1 gallon resources / questions

mmonacel · 02-22-2010, 03:21 AM

Ok - I'm sure there's a ton of information out there on doing mini-batches or one gallon batches, but I'm guessing I'm not really finding them due to bad terminology? I'm interested in finding out what would be a good set of equipment do to 1 gallon batches so I could test drive some beers without committing to 5 gallons. Can someone point me to:

the rirght terminology to use for these mini-batches
the right size fermenter and carboy to use
whether I can simply use BeerSmith to convert to 1gal recipies or if something special needs to be done
any other special considerations (how to easily size my yeast pitch, etc.)

Thanks!,
Mike

krops13 · 02-22-2010, 03:26 AM

Kinda tough to do. the recipes are linear

mullenite · 02-22-2010, 03:46 AM

I use a 2 gal bucket for one gallon beers, easy enough to pick up from my LHBS.

Beersmith can scale down any recipe to 1 gallon. Find a 5 gallon recipe, enter it in to Beersmith and use the scale feature to make it 1 gallon. Ben's Homebrew (www.benshomebrew.com ) sells premade 1 gallon recipes as does Brooklyn Brew Shop (www.brooklynbrewshop.com ). Both of them also sell equipment kits.

Consider your reasoning for doing small batches, they really aren't a significant amount cheaper than a 5 gallon batch and are much harder to perfect as smaller errors are more magnified.

EDIT: Forget to cover yeast pitching. I use dry yeast and basically do half a packet or so for a low gravity beer and a whole packet for a higher gravity. With liquid yeast you could probably pitch the whole thing with no starter.

sivrat · 02-22-2010, 03:59 AM

Hi,

you are pretty much right about there not being a lot of info out there for 1 gallon brews. Before we begin though, it must be said that I am by no means an expert, having only done 2 AG brews so far. I aim for a 2 gallon brew to fit my little corny's, but the process would be the same for 1 gallon or 5 gallons AFAIK.

I use some beer software called beer engine, and plug in a normal 5 galon recipe. Then I adjust the recipe to the required brew length (2 gallon).

My first brew I used the standard AG techniques, mash tun, boiler etc. Then I found this site :

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4650

The method is called Brew in a bag BIAB. It really does work well.

Mashing and boiling are done in one pot, so you equipment list is a lot less than normal.

The boiler/Pot your will need has to be big enough to hold all your water, so for a 1 gallon (roughly 4 liters)
you would need a total liquor of 6.5 liters or around 2 gallons. Add in another 20-30% space for boiling and the pot size should be around 2.5 gallons. as you only need 1 pot for this, get the biggest one you can store easily.

One thing to remember is that your strike temperature need only be about 2-4 degrees hotter than your required mash temp.

It is a simple method, but gives good results so far with me. If you want some more info, give me a shout.

Travis

nhman · 03-09-2010, 08:31 PM

I'm also trying to learn what's involved in brewing smaller batches, 2 gallons for me. I think Sivrat is right about the ease of the Brew In A Bag method. It will require the least amount of equipment and can save a bit of time when it comes to cleaning.

If Sivrat is still following this thread it would be great if he could elaborate on his method a little bit. I'm curious how much water he uses at the beginning for his 2 gal batch, what his bag is made of, and what he ferments in (corny's? 3 gal carboys?).

I know I have more questions but I wont bombard the thread with any more right now, does anyone else have any experience with doing smaller batches? Here's a site I found with good info regarding the small batch Brew In A Bag method.

http://brewing.lustreking.com/articles/stovetopallgrain.html

malkore · 03-09-2010, 10:29 PM

BYO magazine has covered this a few times. Search their online articles for some pointers.

Dave11980 · 03-10-2010, 05:46 AM

I do mine in a 1 gallon carboy and just do my best to divide all ingredients by 5.

nhman · 03-10-2010, 03:35 PM

BYO Article -

http://www.byo.com/component/resource/article/1410-small-scale-brewing

sivrat · 03-10-2010, 06:50 PM

Hi,

Just checked my notes, I used 10 liters to mash. Lost about 500ml to grain and boiled of about 2 liters and lost about 700ml to trub etc. left me with a little under 7 liters, which was what I was aiming for.

Basically, just figure out your normal mash and sparge volumes and go with that all in.

I ferment in 10 liter food grade buckets and just use a blow off hose into a bowl of water.

easy as

Regards

Travis

nhman · 03-10-2010, 07:07 PM

Thanks for the info, how about your bag, what did you make it out of?