Can i do 3gal AG batches with my equip?

I currently have an SQ14 burner, a 5 gal pot, and a 5 gal cooler that i will convert to my MLT. Will this allow me to do 3 gal batches of moderate gravity beers, up to 1.075 or so?

I am thinking of moving to 3 gal batches to cut down the cost, and to allow me to brew more often. i currently have a small amount of storage space, and don't go through 5 gal batches as fast as i would like, so doing smaller batches would allow me to experiment more and have more styles in my pipeline. plus making it cheaper makes SWMBO happy, and when she is happy then i am happy

I may eventually upgrade to a 15gal pot and a larger cooler, but i need to keep that cost down as much as possible in the short term.

is this a vailable option for me?

Yeah, you'll also need a bucket or some other container to drain the first wort into while you're still holding sparge water in the 5g pot.

I just did a 2.5 gal batch of a 1.050 beer with a 5 gal cooler and a 4 gal pot. So getting a 1.070 beer should be no problem there was a lot of room left in the cooler. You can get 12lbs of grains in there no problem.

Sounds like a great setup to me. 3 gal is also perfect to ferment in a corny keg if you find one cheap.

Saccharomyces said:

Sounds like a great setup to me. 3 gal is also perfect to ferment in a corny keg if you find one cheap.

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Fermenters is one thing i have covered, i have been doing 5gal Extract/PM batches and have one 6.5g carboy and three 5g carboys.

Bobby_M said:

Yeah, you'll also need a bucket or some other container to drain the first wort into while you're still holding sparge water in the 5g pot.

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I do have my bottling bucket that i could use for that to start with until i move to a large boil pot.

SNB, you have a similar setup as me. Although, I bought a 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler for when I get a bigger kettle. I was planning on doing 3 gallon batches. My first all grain attempt will be a few weeks and I'll be brewing Yooper's DFH 60 minute IPA Clone!

SNB said:

I currently have an SQ14 burner, a 5 gal pot, and a 5 gal cooler that i will convert to my MLT. Will this allow me to do 3 gal batches of moderate gravity beers, up to 1.075 or so?

I am thinking of moving to 3 gal batches to cut down the cost, and to allow me to brew more often. i currently have a small amount of storage space, and don't go through 5 gal batches as fast as i would like, so doing smaller batches would allow me to experiment more and have more styles in my pipeline.

is this a vailable option for me?

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pretty much my thinking 6 months ago. I now do mostly 2.5 and 3 gallon batches and am much happier as I can still brew often and can try different styles. I almost stopped brewing due to 5 gallons every time being too much esp when it didn't turn out too well, and my wife does not see 2 cases of each brew stacking up. (cost)

I actually have done a bigger beer, a barleywine, but did a partial mash rather than an AG with this setup and it turned out great. both my wife and I sit around the firepit at night occasionally and have one. love brewing one case at a time, often. I think you will enjoy it.

thesanch said:

SNB, you have a similar setup as me. Although, I bought a 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler for when I get a bigger kettle. I was planning on doing 3 gallon batches. My first all grain attempt will be a few weeks and I'll be brewing Yooper's DFH 60 minute IPA Clone!

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Good luck with your first AG!! I just ordered the goods to do my final two PM batches, Milk Chocolate Stout and a Bourbon Vanilla Porter. I should be jumping into the 3g all grain world at the end of the month!

Under_the_Porch_Brewing said:

pretty much my thinking 6 months ago. I now do mostly 2.5 and 3 gallon batches and am much happier as I can still brew often and can try different styles. I almost stopped brewing due to 5 gallons every time being too much esp when it didn't turn out too well, and my wife does not see 2 cases of each brew stacking up. (cost)

I actually have done a bigger beer, a barleywine, but did a partial mash rather than an AG with this setup and it turned out great. both my wife and I sit around the firepit at night occasionally and have one. love brewing one case at a time, often. I think you will enjoy it.

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That sounds exactly like what i am hoping to do, firepit and all!

You know, you could do BIAB with that setup and not even have to worry about the extra container Bobby_M mentioned. Just BIAB in your MLT, pull the grain bag out, stick it in the heated sparge water in the 5g pot, and then drain the MLT into the pot with the sparge water.

SNB said:

is this a vailable option for me?

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Yah, definitely! I have a similar set-up at this point, with a 21-quart boil pot and 5-gallon cooler. After I had some quality control issues my first couple of 5-gallon partial boil batches, I decided that I'd rather brew smaller amounts as I dial in my process and experiment with recipes, so now I'm doing 3.25-gallon batches aiming for a 3-gallon yield, which has worked out to about 30 bottles per batch. I had done a couple of partial mash batches and was thinking about all grain rigs, and then recently when I was at Home Depot they had their 5-gallon coolers on sale for $9, so I jumped on one and started doing all grain.

A key advantage I've found to going the 3-gallon route is limiting the amount of new brewing equipment you need to buy to do AG (i.e. you can still get away with cooling a full boil in an ice bath in a sink, unlike a 5-gallon FB; your 5-gallon boil pot still works, if barely; etc.). And beyond the cost issues, you can experiment more with recipes by brewing more often.

I haven't done a 1.075-type beer yet, but I've done 1.060 with LOTS of room to spare in the 5-gallon cooler, so you could go bigger than what you want and still pull it off for a 3-gallon batch. Then, if you later decide to invest in a big MLT and go with larger batches, you can always move your hardware to a bigger cooler.

weirdboy said:

You know, you could do BIAB with that setup and not even have to worry about the extra container Bobby_M mentioned. Just BIAB in your MLT, pull the grain bag out, stick it in the heated sparge water in the 5g pot, and then drain the MLT into the pot with the sparge water.

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you know I have several 5G nylon paint strainers from lowes that I sanitize and pour the cooled wort into the fermenting bucket to strain it, never thought of doing the MLT and BIAB to sparge. Thanks.

SNB
the barleywine had approx 7 lbs of grain and 2 lbs of dry malt with a 1.089 OG and an ABV of approx 9%. will do a porter this weekend AG with 6.75 lbs of grain and an OG of 1.064 and ABV of 6.5%. Have fun, this brought brewing back to life for me and I really enjoy it. seems to be the right size, amount, time, cost, etc that works for me
Ben

Small batches sound like a great way to experiment with beers you don't want 5g of and learn a different brewing method without much investment (if any) beyond what many of us already have.

carl spakler said:

Small batches sound like a great way to experiment with beers you don't want 5g of and learn a different brewing method without much investment (if any) beyond what many of us already have.

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For me it should be a good way to brew more styles more often and have them take up less space. SWMBO doesn't drink much beer, so it is usually up to me and trying to lose weight and drink beers doesn't work to well together so i have slowed my consumption a bit. SWMBO doesn't like the amount of room that 40-50 bottles takes up, and since i have 4 batches sitting in my storage right now, around 90-100 bottles, smaller batches appeals to her as well.

Bobby_M said:

Yeah, you'll also need a bucket or some other container to drain the first wort into while you're still holding sparge water in the 5g pot.

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how about tranfering that sparge water from the pot into an older 2 gal rubbermaid cooler (for those with 1 lying around the house, or left over from an old mash tun conversion)?? - just curious if people do that... because im about to brew the first 3 gal AG batch - i recently did a 5 gal flyguy cooler conversion and had some concerns... this has been a prob with the 5 gal PM kits i have been used to doing (used my bottling bucket to hold sparge (and lost some *F's )

You're starting to sway me over to 3 gallon batches......

I'm pretty much in the same situation as you are, except I currently have the equipment to do a full 5 gallons. I've got so much beer sitting in my closet that I'll never go through and the SWMBO rarely drinks any of it. I'm also on a time crunch to drink enough to have bottles for each coming batch. Plus I just LIKE brewing! smaller batches = less drinking + more brew time!

Guess I'll have to burn through the two 5 gallon recipes I've already got the ingredients for first , then I think it's time to scale back to 3 gallon batches


Also, as stated before, if you want to sparge out of your MLT you really should grab another pot for your sparge water. Hit up wally world, I'm sure you can find something for about 20 bucks or so

aluminum pots are sooo cheap (restaurant depot seems to be a great place to snag an industrial strength pot) compared to SS, and i could justify spending the $20-$30 for an extra pot to use with sparge water, canning, sanitizing (and other non cooking applications if you are worried about off flavors) - but could also be used for cooking too (steamers, soups sauces etc.

hey im sold!

I have been doing 3 gallong batches since i originally posted this, october 09. I love doing 3g batches! I get to brew more often and i dont' have a ton of beer filling up our small apartment. SWMBO is happy and so am i, and a 3g batch of AG costs me about 10-15 bucks!

My setup is

SQ14 burner
5g Igloo round cooler with SS braid
5g aluminum pot
8g aluminum pot

this has worked very well for me.

another question!
where do you order your ingredients from... most sites offer kits only in 5 gal extract, PM, or 5 gal all grain. If im doing 3 gal, i will have to rely on the modified recipes or my own recipes from beersmith..

should i be looking toward bulk buying and good storage practices? (i do have access to group buys through the local brewery - captain lawrence). Is this what most of you 3 gal AG brewers do?

Are there any sites like austinhomebrew which allow you to slap together a grain bill and some hops req'd to fit your need rather than based on a preset 5 gal batch?

AG seems great... its forced me to learn and DO a lot more. DIY projects, recipe making, etc.! - thanks for any help as i make my transition from 5 gal PM to 3 gal AG!! cheers

schreck said:

another question!
where do you order your ingredients from... most sites offer kits only in 5 gal extract, PM, or 5 gal all grain. If im doing 3 gal, i will have to rely on the modified recipes or my own recipes from beersmith..

should i be looking toward bulk buying and good storage practices? (i do have access to group buys through the local brewery - captain lawrence). Is this what most of you 3 gal AG brewers do?

Are there any sites like austinhomebrew which allow you to slap together a grain bill and some hops req'd to fit your need rather than based on a preset 5 gal batch?

AG seems great... its forced me to learn and DO a lot more. DIY projects, recipe making, etc.! - thanks for any help as i make my transition from 5 gal PM to 3 gal AG!! cheers

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I live in AK and i use www.brewmasterswarehouse.com for my grain orders. Their brewbuilder software is awesome and allows me to enter in my recipe and they will mill the grains and package them in a sealed bag for shipping. I can usually order grains for two beers and they will ship them via USPS priority to me for $13.00. i highly recommend them for 3 g batches. I will usually find a reciped that i like for 5g and use beersmith software to convert it to 3g and then enter that into brewbuilder on their site for my order.