1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

I figure this is the best thread on HBT to ask this question.

Has anyone ever used the 1.7 gallon kegs from Williams Brewing?

Cute little things they are!

That one looks like the Chinese kegs that were around for a bit. There was some discussion on them in the keg forum, I think they're OBX kegs? Anywho there was questions regarding the build quality and the steel used. They also won't stack if that matters to you.

I brewed a one-gallon batch last week and now that it's close to being done fermenting, I am left to wonder exactly how you guys bottle out of a 1-gallon jug?

sammy33 said:

Has anyone ever used the 1.7 gallon kegs from Williams Brewing?

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I've got the larger sibling of the product you are considering, a 2.5 gal. keg by OB Kegs. There's nothing beautiful about it but it holds pressure. The welds aren't terrible but only minimal detailing was done so there are edges that are not eased/deburred, the keg isn't uniformly polished at all, and the spot welds for the handle are a bit crude. There's no comparing it to the new Italian made kegs I've seen but IMHO they are priced appropriately and probably will work fine.

LovesIPA said:

I brewed a one-gallon batch last week and now that it's close to being done fermenting, I am left to wonder exactly how you guys bottle out of a 1-gallon jug?

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The best way is to calculate the amount of sugar you need to bottle carb (find a calc online). Then dissolve that in about a quarter to half cup of water (I put it in the microwave to boil then let it cool).

Put that in another sanitized bottling bucket. Then siphon the beer into that bucket. No splashing but let it swirl to mix the sugar.

Then siphon from there into the bottles.

Alternately, you can use carbonation drops in each bottle or sugar in each bottle, but it's hard to measure, etc.

Did that make sense?

LovesIPA said:

I brewed a one-gallon batch last week and now that it's close to being done fermenting, I am left to wonder exactly how you guys bottle out of a 1-gallon jug?

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I brewed 1 gallon batches for about the first year of my adventures. In fact, I think I'm going to go back to them again soon to fine tune my recipes but for your question about bottling -- I actually made a mini bottling bucket using a 2 gallon beverage cooler. I took off the factory tap and then enlarged the stock hole so I could install a bottling bucket spigot. It works great, just like it's larger brother.

The only thing that's making me shudder a little is going back to bottling now that I've been kegging for the last year! No matter, I still say cheers to 1g batches!

Well it only took me about two weeks of " morning coffee and evenings when kids go to sleep when I tell them" reading to go through each of these 393 pages. Over the span it feels like I kinda know many of you. There are so many from Chicagoland which is also where I currently call home, though I was born and raised in the great state of Wisconsin, the land of flowing beer and cheese.

sumbrewingdude, whereabouts in the state are you? And I'd love to see the plans for your homemade IC and manifold!

There's so much great information scattered throughout this thread.. A FAQ for newer brewers would be a cool idea, would prevent as much time and reading as it took me

To address the tongue-in-cheek opening post, I think it valid, to a degree. It may not be mean-spirited, but there's a bit of that big brother, little brother mentality that sometimes surfaces. Maybe like how a Mercedes owner looks at a Volkswagen owner. (haha!) Perhaps because there's the belief that a small-scale brewer is a nooblet who only took the leap into brewing because someone gifted them a Mr Beer.. Or perhaps some of the big batch boys feel that the scale of their operations and value of their gear separates them from the rest. While definitely not the common viewpoint, on some level and with certain types, it exists.

As for me, there was a day long ago where I brewed.. I had the gear to make up to 7.5 gallon batches, and then I wed a girl whose father was an alcoholic. She didn't care for my hobby, so into storage all my gear went. Fast forward nine long years and the itch to renew the hobby was ignited when I had a great beer which I thought would be an excellent prospect to attempt to reproduce. I cajoled and pleaded with SWMBO to lift the veto and she did.. It just took almost a decade to prove that I am not an alcoholic, I'm just a guy who appreciates an excellent beer once in awhile.

So I went to reclaim my gear from storage.. In my case, storage was a friend who was "babysitting with a free-to-use" clause. And, as it turned out, he decided to give away lots of it to others... So I was only able to reclaim a small portion of what I originally bought. The two pieces I miss the most was the brew kettle and the grain mill. So now I get to gear back up, and now I will be doing it on a smaller scale. It's all for the best I believe.. The wifey unit will see only one or two gallon batches which will go far to assuage her skepticism that by making my own beer I will become like her father.

Anyways, I am very happy to have found this thread and now that I have read the whole dern thing I can finally go read some other threads.

Cheers,
Craig

HomebrewCraig said:

Well it only took me about two weeks of " morning coffee and evenings when kids go to sleep when I tell them" reading to go through each of these 393 pages. Over the span it feels like I kinda know many of you. There are so many from Chicagoland which is also where I currently call home, though I was born and raised in the great state of Wisconsin, the land of flowing beer and cheese.

sumbrewingdude, whereabouts in the state are you? And I'd love to see the plans for your homemade IC and manifold!

There's so much great information scattered throughout this thread.. A FAQ for newer brewers would be a cool idea, would prevent as much time and reading as it took me

To address the tongue-in-cheek opening post, I think it valid, to a degree. It may not be mean-spirited, but there's a bit of that big brother, little brother mentality that sometimes surfaces. Maybe like how a Mercedes owner looks at a Volkswagen owner. (haha!) Perhaps because there's the belief that a small-scale brewer is a nooblet who only took the leap into brewing because someone gifted them a Mr Beer.. Or perhaps some of the big batch boys feel that the scale of their operations and value of their gear separates them from the rest. While definitely not the common viewpoint, on some level and with certain types, it exists.

As for me, there was a day long ago where I brewed.. I had the gear to make up to 7.5 gallon batches, and then I wed a girl whose father was an alcoholic. She didn't care for my hobby, so into storage all my gear went. Fast forward nine long years and the itch to renew the hobby was ignited when I had a great beer which I thought would be an excellent prospect to attempt to reproduce. I cajoled and pleaded with SWMBO to lift the veto and she did.. It just took almost a decade to prove that I am not an alcoholic, I'm just a guy who appreciates an excellent beer once in awhile.

So I went to reclaim my gear from storage.. In my case, storage was a friend who was "babysitting with a free-to-use" clause. And, as it turned out, he decided to give away lots of it to others... So I was only able to reclaim a small portion of what I originally bought. The two pieces I miss the most was the brew kettle and the grain mill. So now I get to gear back up, and now I will be doing it on a smaller scale. It's all for the best I believe.. The wifey unit will see only one or two gallon batches which will go far to assuage her skepticism that by making my own beer I will become like her father.

Anyways, I am very happy to have found this thread and now that I have read the whole dern thing I can finally go read some other threads.

Cheers,
Craig

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Welcome Craig....I'm glad you found your way back to brewing.

Yes this thread has taken a life of its own...Don't be afraid to ask a question even its been covered before....

Thanks for the welcome! I enjoyed reading your many responses throughout this thread. You've been helpful since very early on! As the aphorism goes, I still remember how to ride the bike, but I am sure there will be questions.. Probably around specific procedures.

Here's one.. Does anyone inject pure oxygen into their wort?

I typically brew 5 gallon batches and have 5 beers on tap at all times (usually). However, I love the idea of 1 or 2 gallon batches and although I have not done it yet (the grains are weighed out) I even built a lil brother for my 10 gallon Igloo mashtun. I made it out of a 3 gallon Igloo water cooler.

I went the mini bottling bucket route also because I typically brew 6 gallons and would put the excess in a gallon jug then bottle it later (I used carb drops). Now I use a 2.5 gal. keg and my bottling wand in a picnic tap or my beer gun if I am not feeling lazy.

I have really got into recipe development lately and love the idea of smaller batches. If my Hibiscus Pale ale is a flop I would hate to dump 5 gal. or have a slow mover taking up space in my keezer.

HomebrewCraig said:

Thanks for the welcome! I enjoyed reading your many responses throughout this thread. You've been helpful since very early on! As the aphorism goes, I still remember how to ride the bike, but I am sure there will be questions.. Probably around specific procedures.

Here's one.. Does anyone inject pure oxygen into their wort?

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Personally I don't....I use a whisk and stir it until it has a nice frothy head on it then add dry yeast. I like to brew under the KISS principle.

HomebrewCraig said:

sumbrewingdude, whereabouts in the state are you? And I'd love to see the plans for your homemade IC and manifold!

There's so much great information scattered throughout this thread.. A FAQ for newer brewers would be a cool idea, would prevent as much time and reading as it took me

Craig

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Hey Craig!

I'm up in the Fox Valley - we've got a ton of brewers up here not to mention some great local breweries that definitely keep this exciting (and new to me) hobby just rolling along.

Plans? HA! It's more one of those "happy accident/disaster" things that somehow usually work out.

Seriously, though, with you in the Midwest I'm pretty dang sure you've got a Menards around you. If you do, I could build an entire 2.5gal setup from just that store alone - carboy, IC, MLT, everything. Might need to sneak over to Home Depot for a few minor things. Oh - and a farm store (TSC, FleetFarm, whatever), you'll find all the cheap sanitizer/cleaner you'd ever want in the milk house aisle.

If you want I can try to break down how I made them, I'd try to do the picture thing but I'll be honest I'm no photographer and sometimes figuring out putting pictures up could lead to an extra brew or two.

AFA aeration, I looked into the oxygen thing with the stones/etc. I can definitely see a place for it if you're doing HG beers and need to double shot the yeast so they've really got something to work with.

I usually just put a piece of sanitized saran wrap over the mouth of the carboy, put the stopper in, shake the living crap out of it for a minute (keeping in mind I'm using a 4gal water bottle for a 1.5gal batch so I've got a TON of air/headspace in the container), that usually makes a good 2-3" of foam/head - then just pop the stopper out, remove the saran wrap, replace the stopper with an airlock on it and let it sit!

Incidentally by accident, I also found that an old pillow case with a hole cut in the closed end makes a great carboy cover for keeping the light out of the bottle...

HomeBrewCraig and somebrewindude I'm in Aurora! Where are you guys at?

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I, too, am a 1 gallon batcher and really enjoy reading this thread. I've brewed since 1991 and enjoyed every minute of it. About 4 years ago, I got a little tired of 5 gallon "experimental" batches and wanted to try the 1 gallon pilots. It was the best thing I did. BIAB is so easy on the stove whether you use the burner to goose it up if the mash cools too much or wrap the pot in a sleeping bag. Converting the little Coleman coolers to mash tuns is very easy as well and let's me do decoction brewing a little more efficiently than the BIAB method on the stove. Beersmith is a great tool to use to scale down or up recipes but I watch the hop scaling as I think, at least on some of my batches, I could have used less than it said. As far as efficiency is concerned, I see a higher one than my big system so, I may up the grain bill slightly to compensate, especially for the big beers. Concerning the grief given to me about brewing 1 gallon batches, yeah, I get a little jabbing from some but, once I say, "Hey, I brew because I love it and I don't have to be efficient at it. It is strictly for pleasure, not a job," they usually get it. I did spend 10 hours on a 1 gallon batch of Urqell clone triple decoction but, who cares? I had 10 beers that were absolutely delicious and have brewed big batches of it as a result. As I type, I have the 1 gallon pilot batch of "Transfusion," a black/ruby red Weizenbock in the 2.5 gallon fermenter from last Saturday. Can't wait to try it. Oh, yeah...cold crashing these beers is so much easier than the carboys. The 1 gallon glass jugs are great. Not telling you all anything you don't already know.

Prost to all,

Joe


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I live about 15 minutes from the Wisconsin border in McHenry, and I am 5 minutes' walk from the Fox River. I am familiar with Aurora, spent lots of time down there for work awhile ago. I believe there's another Aurora one-gallon brewer who has frequented this thread, BikerBrewer.

Maybe four months ago a new microbrewery opened up less than a mile from my house.. Chain-O-Lakes brewery. First time I went, they had run out of their own brew and were only serving someone else's beer, and the second time they were closed. Not having good luck getting in there.

I have three homebrew stores within 30 minutes' drive. That's a dangerous thing, I should always be able to find the ingredients I need to put my recipes together. There's a Home Depot about a minute away, plenty of Menards not too terribly far away as well. sumbrewindude, did you see inspiration somewhere on the web for building the manifold? It is in my immediate plans to assemble an Igloo MLT, 2 gallon first, 3 gallon later. My goal is to put together the equipment I will be using early on, so the majority of the tweaks I make will be to brew processes, rather than equipment upgrades.

I've just bought Beersmith and have been playing with the Equipment feature and messing with recipe imports and scaling. What a cool piece of software. I also have Brewtarget which is cool too, but not as feature-rich as Beersmith.

I have a goal, that within the next five years I will be a certified beer judge. And what better way to intimately understand the nuances of the different styles, than to brew them by the gallon! Tweak them, clone well-known true-to-style brews, and experiment with ingredients in the spirit of an exceptionally deep understanding of each style. Of course tasting is quite important as well.

Right now my favorite styles are Baltic Porters, Russian Imperial Stouts, and Bourbon Stouts. Central Waters, a fine Wisconsin micribrewery, makes one of the best beer's I've ever had in my25 year beer drinking experience. How about you guys, what's your preferred style?

Craig -

If you've got Menards, go to one of them and get their green 5gal beverage cooler with their logo on it. I paid 16 bucks for mine, and it's the same as the more expensive HD or Igloo model, just green instead of orange/red. While you're there get the parts you need for the valve (3/8" valve, lead free brass 3/8" barbs (M/F), stainless fender washers, a couple food safe silicon or rubber washers to fit over the 3/8" coupler, and a 1.5" long 3/8" brass coupler), and the manifold (all .5" CPVC - 3T's, 4 caps, one .5" F threaded adapter and a 1/2" MT to 3/8" brass barb with a length of CPVC). If you want a great cheap carboy for up to 3gal batches, on the way out grab one of their 4gal PET waterbottles by the door - it's enough water for a 1.5gal batch with extra and the bottle takes a #10 stopper. Costs $5.25, no depost so you get water to brew with, and then a clean carboy to put water in when done...

You can easily mash a gal or more in one, and since I brew mostly 1.5gal (to clear a 12pk when I'm all done) I usually just preheat the cooler first and let the temp coast down to pitch temp, pitch the grains, then cover the mix with a sheet of tinfoil. I rarely loose more than few degs over an hour+.

My manifold was designed more out of desperation and frustration than any real research.

Basicly, it looks like an 'H' where the middle is more toward the top (has to be in order to tip the barb on the manifold up to the barb on the cooler and connect it with a 3" piece of silicon tubing). On the legs of the "H" I put caps at the ends to keep the CPVC pipe at the same height just above the floor of the cooler, and instead of cross made slots, I drilled 1/16" holes in a line right down the line about 1/4" or so apart. The holes face down, and with the cap and T to hold them off the cooler bottom they suck almost all the wort out. Trick is to make sure you put a hose on the output barb that's long enough to keep the siphon effect going as the wort level gets low.

If you never want to deal with a stuck sparge and make clean up insanely easy, just line the cooler with a 5gal paint strainer bag. It fits right over the threads on top, and you can screw the lid down with it on. When you're done mashing just lift the bag out and all the grains will go with it, so all you have to do is rinse the MLT out.

I think it's funny you like the Central Waters stuff - honestly it's not one of my favorites at all. I much prefer Capital Brewery out of Madison, as well as LakeFront Brewery out of MKE. Lake Louis is also great (Madison) they make a great Scotch Ale called Warp Speed. Oso's is another great one from Point. And Hinterland in GB. Too many great ones to list unfortunately.

My two favorites are American Ambers and Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy. I keep meaning to try and make a Wee Heavy (designed a recipe for it any everything), but I want to up the batchsize for it. Just seems like a lot for a few bottles that will sit for months...

In the mean time, I'm doing some off the wall brews - like a Lithuanian Keptsis.

....I have three homebrew stores within 30 minutes' drive. That's a dangerous thing....

So true!! Words of wisdom

For those who are doing 1-gallon AG (especially BIAB), how many of you have tried shorter mash times? Some of the BIAB threads I read several months ago speculated that the majority of the work of a mash seems to happen well before the 60 minute mark; an iodine test can come up positive after even two minutes. I'm very interested in one-gallon brewing (and if I do it regularly, my wife won't get too mad if I buy a smaller kettle for it), but a 60-minute mash and a 60-90 minute boil means a one-gallon batch would still take 2/3 the time of a five-gallon batch.

So, in short, what do you one-gallon AG/BIAB folks do to minimize the time invested in each individual batch?

For me it depends of 3 variables. Beer style (darker = approx 60 min should be enough), water/grist ratio(I'm trying to be constant so this one has smallest influence), pH of water(that corelates with grist/style= for light lagers approx 75-90min).

In regards to Central Waters, I have only tried three of their beers.. Slainte Scotch Ale which I enjoyed, Ouisconsing Red Ale which I thought average, but their Limited Reserve 2012 Bourbon Barrel Stout was amazing. I remember that first sip, which was one of those "oh my God" beer moments.. I have not yet found another Bourbon Barrel stout which stands up to the one from Central Waters. I am sure there are other awesome ones but I am reticent to spend 8 dollars or more for a bomber unless I know I am in for some serious taste bud ecstasy.

Thanks for describing the MT build, I will be doing that very soon. Do you lay the tinfoil right on the mash, floating? Or tent it above, just under the lid?

FatDragon said:

For those who are doing 1-gallon AG (especially BIAB), how many of you have tried shorter mash times? Some of the BIAB threads I read several months ago speculated that the majority of the work of a mash seems to happen well before the 60 minute mark; an iodine test can come up positive after even two minutes. I'm very interested in one-gallon brewing (and if I do it regularly, my wife won't get too mad if I buy a smaller kettle for it), but a 60-minute mash and a 60-90 minute boil means a one-gallon batch would still take 2/3 the time of a five-gallon batch.

So, in short, what do you one-gallon AG/BIAB folks do to minimize the time invested in each individual batch?

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Why not go the opposite route. I regularly do 60 minute mashes and close to 2 hour boils. Why? I usually bottle during this, plan my next recipe, dry hop another beer, etc. In otherwords, my brew day is literally just one day. Everything is done.

FatDragon said:

For those who are doing 1-gallon AG (especially BIAB), how many of you have tried shorter mash times?

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I have never done less than a 60 minute mash. Since that is time that I can set it and forget it, it never really bothered me.

HomebrewCraig said:

In regards to Central Waters, I have only tried three of their beers.. Slainte Scotch Ale which I enjoyed, Ouisconsing Red Ale which I thought average, but their Limited Reserve 2012 Bourbon Barrel Stout was amazing. I remember that first sip, which was one of those "oh my God" beer moments.. I have not yet found another Bourbon Barrel stout which stands up to the one from Central Waters. I am sure there are other awesome ones but I am reticent to spend 8 dollars or more for a bomber unless I know I am in for some serious taste bud ecstasy.

Thanks for describing the MT build, I will be doing that very soon. Do you lay the tinfoil right on the mash, floating? Or tent it above, just under the lid?

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You NEED to try the Hinterland Bourbon Barrel Stout. NEEEEEEEEEEED TO TRY - I thought it was even better than CW, but if I had to choose between the BB Stout and the BB Dopplebock, I'd go bock. They don't bottle it, it's tap only up at the brewery so if you're ever in Greenbay and want some good eats and beer, look 'em up. Firkin Friday is always a good time too if you like English cask beer.

RE the tinfoil, I usually just tent it right on the mash and let it float. Works great for me, not "perfect" if you compare it to a HERMS/RIMS but good enough for the girls I date.

RE mashing and mash time, I've found that I'm really starting to dig a longer mash. With the cooler it's really set and forget (emphasis on forget sometimes), but I've found better extraction - thus higher EFF into the BK - with a longer mash. Seems like 90min is really the sweet spot for me. YMMV.

FatDragon said:

No love in my "General Techniques" thread, so I wonder if I might get some help by asking the experts, although this might be out of your experience as well.

In the next couple weeks, I want to split a mash into four one-gallon boils. I have a nine-gallon brew kettle (35x35cm) and a couple of one-gallon pots that I use for cooking. Can I do it without buying any new equipment, or do I need to get a moderate-sized brew kettle (20x20cm - 7 liters) for the task? The requirement to buy a new kettle, while it would only cost about 40 RMB/$7, would not be well-received by the SWMBO, so I'd like to explore alternative options before I resign myself to that path, since it might be wiser to skip the brew altogether if it's a decision between the IIPA and the doghouse.

For those who wish to read further, the project is four one-gallon IIPAs from the same grain bill but different hop schedules. The ideal situation would be one in which I could mash enough for four one-gallon batches, then boil two batches at a time, since the stove on which I brew only has two burners. That would make for a brew day only marginally longer than a regular 5 gallon batch. I considered doing the first part of the boil in the big kettle, using the same first-wort or bittering hops for all batches and differentiating from around the 15 minute mark, but even if my two smaller pots could manage the last 15 minutes of a 1-gallon boil (they're still too small for that task), it would mean leaving two batches cooling for at least half an hour before going back to a boil, and I don't know how that would affect the brew.

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Wow, talk about timing! I'm planning a nearly identical experiment. I'm going to do (5) 1-gallon batches of an APA using different hops from a single large batch of base wort.

I ended up buying (2) new 2-gallon pots for this because I didn't think I could live with the single 6 qt pot that SWMBO has on-hand. Fortunately, there were no objections to the purchase in my case, lol

I plan to primary and dry-hop in 2-gallon buckets and then rack to glass 1-gallon jugs for a brief secondary. I'm going to bottle and force carbonate in plastic 2-liters.

I'm planning to do 4 x 1 gallon SMASH brews from the same starting wort. I will mash some Marris Otter and hop a gallon each with Citra, Amarillo, Centennial and Columbus. Everything identical except the hops.

It will be a good experiment to get to know the character of the hops.

I have 2 brew kettles that I can use to boil, so after mashing and sparging I will get 2 batches boiling. When they are all done, I will do the other 2 batches.

I will brew next week, and post how it goes.

Fox Valley... Is that in the Appleton area? I get to Green By twice a year. I have a friend who has season tickets for all of the old Milwaukee home games for the Pack and he invites me twice a year to the game. At some point in September/October timeframe, I should be back in Lembeau with the desire to imbibe and feast.

I usually only have one or two different beers in the fridge at any given time, currently only have Firestone Walker Union Jack.. What a great, clean IPA. Sipping one as I type!

I see many people who brew whatever they have on hand and hope it turns into something palatable. It's really not my style.. I find a beer I really like, find a clone recipe, and then recreate and refine. At some point I aim to create something original, but for the time being I will be content doing what's been done before.

Craig -

Yep, that's the area. Hinterland's BB Stout/DBock is a seasonal, typically winter so if you get a chance you'll enjoy it. If not, they usually have something good on tap. Hinterland's downtown GB, actually a stone's throw from Titletown Brewing Co. So if you're in the area, you'll get two breweries for about a block stumble.

Had too many Ale Asylum Ambergeddon's tonight. Whew, the SWMBO's gonna be upset tonight...

Today looks like a wonderful day to brew, so I think I will. I've got more recipes to try so lets get those carboys full....

Edit01: Mashed 75min, sparge volume's finally getting better. Rye = glue. Pulled 10.0p going into the kettle for 83%EFF. Had it calculated for 75... Ohhhh boy...

Edit02: Finished up at 13.5p/1.5gal on the nose going into the fermenter, looks like 83%EFF is holding. Pitched a leftover Notty packet becuase bottling day is tomorrow, so no slurry. Guess I'll have to go get more grain for another batch...

Love brewing small batches, but man do I need to figure out a location so I can keep everything handy instead of running up/down/up/down stairs.

Any one made a light coconut ale? I'm thinking base of 6 row 1.6 lbs, and citra hops 3 equal additions at 60,30,0min total of 0.06onz, toasted coconut in the boil along with coconut water (pure coconut products as we have a few coconut trees at our house) then add coconut to secondary. I want this to be a very light coconut flavored beer to drink at the beach and on a boat. Any suggestions as to how much coconut to add,if to toast it? In boil,in secondary? If to use coconut water at all and when? Thanks

Hi everyone,

I just purchased equipment to start brewing 1 gallon batches. I just had a few questions for people with more experience brewing 1 gallon batches than I do:

1) If brewing 1-1.25 gallon batches in a 2 gallon fermentation bucket, should I expect any overflow due to violent fermentations? It seems like the krausen would have to reach pretty high to overflow.

2) As far as temperature control goes, what does everyone do? I live in Florida so ambient temperature is higher than most of the fermentation temperatures I will be shooting for. I was thinking of putting my fermentation bucket into a lunchbox or soft sided cooler with some ice packs and switching them out as needed. Do you think this would work well enough?

Thanks!

acarter5251 said:

1) If brewing 1-1.25 gallon batches in a 2 gallon fermentation bucket, should I expect any overflow due to violent fermentations? It seems like the krausen would have to reach pretty high to overflow.

2) As far as temperature control goes, what does everyone do? I live in Florida so ambient temperature is higher than most of the fermentation temperatures I will be shooting for. I was thinking of putting my fermentation bucket into a lunchbox or soft sided cooler with some ice packs and switching them out as needed. Do you think this would work well enough?

Thanks!

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Welcome!

1) You'll be fine with a 2gal bucket for that amount. I used to use them for 1.5gal batches, and I think C-Rider uses them for 1.75gal batches with no issues at all. Another thing that helps (or may cause undue stress) is that I've found bucket lids let a little bit of pressure out, where a stoppered carboy typically doesn't. While that's great to keep the lid on, it does make watching the bubbles not nearly as exciting. Your beer will turn out great, however.

Added bonuses of the 2gal bucket; they stack great, easily fit into your fridge for lagering, and can be cleaned in the dishwasher with no problems. :rockin:

2) My basement's usually 58-65 deg depending on which corner you're in, so I just ferment where-ever there's space. Your idea of using an insulated cooler (bag or otherwise) is great - you don't need much if the back is sized correctly to the bucket, maybe a few iced bottles tops. Basically it's the small version of the Cool Brewing Bag.

Brew on!

FatsSchindee said:

Just to update my above post - I brewed up the stout kit (with a few changes - added some Maris Otter, chocolate malt, and flaked oats to make a partial mash and turn it from a dry stout into an American/Oatmeal stout hybrid, and almost into Foreign Extra territory), and pitched it with the WLP004 cake from a 2.5 gal dry stout I had just done (one of the reasons I decided to change it from a dry stout - I had just done one!). It fermented strongly and quickly, as one would expect from pitching on a healthy batch of fresh yeast cake. OG planned at 1.056, hit 1.057.

One week later, FG was 1.014 (planned 1.016 - my first two batches of 004 also attenuated better than the listed %). So last night I racked the 5 gallons out of my bucket and into five separate one-gallon jugs. These are the final recipes I decided to use for each:

1. Opted to keep one unchanged, to use as a "control group" in this experiment. Having never brewed this kit (or my changes to it), I wanted to make sure I could possibly assign blame to the base beer if they all turned out undrinkable! So no additions to this gallon.

2. COCONUT CHOCOLATE: 1 oz cacao nibs, 1/2 vanilla bean (split, scraped, and chopped), and 1/4 oz unsweetened shredded coconut, soaked in white rum for one week. Also toasted 3 oz of unsweetened shredded coconut (spread out on cookie sheet at 350 for about 6 min; toasted quicker than I'd thought - glad I kept an eye on it!) and racked onto that.

3. MINT CHOCOLATE: 1 oz cacao nibs, and 1/4 oz fresh mint leaves, chopped and muddled, soaked in vodka for one week.

4. ORANGE CHOCOLATE: 1 oz cacao nibs, and 1/8 oz fresh orange (Navel) zest, soaked in vodka for one week. Added 1/8 oz dried sweet orange peel (from LHBS) and racked onto that.

5. MOLE: 1/2 oz cacao nibs, 1/2 cinnamon stick, 1/2 vanilla bean (split, scraped, and chopped), soaked in vodka for one week. Took one whole dried Ancho chile, cut out the pith and seeds, and rehydrated in boiling water. Chopped that up and put into a muslin bag with some sanitized marbles to weight down, and used sanitized fishing line to suspend that in the gallon jug so I could remove the pepper when the heat is just right (thinking between 3-7 days?).

I put them all back into my ferm chamber at 66 (same temp at which I fermented all three beers with the 004). I'm thinking wait a few days to a week for each and check flavors, and bottle when ready. I wanted to use a bag for all the toasted coconut also, based on many of the posts I've read about using coconut on here... but those gallon jug necks are pretty limiting in size, and that's a lot of coconut. I figure I'll just wrap a bag around my auto-siphon and hope for the best when racking to bottle.

Anyway, thanks for the recipe advice... I'll let y'all know how they turn out later on down the line.
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I posted the above posts a while back about the one gallon stout experiments I did...

I was lucky to have just been interviewed about it on the latest Basic Brewing Radio podcast! I sent one of each of the beers to them, James and Steve sampled them, and then I spoke with James about the whole process. It was a cool experience, and I was honored to be a part of it.

Anyway, check out the March 6th episode, "Stout Experiment", to see how the beers turned out. And if you don't already listen to Basic Brewing Radio or watch Basic Brewing Video... You should! They're all about small batch brewing and experimentation - right up the alley of y'all one gallon brewers!

Cheers,
Tyson


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Tyson - Listening now. Inspiring indeed!

Fun stuff, Tyson!

Bottled up the Olde Oat Ale (disaster) today. First time working with oak chips - mental note to whoever wants to play with oak chips: use less than you think, with less time than you'd think. I did .40oz for 4 days, and it's right on the edge of being overpowering. Should have gone with .25oz.

Oh well, that beer was a fight from the moment I mashed it. Now to see how it is carbed up...

I just listened to the whole podcast. The beers sounded like they tasted great! Too bad the hosts messed it up. Honestly, I didn't care for their tasting commentary. About the only thing they could pick up on was the carbonation, and sometimes the cacao nibs.

SBD: What happened with the beer? Did you soak the chips in any alcohol?

HBC - Yep, I had them soaking for 2 weeks prior in whiskey, just enough to float them. Then 4 days before bottliing I added the whole works. Keep in mind, this was medium roast french oak, only .40oz for 4 days. Still ended up with more tannin than I was expecting, I should have used less oak (or less time). I'll just let it sit for a bit and come back around to it.

I just ordered a 2 gal fermenter from demon brew its a conical style anyone else use these ?

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sumbrewindude said:

HBC - Yep, I had them soaking for 2 weeks prior in whiskey, just enough to float them. Then 4 days before bottliing I added the whole works. Keep in mind, this was medium roast french oak, only .40oz for 4 days. Still ended up with more tannin than I was expecting, I should have used less oak (or less time). I'll just let it sit for a bit and come back around to it.

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Try oak cubes next time. Slower release of flavor, more rounded character, not as harsh. You can leave them in a lot longer than chips and have more control.


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Beerlover87 - BikerBrewer on here does. I know he likes them, I hadn't heard of them before he mentioned them. They look great, though.

Broham1 - I originally wanted the cubes, but the LHBS only had the chips. I couldn't think of anything that I really need in addition on the order for a couple bucks worth of cubes, so I went the chip route. In the future I'll be using less chips, and will likely order the cubes up when I get the chance.

I think the conical design will work well I will see soon can't wait.

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