dp_brew said:
How do most of you buy your ingredients for 1 gal batches? Do you store some and wait on other ingredients? I was thinking of getting a few small 1 gal kits but deciding on shelf life of ingredients.
I try to keep my "go to" grains handy so I can brew any time. Base malt in 50lb sack fits 2 lowes buckets and then I have two 3 gallon buckets with different specialty grains. 2-3 lbs wheat, crystal 20,60, Munich, Vienna, a little chocolate, roasted barley etc. in smaller ziplocks into the bucket
rawkstar320 said:
I have a food grade 5 gallon bucket from Lowes ($5-6) with a lid that I store all my grain in. My yeast is in the fridge, and hops are in the chest freezer (double bagged in freezer bags). I usually have a 10lb bag of base malt and then one pound bags of special malts.
I would buy bulk, but I live an hour from the closest beer store, so I like to have supplies on hand.
Perfect setup! I also use the cheap vacuum sealer ( hand sealer) with zipper vacuum bags for hops, yeast and corn sugar
JWB said:
Great thread guys, I've been following it for a while. I'm currently on my 3rd all grain batch, 2 being 1-gallon, the middle one being a 3-gallon. I must say that I've enjoyed the one gallon batches better due to my limited space and perceived "ease" of production. I also like that I can make many different batches and hopefully improve my process each time. This 3rd batch now in primary fermentation (Belgian blonde with some agave nectar) was by far my smoothest batch yet. On a related note to the previous replies, how are the one gallon brewers scaling down their recipes? I obviously know to scale down 1/5 or 1/10 depending on the original recipe, but how do you account for the .25 lbs on the original bill? Do you convert to oz and scale it down from there? Thanks so much in advance, I am definitely loving this new hobby! Happy brewing.
Scaling became so much easier when I bought Beersmith and convert to grams before I brew.
HopHoarder said:
Sometimes I just do metric measurements instead as it's easier to scale down. With rgards to buying tiny amounts of specialty grains, I always buy at least 1lb at a time from my LHBS and keep the remaining grains for future batches.
rawkstar320 said:
I mill my own with a corona mill from Amazon. They only cost around $20.
Great investment! After reading Revvy's ugly junk thread, I bought a corn mill to grind my grain for small BIAB batches. When I do a large AG batch, I put it all together and bring it to my LHBS and mill on their mill which is setup for a regular grind. They don't mind at all because I tend to wander and pick something up and I buy everything I can there because they rock! Morebeer in Concord, Ca
cheesecake said:
Here us a picture. 1lb fits perfectly in a quart size mason jar.
And yes that is 24 specialty grains.
Cheesecake, I love that idea, I may convert my small grains to mason jars!
UnderThePorchBrewing said:
exactly what I do.
I spend a night every so often and create 3 to 5 "kits" of my own. measure out the grains etc and bag them in ziplock bags (uncrushed) then measure out the hops and reseal them in plastic bags (2 oz zipper bags) and store the small bags in a freezer bag in the freezer until brewday. then when I get a chance I grind the grains ( I also use a corona mill) and spend an evening usually twice a month on a wednesday brewing.
I just started doing this and maybe you wrote about this in another thread? I love this idea. I put together a few kits of small batches I want to brew. And bam, on a minutes notice...SWMBO has a plan to go out and I'm brewing!
Great to see some new posts to our thread... It's getting better all the time!k
Basically. Then the standard bottleing stuff.Maybe convert a 2 gallon bucket into a bottleing bucket with spigot,autosiphon,bottle want etc. They actually sell the buckets at my LHBS-probably offer hole-drill service as well. You can buy your grains crushed or buy a grainmill or cheaper-a corona mill. You can get things like ph papers/brewing salts for your mash also.But you dont "have" to. John Palmers How to Brew book-(explains mashing good) or online. A thermometer or two. Sanitizer.Mini autosiphon-you wont regret getting one.Funnell,strainer,airlocks,cheap kitchen scale or nice semi-cheap digital scale.
