tubing, but that's it. Will long-term aging in a plastic fermenter be bad compared to glass?

Let me know. I really want to try some new things and let me know if you've got any interesting "testing" recipes.

EDIT: Here's a link to a Mr. Beer fermenter picture.
http://www.mrbeer.com/product-exec/product_id/377/nm/Brew_Keg_Fermenter_1
 
Same exact situation here. (Same last name also) But I plan on fermenting in my usual carboy I see no problem there. I am not quite sure about a secondary vessel.
 
I dont what the Mr. Beer keg is made of but if you fitted it with an air lock I dont see a problem. Not sure because I have never used a Mr. Beer kit before so I'm not 100% sure.
 
I bought five one gallon glasss jugs of apfel juice for my first batch of apfel wine, then I took an empty one to my LHBS and bought five stoppers and five airlocks.

Then I bought five more gallons of apfel juice in one gallon glass jugs...Go ahead and do a five gallon carboy of the apfel wine. You won't regret it.
 
You have to do some R&D, go buy some commercial beer and decide if you like it :)
 
Steiner said:
As recommended by a member in another thread the one possibility I can think of is my two 2.25-gal Mr. Beer fermenters. However, being that the Mr Beer fermenters don't have an airlock, would that still be ok? Would there need to be any alterations done? I'd probably refit the spigot so I could use my vinyl tubing, but that's it. Will long-term aging in a plastic fermenter be bad compared to glass?
If you're worried about it, 3 gallon glass carboys are readily available from all the major online suppliers.

Honestly, considering all the work involved with ANY size, I'd just go with 5 gallon batches. It's not as much beer as you may think.
 
i do "taste test" experiments in the 1 gallon jugs. for instance i'll mash 1lb of 2row with a half lb of speciality malt in my 2 gallon MLT and lightly hop, pitch with 1056. now i have a 1 gallon batch of beer that is very heavy in that special malt and now i can teach my palette the flavor of that malt. i have 6 of them. i brew test recipes in 3 gallon batches. i have 4 3 gallon carboys. i haven't brewed a "full size" batch in months.
 
3-gallon carboys & 1-gallon apple juice jugs have already been mentioned. My LHBS also has 2-gallon food grade buckets with drilled lids. They take the same stoppers & airlocks as the 6.5-gallon buckets. Very handy to have around. I actually have drilled and non-drilled lids for them and sometimes use them for backup grain storage. They're also just about the perfect size if you ferment your own pickles.

Chad
 
BTW, I love the idea of doing single specialty test batches and I've thought about doing it so many times. It's just a little daunting in that doing like 10 different mashes is nuts. I guess using a grain bag in a small drink cooler is easy enough. and just keep rotating the mashes out over the course of a day. Lots of work for sure.
 
I make many test batches in 1 gallon glace jugs. They make great test gear for all kinds of recipe combinations. ALSO, a 1 gallon batch is really quick to do. The time to heat water is so greatly reduced that you cna complete on in a very short time. Of corse, I never do it that way. I ususally do the 1 gallon along side a full batch, just heating more water to cover both volumes.
 
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