Brewing smaller batches

I love to make beer and try the beer I made, but nowadays, I am just not a big drinker. 5 gallon batches are just too big. I am wondering if there is any problem with making 2.5 gallon batches in a 5 gallon fermentor. I would like to have more variety and less volume. I know it is pretty easy to adjust the quantities with recipe calculators, but what about the yeast quantity? What other considerations do I have to consider...timing, carbonation etc?

No problem at all. And you don't have to worry about using a recipe calculator....just half the ingredients!

Use the same yeast and times as the bigger batch. Nothing else changes except make sure you half the priming sugar at bottling time.

I'd say make it all and use what you don't want as gifts. Most of my friends love getting a free sixer of good beer.

Evan! said:

I'd say make it all and use what you don't want as gifts. Most of my friends love getting a free sixer of good beer.

Click to expand...

Most of my friends drink bud light

I've been contemplating small batches for some beers I won't drink that often. I'm tempted to do a barleywine in a 1 gallon glass jug from apple cider...

When I first got interested in brewing I was thinking the same thing... brew small batches. After a few posts here and research I came to the conclusion, it's the same amount of work... so why not just brew the standard 5 gallon batch!

From what I have read, the beer will last awhile (6months??). So, you don't have to drink right away.

Just my 2 cents

Hmm, I'm of the opposite opinion. 5 gallons isn't big enough - especially when my friends come over and drain kegs. But small batches are certainly feasible. Halve everything (hop utilization will change slightly, but not appreciably), pitch the same amount of yeast (I dare you to try and overpitch...), and ferment away!

EDIT: Boil times, fermentation times, etc will not change.

debtman7 said:

Most of my friends drink bud light

I've been contemplating small batches for some beers I won't drink that often. I'm tempted to do a barleywine in a 1 gallon glass jug from apple cider...

Click to expand...

i've begun doing 1 gallon batches for experimentation and trying new things, not wanting to make 5 gallons of something i don't like. I even made 1/2 gallon batch with leftover DME i had no other use for that i'll probably drink this weekend. Small bathes aren't a problem, although i agree it's often a lot of work for a small result.

I don't think you'll have any problems. 5 gallon carboy for primary, get a 3 gallon for secondary. Yeast shouldn't be a problem, you can't really overpitch very easily (you probably won't have to worry very often about making a starter).

On the positive side, you'll be able to go all-grain (if you choose) without having to brew outside with propane, and while still being able to chill with an ice bath.

I've been thinking of doing something similar. I've noticed that I like brewing a lot more than any other hobby I have... including drinking beer! With smaller batches I can brew more and not increase my outflow of $$ too much. BrewingBasics.com had a video podcast where they brew a 6-pack of beer (3/4 gallon brew) in a 1-gallon growler. That's not a bad Idea but promash will not scale down a recipe lower than 1 gallon, so that's a bummer, I can't seem to find a 1.5 gallon growler anywhere.

I couldn't imagine scaling down THAT much. That's like a hours' worth of work per beer (factoring in cleaning, sanitizing, bottling, etc.).

omniscientomar said:

I've been thinking of doing something similar. I've noticed that I like brewing a lot more than any other hobby I have... including drinking beer! With smaller batches I can brew more and not increase my outflow of $$ too much. BrewingBasics.com had a video podcast where they brew a 6-pack of beer (3/4 gallon brew) in a 1-gallon growler. That's not a bad Idea but promash will not scale down a recipe lower than 1 gallon, so that's a bummer, I can't seem to find a 1.5 gallon growler anywhere.

Click to expand...

Interesting take on cost effectiveness. I find the opposite to be true. I'm down to about 12 cents per bottle for ingredients. Equipment is a different story, but that's sort of become a hobby all in itself.

Yuri_Rage said:

Interesting take on cost effectiveness. I find the opposite to be true. I'm down to about 12 cents per bottle for ingredients. Equipment is a different story, but that's sort of become a hobby all in itself.

Click to expand...

I guess I didn't make myself too clear. I'm not trying to reduce the cost per bottle. I just don't want to brew 5 gallons of beer every couple of weeks, that would amount to lots of $$! But I do understand what you mean... if I could I would spend LOTS on equipment!

Cregar said:

When I first got interested in brewing I was thinking the same thing... brew small batches. After a few posts here and research I came to the conclusion, it's the same amount of work... so why not just brew the standard 5 gallon batch!

From what I have read, the beer will last awhile (6months??). So, you don't have to drink right away.

Just my 2 cents

Click to expand...

I've been thinking about the same thing. Dont get me wrong it's not that I dont like to drink my beer BUT I really like to make it a lot faster then I can drink it. Hell if I could I would make a batch a day.

infact, I'm on the look out for 3 - 3 gallon carbouys for secondarys and will probably only make largeer batches for parties and trading. Right now I have about 10 cases of beer I am donating to a friend to help raise money for his charity poker games becfause I am runing low on bottles (about 5 cases of empties ATM). $10 to walk in, free beer and food and then what ever you want to spend on poker

I am now brewing small batches because I have been brewing more than I can drink even with my giveaways. I brewed 14 batches in 6 months and that is a lot of beer. The only exception is lagers which I will brew a 5 gallon batch about every 3-4 months.

Since I like to brew often and experiment with lots of recipes, I will be brewing 2-2.5 gallon batches of ale, 1 gallon batches of wine and cider.