1 gallon batch setup

What's the best mash tun size for 1 gallon all grain brewing? Do you typically save the yeast left over from a pitch or divide over batches?

For a while I was using a one gallon thermos that I had lying around..... About the yeast.... If you are doing 1 gallon batches, I used to use 1/2 a vial, then refrigerate the other half. Be careful about sanitation, if you infect the yeast you could infect entire batches of brew. I also re use yeast a lot... usually pour some into a sanitized mason jar, name and date and put it in the fridge.

Thanks for the reply. What about time to brew from start to finish. Obviously the boil will take 60 mins or so but what about the mash. With the smaller volume do you still do 60 min mashes or just until conversion. What about time to get to a boil and cool down. That must make the overall brew day shorter. How does that worker out for you. Is it worth it? Looking to experiment.

Also about the yeast with the recommended pitch rates and typical size of liquid yeast at 50 million per batch you would probably be right on with half a vial considering a normal brew with starter requiring 250 mil or more would need a starter. Have you ever done a starter when doing say a 5 gallon split batch changing fermenting time etc per batch to test impact on the beer?

I really enjoyed 1 gallon brews, but there was never enough beer! Yes definitely do 60 minute mash. 60 minute boil. Try not to boil too vigorous, I would sometimes have to dilute mine after the boil, which is not a problem, its just another step to take. Cool down, I would fill my sink with ice and water, probably 15-20 mins to cool 1 gallon if you stir the whole time. Hey- if you are doing pale ales and like hops, put like tripple the aroma hops (5 minutes until flame off and 0 minutes, dry hop too), you can never have enough. I do 10 gallon batches, and it can get pretty expensive when I am using almost a pound of hops at a time, 1 gallon batches are great to load up with aroma hops, you wont regret it.

I was doing one gallon batches by mashing on the stove in a pot BIAB-style but I was losing heat too quickly and trying to keep up with it on the stove meant babying it for the whole hour. I recently picked up a two gallon water cooler and it works almost as well as my ten gallon HD cooler I use for larger batches. I don't do anything differently with my small batches except pitch an appropriately smaller amount of yeast.

What do use for fermentation vessels? Do you move to secondary? Can you use a 5 gallon bucket or would you have too much headspace?

you can use a 2 gallon bucket from hd or lowes.