Brewing 1-2.5gal batches

Hello all. I am fairly new (Been reading for about 2 years and have actually brewed 1 batch) to homebrewing and also a fairly poor college student. I want to try some new recipes and would love to excitement with some all grain but can't always afford a full 5 gal worth of ingredients every time, not to mention I would rather brew on a regular basis and be able to consume all the beer rather than having 2+ cases of one beer.

Is a 6.5gal primary to big to ferment a 1 or 2.5 gal batch? I would rather not invest in ton of new equipment.

I easily convert the amount of ingredients from a 5 or 10 gal recipe, but what about the yeast? Do I still pitch a full packet, vial, etc. of yeast?

What other suggestions do you have? THANKS!

Yes you can use the 6.5 gallon primary(bucket?) for 2 gallon batches.
I would still pitch a full packet, and if your using liquid you can probably just pitch the vial without a starter.

Save up for AG and you can make beer for ~$11 for 5 gallon batches.

Yes, it is a standard fermentation bucket. I was kinda under the impression that the 6.5 gal would have to much head space. Is there such a thing?

I would really like to get into AG, but 1) it has quite a bit of equipment that I would have to deal with when I move out of my apt in the next year or so and 2) I dont really want to invest in a wort chiller and big brew pot just yet, rather with small batches, I could still crash cool my wort and build a small MLT. However the cost once I have all the equipment is very appealing!

Thanks for the input!

I make an occasional six pack in one gallon glass jugs. Jug = $5, airlock and stopper = $2.50. Everything else is what you use normally. I ferment 3/4 of a gal in the jug to allow for krauzen, and it fits nice an snug in my apartment. This way I can scratch the brewing itch on a weekday without having a hugh cleanup afterward. Not to mention cooling off that little bit of wort takes no time at all. Basic Brewing radio is famous for this small batch approach. Its nice and cheap (less ingredients=less money) and you can do several batches of very different beers and try them out side by side instead of waiting for your primary bucket to be empty. They're also really good for experiments, like same beer, different yeast. Anyway, my .02

mike

Basic Brewing is actually who got me hooked on the idea. Thanks for the input.

I'd never do those size batches for all grain because of the time investment but extract, sure. I like larger batches for the fact that even if you don't drink both cases, you'll have some sitting around getting better with age. It's nice to fine the 5 month old batches and taste what you brewed (and how much better you're brewing now). You don't have to consume it all before brewing more.

I do alot of 2.5 gallon batches doing it in 3 gallon PET water bottles topped with a orange carboy cap. Works great! You can get them at the local grocery store for less $5 w/ good water for brewing. Lowes Home Improvement sells them too. For PET just look for the triangle with a 1 in the center and it'll say PET or PETE. Just as good as a better bottle. I've got 4 of these. Super easy to clean as well.

Per batch, I buy 2 or 3 lbs of DME or two 1.4lb Alexander kickers. If you can do partial mashes you just need 1lb of light DME and the other half base malt and specialty grains. Small Rubbermade Thermos-Coolers make easy DIY MLTs and you can use a SS veggy steamer/strainer as a false bottom or a large grain bag.

I do this for the same reason you mention. I don't like to have alot of one beer style and I like to brew frequently.

I reserve 5 gal batch for sesson beers or favorites that I drink regularly.

Great idea on the PET bottles!

MLynchLtd said:

I make an occasional six pack in one gallon glass jugs...

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How do you bottle such a small batch?

Would probably loose a qt if you used a bottling bucket so that's kinda out.

Do you just have an awesome siphoning technique?

Bottling is the only thing holding me back from small batches...

You would either bottle straight out of the secondary or transfer to a sanitary bottle or something. Maybe out of what ever you used for primary.

Sounds like a 3.5 gallon food grade bucket would work well.
For 1 gallon glass jugs, you can usually get them at a grocery store for about $6 (comes filled with apple juice or cider, hooray!).

Seeing as how you are in Kene NH I have only one piece of advice for you, go into The Stage restaurant and ask for Billy-Ray. Tell him Don from Boston told you to go in there and ask for the fried chicken special. You should have no problems after that. Provided you make it out alive...

denimglen said:

How do you bottle such a small batch?

Would probably loose a qt if you used a bottling bucket so that's kinda out.

Do you just have an awesome siphoning technique?

Bottling is the only thing holding me back from small batches...

Click to expand...

Careful siphoning by holding the racking cane up near the top of the beer, and slowly moving it down with the beer as the level decreases. Because we're working in such small sizes, its easy to control by holding it with one hand and bottling with the other. I go right from primary to bottles with carb drops in each. No bottling bucket, no secondary, no problem. The whole idea is to make this a super easy and quick way to brew. I call it weeknight brewing I've had one of my best IPAs this way, and of course I've yet to duplicate it in full 5 gallons

mike

Even if you get a little bit of leafy sediment in the bottle, it's easy enough to let it settle before pouring. I've actually found a couple of commercial bottles that had hop matter in them, and it still tasted fine.

MLynchLtd said:

Careful siphoning by holding the racking cane up near the top of the beer, and slowly moving it down with the beer as the level decreases. Because we're working in such small sizes, its easy to control by holding it with one hand and bottling with the other. I go right from primary to bottles with carb drops in each. No bottling bucket, no secondary, no problem. The whole idea is to make this a super easy and quick way to brew. I call it weeknight brewing I've had one of my best IPAs this way, and of course I've yet to duplicate it in full 5 gallons

mike

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Cheers. Guess I'll have to practice my siphoning technique, it's pretty lousy at the moment, that coupled with having no way to stop the flow of the siphon means it's a disaster waiting to happen haha.

iamjonsharp said:

Sounds like a 3.5 gallon food grade bucket would work well.
For 1 gallon glass jugs, you can usually get them at a grocery store for about $6 (comes filled with apple juice or cider, hooray!).

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What size stopper works best for these glass jugs?

ArcaneXor said:

What size stopper works best for these glass jugs?

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Take your jug to the brew store I did it with my free 1/2 gallon jug. Had to throw the fact it was free in there. I really like this idea except the fact that I still need to clean out my mash tun. LAZY. Really like this for some styles that I dont want to put up the coin for 5 gallons of "I sure hope I like this". Do you still use your mash tun as normal? Probably tilted on its side? I use a converted cooler. Similar set up? Do you change your produre any if you do AG?

As for the stopper, a number 6 fits perfectly. Attach a blowoff tube, however, for the initial ferment, because i've had some vigorous ones that exploded in the closet. There is some headroom left in the jug for krauzen, but it's really not enough.

Most don't do ag with this, mainly because of the time involved. They figure if you're going to wait an hour for your mash and then boil for another hour, you might as well get something more than a sixer out of it. Those that do use an AG setup usually prefer the Partial Mash setup, with the small 2 gal rubbermaid cooler and big grainbag. Mash and sparge as normal, just with miniscule amounts of grain and water. I plan on trying this soon, just to see what happens.

The general consensus is, however, that a quick boil (doesn't even need to be sixty if you're using enough hops) with a little bit of extract is all you need. One recipe the Basic Brewing guy did would be excellent for small batches, the 15 minute amarillo ale. Essentially the extract is already boiled, we just need to sanatize it, and the sixty minute boil is simply to extract the alpha acids from the hops for bittering, but if you have an ounce of hops for only 3/4 of a gallon, you've got all the hop you need in that one bag, perhaps more. Boil for 15 minutes, spread out the hop additions a little, and voila. Perfect for the brewer on the go

mike

ArcaneXor said:

What size stopper works best for these glass jugs?

Click to expand...

The ones I got look like the one on the right (1 gallon). Yup, number 6 drilled stoppers. If you can't find juices in these bottles in regular grocery stores, I got the juice from Whole Foods. You can always use your juice to make Apfelwein as well.

How much DME & hops for a 1 gallon batch. I'm on the move to make some test batches!

Here's a quick rundown of an Amarillo Pale Ale that I made as a test batch

Amarillo Pale Ale
Yield: 3/4 gal
OG: 1.05
FG: 1.012

1 lb 6 oz Light DME (added in last 15 min of the boil)
.5 oz Amarillo @ 60 min
.25 oz Amarillo @ 30 min

Nottingham dry ale yeast

Easy as pie. I just boiled about 1.3 gal of water for my initial boil volume, and ended up with about 3/4 of a gal. Your mileage may vary. In retrospect I would have liked to add some hops in the aroma stage. Then again, maybe I did. I was drinking quite a bit during this one, so it's possible

mike