1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

d-usa said:

Shameless self quote.

So in the end I brewed a tea of one leave of sage and one stick of thyme in 2 cups of water (tasty tea by the way). I took one ounce of that tea and added it to 8 oz of water. Unless I'm sucking at math I figured that should give me an approximate idea of what I would get taste wise if I added the same amount to a full gallon brew. It has a mild herbal taste, but I'm not sure if it would be too much. I can definitely pick it out of the plain water, but it would probably blend in very well into the finished beer at this concentration.

I'm guessing flavor additions are one of the potential drawbacks of brewing 1 gallon vs 5 gallons.

Click to expand...

Sounds good! I'm interested to hear how it turns out, I haven't ventured into herbs in beer yet, but eventually I'll end up doing a gruit of some kind just to see how they were.

HopSong said:

I think all buckets are made with mold release.. which is why they should all be washed before use. That said.. Also, wonder where you got the idea that #2 is not necessarily food grade. Isn't that what grades are all about? Unless you can provide documentation, I'd consider that as passing on rumor as fact.. said enough times it becomes "fact". (urban legend).

As a general rule, the numbers that are safe for use with food are 1, 2, 4, and 5.
The best type of plastic for use in long-term food storage is high-density polyethylene (HDPE), which is indicated by the "2" symbol. HDPE is one of the most stable and inert forms of plastic, and all plastic buckets sold specifically for food storage will be made from this material.
Other types of plastic acceptable for food storage include PETE, LDPE, and polypropylene (PP). These plastics are represented by the numbers 1, 4, and 5 respectively.

Click to expand...

Acrylic, which is one of several #7 plastics is considered to be one of the most food safe plastics. The number codes are for recycling purposes, not to designate food safety by the way.......

Howard

There is also always the possibility that while the material is food safe, the actual manufacture of the bucket could still include chemicals and processes that might not be.

Brewed a Saison tonight and ended up with a screwed up final gravity. It was a stupid mistake, I know that I need to dial in my evaporation rate better but there is still no reason for the screw-up.

Did my mash, hit my temperature and only lost 1 degree after 75 minutes in the oven on warm. According to Beersmith my pre-boil gravity should have been 1.058 and I got 1.057. Nothing to complain about there.

Did my boil, cooled my wort, added my top-off water and realized that my thermometer looks like it is covered with more wort than before. Finished cooling it of, made sure it was mixed thoroughly and took my FG reading. Was supposed to be 1.057 and ended up with 1.046. A quick taste of the wort seemed decent, but I'm worried it might end up tasting thin.

I'm guessing that I still don't have a good handle on my boil-off rate, so when I topped it off I ended up diluting it too much. This is only my 4th beer, but what I have done on my other batches has been to take a FG reading before I add my top-off water and then add water until the FG is where it is supposed to be. But today I was just on auto-pilot and poured in all the water. I put the top-off water in the freezer to help cool the wort, which probably contributed to my "just pour it all in and help it get cool" mindset.

I'll remember not to do that next time. Oh well, yeast is pitched, had a home-brew, let's see how it turns out and learn from the mistake.

D-USA
I did almost the same thing on my 4th beer too. FG was at 1.060 when I was supposed to be at 1.075.

Oh well brew and learn!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

I ordered a Brew Demon (clear) this weekend, and it arrived today. I contacted the company by email requesting the clear tank (same price), when I realized it was available. They were very cooperative.

I have several small fermenters made from Ice Tea containers..... and they work well. One allows me a 1.5 gallon brew (2 gallon cap), and the other 2.5 gallon brew (3 gal cap). I wanted just a bit more, and the Brew Demon was irresistible.

I ordered the bubbler upgrade $6 additonal, that comes with a bubbler and a gasket for the screw on lid......... Otherwise the gasket is not included, but you can order them separately.

Quality can only be described as cheap........... but functional. The brew vessel is very thin plastic, no heavier than a plastic beer bottle, but I don't see this as a problem, in fact it is an asset. Buy an expensive plastic fermenter scratch it up, and you are going to want to replace it. Thin doesn't make it scratch any easier......but it does make it cheap to replace ($13). That makes thin plastic an asset. The support structure is adequate, the valve good enough.

Capacity is 3 gallons right to the top. The cone bottom contains about 12 oz (3 cups). It's perfectly capable of a 2.5 gallon brew is the krausen doesn't go wild. If 3 cups is more than you want to leave behind with the trub......... toss a hand full of marbles in.

I'm looking forward to making my first brew in this. It'll be my RedX(5lb) with carapils (1/2 lb) and Amarillo hops.. an ounce split in quarters... 60/30/5/dry

H.W.

Owly I have had my eye on that thing post up some pics of it action the site pictures I don't think do it justice. I am also interested to hear what you think after brewing with it.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

doc8402 said:

Owly I have had my eye on that thing post up some pics of it action the site pictures I don't think do it justice. I am also interested to hear what you think after brewing with it.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Click to expand...

It looks exactly like the photos..........except mine is clear instead of brown....... I do think the pics "do it justice"..... when I get it percolating , I'll shoot it in high krausen...

Howard

sumbrewindude said:

Awesome to hear Frank!

What did you brew, and which kit are you going to try next?

Click to expand...

I did the Northern Brewer: White House Honey Ale first and the next day I did Dead Ringer IPA.
Im thinking about doing a Hefeweizen next

Owly055 said:

Capacity is 3 gallons right to the top. The cone bottom contains about 12 oz (3 cups). It's perfectly capable of a 2.5 gallon brew is the krausen doesn't go wild. If 3 cups is more than you want to leave behind with the trub......... toss a hand full of marbles in.

Click to expand...

Unless you're using different units that I'm used to, I think your conversion is wrong:
I cup = 8 oz, so
12 oz = 1.5 cups, and
3 cups = 24 oz



Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Frankbo25 - Sounds like two great beers right out of the gate! I've yet to do a Hefe, I really need to get off my rear and get a Hefe in the works, haven't had one of those in a long time...

D-usa - Well thank you for tossing a monkey-wrench in the ironworks, in a good way. I've been sort of unhappy with the decision to split one of my batches and do two yeasts and then back blend - mostly because I'm having difficulty deciding on the yeasts involved. I've done a lot of clean ales lately, and really want something (other than the K23 which I can't wait to sample) that I can just let run wild. Your Saison post pushed me over the edge this morning, so with a minor change to the grain bill I'm going to order up some Saison yeast this morning and pitch that instead.

I'll get back to the blending bit later on.

I've been wanting to do a 1 gallon batch to pilot different styles and not invest time and money into a whole batch if it goes south. Whats the general method for getting the proper yeast pitch? Do you measure out some dry yeast and store it for later? Or make a normal starter and just ration that out each brew?

I have a couple 3 gallon better bottles. Will they have too much head space for a 1 gallon batch?

mathin said:

I have a couple 3 gallon better bottles. Will they have too much head space for a 1 gallon batch?

Click to expand...

You'll be fine....I've used 5 gallon carboys for 2.5 gallon batches with no problems. The co2 from fermentation will push a lot of the o2 out and the co2 is heavier so it'll settle on top of the beer.

mathin said:

I have a couple 3 gallon better bottles. Will they have too much head space for a 1 gallon batch?

Click to expand...

Nope!

I use 4gal containers for my 1.5gal brews, no problems at all.

Dogslapbrewery - If you're using dry yeast I just pour in half a packet (way to much, but it's easier to eyeball) and then store the extra in a freezer. If you're using liquid yeast I'd make a starter as usual but then only use a portion of it and store the rest in the fridge as a bank so I could make another later on.

sumbrewindude said:

D-usa - Well thank you for tossing a monkey-wrench in the ironworks, in a good way. I've been sort of unhappy with the decision to split one of my batches and do two yeasts and then back blend - mostly because I'm having difficulty deciding on the yeasts involved. I've done a lot of clean ales lately, and really want something (other than the K23 which I can't wait to sample) that I can just let run wild. Your Saison post pushed me over the edge this morning, so with a minor change to the grain bill I'm going to order up some Saison yeast this morning and pitch that instead.

Click to expand...

It's been pretty active. I don't have a fermentation chamber, but I stuck it in a spare room with a temperature controlled space heater. Going to hit it with 80-85 degrees for a few hours each day.

I just joined the forum today and started my first 1 gallon batch of an oatmeal chocolate stout.

catosotp said:

I just joined the forum today and started my first 1 gallon batch of an oatmeal chocolate stout.

Click to expand...

Excellent! First batch ever? Or first batch this little?

catosotp said:

I just joined the forum today and started my first 1 gallon batch of an oatmeal chocolate stout.

Click to expand...

Awesome to hear Catosotp!

Before you brew, read through the directions a few times to see what's going on when. Also, stick a gallon of water in your chosen brew pot, and boil it for the lenght of time that the recipe states - this will tell you how much water you'll loose to evaporation. You'll need to know how much you've lost so you can add that amount back in before boiling the recipe so you end up with your full 1gal!

Most of all, HAVE FUN!!! It's just cooking sugar soup that will eventually become BEER!


In other news -

My new pot showed up tonight! :rockin: Once the kids are in bed I'm hooking up the induction plate and it's off to measure loses and volumes. Hopefully I'll have everything ready to go for a Sunday brew. Holy cow does Concord make a cheap, robust pot! Can't wait!!!

Edit - Concord pot works with induction! So far averaging 3F/min @ 3gal with 1800W in a 26qt pot. Expect more data as it arrives.

(Btw, how can we have this many beer nerds on the site and NOT have a scientist smilely? I mean come on!)

Edit2 - Huh, even the cheapo 12$ Wallyworld 4gal stainless pot works on the induction plate. Rattles a bit, but heats up quick!

mathin said:

I have a couple 3 gallon better bottles. Will they have too much head space for a 1 gallon batch?

Click to expand...

Like the other guys say, no problem there. I use a 3 gallon fermentor all the time.

dogslapbrewery said:

I've been wanting to do a 1 gallon batch to pilot different styles and not invest time and money into a whole batch if it goes south. Whats the general method for getting the proper yeast pitch? Do you measure out some dry yeast and store it for later? Or make a normal starter and just ration that out each brew?

Click to expand...

Some guys measure out the proper amount of yeast but I just pitch a half of a packet of dry right into the fermentor, never made a starter and I haven't had a problem. I usually brew a batch every weekend so I store the left over yeast and use it then.

Thanks all for the advice on fermenter size.

HomebrewCraig said:

Excellent! First batch ever? Or first batch this little?

Click to expand...

I did some home brew with a Mr. Beer kit years ago but didn't keep up with it. I recently purchased a Hop Box brew kit with 2 one gallon fermenters. I plan to brew either 2 gallons of the same recipe or 1 gallon each of two different recipes. Thanks for the warm welcome.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

Opened up the first bottle of LIVID today. Oh man. Ever have one of those beers that you make and go, "Dang, why didn't I make more of this?" It's good. Smooth, clean, plenty of pine/grapefruit tart in the hops. Nice solid head on it, good color. Doesn't drink like an 8%ABV beer, that's for sure.

Now how do I ration the other 12?

Owly055 said:

It looks exactly like the photos..........except mine is clear instead of brown....... I do think the pics "do it justice"..... when I get it percolating , I'll shoot it in high krausen...

Howard

Click to expand...

Today was a brew day......... I did a 2.5 gallon brew and put it in the Demon. While sloshing the Demon out with starsan, I noticed it was leaking......... Traced the leak to the valve assembly, pulled the valve out, and discovered that the threaded shank had broken! I had hand tightened it.... not excessively....... about like I have other spigots, but the shank had broken off and I had trash it.

Fortunately I had just emptied my 6 gallon brew bucket full of kombucha, so I robbed the standard brew bucket valve from it. The shank was much larger, so I whittled the hole out using my scalpel........ The nut on the inside just barely fit, but it works fine. I didn't have anything else but the 6 gallon brew bucket I could put it in.

I'm sitting here listening to the sweet sound of a bubbler percolating away..... I gave this batch a "heavy pitch" from the yeast I'd harvested from the krausen of my last batch, and it took off immediately........ I did make a starter about 4 hours before I put the brew in the fermenter.

The cone bottom looks just about right........the trub is going to just about fill it..... It's above the spigot at the moment, but by the time it's fermented out, it should be at the proper level.

VERY THIN PLASTIC TANK.......... is a problem of sorts. You don't want to squeeze or handle it, as it will push lots of air out the bubbler......... and in my case, it swallowed some starsan......... not a problem, just an irritant.

Problem #3 is the location of the fermentation lock......... Instead of being in the lid, it's on the top of the tank toward the outer edge........... This location puts the cork down within 1.5" of the top of the liquid (2.5 gallons)......... where if it was in the lid there would be an additional inch. The potential for krausen to push up into the bubbler exists...... Before I use it again, I'll drill the lid.

Note that the lid gasket is an option that comes with the bubbler kit. Their intent is to simply allow pressure to escape through the threads....... There is a plug for this hole, and if necessary, I'll simply loosen the lid and plug the hole if the krausen gets too close.

H.W.

Wow...4K posts on this thread, and I've read every one of them along the way and brewed over 100 batches.

Just finished up a nice IIPA last night. Super hoppy balanced against a mix of english malts. Hit all my numbers and enjoyed a few of my all galaxy IPAs along the way. Up next will be my first wheat beer in nearly 2 years. No idea why I haven't done one in so long.

sumbrewindude said:

Opened up the first bottle of LIVID today. Oh man. Ever have one of those beers that you make and go, "Dang, why didn't I make more of this?" It's good. Smooth, clean, plenty of pine/grapefruit tart in the hops. Nice solid head on it, good color. Doesn't drink like an 8%ABV beer, that's for sure.

Now how do I ration the other 12?

Click to expand...

What's LIVID?

H.W.

Owly055 said:

What's LIVID?

H.W.

Click to expand...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/1-gallon-brewers-unite-311884/index424.html#post6051579

There's the recipe, I'd recommend scaling it up to 3gal at least. My EFF was higher than my projected 77% so the ABV pulled up to 8 instead of the 7.6ish. I was also surprised at the loss to the dryhops but then again I've never put that much dryhop in any of my beers yet. I lost almost an entire 12oz bottle to absorption.

I'll be brewing it again, that's for sure.

Calichusetts -

Any chance you'd share your IIPA recipe? I'm a huge fan of English malts (especially their crystal malts). I'm not a huge IPA/IIPA guy, but I do enjoy a good one every now and then - not to mention they're fun to brew!

I need to figure out how to put recipes into my little dropbox by my user name, figuring out where I posted the recipe for LIVID took longer than I thought.




ALSO!

Another huge thanks goes out to Rave808 (and whoever else, I can only recall Rave808 so I appologise to those I've forgot) who mentioned the Domino sugar dots for bottle carbonation. LIVID was the first I've bottled with this method and the carbonation came out GREAT! If the rest of the bottles are as good as the first one I'll be using this method exclusively for bottle carbing in the future.

Owly055 said:

Today was a brew day......... I did a 2.5 gallon brew and put it in the Demon. While sloshing the Demon out with starsan, I noticed it was leaking......... Traced the leak to the valve assembly, pulled the valve out, and discovered that the threaded shank had broken! I had hand tightened it.... not excessively....... about like I have other spigots, but the shank had broken off and I had trash it.

Click to expand...

That's funny - I had a similar issue, except I didn't notice the crack until several days after it was loaded with cider. Boy, am I glad I had the fermenter in a Rubbermaid tub!

The fermenter's been sitting in the garage since. I guess I'll look around for a spigot that will fit to resurrect it one day. I was really excited about the concept, and almost bought several, but at the last minute decided to see how one works. I'm glad I did.

Paul

Bottled up the Warshpail Ale today. That was the first go around with water chemistry additions, and I'm sort of confused. According to BruNWater the gypsum I added should have "popped" the hops up, but tasting the sample my bitterness and aroma was kind of "meh". I know things will change a little when carb'ed up, and it's very drinkable right now, just not what I expected given the amount of late additions I gave it. Granted they were old EKG hops, but still...

Also, in case anyone's interested on long term yeast harvesting/pitching, this batch of US05 (Generation 5) did not power down to it's usual attenuation and ended somewhere near S04 territory. Again, not sure why as it's been pitched at the same temp/fermented temp as it's previous generations. Either way, it got poured out and I'll be starting with a fresh batch of US05 for next time.

So far, Notty is in the lead on re-pitches with 6 generations and no drop off in sight. It may replace US05 in the fridge for a long term "clean" yeast.

Finally, in the spirit of "Never dump a batch just because...", I cracked open a bottle of OOA (Old Oat Ale, also nicknamed "No2 Pencil" due to a misjudgement with oak chips) to see where it was 2.5months after bottling, and the oak is finally starting to mellow out. It's still a little sharp, but it's no where near as bad as it was originally. I've got this on a long term age so I'll check out another bottle in a month or so and see where it is then, it may end up amazing...

Fellas,
I tried out my first 2 1gal batches this weekend. Both were from NB and I got major likes from my father in law. This man is the one who turned me onto micro brews years ago. I don't think they were "yeah good man" likes he is a straight shooter and would have told me if he thought there were changes I should make.

In other news I am thinking about going big for a few batches. I would like to try the NB kits for Karma Citra and the Plinian Legacy. Any thoughts on those kits?

Happy Easter to all!!!

paul_111 said:

That's funny - I had a similar issue, except I didn't notice the crack until several days after it was loaded with cider. Boy, am I glad I had the fermenter in a Rubbermaid tub!

The fermenter's been sitting in the garage since. I guess I'll look around for a spigot that will fit to resurrect it one day. I was really excited about the concept, and almost bought several, but at the last minute decided to see how one works. I'm glad I did.

Paul

Click to expand...

Paul:
It's a non standard spigot size......... I would highly recommend doing what I did. My local home brew store has replacement spigots for the brew buckets for a few dollars each. They are very high quality items...... it's the only way to go. It's not difficult to whittle the hole out enough for one..........

H.W.

Doc - both would be great if you like hoppy beers. Pliney's a hop bomb for sure, and the Karma Citra would be a great fresh session beer.

I'm not huge on overly hoppy beers, but that Karma Citra did look tasty - and Pliney has a good rep around the hop heads on here.

If it were me, I'd brew one or the other, and pick another style for the other beer (you've already done a red, an IPA, BIPA, and brown, maybe try an ESB or porter?). If you love hoppy beers, get 'em both!

FatsSchindee said:

Unless you're using different units that I'm used to, I think your conversion is wrong:
I cup = 8 oz, so
12 oz = 1.5 cups, and
3 cups = 24 oz



Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

Click to expand...

You're right........ I don't know how I came up with that............

H.W.

What do you do when you can't brew?

ORDER MORE KEGS!:rockin: Trading bottle space for keg space... now to get the rest of the crap in order.

SBD: What is your opinion of the new kettle? Good investment?

I am making my shopping list as I browse the forums.. There's an Ebay seller who has great prices on a 32 Qt Tri-Ply pot with lid, and free shipping. $72! Not too shabby, and big enough to step up the volume one in awhile.

I've saved your LIVID recipe and it will be one of the first few that I brew this summer.

I bottled my first 1G batch (it was the overflow from my 5 gallon boil), which shrunk down to 0.75G after straining the dryhops. Quite disappointed with the 4 bottles (sure, 1 L, 2X650 ml and a 375 ml). Pretty sure I won't go to the effort of a single 1G batch, which I was considering to do in a barleywine or Trappist ale.

HomebrewCraig said:

SBD: What is your opinion of the new kettle? Good investment?

I am making my shopping list as I browse the forums.. There's an Ebay seller who has great prices on a 32 Qt Tri-Ply pot with lid, and free shipping. $72! Not too shabby, and big enough to step up the volume one in awhile.

I've saved your LIVID recipe and it will be one of the first few that I brew this summer.

Click to expand...

The Concord pot I got was rough around the edges, but for a cheap stainless pot I don't think you can beat it - it's stout as hell. Definitely needed a scrub with some Bar Keeper's Friend. I was happy to see that the rumors of it being induction capable (though not labled as such). Dimensionally my 26qt tall pot is 11.5x16, so if you run the volumetric numbers on it it's actually 28qt or just over 7gal. 3gal of water didn't even reach half way. I paid about the same with shipping from Concord.

The only thing that's soured me so far was the fact that my Advantco plate took a crap after the first time I used it (something's loose inside). I sent an email off to the store and they've been real responsive so far, so I'll be getting a replacement - I'm just not sure when.

If I don't hear word about the plate by mid-week, I may have to break out the propane *shudder*.

So in the mean time, I've still got beer in the carboys and plenty of bottles getting ready to try so I'm focusing my energy on my keg system. Ordered up some more 3gal kegs from AIH, and just picked up a new 5# CO2 tank from the local police/fire supply.

Anyone looking for CO2, check them first - I couldn't believe the price I paid for a loaded 5# tank vs Airgas. :rockin:

sumbrewindude said:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/1-gallon-brewers-unite-311884/index424.html#post6051579
Calichusetts -

Any chance you'd share your IIPA recipe? I'm a huge fan of English malts (especially their crystal malts). I'm not a huge IPA/IIPA guy, but I do enjoy a good one every now and then - not to mention they're fun to brew!

Click to expand...

Here ya go:

Pilgrim Abbey Oceans East Ale
1.1 Gallon recipe
70% Efficiency
OG-1.088 ( I got 1.092, I pretty consistently get around 73-75%)
FG- 1.018 (This is a little high, but its pretty dry with the 150 mash temp, if you want more of a caramel sweetness, up the crystal or go with C20 or C60. C20 is a go to for me but I wanted something really light.

This is pretty hoppy, you can certainly tone it back as it has a really nice malt backbone. But, if you do like it hoppy, get your sulphates over 180 at a bare minimum. I add 2 grams of gypsum to the mash water and 1 gram to the sparge.

Grain Bill:
1 Pound each: Halcyon, Pearl, Golden Promise
4 oz Marris Otter
4 oz C10
1.5 oz Acidulated malt
2 oz Carapils
.5 oz sweet orange peel

Hop Bill:
2 grams each: Cascade, centennial FWH
2 grams each: Cascade, centennial @ 20, 15 and again at 10 (6 grams each total)
4 grams Citra @10 and again @5
2 grams Cascade @5
20 grams centennial @ flameout
20 grams EACH steep/whirlpool @180 degrees: citra, cascade (30 minutes)

I like thinner mashes, this was 1.44 gallons in the mash and in the sparge. I take the first couple quarts of runnings and throw it in a separate pot and caramelize it over the course of the boil. Gives it a rich, complex character. It also allows for you to boil over 2 gallons in a smaller size pot (in the end.)

Krausen just dropped...I'll give it a week and then dry hop for 4 days with 1 oz of cascade and citra. cold crash for 3 and bottle. I realize my dry hop amounts are insane but the results are surreal.

The hop schedule is my go to. Impressive every hop head and has a little depth while still being a citrus bomb. I'd usually just go with American pale ale as a replacement for the English malts along with C20, but I wanted a lighter yet flavorful English profile on this one.

Notty, pitched 7 grams with no re-hydration at 59...ramp it up to 62 ambient while the yeast free rises to about 65/66 degrees. Even in a 1 gallon carboy, barely had a blowoff, and this is actually unusual.

PS- One of the spelling corrections for acidulated malt is ejaculated...whatever you do, DONT put that in the mash.

Has anybody used these guys from Walmart? $6 for 3 gallons, $7 for 5 gallons? (Although I didn't see any 5 gallon bottles...)


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew