Small Fermenters

I am new to fermenting and brewing in general..

Before I start, I would like to make some preliminary tests. I'd like to ferment small quantities, so I need small fermenters.

Does anyone know what would make a good 1 liter fermenter?

Also, how much material would I generally need to make one liter?

Thanks you,
ruhb.

I'd use half-gallon growlers. You can find them at any homebrew shop usually. And it all depends on what style beer your wanting to make in those 1 liter quantities. Something of this size seems like a waste of time to me if it's going to be an ongoing thing.

Suthrncomfrt is right on about the half-gal. growlers. My question is: why? It will take as much time/effort to brew 5 gallons as it would 1/2 gallon. Also, there is enough information/recipes out there to make the process almost fool-proof, or at least to make drinkable beer. My $0.02. Believe me when I say that 5 gallons isn't as much as you think it is! haha. Good luck!

If you want to do little 1 liter test batches, think about using 2 liter soda bottles.

You can either get rubber stoppers to fit, or drill the cap and add a Ale Pale gasket to attach the airlock.

I have used that method to make starters.

Thanks you.
I really liked the 2 liter soda bottle idea, but maybe I should just do 5 gallon batches.

On this side of the pond, we can get wine in 4L jugs. I found apple juice in 1 gallon jugs as well. Have you looked for small buckets to use? I have found 2 gallon buckets (about 8L) that I'm going to try for some wines.

There's nothing wrong with making small batches. I have small batches that I didn't care to have a full batch of ; ) Although that has back fired too, where I wish I had more.

kevin9167 said:

On this side of the pond, we can get wine in 4L jugs. I found apple juice in 1 gallon jugs as well. Have you looked for small buckets to use? I have found 2 gallon buckets (about 8L) that I'm going to try for some wines.

There's nothing wrong with making small batches. I have small batches that I didn't care to have a full batch of ; ) Although that has back fired too, where I wish I had more.

Click to expand...

I agree there is nothing wrong with making small batches if you are an experienced brewer and what you test different ingredients/yeast strains/dry hop varieties on the same wort.

However, the OP is a new brewer and really shouldn't be concerned about testing different things at this point. I think that if he attempts a well-established recipe (e.g. EdWort's Haus Pale Ale), does his homework by reading John Palmer's free ebook, and thinks out his process a bit before brewing...there is no reason he shouldn't have pretty good results right out of the gate! Then he'll have 5 gallons of good beer instead of 1 gallon. He will also avoid the added expense of buying 1 gallon growlers/bottles at this point in the game.

My 0.02