How to Chill Small Batches

SSBrew - 728
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.
N

Newgene

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2010
Messages
212
Reaction score
8
Location
Waveland
Alright, I'm looking to put together a smaller setup than my usual 5 gallon AG setup. Yeah, I know 5 gallons is small in itself, but I am now looking to start brewing 1-2 gallon batches. I am going to put together a 3 gallon mash tun and pickup some 2 gallon buckets. However, my current option for cooling is just an ice bath. I am assuming the larger surface area to volume ratio of a smaller brew pot will give me better cooling than an ice bath on my 7.5 gallon normal pot. However, I'm wondering if anyone else does anything else for cooling 1-2 gallon batches. My IC won't fit inside a smaller pot in the kitchen. It is setup for a garden hose attachment in the garage.

Any suggestions?
 
i made a 1 gallon batch just for fun a while back. Cooled it in the sink in the brew pot with just cold water from the tap (no ice). Water temp was 58 degrees. Cooled the wort in about 5 minutes.
 
That's what I'm thinking. I'm guessing the smaller pot is going to cool much faster.
 
My wort chiller fits in the pot I use to do 2.5 gallon batches on the stove (a lot of us do small batch brewing.) You could even make a mini one with maybe 15ft of copper to use in small batches. But honestly for 1-2 gallon batches ice baths just as effective.
 
Revvy said:
My wort chiller fits in the pot I use to do 2.5 gallon batches on the stove (a lot of us do small batch brewing.) You could even make a mini one with maybe 15ft of copper to use in small batches. But honestly for 1-2 gallon batches ice baths just as effective.
Click to expand...

You know, I am pretty sure my chiller will fit in a smaller pot, but I agree with you on the ice bath. The smaller batch idea is also to make it more controllable to brew inside. If I can just boil, lift and chill in the sink, and then dump the mash tun contents down the disposal, I would probably brew during the week as as well. My chiller is all garden hose connections, and my kitchen sink is one lark basin, without the separate sides for ice bath and chiller drain. I probably could use the dishwasher, but still would get the wife staring at me.

Now, the hard part is trying to find a 3 gallon cooler locally. I see some places have 2's and 5's, but I can't seem to find something that would fit a 1-2 gallon batch. The 2 is just a bit small, and I'm thinking the 5 would be a bit more bulky to manage. I have a 10 now, and it's fun to lift a 20 pound water-logged grain bed into the backyard each time.
 
Newgene said:
Now, the hard part is trying to find a 3 gallon cooler locally. I see some places have 2's and 5's, but I can't seem to find something that would fit a 1-2 gallon batch. The 2 is just a bit small, and I'm thinking the 5 would be a bit more bulky to manage. I have a 10 now, and it's fun to lift a 20 pound water-logged grain bed into the backyard each time.
Click to expand...
Instead of a small cooler have you thought about doing BIAB for smaller batches? It seems like it would be easy enough to do a small batch on the stove top, the sink would be close for chilling and you could either empty the grains into the trash and rinse out the bag or just dump bag and all into the trash.

I've been wanting to do a couple of experimental "American Lager" batches since some of my family members find BeirMuncher's Centennial Blonde a bit "too heavy" for their tastes, lol. I already have a couple of 4-5g stainless pots and the 5g paint strainer bags from Home Depot I just haven't gotten around to it yet.
 
Newgene said:
You know, I am pretty sure my chiller will fit in a smaller pot, but I agree with you on the ice bath. The smaller batch idea is also to make it more controllable to brew inside. If I can just boil, lift and chill in the sink, and then dump the mash tun contents down the disposal, I would probably brew during the week as as well. My chiller is all garden hose connections, and my kitchen sink is one lark basin, without the separate sides for ice bath and chiller drain. I probably could use the dishwasher, but still would get the wife staring at me.

Now, the hard part is trying to find a 3 gallon cooler locally. I see some places have 2's and 5's, but I can't seem to find something that would fit a 1-2 gallon batch. The 2 is just a bit small, and I'm thinking the 5 would be a bit more bulky to manage. I have a 10 now, and it's fun to lift a 20 pound water-logged grain bed into the backyard each time.
Click to expand...

3 are hard to fine. My 5 gallon works fine for 2.5 gallon batches you can make some big beers in that size with that cooler.
 
I just picked up the 5 gallon from home depot. It was $18 and I really didn't feel like looking anymore for a 3 gallon. I followed the wiki and built the whole thing for less than $50. As I think about it more, I plan to make some high gravity beers. So, for a 2 gallon batch, I could need around 8 lbs of grain, and 2.5 gallons of water. So, it could fill up to 3-3.5 gallons, I would think.

The 3 gallon would have limited me to 1-1.5 gallon batches. Now, I need to get some small fermentation buckets. :D
 

Similar threads

A
New K-RIMS System question
Replies
10
Views
678
Genuine
Genuine
P
Steep to convert - Steeping grains
Replies
5
Views
361
hottpeper13
H
D
Looking for a Kettle
Replies
28
Views
1K
DuhokBrewer
D
S
Best investment in brewery?
2
Replies
47
Views
2K
jerrylotto
jerrylotto
shoengine
It's those little details about hose barbs that'll get you
Replies
7
Views
779
Bobby_M
Bobby_M
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top