small batches

I have done a number of grains plus extract and did my first partial mash a couple weeks ago and got intrigued about all grain. I dont have the room or equipment to go all grain but was thinking about doing some small ~2.5 gallon batches to try some things out and dabble in all grain. I was thinking of making a few batches or single hop IPA with this recipe.

5 lbs 2 row
.5 lbs medium crystal 40-60 L

with a variety of single hops for each batch to develop a pallate for the different hops and fine tune my tastes and an american ale yeast like wyeast 1056 or something.

Would there be any adverse affects to the quality of doing such a small batch other than time and effort vs reward?

nope, go for it! i've been doing 1 gallon batches. i converted a 2 gallon igloo to an MLT with a SS braid, and i have 6 1 gallon jugs. I'm doing it for the same reason you give; so i can experiment with learning about flavors, etc. i've been playing with learning the flavor of different malts lately. i'll mash a lb of 2row with 1/2 a lb of a specialty malt, lightly hop it with something basic like cascade, and then bottle a 6 pack of it. i don't mind throwing out the 40 or so ounces that i don't bottle. once i've finished enough different malts i'll sit down and have a tasting. a beer made with 33% honey malt, or aromatic malt might not be the best tasting beer in the world, but tasting it compared to other beers will accomplish what i need. i'm sure i'll eventually do the same thing with single hop APA's just to get a grasp on hops.

i also routinely do 3 gallon batches as my standard batch size. i've been very experimental with my recipes lately and i only have 6-8 all grain batches under my belt, so i figured why waste so much on ingredients when you're brewing a recipe that's not proven. once i'm happy with the results i can easily ramp up to 5 or 10 gallons. good luck!

Thanks for the reply. I figure this will scratch my AG itch and give me some insight until I am able to purchase equipment and dive in head first.

HBDrinker008 said:

Thanks for the reply. I figure this will scratch my AG itch and give me some insight until I am able to purchase equipment and dive in head first.

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Go do it. I did the same thing too and have decided that light colored hoppy beer is what I like. 8lb 2 row and 1 lb Munich make a nice beer with Hallertau Tradition and Saaz. I also like the same malt combo with 2 oz Cascade and 1oz Amarillo per 5 gallons although I have been making 10 gallon batches.

The hardest part is the waiting and so once you start just keep making more. When you find out how good it is you will want more. More is good.

Since I am an apartment AG brewer, I picked up a couple 3 gallon plastic buckets from AHS, and have been happily brewing 3 gallon batches. Every once in a while I want more beer for my efforts so I just brew a partial mash.

CrankyOldLibrarian said:

Since I am an apartment AG brewer, I picked up a couple 3 gallon plastic buckets from AHS, and have been happily brewing 3 gallon batches. Every once in a while I want more beer for my efforts so I just brew a partial mash.

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Im in the same boat... except I use 3 gallon carboys. Been thinking of buying the new 3 gallon Better Bottles (square ones).

how much grain will fit in your 2 gallon cooler with 1.5qt/lb?

killian said:

how much grain will fit in your 2 gallon cooler with 1.5qt/lb?

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From my research figure 2# of grain per gallon in cooler size. (example: mine is a 3 gallon cooler so I have mashed 6# of grain)

Would anyone like to share any successful 3 gallon recipes???? I'm sticking with 3 gallon recipes for now to get the all-grain process down.

couldn't you divide all of the ingredients for a 5 gallon recipe by 5 and then multiply by 3. I guess that might get a little complicated.
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I converted a 2 gallon cooler into a mash tun a while ago and never got around to brewing with it.
I normally brew 10 gallons but I have to store all of my supplies and it is a real pita to get all of my supplies out of storage.
I need to brew more beer so 3 gallon stove top batches should be ideal but Im not sure how well a 2 gallon cooler will work for that size batch. I think I might have to mash twice for 3 gallons. On the upside the pitch rate will be perfect and it would make about enough to pitch a whole 10 gallon batch I think.

I think Beersmith will figure how much you can fit in your MLT. Try it out.

I have been putting off buying one of those programs, but I guess now might be the right time.
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I was thinking maybe with small batches I could mash the base malt and steep specialty or crystal malt. that would make a slightly larger batch.

I am also getting ready to do a 3 gallon batch. I have 7# of 2 row and 1# crystal 60L. 1.) Is this too much for a 3 gallon batch? 2.)And, also when you are just messing around from scratch with recipes what gravity do you try to hit? 3.)What is the normal pre-boil volume that you are gonna want for a 3 gallon batch?

You good old boys sure need to look at something like Beersmith to see hoew things turn out. Get the free demo and see if you won't find it useful. Promash makes something similiar and you can also get the free version. I find Beersmith is brilliant to help with small brews which I do - a dozen big bottles (750ml ) at a time is a weeks good drinking and an excellant size to learn how to mash simply. When you're ready and financial, then move up the scale.

ps I have no commercial interest or connection with either Beersmith or Promash, just like the product. If it helps you brew better, then I like it.

Fatgodzilla said:

You good old boys sure need to look at something like Beersmith to see hoew things turn out. Get the free demo and see if you won't find it useful. Promash makes something similiar and you can also get the free version. I find Beersmith is brilliant to help with small brews which I do - a dozen big bottles (750ml ) at a time is a weeks good drinking and an excellant size to learn how to mash simply. When you're ready and financial, then move up the scale.

ps I have no commercial interest or connection with either Beersmith or Promash, just like the product. If it helps you brew better, then I like it.

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Well, that is partly my problem. I downloaded the trial version of pro-mash I was trying to figure it out but it is so complicated. I keep getting so frustrated bc I like I don't know my thermall mass and my total mash in water volume is more than my total water in gallons on promash.... Maybe if someone could paste in a example of there promash strike water screen with 5.5 # of grain total for a 3 gallon batch it would help... I wish I could talk to someone on the phone to walk me through it just once, lol.

could you guys that do the 3 gallon all grain batched put in what water mashing process is? Iam have trouble getting started trying to figure out what the amounts will be and what way to do it with such a small amout of mash water I tried beersmith and promash both just cant seem to get a handle on it. thanks

killian said:

I have been putting off buying one of those programs, but I guess now might be the right time.

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http://hbd.org/recipator/

Well...I finally got around to doing this small batch aka my first all grain. Good news is that everything went well without snags. The bad news is I only have 2 gallons of beer in the fermenter. I was hoping for 2.5-3 gallons, but whatever I am not worried.

5 lbs Rahr-2 row
1 lb medium crystal 60 L

1 oz cascade (60)
.5 oz Ahtanum (20)
.5 oz Ahtanum (1)

Wyeast 1056

Gravity was 1.055 so I guess my efficiency is less than 70%

But all things considered I am happy with the results my bottling bucket insulated with some blankets held the mash temp well--it was 153 at the end of mash--I used a Jumbo grain bag as a psuedo false bottom and it worked well. Obviously some things can be improved but for a first go I am encouraged not discouraged. The color is darker than I wanted but looking back on it that was to be expected considering the grain bill. Its only going to get better from here. I have done my last All Extract batch and will only do PM or AG from here on out (knock on wood).

This should scratch my itch and serve as a learning tool unitl I can purchase more equipment and ramp up production to full AG batches.

Thread resurrection here....

I did a very, very small batch, for kicks and giggles, to see how feasible it would be to work out recipes without using much in the way of ingredients at all. My first batch was a 2 liter pumpkin porter recipe I came up with. The main problem I had was with excessive boil off, I was down to one liter of wort in 60 minutes of boil. I used a 6 quart pot, and Mashed in a small cooler.

My question is this. Would a smaller pot, with less surface area for the wort, be better than say...scaling back the boil time? I'm assuming yes.

Second question. Is this amount ridiculous, and should I scale to one gallon or 1.5 gallon batches for test?

Thanks guys.