halving a recipe

I found a recipe I would like to try, but only want to make a half batch. Obviousely I just cut everything in half, but what about boil time? I haven't been able to find anything about that. Instead of steeping grains for 1hr do I do it for 30 min etc. Same with hops do I halve the addition schedule as well? I know I'm a complete clueless newb.

Generally, halving the recipe is just the amounts (except for yeast). To make sure, though, you may want to post the recipe here and we can take a look and see if it should just be halved.

Times and temps stay the same. The ingredients won't release their yumminess any sooner if they are fewer. Something about science...

cheers

YooperBrew said:

Generally, halving the recipe is just the amounts (except for yeast). To make sure, though, you may want to post the recipe here and we can take a look and see if it should just be halved.

Click to expand...

Here's the recipe courtesy of Blacklab in the American ale section
Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Safale-04
Yeast Starter: no way
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter: nyet
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.054
Final Gravity: 1.013
IBU: 34
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 9.0L
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 @ 60-ish
Additional Fermentation: n/a
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 @ 60-ish
Tasting Notes: Orange/coriander low in the profile, compliment fruitiness from Cascades.


Cascades Orange/Coriander Pale Ale
10-A American Pale Ale



Size: 5.5 gal
Efficiency: 68.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 178.22 per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.054 (1.045 - 1.060)
|=================#==============|
Terminal Gravity: 1.013 (1.010 - 1.015)
|==================#=============|
Color: 6.0 (5.0 - 14.0)
|===============#================|
Alcohol: 5.27% (4.5% - 6.0%)
|================#===============|
Bitterness: 33.78 (30.0 - 45.0)
|============#===================|

Ingredients:
9 lbs Maris Otter
1 lbs Vienna Malt
1 lbs Crystal Malt 10°L
1 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added first wort, boiled 60 min
1 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
1 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 5 min
1 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 1 min
2 ea Fermentis S-04 Safale S-04
2.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
2.0 oz Orange zest - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
1 oz Coriander crushed - added during boil, boiled 10 min
Whirlfloc - added during boil, boiled 15 min

arturo7 said:

Times and temps stay the same. The ingredients won't release their yumminess any sooner if they are fewer. Something about science...

cheers

Click to expand...

I kind of figured but didn't want to screw it up. Thanks

Basically, when you halve a recipe you reduce the amount of water, extracts, grains, yeast, clarifying agents, everything in half EXCEPT hops.
The amount of ibu's you get from a batch partially depends on how much liquid the hops are boiling in. So if you just cut your hop amounts in half your ibu's will change.

Example : (hops are same type and alpha acid %)
5 gal batch, 1 oz bittering hops = 58.3 ibu's
2.5 gal batch, .5 oz bittering hops = 45 ibu's (not half the ibu's)

Search for a free ibu calculator online, figure out how many ibu's you want, and mess with the amounts (not the boiling time) until you're satisfied with the ibu's.

Steeping for one hour seems like a long time, even for a full batch.

YopperBrew's right on the yeast (sorry). 1 vial or pack of yeast should be fine when going from 5.5gal to 2.5 or whatever. I didn't see the recipe before I posted, thought you were halving a 10 gallon batch

half the ingredients (including hops) not the time or temps. Use an online pitching calculator to see how much yeast to use, or just use a full pack as normal.

If you are doing a 2.5 gallon batch use half the hops than if you were doing a full boil 5 gallon batch. It gets funky when you are doing a partial boil/top up recipe.

Thanks everyone. I don't have a pot/stove that can heat 6 gallons. I do have one that can handle 3 so I figured a half batch would be good. This will be my first AG wish me luck. I'm hoping I like it as I have 4 cascade rhizomes on their way and am hoping to get some at the end of the first year so hopefully I'll have a recipe to use them on when they grow.