One Pot Brew & Ferment (1-gallon)?

I've been working on a few 1-gallon batches and it occurred to me that the whole brewing process could be greatly simplified if I could just do it all in the same pot.

I boil the wort in a 1.5 gallon stainless steel pot which has a tight-fitting pyrex lid with a small steam escape hole, which I think would be sufficient for CO2 release. Is there any reason in the world why I couldn't just cool the wort, pitch the yeast into the pot, and then just let it ferment in the pot? Using Northern Brewer Fizz Tabs for priming would let me bottle directly from the pot.

The only possible objection I could think of is exposing the beer to stainless steel is somehow bad as compared to putting it into food grade plastic or glass carboys.

Any thoughts?

I'll let others talk about why this might be bad from a technical product quality perspective and discuss only containers, brewing frequency, and cost.

If you ferment in your brew pot, you need more brew pots if you want more batches fermenting at the same time. Brew pots aren't cheap. 1 gallon glass jugs are incredibly cheap. I bought a bunch of Rufino jug wine bottles (with wine too!) on sale at some point for some ridiculous price.

Most importantly, 1 gallon makes a minimal quantity of beer. If you're happy with ~10 beers every 10 days minimum, give it a go and report back!

hughmac said:

Most importantly, 1 gallon makes a minimal quantity of beer. If you're happy with ~10 beers every 10 days minimum, give it a go and report back!

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Did the op ask for your opinion on doing small batches? A LOT OF FOLKS brew 1 gallon batches...In fact Brooklyn Brew Works 1 gallon batches has probably done more for getting folks into all grain in the last couple of years then anything else in homebrewing. There's even a book on doing them. So clearly some folks don't happen to share you opinion.



Lots of people on here do 1 gallon batches, INCLUDING ME ON OCCASSION. Funny no one sneers if someone does a 1 gallon batch of wine, or mead, or apfelwein, but if it's beer folks have to have an opinion...which none of us really care about, so why waste your time giving it to us?

The Basic Brewing folks have been advocating doing one gallon batches for years. INCLUDING BARLEYWINES. Why don't you go tell James Sencer you think it's a waste of time?

Just because doing small batches isn't your cup of tea, doesn't mean any of us care about your opinion on the matter....your advice was good.. but noone's asking if you think it's worth doing small batches.

OP, if you really want to tie up your brew kettle doing this, then yeah, go for it...but it seems to me you can make more beer if you just put your small batches in gallon jugs, or frosting buckets, and brew in your kettle.

Small batch size aside (kidding Revvy) I would be concerned leaving the beer to ferment on all the trub that normally gets tossed after transfer to fermenter.

I'm fine with this production rate. This is for my own consumption or for swapping with my other friends who brew, and my wife doesn't drink.

I have a pot dedicated to brewing. My thought is to just minimize any vessel-to-vessel transfers where contamination could occur.

So far the only thing I can think of that might be a problem is aerating the wort, but I can slosh the heck out of the pot with the lid on after cooling it, so I think that'll be OK.

Is the break in the trub such bad stuff to let the beer sit for a couple of weeks on it?

forstmeister said:

Small batch size aside (kidding Revvy) I would be concerned leaving the beer to ferment on all the trub that normally gets tossed after transfer to fermenter.

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Why? SOme folks dump the entire contents of their brew kettle right into their fermenters. I did it for years, and with a month long fermentation is was just as clear as if I ran it through a funnel, or if I racked it over with my autosiphon.

Plenty of folks just dump.

Revvy said:

Why? SOme folks dump the entire contents of their brew kettle right into their fermenters. I did it for years, and with a month long fermentation is was just as clear as if I ran it through a funnel, or if I racked it over with my autosiphon.

Plenty of folks just dump.

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I guess we learn something new everyday. I always thought that getting it off the trub was recommended. I assumed those that dumped were doing it through a strainer.

I can't see any issues with this approach. I doubt stainless steel would cause issues. Even if the vent isn't big enough for the gas produced, if the lid isnt on too tight it should just lift to allow pressure out. I believe this is more or less what would be called an open fermentation. But it would bother me to be unable to see how we'll it's clearing up and also to only have 1 beer fermenting at a time.

My last batch I just dumped everything in. I was concerned with the volume it took up in the fermenter, but less so about off-reactions. It's in the bottle now, we'll see.

Obviously there's no issue fermenting in stainless steel... What do you think Sierra Nevada ferments in, plastic? I drink and share too much beer to make one gallon batches a regular thing, personally. Good luck!

I have fermented many batches in the brew kettle ranging from 5 to 15 gallons and have never been disappointed.

BridgewaterBrewer said:

But it would bother me to be unable to see how we'll it's clearing up

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That would be an issue, but I'm not too bothered by a little haze. I'm trying to get a pipeline going so that I'll be able to bottle condition for at least three weeks. I'm not going to homebrew contests with these beers, I just want to drink fresh tasty beer.

BridgewaterBrewer said:

and also to only have 1 beer fermenting at a time.

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I don't multi-task very well. I find it is a great way to do two things quickly and badly. Come to think of it, I don't always single-task that well either..

I have done this. In my case the rivets on the handle and the rim around the glass lid turned out not to be stainless as evidenced by the rust and corrosion that resulted. Otherwise it worked fine.

wilserbrewer said:

I have fermented many batches in the brew kettle ranging from 5 to 15 gallons and have never been disappointed.

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See Thunder, I told you that there is rarely if ever an intrinsically small batch brewing questions....the issues and situations are ALWAYS the same regardless of the size of the batch...there's NO need for a separate small batch forum.

Thanks bro, for proving my point.

Revvy said:

See Thunder, I told you that there is rarely if ever an intrinsically small batch brewing questions....the issues and situations are ALWAYS the same regardless of the size of the batch...there's NO need for a separate small batch forum.

Thanks bro, for proving my point.

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Rarely, but sometimes :

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/small-hydrometers-387081/

I gave answers in that thread too....

Revvy said:

Did the op ask for your opinion on doing small batches? A LOT OF FOLKS brew 1 gallon batches...In fact Brooklyn Brew Works 1 gallon batches has probably done more for getting folks into all grain in the last couple of years then anything else in homebrewing. There's even a book on doing them. So clearly some folks don't happen to share you opinion.

Lots of people on here do 1 gallon batches, INCLUDING ME ON OCCASSION. Funny no one sneers if someone does a 1 gallon batch of wine, or mead, or apfelwein, but if it's beer folks have to have an opinion...which none of us really care about, so why waste your time giving it to us?

The Basic Brewing folks have been advocating doing one gallon batches for years. INCLUDING BARLEYWINES. Why don't you go tell James Sencer you think it's a waste of time?

Just because doing small batches isn't your cup of tea, doesn't mean any of us care about your opinion on the matter....your advice was good.. but noone's asking if you think it's worth doing small batches.

OP, if you really want to tie up your brew kettle doing this, then yeah, go for it...but it seems to me you can make more beer if you just put your small batches in gallon jugs, or frosting buckets, and brew in your kettle.

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Hi Revvy:

Ummmm ... where did I share any opinion on whether it's 'worth doing small batches'?

Did you read my post? Or was I that unclear?

My point is exactly yours: if the OP's happy tying up his brew kettle for the time it takes to ferment, then by all means, try it for us and report back! And to be scientific, he might try identical batches except:

- a batch fermented in the kettle
- a batch fermented single stage
- a batch fermented dual stage

Then have a party, give them out to friends for tasting and analysis.

I guess I didn't state right out that I brew small myself ... I'm racking a 2 gallon ordinary this evening to 2 x 1 gallon secondaries, one with dry hops and one without.

Anything "small" right now piques my interest, hence my joining the discussion.

Down boy.

hughmac said:

Hi Revvy:

Ummmm ... where did I share any opinion on whether it's 'worth doing small batches'?

Did you read my post? Or was I that unclear?

My point is exactly yours: if the OP's happy tying up his brew kettle for the time it takes to ferment, then by all means, try it for us and report back! And to be scientific, he might try identical batches except:

- a batch fermented in the kettle
- a batch fermented single stage
- a batch fermented dual stage

Then have a party, give them out to friends for tasting and analysis.

I guess I didn't state right out that I brew small myself ... I'm racking a 2 gallon ordinary this evening to 2 x 1 gallon secondaries, on with dry hops and one without.

Anything "small" right now piques my interest, hence my joining the discussion.

Down boy.

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Maybe I miss interpreted, but this kinda sounded like the typical slams that folks make about small batch brewing. There was a big discussion about comments like that in the New forum request thread....

"Most importantly, 1 gallon makes a minimal quantity of beer. If you're happy with ~10 beers every 10 days minimum, give it a go and report back!"

In light of that discussion, the above could be taken as a being a bit derogatory.....

Sorry.

Revvy said:

Maybe I miss interpreted, but this kinda sounded like the typical slams that folks make about small batch brewing. There was a big discussion about comments like that in the New forum request thread....

"Most importantly, 1 gallon makes a minimal quantity of beer. If you're happy with ~10 beers every 10 days minimum, give it a go and report back!"

In light of that discussion, the above could be taken as a being a bit derogatory.....

Sorry.

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No worries, and I'm going to try this myself, at least for primary. Why not? I'll report back.

I think you might have too much trub if it is an all gain batch

killian said:

I think you might have too much trub if it is an all gain batch

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Trub schmub...It all settles very nicely in 7-10 days, rack to a keg or bottle, and chill, chill and chill, nice clear beer will result...brew on!

I've been doing this for the past couple batches and it's worked out great so far. I have a pot very similar to the OP's with the temp. probe hole and I usually stuff a piece of plastic wrap in there to prevent any dust from coming in.

Otherwise I let the wort boil for 10 minutes with the lid on to sanitize. I wrap the lid with plastic wrap and let the wort cool overnight and aerate/pitch in the morning.

In fact, I have 1.5 gallons of 1.107 barleywine fermenting in a small stock pot right beside 3.5 gallons of APA in my bigger brew pot.

Check garage sales for cheap pots large and small.

Mike37 - do you have any problems with oxidation due to cooling slowly overnight? I suppose if you finish the boil with the lid on and don't take it off, there isn't enough oxygen to really oxidize anything, no matter how slowly you cool it.

No oxidation at all. The plastic wrap forms a seal as the wort cools, preventing any outside air from being sucked in.

OK, I'm sold. I'm going to give this a shot next brew. Thanks!

Thunder_Chicken said:

Mike37 - do you have any problems with oxidation due to cooling slowly overnight? I suppose if you finish the boil with the lid on and don't take it off, there isn't enough oxygen to really oxidize anything, no matter how slowly you cool it.

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Oxygen is good at this time. The yeast need it to reproduce. That's why you aerate the wort, to introduce oxygen for the yeast. It's only bad AFTER fermentation has started.

reverendj1 said:

Oxygen is good at this time. The yeast need it to reproduce. That's why you aerate the wort, to introduce oxygen for the yeast. It's only bad AFTER fermentation has started.

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It was my understanding that oxygen was also bad in the cool down from the boil. You want to oxygenate after it has cooled to pitch temperature, not while it is still hot.

Thunder_Chicken said:

It was my understanding that oxygen was also bad in the cool down from the boil. You want to oxygenate after it has cooled to pitch temperature, not while it is still hot.

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In before Revvy, HSA (hot side aeration) is a myth on the homebrew scale. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/hot-side-aeration-so-im-idiot-71873/ No worries.

Well, even so, the fact is that cold liquids absorb gas better than hot liquids (same reason why you want to force-carb while chilled). Aerating while hot isn't going to get nearly as much oxygen into the wort. Any degree of oxidation is not going to improve that either.

Actually, I have been doing some priming sugar calculations and the NB Fizz Drops may not be the hottest thing to use for this, which may complicate my 1-pot idea.

I show each Fizz Drop is 4.25 g (not sure whether sucrose or dextrose). From most of the calculators that I have seen, for an American ale, I only want about 2.0-2.2 g of sucrose per 12 oz. bottle for proper carbonation (~1/2 tsp table sugar per bottle).

I may try putting 1/2 tsp of table sugar in each bottle so I can still bottle straight from the pot. There will be some variability but I think I'd prefer that to Champagne-like carbonation.

I've added table sugar straight to the bottles before. It's not ideal but it worked fine for me.

Bumping a four month old thread, I know. I just bought a cheap enamel pot for fermenting, possibly brewing too. Thanks to those who posted. I guess it worked ok for the OP, and others. And I use Dominoe Dots for that 1/2 teaspoon bottle prime.

Yup, I'm still doing it this way (slow chill and ferment in the kettle) and probably won't stop any time soon. Absolutely love it.

The domino dots are a really good idea!

Home brewers have been bottle priming with table sugar as far back as prohibition. Last time I had about a gallon that would not fit in my keg, I used I believe two of the paper sugar packets per liter flip top...beer carbed nicely...I ran the numbers based on grams in one packet and vols co2 desired, worked perfect!!!

Back to the OP, yes I am a believer in kettle fermenting, surprised more folks don't try it! It is incredibly easy and effective!!!! Ask a lazy man!