Photos from first ONE gallon brew day...

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DubbelDach

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So I have been thinking about this for a while... Maybe it's constantly seeing Dogfish Head to "test batches in the Rehoboth brewpub" on Brew Masters... Maybe it was Appalachian Brewing Co. doing one offs in Camp Hill and Gettysburg while the main production was in Harrisburg when I worked there... But I have been wanting to build a small brewery for one-gallon test batches.

Used 6 qt buckets that I got at a restaurant store for my fermentors. Was about $4 each including the lids. I drilled them out and added grommets for an airlock. Cheap and food-safe. Also bought a 9 qt Igloo mash tun. I drilled this on my own and used the valve and pieces of my big boy manifold to create a mini-mani so to speak... Instead of my large kettles, I used my wife's 8 qt stock pot for the boil and also a 4.5 qt pot for heating water. Everything was the perfect size.

I did 45 min mashes (a friend thought that was the least amount of time you could do for conversion), and 30 min boils. Any 60 min hop additions, I moved to 30 mins and increased the amount to get the same IBUs. I overlapped the batches and was done in 4 hours. All in all a pretty nice day!

All 20 pics here: http://s281.photobucket.com/albums/kk238/shiplax27/Mini-Brew Day/

But here are some highlights:

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The mini mash tun with cobbled together manifold...

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First mini mash

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Runnings... The deep sink was nice...
 
That automatic soap dispenser over the runnings would make me very nervous!

Other than that, that's a cool little setup you've got there :).
 
That automatic soap dispenser over the runnings would make me very nervous!

Other than that, that's a cool little setup you've got there :).

Wow... I didn't even think about that for some reason! Holy crap, I dodged a bullet..
 
How much boil off did you have with that small of a batch? I'm assuming the 30 min boil is to adjust for this, but wouldn't you get different hop utilizations by boiling less? Also, why the shorter mash, don't the sugars convert the same whether it's 12lbs of grain or 3Lbs?

Not bashing your methods, I'm just curious how this works and how larger batches compare when you scale them up to 5 gallons(or higher). I've been thinking about this lately too and I'm just not understanding the shorter times.
 
How much boil off did you have with that small of a batch? I'm assuming the 30 min boil is to adjust for this, but wouldn't you get different hop utilizations by boiling less? Also, why the shorter mash, don't the sugars convert the same whether it's 12lbs of grain or 3Lbs?

Not bashing your methods, I'm just curious how this works and how larger batches compare when you scale them up to 5 gallons(or higher). I've been thinking about this lately too and I'm just not understanding the shorter times.

Ever tried hop bursting? Essentially what he's doing. Do you mean you utilize less by boiling less volume, or for less time? Speaking personally, I've noticed that you don't quite get exactly the utilization that a program such as Beersmith would suggest when hop bursting a 5 gallon batch. You do, however, get lots of hop flavor. The beers I tried this on were not trying to conform to any style guidelines, and personally I like hop flavor and found these beers to be pretty delicious. No idea how it goes with a one gallon batch.
 
It's so cute!! lol

:D

Are you gonna bottle these small batches then? Nice setup, I like it!

I am.... I figure I'll get 8 bottles or so? Since I usually keg everything and don't plan ahead, or use a beer gun, I figure this is a good way to produce some "best of" batches for a big contest... that I may or may not have heard of... soon.... ;)

Where did you get those plastic fermentation buckets?

Local restaurant store... All kinds of sizes, ranging from clear to translucent (these) to white. And food-grade. I am realizing that they don't have a tight seal like an ale pail does (no gasket) but fermentation kicked off right away, so no worries. I drilled the airlock holes myself and added grommets.

How much boil off did you have with that small of a batch? I'm assuming the 30 min boil is to adjust for this, but wouldn't you get different hop utilizations by boiling less? Also, why the shorter mash, don't the sugars convert the same whether it's 12lbs of grain or 3Lbs?

When I calculated my water, I told this: http://www.brew365.com/mash_sparge_water_calculator.php my boil time and such, and it usually calculates everything pretty well on. The hefe has more volume, but I added some rice hulls and I think I overcompensated. The brown seems to be right on (2/3 of a 6 qt container = 4 qts or 1 gallon)

30 min boil was for speed... And I upped the amounts of that addition so that the recipes gave the same IBUs as the 5 gallon equivalent.

And the 45 min mash.... I've seen it done before and it worked well, so I went with it. I would not mash for less time than that. Would love to know if there's a scientific reason for doing at least 60...

Not bashing your methods, I'm just curious how this works and how larger batches compare when you scale them up to 5 gallons(or higher). I've been thinking about this lately too and I'm just not understanding the shorter times.

Oh, I would never take it that way... In fact, I was hoping for more of that! This is new to me too, so this is definitely an experimental batch - I'm running with a lot of theory at this point - and hopefully I can dial in the methods better as I go. Thank you!
 
That's really really cool man. I love seeing micro projects. I have a few 1 gallon glass bottles that would be perfect for a micro brew... hmmm :drunk:

You have given me something to think about sir. Thank you. :cross:
 
looks like 1-gallon batches are hitting the airwaves, because i've become very excited about the idea, even before checking in here on HBT - i plan on doing one maybe tomorrow...

couple questions - i assume fermentation time will be shorter (avg. gravity of around 1050) compared to large batches thus a shorter time until bottling, is this true?

i'll be using a one gallon glass jug, and i was wondering: is there a good substitute for the rubber stopper? since it has a strong rubber odor which might impact such a small batch - or is it a non-issue?

sweet project, Dubbel
 
What was your efficiency?

Don't know... I was hoping that I could just float my hydrometer in one of these buckets, but I use a plastic hydro (have broken 4+ glass ones) and it touched the bottom. Didn't want to thief and lose any volume...

You've inspired me!

IMAG0089.jpg


Mine was a 1.5 gallon though..

Beautiful!

couple questions - i assume fermentation time will be shorter (avg. gravity of around 1050) compared to large batches thus a shorter time until bottling, is this true?

i'll be using a one gallon glass jug, and i was wondering: is there a good substitute for the rubber stopper? since it has a strong rubber odor which might impact such a small batch - or is it a non-issue?

Shorter only because of less volume, perhaps... I still have the hefe on primary and the brown is in 2ndary. I am hoping to bottle some night this week. I butchered my 3rd bucket, as I was trying to drill for a bottling valve. I think it was too cold and I should have used a hole saw instead of a spade bit... Anyway, just picked up another bucket today!

I would say a stopper is a non-issue... It's not touching the beer. If you feel better about it, sanitize some aluminum foil and loosely crimp it over the opening.
 
Couple of quick and easy additions:

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Bottling bucket...

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With dip tube. Only leaves 3 ounces in the bucket...

And I built the mash tun a dedicated manifold, of that will stay together and doesn't make me cannibalize my big boy manifold. Only leaves 7 ounces in the bottom of the cooler.

2011-01-24_20-10-59_590.jpg


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nice shots!

i brewed a one-gallon SMaSH the other day...i think i'm gonna end up with a good beer, but i'm gonna have to adopt your mashing method - trying to keep a steady temp. in a pot on the stove for 1+ gallon was a pain in the a$$!! (thought i could escape using a mash tun)

overall though, i love the one-gallon brews - very inexpensive and endless test batches!!


hey Dubbel, this might be a dumb question, but how exactly does that dip tube work?
 
i'll be using a one gallon glass jug, and i was wondering: is there a good substitute for the rubber stopper? since it has a strong rubber odor which might impact such a small batch - or is it a non-issue?

sweet project, Dubbel

I use rubber stoppers in my Better Bottle and it kind of sucks when I'm trying to get a quick smell of the beer because all I'll get is rubber stopper smell. It's never affected the taste in any way, though.

However, that's a 6 gallon Better Bottle.

My friend had some peach wine (had, because we dumped it down the drain two nights ago) that was kept in a growler with a rubber stopper for an extended period of time and ALL you could taste was rubber stopper. Technically the wine should have never touched that stopper either, as it was always upright - but it was terrible. I don't know if it was the batch size or some other factor - but it was there and it tasted like licking stopper.
 
overall though, i love the one-gallon brews - very inexpensive and endless test batches!!

hey Dubbel, this might be a dumb question, but how exactly does that dip tube work?

Not at all... So it's a standard ale pail bottling valve... Then I used a rubber stopper smashed in there real good... And then I hacksawed a plastic racking cane and put that in the stopper. When there is a tube, in this case a bottling wand, hanging lower than the dip tube, then it creates a siphon. That pulls the beer up and out and I only leave 3 oz in the bucket.

I use rubber stoppers in my Better Bottle and it kind of sucks when I'm trying to get a quick smell of the beer because all I'll get is rubber stopper smell. It's never affected the taste in any way, though.

However, that's a 6 gallon Better Bottle.

My friend had some peach wine (had, because we dumped it down the drain two nights ago) that was kept in a growler with a rubber stopper for an extended period of time and ALL you could taste was rubber stopper. Technically the wine should have never touched that stopper either, as it was always upright - but it was terrible. I don't know if it was the batch size or some other factor - but it was there and it tasted like licking stopper.

I stand corrected! I have never experienced this...
 
In all seriousness, I think I'm getting the itch to do more frequent small batches as well... thanks for your posts and pics!
 
I use rubber stoppers in my Better Bottle and it kind of sucks when I'm trying to get a quick smell of the beer because all I'll get is rubber stopper smell. It's never affected the taste in any way, though.

However, that's a 6 gallon Better Bottle.

My friend had some peach wine (had, because we dumped it down the drain two nights ago) that was kept in a growler with a rubber stopper for an extended period of time and ALL you could taste was rubber stopper. Technically the wine should have never touched that stopper either, as it was always upright - but it was terrible. I don't know if it was the batch size or some other factor - but it was there and it tasted like licking stopper.

Hmm... I guess I'm going to have to do a shorter primary time for my RIS... I was going to leave it for a few months then bottle.. maybe I'll just leave it for a month..
 
btw, i was short a rubber stopper and used the foil method with pin pricks...seems to be working fine - think i'll stick with it for the one-gallon jobs
 
okay. im convinced. im going out today, braving the "snowpocolypse" and getting stuff for my maiden voyage into "pitcher batches"
 
...and its chilin in the sink, notty soaking up. and it was a blast brewing in the kitchen again.

measuring hops was a bit different, never really thought how little a tenth of an ounce of hops was.
 
grav a little off. shooting for 1.052 and got 1.048. im guessing that for some reason the smaller the batch the more critical...everything is.
 
...and its chilin in the sink, notty soaking up. and it was a blast brewing in the kitchen again.

measuring hops was a bit different, never really thought how little a tenth of an ounce of hops was.

Try measuring in grams (if your scale allows it). I believe it's more precise for the tiny measurements.


:tank:
 
Bottled my brown and hefe almost a week ago... I'll tell you... The one flaw in the system is that auto-siphons are too big for mini-buckets... They need to make a super small one. They do make a smaller one, but it's not THAT much smaller.

I used Carbtabs to bottle for the first time... Didn't feel like weighing out and boiling the sugar twice. We'll see how it goes! I got 6 bottles of the brown (had been racked and 2ndaried) and 10 bottles of the hefe (which I got more volume out of anyway...). maltbarleyhops: I think you're right, every measurement has to be more precise because there's not much wiggle room at these volumes!
 
so for my second one-gallon batch, i went and rigged up a 2 gallon cylindrical rubbermade cooler for my mash tun, with a threaded ball valve, etc...much better than mashing on the stove

is it me or is mashing for these small batches no cakewalk?...i've really been missing the target temp., either i'm doing something wrong, or beersmith isn't very accurate at the one gallon level

i also have a stuck fermentation in my first batch from last week (used a stove top pot for mashing), so it's either bad yeast, or i screwed up the mash...
 
How do did you adjust the amount of hops you add to the batch?

Edit: Forgot to say that this is awesome. It is exactly what I am looking to do.
 
dubbeldach: did your onies ferment out really fast? the blonde ale i did is 5 days into fermentation and is at 1.002!

im going to let it set another few days, but wow!
 
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