1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[fuzzy2133]

I was curious about what size kettle you guys use for one gallon. I have a 6 gallon stainless steel but am wondering if something smaller might work a bit better.

I use a 3 gallon pot for 1 gallon batch in fermentor. I have about 1.75 gallons of pre-boil all grain wort.

YMMV

 

[MedBrewer]

Lol thanks for the advice kombat. I guess I'll see what it tastes like in a month or so. It is a steam beer yeast though.

 

[ohiobeer29]

I use a two gallon pot a lot easier to store away

 

[sumbrewindude]

I use a 3gal pot for 1ga, usually close to 2gal before boil off.

 

[30Bones]

Maris/fuggle SMaSH complete. Volumes were dead on but my OG was supposed to be 1.064 and it ended up 1.074. Yowzza

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[ericbw]

Maris/fuggle SMaSH complete. Volumes were dead on but my OG was supposed to be 1.064 and it ended up 1.074. Yowzza

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I had that happen recently with an Irish red. I diluted it to make a .25 gallon more, and then I realized that I forgot to add the honey. Which means that my efficiency was through the roof on that one. Not sure why.

 

[sumbrewindude]

Another brew day in the books -

Comedy of errors this time around; mashed in too cool, did a step and went a little too high, thought I had the chiller line hooked up to the cold spigot at the washer and it was on the "hot", Smack pack didn't behave, and my volumes were all off..

But, as a happy ending, thanks to crazy good EFF and some luck, I ended up with a half gal more than I bargained for with the correct OG as calculated.

Keg gets some love, and bottles get some love.

Now to clean up...

 

[30Bones]

I had that happen recently with an Irish red. I diluted it to make a .25 gallon more, and then I realized that I forgot to add the honey. Which means that my efficiency was through the roof on that one. Not sure why.

My Refractometer was off by 5 points. Still a bit above the recipe. Brewing a Fresh Squeezed IPA clone now and was a few point high on preboil. Yeah I'm loving brewing indoors when it's snowing out.


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[Synap6]

Im making an ipa with:
82% 2-row
7% crystal 20L
5% vienna
5% carapils
1% biscuit

And bittered with 0.15oz Chinook @ 60

Im considering adding Citra at 15-5-0 as i wanna see what this hops is about, but the chinook smells so nice im wondering if i should add some alongside the citra..

What do you guys think?

EDIT: I went along with simply Citra. I figured I'd try mixing up the two later on for flavor-aroma, once I know what to expect out of Citra. I'll be dryhopping this little guy in december

 

[Darth_Beer]

Question for those using a small(er) mash tun, what amounts are you mashing with, and how much are you sparging with?

I mashed 3.5pounds Vienna tonight with 1gallon in my 2gal cooler @140F (strike temp was 164F) and sparged with 2 gallons. Brewhouse eff claimed to be 60.4% (using the Brewer's Friend calculators). Does this sound about right to everyone? I siphoned a little over a gallon into the fermenter, trying to leave most of the break material behind.

Can somebody using the little sugar cubes give me a gram weight per cube please?

 

[sumbrewindude]

Hey Darth!

1) Mashing at 140 seems odd - with a strike temp of 164F, are you sure you're actually hitting that temp? How are you measuring the temp of the mash? I've found that if you're not preheating the tun, I need to strike with water that's usually 10F higher than my desired temp, this is assuming a 1.5qt/lb ratio of grain. You could be mashing at a higher temp than you realize, which will hurt the extraction of simple sugars and result in lower EFF levels. Make sure to stir the mash well and then take a temp.

2) You'll see all kinds of opinions on trub/break material in the fermenter - I'm in the camp that says put the whole works in it there. It'll drop out as it cools, I can aerate it a little more by pouring the whole thing in with a funnel, and there's been a few experiments done that suggest that it actually helps. Experiment yourself and see, that's the luxury of a 1gal batch!

3) You want the Domino Sugar Dots, small yellow box. One cube is 2.5g, and works great in a 12oz bottle.

 

[Darth_Beer]

Hey Darth!

1) Mashing at 140 seems odd - with a strike temp of 164F, are you sure you're actually hitting that temp? How are you measuring the temp of the mash? I've found that if you're not preheating the tun, I need to strike with water that's usually 10F higher than my desired temp, this is assuming a 1.5qt/lb ratio of grain. You could be mashing at a higher temp than you realize, which will hurt the extraction of simple sugars and result in lower EFF levels. Make sure to stir the mash well and then take a temp.
/QUOTE]

I left my thermometer in the mash to measure the temps. I did forget to pre-heat the tun before I added my grain. I did lose 2 degrees over the course of the mash (which sounds like just about everyone else is getting)

 

[ericbw]

I usually mash in at 165 to get 153 (12 degree drop). But 24 degrees is a lot.

How big is the mash tun? Was your grain colder than room temp (like refrigerated)?

I think with 3.5 pounds, you could have added a little boiling water to raise it some if you wanted.

 

[Darth_Beer]

@ericbw, I am using a Coleman 2gallon cooler. I would say it was probably about 65F, and my grain was about 72F before I started.

 

[ericbw]

I've been putting 1 tea kettle of boiling water in the mash tun, then closing it up while I set up the rest of the stuff. Probably 20-30 minutes. Then I dump it when I am ready to start. Not sure why you'd lose so much heat.

 

[30Bones]

On my 2 gallon buckets the lids must not be very air tight. I've have this issue on 6.5gal brew buckets also. Zero airlock activity so I popped the lid and there's a nice krausen layer. Seems all the 3 gallon better bottles are not sold by NB or midwest. My LHBS has them, but that are more than my 6.5 big mouth bubblers.


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[sumbrewindude]

On my 2 gallon buckets the lids must not be very air tight. I've have this issue on 6.5gal brew buckets also. Zero airlock activity so I popped the lid and there's a nice krausen layer. Seems all the 3 gallon better bottles are not sold by NB or midwest. My LHBS has them, but that are more than my 6.5 big mouth bubblers.


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Ritebrew's got some 3gal PET carboys in stock:
http://www.ritebrew.com/product-p/841232.htm

I've got two of these, I like 'em. I used to use them exclusively for the 1.5+gal batches, now I use them for secondaries/holding sanitizer. The plastic's nice and thick on them, so they're not as flexable as some of the PET carboys out there. They're not as narrow as the BB's though, so you can't stack two next to each other in a small fridge.

 

[30Bones]

Thanks. That price is $10 cheaper than my LHBS. Should fit side by side in my 4 cf fridge.

There are what I am after and might grab a few before I brew another small batch, sadly shipping for 2-3 costs as much as a single unit. Maybe I will grab a couple on my stop at NB over thanksgiving if they have any http://www.brewinternational.com/pet-carboy-3-gallon-better-bottle/?gclid=CIOAzqenhMICFSqCMgod3U8AGg


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[Avocado_Power]

Hey guys, just tried out my first batch of saison after a several-month brewing hiatus (moving to the Philippines) - a 2.5 gallon BIAB batch. Recipe loosely based off of that 1-gallon book (Beer Craft)...

6 lbs Belgian Pilsner
12.5 oz Wheat
6.2 oz Vienna

0.25 oz magnum at 60 min
0.25 oz magnum at 15 min

Mashed for an hour anywhere from 149 - 152 F
Dunk sparge at 165
Took a freaking hour to cool off due to faulty connecter from wort chiller to sink (lots of improvising).
Threw in one vial of WLP565 (Saison ale yeast).

Fermented for 4 weeks in closet in both 2 gallon bucket and little brown keg. Temps ranged from low to mid 80s.

Bottled some bottles with sugar drops, and bottled others by tossing sugar in "bottling bucket" and stupidly forgetting to have created a simple sugar solution beforehand (this required me to stir the beer for proper dissolving, which pained me).

2 weeks of sitting in warm closet. Tossed a bottle in the fridge for 3 days. Popped it open, and here are the tasting notes (non-professional):

- Great color and carbonation (somehow).
- Visually very appealing, only cloudy when sediment was poured in.
- Refreshing initial taste, but then gives way to a strange, sour aftertaste.
- Boozier taste than expected (though it did not "feel" heavier) - no I did not measure anything.
- Almost no hint of bitterness (yes it's a saison, but still)
- Unfortunately, no interesting and pleasurable tastes present (like citrus or peppercorn) that I was hoping for.
- Someone who tried it said it tasted like a lager.

So guys, any tips? How do I improve this batch next time, particularly to get rid of the strange sour aftertaste? Also, should I add more hops at different boil points?

THANKS!

 

[Avocado_Power]

Actually, in a perfect example of RDWHAHB, I cracked open a second bottle (way colder this time) and made sure to get the yeast off the bottom and I must say its a pleasant saison, not nearly as sour as the first...something I'll be proud to serve to friends. Not sure what the third bottle will bring (consistency may be the issue here given the two different fermenters and bottling methods), so my original post still applies!

 

[burninator]

Hey guys, just tried out my first batch of saison after a several-month brewing hiatus (moving to the Philippines) - a 2.5 gallon BIAB batch. Recipe loosely based off of that 1-gallon book (Beer Craft)...

Probably still very young. I'd give a saison a good month to 6 weeks in the bottle and then cold condition for a week.

 

[ericbw]

Hey guys, just tried out my first batch of saison after a several-month brewing hiatus (moving to the Philippines) - a 2.5 gallon BIAB batch. Recipe loosely based off of that 1-gallon book (Beer Craft)...



6 lbs Belgian Pilsner

12.5 oz Wheat

6.2 oz Vienna



0.25 oz magnum at 60 min

0.25 oz magnum at 15 min



Mashed for an hour anywhere from 149 - 152 F

Dunk sparge at 165

Took a freaking hour to cool off due to faulty connecter from wort chiller to sink (lots of improvising).

Threw in one vial of WLP565 (Saison ale yeast).



Fermented for 4 weeks in closet in both 2 gallon bucket and little brown keg. Temps ranged from low to mid 80s.



Bottled some bottles with sugar drops, and bottled others by tossing sugar in "bottling bucket" and stupidly forgetting to have created a simple sugar solution beforehand (this required me to stir the beer for proper dissolving, which pained me).



2 weeks of sitting in warm closet. Tossed a bottle in the fridge for 3 days. Popped it open, and here are the tasting notes (non-professional):



- Great color and carbonation (somehow).

- Visually very appealing, only cloudy when sediment was poured in.

- Refreshing initial taste, but then gives way to a strange, sour aftertaste.

- Boozier taste than expected (though it did not "feel" heavier) - no I did not measure anything.

- Almost no hint of bitterness (yes it's a saison, but still)

- Unfortunately, no interesting and pleasurable tastes present (like citrus or peppercorn) that I was hoping for.

- Someone who tried it said it tasted like a lager.



So guys, any tips? How do I improve this batch next time, particularly to get rid of the strange sour aftertaste? Also, should I add more hops at different boil points?



THANKS!

I think it will improve. Maybe increase the bittering hops a little bit?

 

[Opiate42]

So this was my first recipe, I have no reason or logic to it other than ..... "Hey why not?"

1 gallon batch
3 quarts mash (1 hour @ 152-158, stove top is inconsistent but I manage )
4 quarts sparge @ 170
75 minute boil

Batch one:
1.5 lbs Maris Otter
0.25 lbs Munich Dark
0.25 lbs Crystal 45
0.125 lbs Crystal 150
0.03125 lbs Chocolate malt
0.25 lbs CaraRye
0.1 lbs Rye Flakes

7g Columbus @ 75
7g Columbus @ 45
7g Columbus @30
7g Amarillo @ 15
7g Amarillo @ 5
7g Zythos @ 0

Yeast: Nottingham (re-hydrated for 15-20 minutes prior to pitching)

Batch Two:
Exact same malt bill but with a much smaller hop list (wanted to compare them side by side):
4g Columbus @ 75
4g Amarillo @ 40
2g Zythos @ 5

Batch one: was hoping for a bittersweet malty bastard with some nice rye overtones out of this and mostly succeeded, was not as sweet as I'd hoped but was damn drinkable none the less. Definitely not for people who aren't hop-heads with 42 grams of hops per gallon. Aromatic and bitter the way I like, heavy mouth feel, went down nice. Was afraid that this one was going to be so over the top as to be undrinkable but was happily surprised and was my favourite of the two.

Batch two: This is the one I was hoping for a smoother less sweet taste out of but wasn't quite my cup of tea though my friends and partner enjoyed it quite a bit. Found it too bitter and not flavourful enough, though did get nicer as it warmed and as the pint went down. Had higher hopes but hey.... still wasn't bad.

Carbing: I bottled both with 2tbsp honey and a 1/4 of water, same honey bottle both times. Batch one was perfect, not bombs, nice head.

But batch two foamed over and blew fountains when taking the caps off. Typically lost half a bottle to overflowing foam before I could salvage any of it. Curious how the smaller hop bill somehow aided over-carbing. I don't understand sugars for bottling well enough yet

Also, my closet (literally) for fermenting is usually at an ambient of 70-75F, higher than I'd like but in our tiny apartment there isn't space for a temp-controlled fermentation chamber of any kind. It serves it's purpose of keeping the carboys in the dark and the cats away from knocking them over but that's as much as I can do until we move to a bigger place.

 

[phug]

Did you check the gravity before bottling?


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[Opiate42]

Did you check the gravity before bottling?


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No but one of these days I should start again, stopped gravity checking a while back as I find sample taking on a 1 gallon to be a pain and you risk losing a bottles worth when you only get 8 or 9 to begin with... and I'm semi-lazy

 

[phug]

No but one of these days I should start again, stopped gravity checking a while back as I find sample taking on a 1 gallon to be a pain and you risk losing a bottles worth when you only get 8 or 9 to begin with... and I'm semi-lazy

it's possible one batch hadn't quite hit terminal gravity, in which case it still had some sugars to be et, that added to your primign sugar for a little extra carbonation.

and I'm hoping Santa brings me a sugar-water-kaleidescope-thingy so that I can check my 1 gallon batches more easily to see if they're done fermenting.

 

[30Bones]

it's possible one batch hadn't quite hit terminal gravity, in which case it still had some sugars to be et, that added to your primign sugar for a little extra carbonation.

and I'm hoping Santa brings me a sugar-water-kaleidescope-thingy so that I can check my 1 gallon batches more easily to see if they're done fermenting.

Make sure you take into account the alcohol content will skew the refractometer

 

[phug]

absolutely, but I'll mostly be using it just to check that fermentation is complete, and that there's no change in gravity. For that I'm pretty sure I can get away with no correction calculations. But as I get comfortable, I'll use one of the excel spreadsheets that I've seen that track based off your OG, and then correct for Alcohol.

 

[30Bones]

I have stopped checking FG for the most part if I am confident in my yeast.

 

[Avocado_Power]

Probably still very young. I'd give a saison a good month to 6 weeks in the bottle and then cold condition for a week.

Thanks - I'll try exactly that, as I still have about half of the batch still bottle conditioning. Is there any harm in taking out bottles from the fridge to let them continue to bottle condition at 80 degree temps?

 

[Avocado_Power]

I think it will improve. Maybe increase the bittering hops a little bit?

Yeah, I'm thinking I'll bump the amount up to 0.5 oz Magnum at the 60 min mark.

 

[Avocado_Power]

So this was my first recipe, I have no reason or logic to it other than ..... "Hey why not?"

1 gallon batch
3 quarts mash (1 hour @ 152-158, stove top is inconsistent but I manage )
4 quarts sparge @ 170
75 minute boil

Batch one:
1.5 lbs Maris Otter
0.25 lbs Munich Dark
0.25 lbs Crystal 45
0.125 lbs Crystal 150
0.03125 lbs Chocolate malt
0.25 lbs CaraRye
0.1 lbs Rye Flakes

7g Columbus @ 75
7g Columbus @ 45
7g Columbus @30
7g Amarillo @ 15
7g Amarillo @ 5
7g Zythos @ 0

Yeast: Nottingham (re-hydrated for 15-20 minutes prior to pitching)

Batch Two:
Exact same malt bill but with a much smaller hop list (wanted to compare them side by side):
4g Columbus @ 75
4g Amarillo @ 40
2g Zythos @ 5

Batch one: was hoping for a bittersweet malty bastard with some nice rye overtones out of this and mostly succeeded, was not as sweet as I'd hoped but was damn drinkable none the less. Definitely not for people who aren't hop-heads with 42 grams of hops per gallon. Aromatic and bitter the way I like, heavy mouth feel, went down nice. Was afraid that this one was going to be so over the top as to be undrinkable but was happily surprised and was my favourite of the two.

Batch two: This is the one I was hoping for a smoother less sweet taste out of but wasn't quite my cup of tea though my friends and partner enjoyed it quite a bit. Found it too bitter and not flavourful enough, though did get nicer as it warmed and as the pint went down. Had higher hopes but hey.... still wasn't bad.

Carbing: I bottled both with 2tbsp honey and a 1/4 of water, same honey bottle both times. Batch one was perfect, not bombs, nice head.

But batch two foamed over and blew fountains when taking the caps off. Typically lost half a bottle to overflowing foam before I could salvage any of it. Curious how the smaller hop bill somehow aided over-carbing. I don't understand sugars for bottling well enough yet

Also, my closet (literally) for fermenting is usually at an ambient of 70-75F, higher than I'd like but in our tiny apartment there isn't space for a temp-controlled fermentation chamber of any kind. It serves it's purpose of keeping the carboys in the dark and the cats away from knocking them over but that's as much as I can do until we move to a bigger place.

Wow that is weird how the one with less hops was the more drinkable one - and that is one intriguing malt bill btw! You mentioned that you carbed them the same way, yet the second batch had all the foam. I used to live in an apt with your same set up (ambient temps 70-75), no space for anything. I would usually use sugar drops (no problems until I switched brands and got nothing but endless foaming). I also used honey twice for a BBS and Homebrew Exchange recipe, respectively, and no foaming with honey.

This leads me to believe that the overcarbonation has something to do with your closet temp. The only time I had a bottle bomb was when I was fermenting in the spring and one day it was unseasonably warm, and my closet temps passed 80. BOOM went a 32 oz growler, which was 25% of my 1-gallon batch. So maybe your second batch was bottle conditioning in ambient temps that were higher than your first batch, and that was what led to excessive foaming?

 

[sumbrewindude]

A_Power - I hope you're not bottle conditioning in growlers, they're not pressure rated - they can, and will (as you've seen first hand) go boom if you're trying to pressurized them for carbonation. You can get some bombers (22.5oz) or if you have a market that has 1L glass bottled water, they are pressure rated and can be capped with a standard bottle cap.

All else fails, use plastic - but bottle carbing in a growler is a recipe for glass shards and spilled beer.

In other news, went to fill a bomber for a beer party tomorrow night and the keg kicked on me again! I'm digging kegs, but I hate not knowing when it's going to kick on me, like when I'm 5oz into a bomber and it starts spewing foam everywhere....

That makes 3 empty kegs and only one fermenter going right now - time to get brewing!

 

[Opiate42]

it's possible one batch hadn't quite hit terminal gravity, in which case it still had some sugars to be et, that added to your primign sugar for a little extra carbonation.

and I'm hoping Santa brings me a sugar-water-kaleidescope-thingy so that I can check my 1 gallon batches more easily to see if they're done fermenting.

Curious, had both batches brewed only days apart in the same closet and bottled after the same amount of days apart too. So confuzzled.

What is this magical device you speak of? :

I'm basically using a small flashlight to see if any bubbles are travelling through the liquid, not the best idea but what I got.

Make sure you take into account the alcohol content will skew the refractometer

Oh, that magical device, another toy I need

Wow that is weird how the one with less hops was the more drinkable one - and that is one intriguing malt bill btw! You mentioned that you carbed them the same way, yet the second batch had all the foam. I used to live in an apt with your same set up (ambient temps 70-75), no space for anything. I would usually use sugar drops (no problems until I switched brands and got nothing but endless foaming). I also used honey twice for a BBS and Homebrew Exchange recipe, respectively, and no foaming with honey.

This leads me to believe that the overcarbonation has something to do with your closet temp. The only time I had a bottle bomb was when I was fermenting in the spring and one day it was unseasonably warm, and my closet temps passed 80. BOOM went a 32 oz growler, which was 25% of my 1-gallon batch. So maybe your second batch was bottle conditioning in ambient temps that were higher than your first batch, and that was what led to excessive foaming?

Thanks I literally couldn't stop adding things to the malt list. Too excited.

Yah I found both quite drinkable actually (was super sad about the volume loss to foam) but the more hoppy more to my tastes. The less hoppy my partner and some friends preferred.

I'd used the same honey in each. My thought is leaning towards some temp variances in the mash led to the terminal gravity not being entirely where it should have been at the time although to my untrained eye it looked okay. My cheapass apartment electric stove top is pretty inconsistent.

 

[vivalavince]

Thoughts on my first recipe?

Brew Method: Extract
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 1 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 1.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.043
Efficiency: 35% (steeping grains only)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV (standard): 6.5%
IBU (tinseth): 58.25
SRM (morey): 8.55

FERMENTABLES:
1.5 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Extra Light (90.9%)

STEEPING GRAINS:
0.15 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 60L (9.1%)

HOPS:
3 g - Mosaic, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.5, Use: First Wort, IBU: 14.89
5 g - Mosaic, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 20.33
5 g - Mosaic, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.5, Use: Boil for 10 min, IBU: 14.86
5 g - Mosaic, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.5, Use: Boil for 5 min, IBU: 8.17
5 g - Mosaic, Type: Pellet, AA: 11.5, Use: Dry Hop for 7 days

YEAST:
White Labs - California Ale Yeast WLP001
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 76.5%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 68 - 73 F

 

[Calichusetts]

As a hop head, minimum I'd do a 5 gram addition at flameout or at least up the dry hop, otherwise...looks tasty

 

[sumbrewindude]

Vivalavince -

If it were mine, I'd drop the 15min addition, move the 5min addtion to flame out and double it then whirlpool, and then double the dry hop.
So - 3g FWH, 5g 10min, 10g 0m with whirlpool, 10g DH

Other than that, rock on. :rockin:

 

[vivalavince]

Would it be worth it to partial mash .15lbs of light munich with 1.5lbs of extra light DME?

 

[ohiobeer29]

A lot of great recipe's here

 

[Synap6]

I decided to retire my carboys.
I used a Mr Beer little brown keg for the first time, and bottled from it yesterday in a breeze. I also had another 1-gal batch in a carboy i had to bottle right after, and that was uber annoying to do alone.

So, between having to use a blow off tube, then an airlock, then cleaning all the necessary gear like autosiphon, tube, bottling wand, then having a rough time siphoning alone while holdong the wand and making sure the bottle doesnt overflow, all the while also making sure that the siphon doesnt hit the trub as i try and do all those things one handed, THEN having to clean it all including the krausen off the carboy and the dripping mess on the floor, i said screw it.

Bought a second little brown keg online. I bottle straight out of the spigot and thats that.
Hats off to you guys for sticking to 1-gal carboys, i just cant handle the headache.. It almost turns me off when i should instead be thrilled.