1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

divrguy said:

Hey jwalk.. Not an expert but I love Nottingham. It usually finishes up quick in 3-4 days and cleans up a beer very nice. Great choice in that stout!

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Phew! That's a relief. I was afraid my efforts were.... all for 'Nott'!

*waits for laughter*


*cough*

Anyways, yeah, I was just surprised at the lack of krausen, not a real problem that I've had before. But I'm really pumped about it!

Forgive me if this has been discussed already in the previous 256 pages of this thread... but is anyone doing any barrel-aging with 1-gallon batches? I've seen some 2liter and 5liter oak barrels for sale lately (not too expensive). Might be good for aging small batches.

dmoore714 said:

Forgive me if this has been discussed already in the previous 256 pages of this thread... but is anyone doing any barrel-aging with 1-gallon batches? I've seen some 2liter and 5liter oak barrels for sale lately (not too expensive). Might be good for aging small batches.

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Where did you see those?

Was looking for a 5-gallon barrel on Barrel Source, and I found several smaller ones. Considering buying this combo deal when I get my tax refund. The 5-liter barrels could hold a little over 1 gallon each... and I could use the bonus little guy to age some whiskey or something.

dmoore714 said:

Was looking for a 5-gallon barrel on Barrel Source, and I found several smaller ones. Considering buying this combo deal when I get my tax refund. The 5-liter barrels could hold a little over 1 gallon each... and I could use the bonus little guy to age some whiskey or something.

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Oh wow am I tempted. I've been wanting to try some barrel aging for cider and mead for a while now.

There is also http://www.barrelsonline.com/Default.aspx, among others.

I have other questions on these, such as, can you reuse them? Would you have to sand out the interior and rechar the inside to reuse it?

I have only done three brews and an Apfelwine so far, and three of those four are still fermenting, so I'm pretty new. The first brew I used Cooper's yeast that was supplied with the kit, but the next two and the Apfel I used Nottingham. The brews were basically Cooper's hopped extract with extra DME and sugars added and I got loads of krausen with those, and had to use a blow-off tube for the first three days, and then switch to a standard airlock.

The Apfelwine, not much for krausen, just a little foam at the top, and have been using a regular airlock from the beginning. Plenty of bubbling.

Scottie

Scottie61 said:

I have other questions on these, such as, can you reuse them? Would you have to sand out the interior and rechar the inside to reuse it?
Scottie

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You can re-use barrels. Its not possible (or necessary) to take them apart to clean them between uses though. There are ways to sanitize them if you need to. The whole point of barrel aging (for me) would be for sour beers. There, the draw is for the bacteria and wild yeasts to innoculate the porous would of the barrel so future batches get more and more complex and tasty.

Wonder if anyone else has considered using a wine fridge/cooler for a 1 gallon jug. Seems like those would be perfect for locking in ale temps (if there's one out there with the dimensions). If anyone has info on this please let me know, or send me a PM.

dmoore714 said:

Forgive me if this has been discussed already in the previous 256 pages of this thread... but is anyone doing any barrel-aging with 1-gallon batches? I've seen some 2liter and 5liter oak barrels for sale lately (not too expensive). Might be good for aging small batches.

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Very cool deal on those barrels. Wish I had more room now.

dm1217 said:

Wonder if anyone else has considered using a wine fridge/cooler for a 1 gallon jug. Seems like those would be perfect for locking in ale temps (if there's one out there with the dimensions). If anyone has info on this please let me know, or send me a PM.

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Lots of folks use a wine fridge for cooling. I actually do as well. Vissani 52 from depot. Check sales as they come down to less than $125 a couple times a year and dinged models below 100. There's also a whole thread on bypassing their stat and installing a whole digital controller. I plug mine into an eBay STC-1000 aquarium controller. Costs about $22 shipped from China and works excellent!

Belma belma belma.....I have a hop addiction

Do any of you guys have a system for kegging your one gallon batches? I recently started one gallon batches of cider. But I was thinking of back sweetening and kegging rather than back sweetening/naturally carbing and pasteurizing.

You could force carb in plastic bottles with a carb cap

cheesecake said:

You could force carb in plastic bottles with a carb cap

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Those are awesome, we use them all the time at work. Carb a bottle up in about 5 minutes if you do it right.

JollyIsTheRoger said:

Those are awesome, we use them all the time at work. Carb a bottle up in about 5 minutes if you do it right.

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Say what? What are these things?

jongrill said:

Say what? What are these things?

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For example:
http://amzn.com/B0064OKADS

Is a month and four days fermenting too long?

muleskinner90 said:

Is a month and four days fermenting too long?

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Not even close. Probably longer than necessary, but not too long by any stretch. Many go for a month as a matter of general practice, as you're far more likely to harm your product by not fermenting long enough.

zeg said:

Not even close. Probably longer than necessary, but not too long by any stretch. Many go for a month as a matter of general practice, as you're far more likely to harm your product by not fermenting long enough.

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Great! Thanks.

jongrill said:

Say what? What are these things?

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The link a few posts up is what we have. Screw onto a PET bottle with all the air squeezed out, hook up to about 20 lbs of pressure and shake like hell. Just wait a few minutes for it to settle and you are good. Works much better cold.

Ostomo517 said:

Brooklyn Brew Shop has one gallon all grain kits that are good. Plus if your all grain you can always look into putting that Blue Moon clone together yourself!

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divrguy said:

Here's a recipe that a lot of members seem to like https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/austin-homebrews-blue-moon-clone-ag-30190/

Just scale it down to your batch size. It's pretty easy to do actually and pick up everything at your LHBS. If you have to mail order it, you may have to buy a little extra and store it. Do you mill your grain or get it milled?

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TipsyYeti said:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/recipe-kits/small-batch-beer-recipe-kits

Have heard good things about their kits but haven't tried them.

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Thanks guys. I'll have to check those out.

ToddB said:

Thanks guys. I'll have to check those out.

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The northern brewer kits are amazing quality

Brewed up two batches yesterday with some fun new hops. We'll see how they are

I just noticed morebeer now has a couple of single hopped kits they are selling. I've never tried Apollo, Bravo, Mosaic or Crystal. Though, I would hate to make 5 gallons and not enjoy it so... Here comes some more small batch brews!

JollyIsTheRoger said:

Brewed up two batches yesterday with some fun new hops. We'll see how they are

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What did you use??

I cant decide what to brew this weekend. My wife ordered me 3 nb kits. An Irish Red ale. Cream ale and an American wheat. All one gallon. Just dont know which one to do first.

biggdaddymatt said:

I cant decide what to brew this weekend. My wife ordered me 3 nb kits. An Irish Red ale. Cream ale and an American wheat. All one gallon. Just dont know which one to do first.

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Why not do them all?

Been awhile since I last posted, but I have a quick question for y'all that I'm pretty sure falls under the heading of "RDWHAHB" but I just want to make sure.

On the 25th, I brewed up a 1.75 gallon batch of Requiem Raspberry using the following recipe:

2 lbs. Light DME
5 oz. Crystal 40
1 oz. Roasted Barley
.4 oz. Styrian @60mins (not what was called for, but needed to use it up)
.2 oz. Centennial @25 mins (same as the Styrian)
.2 oz. Centennial @7 mins

Original recipe OG is 1.054, I got 1.052.

Pitched 4 grams of Safale-05 (once again, had it on hand), installed a blow-off tube since the recipe seems to be a fairly vigorous fermenter based on the recipe thread, and set it to do it's thing.

My issue is the old standard - there doesn't seem to be much happening in regards to fermentation. There is *some* krausen (maybe 1/4") so I suppose the yeast is working - but I wonder if the yeast I used wasn't mostly dead due to being stored too long. I bought it back in October with some other yeast for another brew, and it's been sitting unopened in my fridge (not freezer) since.

So, what do y'all think? Re-pitch with a little more fresh yeast to kick things back into gear, or leave it be and let it do it's thing?

First All Grain One Gallon brew tomorrow! Just waiting on my 2 gallon rubbermaid cooler....damn you fedex.

Here's what I'm brewing up. Already have the grains and just need a little less than 2 ounces of citra hops...convenient.

CITRA PALE ALE
Type: All Grain Date: 2/28/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 1.00 gal Brewer: College Dropouts
Boil Size: 2.14 gal
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My One Gallon Equipment!
End of Boil Volume 1.14 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 68.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 0.90 gal Est Mash Efficiency 74.8 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2 lbs 2.2 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 81.8 %
3.3 oz Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.9 %
1.4 oz Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.4 %
1.4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.4 %
1.4 oz Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.4 %
3.06 g Citra [12.00 %] - First Wort 20.0 min Hop 6 17.3 IBUs
0.20 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 7 -
5.10 g Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 8 21.5 IBUs
5.10 g Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 15.7 IBUs
5.10 g Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 8.6 IBUs
5.10 g Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 11 1.9 IBUs
0.3 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 12 -
15.46 g Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 10.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.064 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.2 %
Bitterness: 65.0 IBUs Calories: 34.4 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 8.4 SRM
Mash Profile Mash at 154, Batch Sparge


Im stoked!

BattleGoat said:

Been awhile since I last posted, but I have a quick question for y'all that I'm pretty sure falls under the heading of "RDWHAHB" but I just want to make sure.
...
So, what do y'all think? Re-pitch with a little more fresh yeast to kick things back into gear, or leave it be and let it do it's thing?

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If it was me, I'd give it at least a few more days before doing anything. If you're still worried about it, take a quick reading to make sure the SG is dropping like it should. But really, sounds like you've got krausen, you've got visible activity, so you're probably all good.

Just found this monster thread after asking another 1g BIAB question in the forum, doh!
Anyway, what has been everyone's findings for water volumes during each stage of brewing a 1 g Batch?

Post here, or on my puny thread below
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/1-gallon-biab-water-wort-volume-musings-393978/

Ostomo517 said:

What did you use??

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Exp 1210 and 6300 from farmhouse brewing supply

biggdaddymatt said:

I cant decide what to brew this weekend. My wife ordered me 3 nb kits. An Irish Red ale. Cream ale and an American wheat. All one gallon. Just dont know which one to do first.

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SWEET!! What a great wife! Keep her! Like someone else said.., if you have a no pressure day coming up, it sure would be awesome to spend a whole day doing all three!

BattleGoat said:

Been awhile since I last posted, but I have a quick question for y'all that I'm pretty sure falls under the heading of "RDWHAHB" but I just want to make sure.

On the 25th, I brewed up a 1.75 gallon batch of Requiem Raspberry using the following recipe:

2 lbs. Light DME
5 oz. Crystal 40
1 oz. Roasted Barley
.4 oz. Styrian @60mins (not what was called for, but needed to use it up)
.2 oz. Centennial @25 mins (same as the Styrian)
.2 oz. Centennial @7 mins

Original recipe OG is 1.054, I got 1.052.

Pitched 4 grams of Safale-05 (once again, had it on hand), installed a blow-off tube since the recipe seems to be a fairly vigorous fermenter based on the recipe thread, and set it to do it's thing.

My issue is the old standard - there doesn't seem to be much happening in regards to fermentation. There is *some* krausen (maybe 1/4") so I suppose the yeast is working - but I wonder if the yeast I used wasn't mostly dead due to being stored too long. I bought it back in October with some other yeast for another brew, and it's been sitting unopened in my fridge (not freezer) since.

So, what do y'all think? Re-pitch with a little more fresh yeast to kick things back into gear, or leave it be and let it do it's thing?

Click to expand...

You nailed it! Relax. You're yeast is actually pretty fresh if its sealed and in the fridge. Heck, it could last years like that. You're on the way to beer!

pulseyou said:

First All Grain One Gallon brew tomorrow! Just waiting on my 2 gallon rubbermaid cooler....damn you fedex.

Here's what I'm brewing up. Already have the grains and just need a little less than 2 ounces of citra hops...convenient.

CITRA PALE ALE
Type: All Grain Date: 2/28/2013
Batch Size (fermenter): 1.00 gal Brewer: College Dropouts
Boil Size: 2.14 gal
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My One Gallon Equipment!
End of Boil Volume 1.14 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 68.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 0.90 gal Est Mash Efficiency 74.8 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2 lbs 2.2 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 81.8 %
3.3 oz Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.9 %
1.4 oz Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.4 %
1.4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.4 %
1.4 oz Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.4 %
3.06 g Citra [12.00 %] - First Wort 20.0 min Hop 6 17.3 IBUs
0.20 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 7 -
5.10 g Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 8 21.5 IBUs
5.10 g Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 15.7 IBUs
5.10 g Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 8.6 IBUs
5.10 g Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 1.0 min Hop 11 1.9 IBUs
0.3 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) [23.66 ml] Yeast 12 -
15.46 g Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 10.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.064 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.2 %
Bitterness: 65.0 IBUs Calories: 34.4 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 8.4 SRM
Mash Profile Mash at 154, Batch Sparge

Im stoked!

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You're numbers seem pretty good although I haven't ever used melanoidon or carafoam. My favorite citra ale uses 1 oz at 15 - 1 oz at 5 and 1 oz dry hop. So, moral is citra is a great hop and it doesn't take much of it to be a mouthful.

garethliam said:

Just found this monster thread after asking another 1g BIAB question in the forum, doh!
Anyway, what has been everyone's findings for water volumes during each stage of brewing a 1 g Batch?

Post here, or on my puny thread below
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/1-gallon-biab-water-wort-volume-musings-393978/

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Not sure I get this question sorry

Just wondering if anyone here has tried the http://craftabrew.com/ kits?

PorterPete said:

Just wondering if anyone here has tried the http://craftabrew.com/ kits?

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Seems a little high. Seems like you could buy Beersmith to scale any recipe on this site and buy your own ingredients cheaper!

biggdaddymatt said:

I cant decide what to brew this weekend. My wife ordered me 3 nb kits. An Irish Red ale. Cream ale and an American wheat. All one gallon. Just dont know which one to do first.

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Doing their Cream Ale this weekend, also bottling their Sierra Madre and going to brew an Austin all grain kit. Going to keep myself busy all weekend.

abandonhope16 said:

Do any of you guys have a system for kegging your one gallon batches? I recently started one gallon batches of cider. But I was thinking of back sweetening and kegging rather than back sweetening/naturally carbing and pasteurizing.

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Just posted on Homebrew Finds today. 1.7gallon ball lock kegs.
http://www.homebrewing.org/17-Gallon-Ball-Lock-Keg-W-Metal-Handles_p_3432.html?AffId=160

Im still collecting full-size kegs for my keezer build, but if these are still around in a few months Im going to get at least one.

@BGBC & Divrguy: Thanks fellas, I figured I was alright. I guess I'm just kinda bummed - one of the reasons I picked this recipe was that it seemed to be a pretty vigorous fermenter, and after the flop that was my first brew, I want to see some yeast action!

Oh well. At least I'll have some tasty brew to console me soon.

Looking to do a one gallon DFH 60 Minute clone. The recipe calls for the hops to be added continuously over the boil.... Any tips on times or procedures?


Thanks!

dmoore714 said:

Just posted on Homebrew Finds today. 1.7gallon ball lock kegs.
http://www.homebrewing.org/17-Gallon-Ball-Lock-Keg-W-Metal-Handles_p_3432.html?AffId=160

Im still collecting full-size kegs for my keezer build, but if these are still around in a few months Im going to get at least one.

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Dude, those are coolest little kegs I've ever seen. I may have to try to save for one of those.

jongrill said:

Looking to do a one gallon DFH 60 Minute clone. The recipe calls for the hops to be added continuously over the boil.... Any tips on times or procedures?

Thanks!

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I've heard guys do something like a yardstick divided by the boil time and then spread the hops along the stick so they have something to go by.