First BIAB/First AG/2.5 gallon recipe question

I want to start doing AG via BIAB, but I only have a 20 qt kettle so to do full volume mash I have to do 2.5 gallon batches, which is fine since I'm usually the only one that drinks it and I don't think my stove could handle more if it wanted to. I can find how to do BIAB, so I don't need to know about that here, but I haven't been able to find any recipes for 2.5 gallon batches specifically. Can you just cut a five gallon recipe exactly in half and have it translate? Sounds reasonable but these will all be firsts for me. I used BeerTools to cut down a recipe for a Brown Ale I found in the recipe section here. Gave me this:

Category American Ale
Subcategory American Brown Ale
Recipe Type All Grain
Batch Size 2.5 gal
Volume Boiled 4 gal
Mash Efficiency 72 %
Total Grain/Extract 4.44 lbs
Total Hops 0.6 oz
Calories (12 fl. oz.)help 148.8
Cost to Brew $15.37 (USD)
Cost per Bottle (12 fl. oz.)help $0.58 (USD)

3.75 lbs Maris Otter Pale
0.375 lbs American Caramel 60°L
0.125 lbs American Caramel 120°L
0.125 lbs American Victory info
.065 lbs American Chocolate Malt
0.5 oz Willamette (Whole, 5.00 %AA) boiled 60 min.
.125 oz Willamette (Whole, 5.00 %AA) boiled 5 min.
Yeast : Fermentis S-04 Safale S-04

Predicted American Brown Ale Compliance
Original Gravity 1.045 1.045 - 1.060 99 %
Terminal Gravity 1.011 1.010 - 1.016 100 %
Color 16.71 °SRM 18.00 - 35.00 °SRM 92 %
Bitterness 24.0 IBU 20.00 - 40.00 IBU 100 %
Alcohol (%volume)help 4.5 % 4.30 - 6.20 % 100 %
98 % overall

Apparent Real
Original Extract 11.16 °Plato 11.16 °Plato

Attenuation 75.2 % 61.1 %

Extract 2.76 °Plato 4.34 °Plato
% Weight % Volume
Alcohol 3.5 % 4.5 %

Gave me 98% style compliance. Does this look right to people who know what they're doing? Been searching for a few days so I didn't beat a dead horse but found nothing.

Yes you can cut a 5 gal recipe in half for a 2.5 gal recipe.

Looks like a good recipe.

Cheers

WileECoyote said:

Yes you can cut a 5 gal recipe in half for a 2.5 gal recipe.

Looks like a good recipe.

Cheers

Click to expand...

Ok great. Was probably a silly question but I wanted to make sure. Tired of doing extract but can't quite upgrade my kettle right now.

That should work well. I've been doing recipes by cutting them in half for a couple years at least and they come out fine. Something else to consider, this is a recipe, not a chemical formula. If you can't weigh the .125# of of a grain, you can estimate to get close and you will still have good beer. Don't get too hung up on the weights. Also, if you can't get all the grains that the recipe calls for you can still make good tasting beer by substituting a similar malted grain, something like biscuit will substitute for victory for instance.

RM-MN said:

That should work well. I've been doing recipes by cutting them in half for a couple years at least and they come out fine. Something else to consider, this is a recipe, not a chemical formula. If you can't weigh the .125# of of a grain, you can estimate to get close and you will still have good beer. Don't get too hung up on the weights. Also, if you can't get all the grains that the recipe calls for you can still make good tasting beer by substituting a similar malted grain, something like biscuit will substitute for victory for instance.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips. I'm excited to make the jump.

good luck, I've been doing 3 gallon biab batches the last year mostly because I'd just prefer to brew more often and I don't drink them all that fast.