2/2.5 Gallon Brew equipment?

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jongrill

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2012
Messages
186
Reaction score
9
Location
Howell
I have been brewing one gallon batches for a year now. I am very comfortable with the brewing process and would like to step it up just a little it in the volume department. I am really not interested in standard five gallon brewing and small batch seems to be my thing!

I was wondering if you could recommend some products to me for increasing my volume to two or 2.5 gallon batches.


- What size pot would you recommend? I usually do partial mash but have been known to do a BIAB once in a while.

-Fermenters? Would three gallon carboys leave too much head space with two gallon brewing?

Other than those two things. I suppose the rest of my equipment could suffice for now. I can just upgrade as I go!

Any help is appreciated!


Thanks for your help!


Jon
 
I have been brewing one gallon batches for a year now. I am very comfortable with the brewing process and would like to step it up just a little it in the volume department. I am really not interested in standard five gallon brewing and small batch seems to be my thing!

I was wondering if you could recommend some products to me for increasing my volume to two or 2.5 gallon batches.


- What size pot would you recommend? I usually do partial mash but have been known to do a BIAB once in a while.

-Fermenters? Would three gallon carboys leave too much head space with two gallon brewing?

Other than those two things. I suppose the rest of my equipment could suffice for now. I can just upgrade as I go!


I do 2-2.5 gallon BIAB batches in a 5 gallon kettle all the time. Plenty of room for most BIAB recipes, and fine for partial mash.

A three gallon carboy would be fine. Headspace isn't much of an issue in a primary, as the CO2 production covers the beer and protects it from oxidation. I've fermented 1 gallon of beer in a 5 gallon bucket several times with no issues. If you secondary, that's a different story...

For a detailed discussion on the required size of a mash tun, see THIS THREAD.
 
evrose said:
I do 2-2.5 gallon BIAB batches in a 5 gallon kettle all the time. Plenty of room for most BIAB recipes, and fine for partial mash.

A three gallon carboy would be fine. Headspace isn't much of an issue in a primary, as the CO2 production covers the beer and protects it from oxidation. I've fermented 1 gallon of beer in a 5 gallon bucket several times with no issues. If you secondary, that's a different story...

For a detailed discussion on the required size of a mash tun, see THIS THREAD.

What do you use for secondary's? I have a bunch of two gallon buckets I use for my one gallon brewing now. Would that work?
 
I've never used a secondary. But yes, a 2 gallon bucket would work fine. For a secondary, you want to minimize headspace to reduce O2 exposure.

But I also have to add - secondaries are a but "old school" and not really needed in most cases. It's often better to just skip the secondary completely.
 
I like to brew on the same scale: around 2-1/2 gallon batches. It gives me about a case of beer, bottled and I get to brew up a number of different recipes at once. I've been using a 3-gal pot for boiling, but that is really a bit too small for the bigger BIAB recipes I do. I've been splitting it into two pots, but have my eyes open for a 5-gal brew pot. I use the 3-gal Better Bottles for fermenting, both primary and secondary (when I do a secondary fermentation) and they have been holding up just fine. If you are going to do extract or BIAB (partial extract or full mash), that's about all the critical equipment you will need.
 
I do 2-2.5gl all grain, I mash in a converted 5gl cooler with stainless hot water heater braid, boil in a 5gl cheapo canning pot (recently upgraded, pot works fine as long as you do not ding the porcelain coating), and primary in a 5gal bucket. I have a 3gl better bottle for secondary. The 5gl mash tun works fine for average to somewhat big beers, but when you get around 12lb of grain or so you have to be careful with your mash water ratio. Also the 5gal boil pot is good up to 4gl pre boil for my comfort level.
 
You guys mentioned Better Bottles. For both primary/secondary do you use a plain one or one with a spigot?
 
I only have the plain ones. I'd try the ones with the spigot if the price were a little better, but until I know that these are going to last more than just a couple of years each, I'll hold off and continue to use my autosiphon...
 
Oginme said:
I only have the plain ones. I'd try the ones with the spigot if the price were a little better, but until I know that these are going to last more than just a couple of years each, I'll hold off and continue to use my autosiphon...

Maybe I'll just go with glass!
 
yep.

BIAB, no sparge, 3 gallons batches. 3 gallons into the fermenter, a bit less goes straight into 2.5 gallon kegs.

1 gallon (for steeping grains) and 5 gallon (for full AG BIAB) paint strainer bags from Home Depot
5 gallon SS pot from Walmart
3" tea balls for hop additons
3 gallon better bottle with rotating dip tube & spigot (just do it, spend the money. they work wonderfully. I cringe when I pull out the 3 gallon glass carboy. which I did today. I cranked out two partial mash batches this morning and need both fermenters.)

I need a blow off tube for anything over 1.07 though. But I've been on a long running 4% or less brew kick.

I used to use a small 3 gallon cooler for mashing but its not worth the trouble (i.e. clean-up) for such small batches imo. I can maintain the temps easy enough on the gas stove top with BIAB.
 
I been away for a few weeks. This is what I plan I doing:

Two gallon batches:

3-5 gallon pot for brewing

Three gallon better bottle (with or without spigot)for fermentation

Reuse my two gallon fermenting buckets for secondary buckets

Reuse my two gallon bottling bucket for bottling.



What do we think?
 
I been away for a few weeks. This is what I plan I doing:

Two gallon batches:

3-5 gallon pot for brewing

Three gallon better bottle (with or without spigot)for fermentation

Reuse my two gallon fermenting buckets for secondary buckets

Reuse my two gallon bottling bucket for bottling.



What do we think?

Either skip the secondary completely, or use a better bottle for that stage. Using a clearing vessel ("secondary") with a wide headspace like that is problematic.

Using a bucket for bottling is fine.
 
I do 2-3 gal batches frequently, extract and occasionally BIAB (not often because I don't have the time). I use a 5 gallon pot I got for under $20 at a department store and 5 gallon food grade bucket fermenters. No worries of boil over with the 5 gallon pot. 3 gallon pot you're really going to need to watch, probably going to boil over anyway. I don't bother with secondaries. Too much work, adds some risk of infection, results just as good with 3-4 weeks in the primary. Buckets easy to handle. Only draw back is you don't get to watch fermentation.
 
If I'm doing two gallon batches wouldn't stow gallon bucket be perfect for secondary's if needed? No headspace!
 
So you're all saying you throw additions right into the primary?

Why not? The only issue I can see with that is if you're going to re-use your yeast by adding new wort from your next brew directly on top of the cake. And I've done other additions to the primary after initial fermentation.

I added a fresh peach puree to a blonde BIAB batch of about 2.5 gallons. Mashed & boiled in a 5 gal. pot; primary in 3 gal. carboy; fruit addition end of day 3 in the primary; racked to bottling bucket at 2 weeks and bottled. Phenomenal peach nose and finish.
 
adiochiro3 said:
Why not? The only issue I can see with that is if you're going to re-use your yeast by adding new wort from your next brew directly on top of the cake. And I've done other additions to the primary after initial fermentation.

I added a fresh peach puree to a blonde BIAB batch of about 2.5 gallons. Mashed & boiled in a 5 gal. pot; primary in 3 gal. carboy; fruit addition end of day 3 in the primary; racked to bottling bucket at 2 weeks and bottled. Phenomenal peach nose and finish.

I don't reuse yeast so this might be an option id like to try.


I think I'm going to go with plain better bottles. The racking/spigot unit seems cool but to me that's one more thing I need to clean and another place that can leak/fail.

I don't mind siphoning anyway! It's science!!
 
This might be a bit late to chime in, but I just started doing 2 gallon BIAB batches recently, and luckily my LHBS had 1 gallon glass jugs that i use for primary and secondary. I like splitting up the batch because i then have the option to do different things to each one. I hope you're brewing is going well!
 
If I'm doing two gallon batches wouldn't stow gallon bucket be perfect for secondary's if needed? No headspace!

Well, a bucket is very wide. So you'd have 12 inches (or whatever width your bucket is) of headspace. That's a lot! It's not the depth of the beer in the bucket, 12 inches wide is 12 inches wide (the headspace) whether the bucket is half full or totally full.

So I wouldn't use a bucket for a secondary, period. I'd either skip it, or use a carboy/better bottle.
 
I will also suggest a minimum of a 5 gallon pot, but I always believe that bigger is better for your pot so it grows with you. I started out making 2 gallon batches in a Mr Beer but now I make anywhere from 5-15 gallon batches with pots ranging in size from 7.5 - 24 gallons. I have been considering making a few 2-2.5 gallon test batches of a few things I am on the fence about having a large quanitity of and have been eyeballing the mini conical from Brewdemon as a fermentor for those batches.
 
I think Yooper hit the nail on the head...why are you using a secondary??? Unless you're adding some fruit or adjuncts or wild yeast or bugs/bacteria, there's probably not much call for a home brewer to use a secondary. If you're just brewing beer, leave it in the primary until its done then cold crash & bottle/keg. Transferring to a secondary for no good reason is just inviting potential problems with contamination or oxidation.
 
Weezy said:
I think Yooper hit the nail on the head...why are you using a secondary??? Unless you're adding some fruit or adjuncts or wild yeast or bugs/bacteria, there's probably not much call for a home brewer to use a secondary. If you're just brewing beer, leave it in the primary until its done then cold crash & bottle/keg. Transferring to a secondary for no good reason is just inviting potential problems with contamination or oxidation.

I do make a lot of beers with fruit additions. That's why I am stuck for ideas...
 
I do make a lot of beers with fruit additions. That's why I am stuck for ideas...

I gotcha. I've been there too. A suitable ~2 gallon vessel isn't falling off the shelves. The easy solution, for a secondary, is to use what works and purge it with CO2 before filling it. Thereby, you don't need to worry about oxidation form too much head space.

I tried the multiple 1 gallon glass carboys and felt it was too much of a hassle for most things. I've been using these lately:



2.5 gallon plastic carboys from uline.com. They have some good features and bad features. First, the bad, the spigot is aligned with the very bottom of the jug, in order to drain everything last drop. This is problematic for avoiding trub, so I have to put a board under the front of the jugs to tilt them back. The good things about them are (1) the spigot sized to allow tubing to slip over it, (2) small opening on the top that stoppers w/airlocks fit into, and (3) also a large opening for adding fruit or other things at any time. I just purge them with CO2 first.
 
I have been brewing one gallon batches for a year now. I am very comfortable with the brewing process and would like to step it up just a little it in the volume department. I am really not interested in standard five gallon brewing and small batch seems to be my thing!

I was wondering if you could recommend some products to me for increasing my volume to two or 2.5 gallon batches.


- What size pot would you recommend? I usually do partial mash but have been known to do a BIAB once in a while.

-Fermenters? Would three gallon carboys leave too much head space with two gallon brewing?

Other than those two things. I suppose the rest of my equipment could suffice for now. I can just upgrade as I go!

Any help is appreciated!


Thanks for your help!


Jon

I brew 2-3 gallon batches (size varies based on what I'm doing with the beer). I've documented the process on my blog:

Planning my System
Building my System
 
Back
Top