1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

DocDriza said:

I would love to see a recipe you used.

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For which one the sassion?

banks741938 said:

For which one the sassion?

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Doesn't matter. I just want to see what a gallon brew looks like.

Belgian witbier
1 lb 2 row
1 lb flaked wheat
6 g hallertaur 4% aa 60 min for 14 ibu
6 grams coriander 5 min
6 g dried orange peel 5 min
6 g fresh orange zest 5 min
2 g t-58 yeast

Weezy said:

@tbred
Short answer, no. I have a one gallon keg and your beer will be thoroughly oaked in 3-4 weeks. Long term storage is not an option because most will evaporate and what's left will be over oaked. If you want long term oaked experience, use glass and cubes or keg and cubes. Use the barrel for either short term secondary to oak a beer and you can season the barrel with wine or whiskey, or as an inoculation vessel for bacteria and wild yeast where you maintain a culture in the barrel.

TBH, I'd recommend not buying one.

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@Weezy

Thanks for the advice. I think the first couple I will just use a carboy and oak cubes. Any advice on the amount of oak cubes to use?

phug said:

Belgian witbier
1 lb 2 row
1 lb flaked wheat
6 g hallertaur 4% aa 60 min for 14 ibu
6 grams coriander 5 min
6 g dried orange peel 5 min
6 g fresh orange zest 5 min
2 g t-58 yeast

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I'm new to all grain, so how much water are you using?

tbred said:

@Weezy

Thanks for the advice. I think the first couple I will just use a carboy and oak cubes. Any advice on the amount of oak cubes to use?

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I wouldn't go over an ounce.

DocDriza said:

I'm new to all grain, so how much water are you using?

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I mash in with about 6.5 litres, lose half a litre to grain, 2 to the boil and a bit to trub. You may want the spices in a hop sock

So I opened up my 2 first all grain batches tonight and the perle is pretty pale which is pretty cool and the NW IPA smells a little odd but ok. Not as hoppy as expected either. But I did add my dry hops tonight. A little under .25oz of perle in the perle beer and a whopping .40oz of Columbus to the NW IPA. Wish me luck on these 2 batches. I bottle in 7 days!

How long are you guys noticing fermentation takes? I brewed a batch this past Sunday and it's already starting to settle.

Really just depends on the yeast, temperature, and amount of sugar. Check the gravity and see if it's where it needs to be. I've notice it helps to pick up the fermenter and set it back down to kick up some of the yeast. Make sure you're not picking it up violently. Would hate for there to get unneeded oxygen

PJoyce85 said:

How long are you guys noticing fermentation takes? I brewed a batch this past Sunday and it's already starting to settle.

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Agree that it depends. I find the fermentation is less or more exciting to watch based on the fermentables (e.g. wheat) and yeast. When I was new I would check gravity (refractometer) every 3 days. Once it stops moving, it's done. Now I usually allow for 7-10 days for primary unless it's a big beer then I'll give it 2 weeks.

I figured it was about the same times as bigger batches. Just wanted to check and make sure.

Thanks!

PJoyce85 said:

I figured it was about the same times as bigger batches. Just wanted to check and make sure.

Thanks!

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Makes sense. I'm sure I will have the same questions as a scale up, which I do on occasion.

I am currently doing a gallon hefeweizen kit. The kit says to add HALF the yeast packet that came with it. I am wondering if I should make a starter with the whole packet and add just half?

For dry yeast, don't do a starter. Just pitch half the pack. If you want to rehydrate with water you can Preboil and cool to 85-90F then sprinkle half the pack into about 50-100 mL water, wait 15 mins shake it up and pitch.

So just finished my 2nd batch and here are my concerns/observations.
This was a one gallon kit (Brooklyn Summer ale clone) from my LHBS, all grain.
For this one I used a 3 gallon water cooler (I saw a guy on Youtube) to do my mash and it held the temp better than in the kettle on the stove but not perfect I had to add hot water twice to attempt to bring the temp up and I ended up up with a little more than a gallon after my boil. My only real concern is my yeast, the kit I picked up they just packaged the grains and hops in separate bags while I waited and for the yeast they gave me a Weyeast smack pack which activated fine but I pitched the entire pack for a one gallon batch, the instructions they included with the kit were pretty detailed and did not say anything about using only a portion so I pitched the entire packet, is that too much yeast? Oh and I have yet to take any type of a gravity reading, how does one do this for such a small batch? I do not want to have to take two samples and toss them which will reduce my yield?

For the gravity reading, I use a hydrometer. I just make sure the tube, hydrometer, and wine thief are sanitized and dump the sample back in. For some reason I am hesitant to purchase a refractometer...
I stick my pot in the oven during the mash on its lowest setting. It's small enough to fit if I take the grates out. In your cooler, next time put the water a bit hotter than your target and let it sit for a few minutes with the lid on. When you are ready to dough in, stir the water until it hits your target temp. After that dough in and mix well. Grab a piece of foil and rest it over the grains then put the lid on. That should help with the temps. The smaller the cooler the better.

I sanitize my hydrometer in starsan and put it right into the fermenter to do a reading. A guy at a LHBS suggested doing it that way.

rjolin01 said:

I sanitize my hydrometer in starsan and put it right into the fermenter to do a reading. A guy at a LHBS suggested doing it that way.

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I have heard of people doing that, I ferment in a one gallon glass bottle and am not sure I could get it out of there, maybe I should use a one gallon bucket.

rjolin01 said:

I sanitize my hydrometer in starsan and put it right into the fermenter to do a reading. A guy at a LHBS suggested doing it that way.

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I do this as well, only I tie a piece of thread to the hydrometer and lower it in and take my reading and then pull it back out. Just make sure to sanitize the string too.

So this is about 36 hours later, my 2nd one gallon batch and this kit came with a smack pack for yeast and I pitched the entire package and this thing is bubbling like crazy, trying to figure out how to post a video.

Still trying to figure how t post video clip.

banks741938 said:

I've been looking everywhere for 1 gallon kits to "cut my teeth" on and found it really hard to justify buying a kit for $14-$15 bucks and turn around and pay $7-10 to ship. I have found a couple of recipes online and ordered the ingredients for them though more beer and found out I can get enough for 2 gallons for about the same price... (On simple dme kits). Check out perrys brewer they specialize in 1 gallon all grain with everything (grains, grain bag, hops, dry yeast sanitizer, priming sugar and even caps) for 14.99 and offer free shipping on their kits. I think they have about 6 different ones. No minimum.... I just ordered a summer sassion spice that will be here tomorrow http://perrysbrewer.com

Also if you have Amazon prime you can get a few of the different Brooklyn brew shops kits for $15ish

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For experimentation or lack of space to brew 1 gallon kits are great, But you are not really "cutting your teeth" doing 1 Gal batches because there are great differences between brewing 1 gal and 5 gal. BTW making 1 gal batches by cutting grain bill 1/5 doesn't always work.

WVHomeBrewer said:

For experimentation or lack of space to brew 1 gallon kits are great, But you are not really "cutting your teeth" doing 1 Gal batches because there are great differences between brewing 1 gal and 5 gal. BTW making 1 gal batches by cutting grain bill 1/5 doesn't always work.

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And your point is?????????? I think one gallon batches let me practice all the keys steps that I need to master in all styles. I can do all grain, extract/mini mash, or straight extract if I want with a one gallon kit with just the minimal equipment. If I do mess something up being a newer brewer I'm out $15, compared to $25-50 for 5 gallon batches...

~4 weeks back I brewed BBS WGD Brown, not a kit but just using the recipe. Didn't have much of a head but tasted great. Smooth, full, and I could taste the chocolate in it.

rjolin01 said:

I am currently doing a gallon hefeweizen kit. The kit says to add HALF the yeast packet that came with it. I am wondering if I should make a starter with the whole packet and add just half?

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I pitch half a dry yeast pack when I am starting a yeast cake, then I reuse it 3 or so times. So I can easily get 6 batches out of 1 packet. I don't rehydrate. I have before, doesn't seem to make a difference.

WVHomeBrewer said:

...But you are not really "cutting your teeth" doing 1 Gal batches because there are great differences between brewing 1 gal and 5 gal.

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Thanks for your insight. Now if you will kindly read this thread from the beginning, you will see that there a number of people that disagree with you. Including myself. There is no difference between brewing 1, 2.5, or 5 gallons (or 10 for that matter). Please feel free to elaborate further if you would like.

WVHomeBrewer said:

....BTW making 1 gal batches by cutting grain bill 1/5 doesn't always work.

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For all intents and purposes it works just fine. I'm sure a lot of 5 gallon brewers would gladly use a scaled recipe from Stone or Russian River without blinking an eye. I don't see how this is any different. Any recipe used should be scaled appropriately for efficiency.

WVHomeBrewer said:

For experimentation or lack of space to brew 1 gallon kits are great, But you are not really "cutting your teeth" doing 1 Gal batches because there are great differences between brewing 1 gal and 5 gal. BTW making 1 gal batches by cutting grain bill 1/5 doesn't always work.

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Hahaha. I think you're on the wrong thread to be knocking 1 gallon brewing.

What doesn't work about that method?

WVHomeBrewer said:

But you are not really "cutting your teeth" doing 1 Gal batches because there are great differences between brewing 1 gal and 5 gal.

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Not sure I agree, I am a complete noob and have only done two batches but to me the fundamentals like sanitizing and basic principals are absolutely the same I get what your saying that the scaling down may not always be precise. A few people have voiced that the work is the same for a much less yeild but I am content doing it this way, cheers.

WVHomeBrewer said:

For experimentation or lack of space to brew 1 gallon kits are great, But you are not really "cutting your teeth" doing 1 Gal batches because there are great differences between brewing 1 gal and 5 gal. BTW making 1 gal batches by cutting grain bill 1/5 doesn't always work.

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To be honest, unless your brewing on a turn-key 3 bbl system, your not really brewing. 5 gallons is pretty much a joke and people that do it should put brewing in quotation marks...

3bbl? You're just a hobby Brewer! Real Brewing starts at 30bbl!

Oberon67 said:

Here's my Hop Gravy barleywine in primary, cold-crashed and ready to rack.

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UPDATE: When I finally bottled this, I got five whole bottles of beer.

I opened the first one on Thursday, which was a little early but I was dying to try it... two thumbs up. Now all I gotta do is figure out how to make five gallons of the stuff.

Oberon67 said:

UPDATE: When I finally bottled this, I got five whole bottles of beer.



I opened the first one on Thursday, which was a little early but I was dying to try it... two thumbs up. Now all I gotta do is figure out how to make five gallons of the stuff.

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Looks like you'll need to brew 10 gallons to get five!!

Any other 1-Gallon Brewers experiencing extremely high evaporation rates? I have been a 5 gallon brewer for 8 or so years and recently put together a 2 Gallon Mash Tun

Pre-Boil Volume: 1.64 Gallons
Batch Volume: 1.00 Gallons
36.6% Evaportation Rate

Now that i have it dialed in it's not really an issue, it just adds a small amount of extra sparge time. I assume the main reason is the low volume of liquid in a largeish kettle, I will have to try a taller narrower kettle some time.

I just through together a 2 Gallon Mash Tun , 8 or so batches through it and it is working great. Only thing to note is that I shortened the braid to just run across the bottom, the crazy design in the picture created some serious channeling on the first batch.





I was even able to use the fittings from my 5 and 10 gallon mash tuns, so this literally cost me about 15 bucks to put together.

Why I Started 1-Gallon Brewing?, Mainly to work on test batches before scaling to 5 or 10 gallons.

What I Recommend:

1.) Pick a Yeast Strain (Kolsch 2565 For Me Right Now)
2.) Create 3 1-Gallon Recipes Using That Yeast (Norther German Altbier, Kolsch, and California Common)
3.) Split One Big Yeast Starter Into Three.
4.) Wash and Harvest Yeast From All 3 Batches, Gives Me Enough For A 5 Gallon Batch.
5.) Pick Your Favorite Of The Three Beers, Scale It Up To A 5 Gallon Batch, You Already Have The Yeast For It.
6.) Repeat Steps 1-5 With A New Yeast. :rockin:

I am having a blast doing this as well as leaning how flexible some of these yeasts can be! I will post the beer pics, recipes, and ratings once they are all done.

Egs21eric said:

Any other 1-Gallon Brewers experiencing extremely high evaporation rates? I have been a 5 gallon brewer for 8 or so years and recently put together a 2 Gallon Mash Tun

Pre-Boil Volume: 1.64 Gallons
Batch Volume: 1.00 Gallons
36.6% Evaportation Rate

Now that i have it dialed in it's not really an issue, it just adds a small amount of extra sparge time. I assume the main reason is the low volume of liquid in a largeish kettle, I will have to try a taller narrower kettle some time.

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I found a brand new 3 gallon cooler in my garage and used it recently for a mash tun, I am trying to find a ball valve for it but could not find it at Home Depot, what size threads are on your ball valve?

Egs21eric said:

Any other 1-Gallon Brewers experiencing extremely high evaporation rates? I have been a 5 gallon brewer for 8 or so years and recently put together a 2 Gallon Mash Tun

Pre-Boil Volume: 1.64 Gallons
Batch Volume: 1.00 Gallons
36.6% Evaportation Rate

Now that i have it dialed in it's not really an issue, it just adds a small amount of extra sparge time. I assume the main reason is the low volume of liquid in a largeish kettle, I will have to try a taller narrower kettle some time.

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Unfortunately yes any evaporation rate of 1/2 to 1 gallon seems to be normal. I loose between 3/4 to 7/8 of a gallon to evaporation on 2.5 to 3 gallon batches.

fuzzy2133 said:

Unfortunately yes any evaporation rate of 1/2 to 1 gallon seems to be normal. I loose between 3/4 to 7/8 of a gallon to evaporation on 2.5 to 3 gallon batches.

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No problem, just double checking that I wasn't alone.

Daveyg said:

I found a brand new 3 gallon cooler in my garage and used it recently for a mash tun, I am trying to find a ball valve for it but could not find it at Home Depot, what size threads are on your ball valve?

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I used all brass 1/2" parts. i believe the nipple was 1 1/2" long and I actual used the exact white gasket from your picture, had to stretch it a bit but no leaks.

wow i have missed quite a bit here
just bottled zombie dust clone got 8 bottles out of it

will bottle hopslam clone this weekend
and will move goose island bourbon county stout to second and add in willet bourbon and 1 oak cube to age for at least 6 months unless after tasting its ready sooner