Mini All-Grain Trial Runs - Mash Tun

In order to fine tune recipes, I am looking into doing small, 1 gallon AG brews.

What size of mash tun would I need to do a 1 gallon AG brew?

your boil kettle should work for a batch that small

Lowry,a lot of folks use a 5 gallon cooler for their standard 5 gallon batches, so I guess theoretically you could do 1 gal batches in a 1 gallon cooler or your kettle, even a small dutch oven type pot on the stove.

But I probably won't be the only one to suggest just building a 5 gallon mash tun to start. The cost of materials and time to put together a DIY cooler mash tun will be the same and you'll be able to use it when you step up to full 5 gallon batches. In that vein, I'd also recommend stepping up the recipes a little larger than 1 gallon. You'll expend the same amount of time brewing 1 gallon as you would 3, 4, 5 gallons, but you'll lose alot of volume to hops, transferring, bottling etc. Plus, you'll need some pretty precise measuring equipment with grain/hop quantities that small. My 2 cents

I used to do 2.5 gal AG BIABs in a 5gal pot on my stovetop.

I've put together a bit of a primer on small batch brewing here. I show a couple options for minimash tuns, including an unmodified 2 gallon cooler, and one of those 5 liter minikegs. Check it out.

I built a mini mash tun following this wiki. I brewed a 1 gallon batch last weekend and it worked fine. I already had a 10 gallon Igloo mash tun, which I figured was overkill for a 1 gallon batch.

Making a Partial Mash mash tun - Home Brewing Wiki

I'm brewing another 1 gallon batch this weekend. I think the small batches will be great for developing recipes.

hey Lowry, I just reread my post and my intent wasn't to dissuade you from doing small-batch brews, just thought you might save a few bucks building a mash tun you could use for small batches and 5 gal batches alike

What about fly-sparging? Do you just do a similar setup?

Scottanooga said:

I built a mini mash tun following this wiki. I brewed a 1 gallon batch last weekend and it worked fine. I already had a 10 gallon Igloo mash tun, which I figured was overkill for a 1 gallon batch.

Making a Partial Mash mash tun - Home Brewing Wiki

I'm brewing another 1 gallon batch this weekend. I think the small batches will be great for developing recipes.

Click to expand...

This is an awesome setup but for those, like me, who aren't handy and can't stand building stuff I found Home Brew Stuff online with this setup ready to go. http://www.homebrewstuff.com/2-gallon-mash-tun.html

It's $40 for just the 2 gal. mash tun (see attached pic) but I needed an HLT for fly-sparging. So I called them and they are building me a custom setup: the 2 gal. mash tun (link above) plus a sparge arm in the mash tun and a 2 gal. HLT with hosing! Total cost: $78 (includes tax and shipping).

Before you balk at the price let me share with you the total cost in parts alone that I was spending at Home Depot and Lowe's (not one place had all the parts) while trying to do it on my own: $88 - that's $44 per cooler setup. The total cost for the mash tun from the wiki link is $37 (before tax). If you add the $8 shipping cost to one from Home Brew Stuff you get a total of $48 (before tax). So for $11 more you can have a 2 gal. mash tun built for you! And for ~$40 more you can fly sparge with the added 2 gal. HLT!

Scottanooga said:

I built a mini mash tun following this wiki. I brewed a 1 gallon batch last weekend and it worked fine. I already had a 10 gallon Igloo mash tun, which I figured was overkill for a 1 gallon batch.

Making a Partial Mash mash tun - Home Brewing Wiki

I'm brewing another 1 gallon batch this weekend. I think the small batches will be great for developing recipes.

Click to expand...

Nice wiki. Quick noob question--do those stainless hoses actually let water/wort in?

I can't say how well the braided hoses work with large batches and big brain bills, but for small batches, they work just fine.

sa1126 said:

Nice wiki. Quick noob question--do those stainless hoses actually let water/wort in?

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You need to cut off the ends & remove the inner tubing first and use the braided stainless sheath as your false bottom/manifold. And yes, they work great.

logdrum said:

You need to cut off the ends & remove the inner tubing first and use the braided stainless sheath as your false bottom/manifold. And yes, they work great.

Click to expand...

Got it setup, works like a charm!