Converting Recipes Down to 1 Gallon

So my first home brew ever (1 gallon AG IPA via a kit) is going into the bottles, and I'm getting set to brew a 5 gallon batch of Saison from another ingredient kit. However this will leave my 1 gallon carboy empty and lonely. Can't have that happen now can I?

I want to try putting together one of the many recipes I've found online, but most of them I've seen are for 5 gallon batches. Is there a formula to convert a recipe down from 5 gallon (or 10, etc..) to a 1 gallon batch?

Also, my LHBS stock Wyeast Activators. Since they are designed for 5 gallon batches, is there a way to just measure out what I need for 1 gallon?

The way I understand it is that you simply divide everything exactly down by 5 to go from 5G to 1G.

+1. And a Wyeast Activator is probably about the right amount of yeast to be pitching into a 1 gallon batch. I haven't used one in a long time, but I'm sure someone can chime in with the cell counts for the Activator packs. Then plug in your OG into this site http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html and see how close you come.



Edit: sorry, I mistakenly confused the Activator for the Propagator. The Activator has 100 billion cells and the Propagator has 25 billion. So the Propagator would be around the right amount to pitch for one gallon of 1.040 beer, the Activator could handle one gallon of 1.150 which is bigger than any beer I've ever seen.

I was going to ask about yeasts, too. I also plan on brewing 1-gallon kits for a while (not much space in my studio apartment, and I'm not sure my electric stove can handle 5-6 gallon boils). I have two kits on their way and I plan on brewing this weekend.

These are 1-gallon kits so I'll be able to use all the yeast in it. In the future, though, should I be sticking to dry yeast and carefully measuring it out, or are there any other solutions? I like the idea of pitching dry yeast (making starters sounds like a hassle for a beginner/small batch brewer, especially since I don't intend on using extracts or having spare wort around) so I'm wondering what my options are for future batches. Does it depend on the yeast? Should I be able to find suitable dry-pitching yeasts for most recipes then just cut the portion down to 1-gal measurements? Should I at least be dissolving them in some pre-boiled and cooled water? Should I just go by what recipes tell me?

One possible solution are those Wyeast packs you mentioned above. Think I could get by with dry-pitching the Propagators? I found a cheap source for them and though they're designed to be used with starters, the cell count is kind of proportional to what I'd need for 1-gallon if pitched dry....

I browsed the yeast forum but I couldn't find a "Yeast for Beginners" kind of post. Thanks for any advice anyone can give me!

just pitch the propagator it should work.

Awesome, thanks - that's what I was hoping to hear. Makes my life easier for small-batch brewing.

Make your life even easier and brew min. 5 Gal batches

This post has made me think I might also want to brew a few smaller batches...there's always room for more buckets! But, here's a question...

If your recipe says to add the ingredients to 2.5 gal of water for the boil on a 5 gal batch, would you then add your correctly weighed ingredients to a half gallon of water for the 1 gallon batch boil?

Seems like a silly question, but I'm wondering if there is a point when you don't have enough water. It may be harder to control the boil consistency on a smaller batch, but can you have too little water when making the wort from extracts?

Yes, you can have too little water in your extract based wort - basically too thick and it won't mix easily, will want to scorch and carmelize sugars.

honestly on a little batch, boil the full volume. 2.5 gallons or 3 gallons isn't much...easy to do on a stovetop.

I don't go under 2.5 gallon batch sizes, as a 1 gallon batch...after racking losses and such...you don't even end up with a 12 pack. Unless its a highly experimental batch or uses costly ingredients in the 'trial recipe', I wouldn't drop down to 1 gal batches for All grain. Extract is a little different since its a lot less work.

Still I'd be mad if I made a great beer and only had 8 bottles.

giligson said:

Make your life even easier and brew min. 5 Gal batches

Click to expand...

Wish I could... I don't have the space for carboys or huge pots anywhere in my studio, though! Plus, I've brewed with a friend once and it seems like fun, so I have no problem with putting time into brewing, even for less beer. The first few recipes I have lined up start at 1.25-1.5 gal, so I end up with 1.0 in the end. I have two 1-gal jugs so I can have two brews going at once, and to be honest I love sampling different beers. I don't mind putting 2-3 hrs of work in for a 12-pack as long as I enjoy it. Plus, if I had 50 bottles of one kind of beer, I'd get sick of it soon and would likely be prevented from buying more beers (my other favorite pastime). If I can have 2-3 brews staggered at a time I can likely spend Sunday afternoons brewing and bottling and end up making 30-40 beers a month once I get going. That's definitely enough for me considering I also plan on buying new beers all the time.

If I end up moving or getting rid of some stuff, though, I'll likely start some 5-gal brews and never look back!

I've started doing some 1 gal batches. I just pour in my yeast slurry with no starter and I've had success fermenting and then being able to take 1-2 slurries back out of it.

There are two reasons why you may not want to do 1 gal batches:

1. You have an incentive not to measure gravities -- everytime you do a gravity reading, you're taking a lot of beer away, so if you do just OG and SG you've lost a considerable part of your batch. That may or may not be an issue for you...

2. If you're doing 1 gal batches to figure out a good 5 gal recipe, I find it difficult to replicate the taste of a 1 gal batch at 5 gal. Your fermentation is different, temp control is probably going to be different, it seems to boil differently, etc. and if you're not measuring gravity, it's even harder to nail down the right process to replicate five times larger at 5 gal.

That said, I still encourage you to do it! It's a great opportunity to use left over grains and hops, try new things, it's easy to make SMaSH that way, and I also use it to keep my washed yeast bank fresh.

I've also started doing 1 gal batches of cider. It's really simple. Just add cider and yeast. Let ferment. Bottle. It's a good way to diversify your drink selection and I also use it to propogate new yeast slurries.

These guys do a couple of "6 pack brews" that are 1 gallon. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the 6 pack IPA.

http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=video

We should start a thread somewhere for 1 gallon recipies. I've frequently thought about doing a bunch of 1 gallon recipes. Mostly for getting a feel for whether I like various style beers. I understand that if you use brewing software and keep the IBUs the same, you can scale down a 5 gallon recipe down to a 1 gallon recipe relatively reliably.

Anybody reading this thread may want to check out http://www.brooklynbrewshop.com

Any experts looking to compare notes may wish to read something at http://www.brooklynbrewshop.com/instructions

I do wish Brooklyn Brew Shop would not sell their 5-gallon kits without proper instructions. The directions are just the same as the 1-gallon sizes scaled up to 5-gallon sizes. They 1) Assume you have a stockpot that can hold the grain for their high-grav beers (who has an 8-gallon stockpot handy for a tripel who doesn't brew beer??), 2) assume you can hold its temp without a mash tun (not impossible, but a lot harder than they make it look, and 3) assume you can somehow lauter and sparge this grain into some other container - a second large stockpot??

I've tried their 1-gallon recipes and admit they know how to craft a great specialty beer, and 1-gallon all-grain is an excellent introduction. But jumping from 1-gal all-grain to 5-gal all-grain is unreasonable without proper instruction, knowledge, or experience.

That said, 1-gal brewing is awesome - I'm setting aside 1 gallon of my coffee stout to throw either real coffee or bourbon into. My next brew, an IPA, may have some special spices added. I'm all for experimentation!

Yikes!! $15 bucks for a 1 gallon kit. It is more cost effective and beer effective to brew 2.5 gallon recipes.

Plus it is even easier to 1/2 5 gallon recipes. A 3g Better Bottle isn't going to take up any more room.

I just brewed Bee Cave IPA and American Wheat recipes found on board with 2.5 gallon and the price each was less than $11 from Brewmaster.

You spend a lot less and have a lot more beer in the same room space.

Yeah, it's more for people just trying to get into brewing - or people who may brew a small batch 2x a year or so, just because they like kitchen experiments, etc. $15 for abou 10 beers isn't terrible if you're ok with putting time into a craft (though it's definitely worse than my 50 beers for $30ish).

I think that's why their recipes are so offbeat - to make it special each time for those who want to try something new in their kitchen, vs. the average guy here on HBT, who would love to master everything from everyday pale ales to imperials stouts. Definitely a different customer base from us. I look at it like the time I made limoncello, or tiramisu, or grew pumpkins in my yard - I probably wouldn't want to do any of those very often, but they were fun experiments to engage in, and worth it for the end results, even if I wasn't an expert or didn't make it cost-effective.

Still, it taught me to appreciate small batches - I make small batches of apfelwein, cide, or other experimental recipes so I can 1) Mash with my regular kitchen pots, so I don't have to clean large containers, and 2) leave my buckets and carboys free, so I can make something weird like a chile beer and not feel antsy about taking up my bucket with a weird brew.