Why do we brew 5 gallon batches?

It seems to me that if I would have just sat down and thought about it when I started, I could get away with brewing 4-gallon batches for a much cheaper initial investment than I made buying all that specialized 5-gallon stuff. Home Depot 5-gal bucket @$2.50 > 6-gal Better Bottle @$26.00. Well worth the savings, I think. To this day the number of fermenters have been my brewing bottleneck, and I've been much more prolific since I started using home depot buckets.
So why don't we just tell beginners to brew 4-gallon batches?

Because you get 20% less beer for the same amount of effort.....
Really you can't compare a Homer Bucket to a better bottle. To be fair you would compare it to a BUCKET. Come on. Then its only 3.50 Homer bucket, vs $8 7 gallon bucket. Not really worth the difference.

The fact that corny kegs are 5 gallons also has a lot to do with it I reckon...

thelorax121 said:

The fact that corny kegs are 5 gallons also has a lot to do with it I reckon...

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I have a feeling that is THE reason for the 5 gallon thing. Personally, I'm building a stovetop 3 gallon all grain system (pics and thread forthcoming) simply because it's easier to boil on my electric stovetop.

The only issue is ingredient amounts. When going smaller than 5 gallons, some specialty grains can end up being only 1 oz. Most homebrew stores won't sell grain in such small amounts, so you might have to buy them by the pound, weigh them, and crush them yourself. Same with hops, they're going to be much smaller additions, so you'll need a scale that can measure grams accurately.

You can brew whatever batch size you want. 5 gallons fits perfect in a cornie, so I brew ~5.5 gallons to account for the yeast cake and loss. You can get away with cheap equipment for up to around 10 gallon batches... turkey fryer, large cooler MLT, keggle. 10 gallons seems to much for any one brew... its nice to have variety.

because the larger conicals have been priced beyond the majority of brewer's wallets.

If you aren't brewing 10 gallons or greater you are either brewing rather often or are supplementing with commercial crap.

It's be nice to be pumping beer through two inch hoses but that
s really not in the cards for most people. A lot of people are brewing in apartments and town houses with the restricted spaces available. A lot more can't plop a couple grand down to upscale.

mosquitocontrol said:

Because you get 20% less beer for the same amount of effort.....

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Right, but that argument can be continued all the way up. Why don't we all brew 1 barrel batches?



I brew 4-4.5g batches, and ferment in Cornies.

Cliff897 said:

If you aren't brewing 10 gallons or greater you are either brewing rather often or are supplementing with commercial crap.
.

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Disagree. I tend to find I'm bored of a beer before I get through 5 gallons of it. SWMBO doesn't drink beer, so I'm mostly drinking them myself.

Synovia said:

Right, but that argument can be continued all the way up. Why don't we all brew 1 barrel batches?



I brew 4-4.5g batches, and ferment in Cornies.




Disagree. I tend to find I'm bored of a beer before I get through 5 gallons of it. SWMBO doesn't drink beer, so I'm mostly drinking them myself.

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As a rule, 5 gallon cornies are cheaper and more readily available than 10 gallon cornies, or 3 gallon cornies. That's one reason, as the others mentioned.

The reason I rarely do 10 gallon batches is just because I'm a weakling. Hauling around more than about 5.5 gallons of beer is just too heavy for me. Also, a 5 gallon batch = two cases of bottles. It's just an easy way to do it, especially for people like me who are mathematically challenged.

Since I have a couple of 3 gallon cornies, I may do a 3.5 gallon batch sometimes. The truth is, though, it's just as much work to do a 5 or 6 gallon batch as it is to do 4. Might as well get more beer out of the same amount of work.

With a name like that, what does it matter? You'll be dead anyways.

I think it's because that's what Charlie P. did in his books
and it just sort of stuck.

Cliff897 said:

If you aren't brewing 10 gallons or greater you are either brewing rather often or are supplementing with commercial crap.

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i agree with this, except the commercial comment

my kegs are lasting ~3wks. my wife doesn't drink any, but my friends sure do. and i've been drinking a bit latey (~1 / night) because my latest have been very good.

i brewed 3 times in feb, but looks like i'll only have time to brew once this month. late april/early may is going to be pretty dry.

YooperBrew said:

The truth is, though, it's just as much work to do a 5 or 6 gallon batch as it is to do 4. Might as well get more beer out of the same amount of work.

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It may be for you, but its not for me. Its significantly more difficult for me to do it because I can no longer ferment in cornies, which means I can't push the beer from fermenter to bright tank to serving keg with co2. It means more exposure to O2, it makes sanitation more difficult, etc.

Also, 5g cornies take up much less space then 6.5g buckets/carboys.

why can't you hook up co2 to a carboy cap and push beer out of a carboy?

If you aren't brewing 10 gallons or greater you are either brewing rather often or are supplementing with commercial crap.

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THIS is why I haven't stepped up to 10 gal batches. I love to brew and I can brew more often by brewing 5 gal batches. I could go even smaller but I have my limits.

motobrewer said:

why can't you hook up co2 to a carboy cap and push beer out of a carboy?

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Probably could, but they're way more expensive than cornies, and are more dangerous.

I also no-chill, and the wort goes into the cornie at about 200 degrees, and you can't do that with a carboy.

SpanishCastleAle said:

THIS is why I haven't stepped up to 10 gal batches. I love to brew and I can brew more often by brewing 5 gal batches. I could go even smaller but I have my limits.

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+1
If I'm still in an apartment next year I think I'm going to start doing 2.5 gallon AG batches on the stovetop because I hate waiting between brew days and I'd love to go AG soon anyways.

personally i think its another of the "we have always done it that way". similar to why american train tracks are set as far apart as they are. supposedly that standard can be traced back to Roman times.

I suspect it's 5 gallons ~= 2 cases. Also a small enough quantity that the containers are easy to move and store.

Your all wrong its because most homebrewers are wimpy or so outta shape they can't lift 10 gallons.....I toss the 10 gallons around like its a feather.












... I think its all due to the 48 bottles and the corny kegs. If everyone used 1/4 kegs we would for the most part be doing 7 -3/4 or 8 gallons

If I had to venture a guess, it would be because carboys in the correct size to brew 5 gallons have been easy to obtain for many many years. I have carboys that my grand father used to brew and make wine probably going back to when it was illegal.

springer - you haven't seen awesome until you see someone pick up a full carboy, lift it over his head and shake it to aerate!

"Why do we brew 5 gallon batches?"

I have found 1/4 keg/barrel to be a nice size batch. Any larger, and I might need a hoist in the brewery.

I would like to blame the metric system.

double post

I brew 10 gallon batches because anything less than that doesnt last long enough at my house.

brewingmeister said:

I would like to blame the metric system.

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I think the metric system would be the answer not the problem, as it is kind hard to work out that if a need a pound for 5 gal how many oz do I need for 4 gal? 4/5 x 16, have too many beers and you know that isn't going to work out correct!

I don't anymore, or at least won't be often. 2 out of 3 of my last batches have been 10 gallons. Going all grain has made my shortest brew day 6 hours long. It is worth the extra effort to go 10 gallons with AG I feel.

Since I mostly keg, it is harder to have enough to share at 5 gallon batches. My plan with 10 gallons is to keg 5 gallons bottle the other half. With my recent brown ale. I kegged 1/2, will bottle 2 gallons normally and add hazelnut to the other 3 gallons for a hazelnut nectar NB. 10 gallon batches allow room to create a variety of serving options. The only problem I have as Yooper said, 10 gallons is a bit of an effort to throw over your shoulder and move down the stairs.

In Canada we brew in 5 IMP Gallons, I think that is roughly 6 US gallons or 23L.

Just a comment, nothing else.

Why do some brew 5.5 gallons,instead of 5 gallons?

Julohan said:

Why do some brew 5.5 gallons,instead of 5 gallons?

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exactly....

I brewed 5.5, 11, and now 21 gallon batches

billc68 said:

In Canada we brew in 5 IMP Gallons, I think that is roughly 6 US gallons or 23L.

Just a comment, nothing else.

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yea everything comes in 6 gal format in canada especially the kits its a pain tho since every time you go to look for a recipe or supplies the american end is 5 gallon.

+1 to 5G being easy enough to move around. The more weight you put in (remembering that most homebrewers, and certainly most beginners don't have brew sculptures or pumps to help move the beer) the fewer people can manage it. So 5G is a nice round amount that works well with cornies and bottles. Clearly you're not restricted to 5G, but it's a fairly logical place to start. On a personal note, 50 of the same beer is plenty for me; I like to keep the rotation fairly diverse, so 5G suits me fine, though I'm getting a couple of house brews dialed in that might someday see a 10G batch.

There is a brew shop in Halifax NS that sells 105L stainless steel fermenter or 28 G.

My last batch was 11.5 gallons. 5 gallons into a 5g corny with 1 oz Amairillo dropped in. 3 gallons (I have 3g cornys) into another, DH with 1 oz Cascade, 32 bottles without any DH. 3 different batches of a nice PA out of the same brew day! I love it!

Oh, and I used White Labs Cali blend for 6.5 gals and Safale S-04 for the other 5 gallons.

For those uf us with less time to brew, larger batches are a blessing.

Dave