Scaling up

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ericbw

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2012
Messages
3,592
Reaction score
1,225
I recently made a 1 gallon batch of this beer, and it is now carbonating. The sample was good, so I want to scale it up to a 3 gallon batch. Is there anything other than simple math that I should know about scaling up?

1 lb wheat malt
12 oz 2-row
2 oz Crystal 10L

5g Saaz @ 60 minutes
5g Saaz at 15 minutes

Mashed at 153 for 60 minutes

I re-used 4 oz of US-05 slurry from a previous batch. Fermentation started in about 12 hours, and I kept it in primary for 4 weeks.

I mashed/sparged in a bag on the stovetop. The bigger batch will be in a cooler, but still using a bag.

Any ideas/advice?
 
In general, it is just a matter of scaling the recipe appropriately. In many cases, this will result in odd values that need to be rounded to their nearest logical value to make your grain bills and hop additions easier to weigh/manage. (e.g. you probably don't want 12.6oz of something...13oz, 12.5oz or 12.75oz would be better, depending on preferences for accuracy.)

The "goal" if you will is to try to maintain the grain ratios as close as possible, along with the IBU's of the entire recipe. Some scaling will change these values, but as long as you're pretty close, it's not going to make a big difference in the outcome. I find software very helpful for comparing before and after, but it can certainly be done without.
 
Looks like a good recipe. Just multiply everything by three and I think you're good. I just scaled it with a calculator and nothing crazy happened.

To answer your question, no not really. Simple math usually takes care of it. I would just point out to consider the specialty grains when adjusting the OG after scaling. If you find a recipe you like but want it to have a higher OG, you may want to add more base malt and keep the specialty grains the same. Just food for thought.

I make three gallon batches and every recipe I do has been scaled so I have some experience with it. In general though, it's just math.
 
For most things, just multiplying by 3 should work. The only things I can think of where this would not work are:

  • The amount of wort lost to evaporation during the boil. This should be the same value for 1 gallon or 3 gallons.
  • Losses due to dead space. Again, this should be the same for 1 gallon or 3 gallons.
-a.
 
Here's what I do:

  • plug the original recipe into a calulator (Brewer's Friend is free)
  • make note of all of the values (% of fermentables, ibu, etc..)
  • change the quatity and match noted values
 
I guess my biggest concerns are:

1. Boil off should be the same amount, not the percentage, right?

2. With using a bag instead of lautering the "traditional" ways, should I worry about this much wheat in the grain bill? Use rice hulls? I didn't have a problem with 1 gallon, but this is 3 times as much. Any ideas?
 
I guess my biggest concerns are:

1. Boil off should be the same amount, not the percentage, right?

2. With using a bag instead of lautering the "traditional" ways, should I worry about this much wheat in the grain bill? Use rice hulls? I didn't have a problem with 1 gallon, but this is 3 times as much. Any ideas?

1. Boil off is a function of the surface area of the kettle and the strength of the boil. If you are using the same kettle and stove the amount of water boiled off should be consistent.

2. BIAB is pretty much never going to have a stuck mash. This wheat / 2-row raito is the same as my American Wheat house beer. I've done 10 gal BIAB mashes - no problem.
 
I too would look at some brewing software. As mentioned there are free ones out there. Plug in your recipe for 1 gallon then raise it to 3 and all it good. I used ProMash to take a new micro breweries 5 gallon recipes and convert them to 3 barrel! They brewed it and it worked great! :mug:
 
Although increasing the ingredients by a factor of three is the gist of what needs to be done, I would point out that this is not true for the hop additions. Because you will be brewing with a larger volume of wort you will have a better rate of utilization. Thus your target IBUs should dictate hop additions, not simply multiplying your current additions by three. As suggested before, the auto-scale functions on my brew software is the go to in these situations.
 
Back
Top