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treacheroustexan said:
I'm doing northern brewers bourbon barrel porter this week!
Click to expand...

Nice, that's the second one I did. Just be careful about the amount of water they tell you to use. I think my instructions said to boil 1.25 gallons but, as I later discovered, my boil off rate is about half a gallon per hour. I did not end up with much beer.

Also, if you're going to be like me and add a vanilla bean to the bourbon for some extra flavor, do not use a whole bean. Start with maybe a third. I'm aging my few remaining bottles while I wait for the vanilla flavor to mellow a bit.
 
srusinko said:
Nice, that's the second one I did. Just be careful about the amount of water they tell you to use. I think my instructions said to boil 1.25 gallons but, as I later discovered, my boil off rate is about half a gallon per hour. I did not end up with much beer.

Also, if you're going to be like me and add a vanilla bean to the bourbon for some extra flavor, do not use a whole bean. Start with maybe a third. I'm aging my few remaining bottles while I wait for the vanilla flavor to mellow a bit.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. Yeah I thought 1.25 was a little long, but it's only a 45 minute boil. I'l probably start with 1.5 gallons and then top up if I need to.

What kind of bourbon did you use? Did you soak the oak cubes in a jar with a little bit of the bourbon and dump everything in or did you just add the cubes after they soaked?
 
srusinko said:
Nice, that's the second one I did. Just be careful about the amount of water they tell you to use. I think my instructions said to boil 1.25 gallons but, as I later discovered, my boil off rate is about half a gallon per hour. I did not end up with much beer.

Also, if you're going to be like me and add a vanilla bean to the bourbon for some extra flavor, do not use a whole bean. Start with maybe a third. I'm aging my few remaining bottles while I wait for the vanilla flavor to mellow a bit.
Click to expand...

Yup. Another reason I always recommend doing your own calculations for water volumes, and not relying on general instructions that are meant to sort of kind of fit most brewers.
 
treacheroustexan said:
Thanks for the advice. Yeah I thought 1.25 was a little long, but it's only a 45 minute boil. I'l probably start with 1.5 gallons and then top up if I need to.

What kind of bourbon did you use? Did you soak the oak cubes in a jar with a little bit of the bourbon and dump everything in or did you just add the cubes after they soaked?
Click to expand...

I think I used Bulleit Bourbon, I just put the cubes in a glass and enough bourbon to cover them (along with the vanilla bean). I added the whole thing when I racked to secondary (I also probably wouldn't do a secondary fermentation if I brewed it again). Oh, be careful if you're pouring the cubes through a funnel, they got stuck in mine.
 
I think based on some of the directions I've seen that the writer didn't even brew the small batch, but thought that they could just extrapolate based on how cool they are as a 5g brewer.
 
treacheroustexan said:
Would I be an idiot to primary ferment a 1 gallon batch in a 1 gallon jug? I have a 3 gallon carboy but not sure what to do.
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I've done so, but you really need a blow off tube instead of using an airlock. There's still some headspace in the jug, but the krausen usually fills that up. I've switched to 2 gallon buckets instead.
 
She is in the fermenter. Started with 1.5 gallons and ended up with a little over a gallon after a 45 minute boil! Will be going to buy a bottle of Buffalo Trace in the morning and add some to the fermentation in a week or so
 
Day 1 of fermentation... what a freaking mess! Been checking on it all morning and all was fine. Went to the store and came back and beer everywhere. It blew the blow off tube off. Hope I don't lose a lot of the beer.
 
That's great! Too bad it exploded, but I am always happy when my beer is boiling away like that. When my second batch was going off just like yours looks, I lost about a pint of beer from my 1 gallon jug. That particular beer was pretty high gravity 1.073 like I think your is. Just baby sit it for a short time. You're probably already out of the woods even as I reply.
 
AZCoolerBrewer said:
That's great! Too bad it exploded, but I am always happy when my beer is boiling away like that. When my second batch was going off just like yours looks, I lost about a pint of beer from my 1 gallon jug. That particular beer was pretty high gravity 1.073 like I think your is. Just baby sit it for a short time. You're probably already out of the woods even as I reply.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. Yeah hopefully the worst is over with. Soaking my woodchips in whiskey now to add next week or so.
 
Guys, i am new to brewing and i want to try this recipe this weekend, i already got the ingredients for what i think would be a 1 gallon scaling of this recipe.

Could you please help me confirm if this looks like a 5 gallon recipe and what would you do to scale it to 1 gallon?

Also, i am a little uncertain about the step-by-step, temperatures and when to add the corn sugar...

All help is really appreciated :)

Thanks

-----------------------------------------------------
EXTRACT:
6 lbs Dried light malt extract (DME)
1 lbs corn sugar

HOPS
60 minutes
.50 oz warrior
.50 oz Magnum
.25 oz northern brewer
.25 oz columbus

30 minutes
.50 oz crystal
.25 oz centennial
.25 oz Simcoe

0 minutes
1.0 oz Amarillo

DRY HOP
2.0 oz of Amarillo
2.0 oz of Simcoe

YEAST
White labs california Ale yeast wlp001
-----------------------------------------------------
 
treacheroustexan said:
Would I be an idiot to primary ferment a 1 gallon batch in a 1 gallon jug? I have a 3 gallon carboy but not sure what to do.
Click to expand...

I also do ferment my 1G recipes in a 1G jug along with a blowoff tube and bottle. While it works fine, it'd probably be better to use a 2G or bigger jug or bucket.
 
So Ive Got my First two 1g brews in primary (Ruby Ale and Coffee Stout) and was woundering about conditioning.

I normally (with 5g brews) Barrel Condition for a few weeks first then re-prime for bottling.

Can I use a 1g Demijohn for this or will it just pop?
 
Normally you'd ferment in a fermenter for 3 weeks and then bottle. After bottling, leave it alone for 4 weeks, as carbonating and conditioning would then occur in the bottle. Or at least this is what I do and what was recommended to me.
 
TonyKZ1 said:
Normally you'd ferment in a fermenter for 3 weeks and then bottle. After bottling, leave it alone for 4 weeks, as carbonating and conditioning would then occur in the bottle. Or at least this is what I do and what was recommended to me.
Click to expand...
Ive always fermented for 7-10 days then transfered to a primed pressure barrel to get the beer off the sediment and clear for longer so theirs no harsh bitterness, then re-prime and bottle about 2-4 weeks after that then in Bottles for again 2-4 weeks, takes lomger but a way better resulting beer.

Just woundering if a Demijohn would take the pressure?
 
luizffgarcia said:
Guys, i am new to brewing and i want to try this recipe this weekend, i already got the ingredients for what i think would be a 1 gallon scaling of this recipe.

Could you please help me confirm if this looks like a 5 gallon recipe and what would you do to scale it to 1 gallon?

Also, i am a little uncertain about the step-by-step, temperatures and when to add the corn sugar...

All help is really appreciated :)

Thanks

-----------------------------------------------------
EXTRACT:
6 lbs Dried light malt extract (DME)
1 lbs corn sugar
Click to expand...

That much DME, it's either a 5 gallon recipe, or a recipe for whisky. :)

General rule of thumb, most recipes I see call for 1 to 1.5 lbs. of extract per gallon. Total ball park (i.e. I've put it in no brewing software and I'm still green at recipe formulation myself), this would give your an OG of 1.060 or 1.070. Easiest way to convert is just divide those values by 5, so 1.25 lbs DME and 0.2 lbs sugar.

I left off the hops because I can't answer that one. A lot depends on if you do a partial or full boil, or a less than 60 minute boil, or the alpha acids of the hops. I would look for some brewing software to help out here, since it's not as simple a calculation. Maybe for a first recipe and you're just trying to make something tasty you can divide everything by 5, but if you're trying to clone something, it's trickier.

For the yeast, just dump the whole thing in. It's not like you want an vial sitting around in your fridge. :)
 
This is kind of a yeast question, but in the context of doing one gallon batches so I thought it might be best to put it here.

I've been brewing one gallon batches for a couple months and almost always use a half packet of rehydrated dry yeast (mostly US-05). However, I really want to try making some Vermont style IPAs and so I just ordered some Conan yeast.

This will be my first time using liquid yeast and I really don't want to pay $10 for a single use. I've harvested yeast after fermentation but lately I've been reading about harvesting from a starter. Have any other one gallon brewers done something similar to get more use from a yeast?

I was thinking of doing something like the following.

1) Make 2 liter starter with DME and pitch yeast.
2) After process completes, gently swirl (?) so everything is suspended in the liquid.
3) Pour into 4 sanitized pint jars and refrigerate.
4) When yeast is needed, decant and pitch. Should I consider making a small starter to test yeast health?

Am I way off in any of this?
 
srusinko said:
This is kind of a yeast question, but in the context of doing one gallon batches so I thought it might be best to put it here.

I've been brewing one gallon batches for a couple months and almost always use a half packet of rehydrated dry yeast (mostly US-05). However, I really want to try making some Vermont style IPAs and so I just ordered some Conan yeast.

This will be my first time using liquid yeast and I really don't want to pay $10 for a single use. I've harvested yeast after fermentation but lately I've been reading about harvesting from a starter. Have any other one gallon brewers done something similar to get more use from a yeast?

I was thinking of doing something like the following.

1) Make 2 liter starter with DME and pitch yeast.
2) After process completes, gently swirl (?) so everything is suspended in the liquid.
3) Pour into 4 sanitized pint jars and refrigerate.
4) When yeast is needed, decant and pitch. Should I consider making a small starter to test yeast health?

Am I way off in any of this?
Click to expand...

This sounds pretty reasonable, but I would just make sure you're going to be using the yeast fairly soon (a couple of months, tops). Otherwise, I'd make a starter from part of the liquid yeast and pour the rest directly into sanitized centrifuge tubes.
 
bransona said:
This sounds pretty reasonable, but I would just make sure you're going to be using the yeast fairly soon (a couple of months, tops). Otherwise, I'd make a starter from part of the liquid yeast and pour the rest directly into sanitized centrifuge tubes.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I am planning on using them on batches over the next 2-3 months hopefully (and then possibly harvesting from those for the next round).
 
This is what I woke up to...3 gallon carboy next time for sure...

I'm not even cleaning this up for a week or so until fermentation is done.

wow.jpg
 
srusinko said:
This is kind of a yeast question, but in the context of doing one gallon batches so I thought it might be best to put it here.



I've been brewing one gallon batches for a couple months and almost always use a half packet of rehydrated dry yeast (mostly US-05). However, I really want to try making some Vermont style IPAs and so I just ordered some Conan yeast.



This will be my first time using liquid yeast and I really don't want to pay $10 for a single use. I've harvested yeast after fermentation but lately I've been reading about harvesting from a starter. Have any other one gallon brewers done something similar to get more use from a yeast?



I was thinking of doing something like the following.



1) Make 2 liter starter with DME and pitch yeast.

2) After process completes, gently swirl (?) so everything is suspended in the liquid.

3) Pour into 4 sanitized pint jars and refrigerate.

4) When yeast is needed, decant and pitch. Should I consider making a small starter to test yeast health?



Am I way off in any of this?
Click to expand...


If you're doing 1 gallon batches, you might save it in even smaller jars. A half pint should grow into a starter for a gallon. So you could end up with 8 jars to use.
 
ayrlander said:
That much DME, it's either a 5 gallon recipe, or a recipe for whisky. :)

General rule of thumb, most recipes I see call for 1 to 1.5 lbs. of extract per gallon. Total ball park (i.e. I've put it in no brewing software and I'm still green at recipe formulation myself), this would give your an OG of 1.060 or 1.070. Easiest way to convert is just divide those values by 5, so 1.25 lbs DME and 0.2 lbs sugar.

I left off the hops because I can't answer that one. A lot depends on if you do a partial or full boil, or a less than 60 minute boil, or the alpha acids of the hops. I would look for some brewing software to help out here, since it's not as simple a calculation. Maybe for a first recipe and you're just trying to make something tasty you can divide everything by 5, but if you're trying to clone something, it's trickier.

For the yeast, just dump the whole thing in. It's not like you want an vial sitting around in your fridge. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help.

And how long into the boil would you put the corn sugar? Right in the beginning? At the end?
 
ericbw said:
If you're doing 1 gallon batches, you might save it in even smaller jars. A half pint should grow into a starter for a gallon. So you could end up with 8 jars to use.
Click to expand...

Thanks. My only concern was that my smallest jars are pint-sized and I worried about the effects of oxygen during storage (is that a real concern?).
 
Looking to start brewing 1 gallon batches for my first time. I wanted to ask as far as the brewing aspect if 1 x 2 gallon pot and 1 x 1 gallon pot is sufficient? That's in just the brewing up, sparging, transferring, what may. That's what I have on hand. Do I need at least a 3 gallon pot to do 1 gallon batches? This will be all-grain recipes by the way.
 
srusinko said:
This is kind of a yeast question, but in the context of doing one gallon batches so I thought it might be best to put it here.

I've been brewing one gallon batches for a couple months and almost always use a half packet of rehydrated dry yeast (mostly US-05). However, I really want to try making some Vermont style IPAs and so I just ordered some Conan yeast.

This will be my first time using liquid yeast and I really don't want to pay $10 for a single use. I've harvested yeast after fermentation but lately I've been reading about harvesting from a starter. Have any other one gallon brewers done something similar to get more use from a yeast?

I was thinking of doing something like the following.

1) Make 2 liter starter with DME and pitch yeast.
2) After process completes, gently swirl (?) so everything is suspended in the liquid.
3) Pour into 4 sanitized pint jars and refrigerate.
4) When yeast is needed, decant and pitch. Should I consider making a small starter to test yeast health?

Am I way off in any of this?
Click to expand...

I use the 25ml bottle pre-forms from amazon for saving yeast. I try to get as much direct slurry from the bottom of the fermenter as I can using a turkey baster. This usually gets me enough yeast to not need a starter for anything under a 2.5 gallon batch until around 9 months old.

SAM_0903.JPG
 
Holiday101 said:
Looking to start brewing 1 gallon batches for my first time. I wanted to ask as far as the brewing aspect if 1 x 2 gallon pot and 1 x 1 gallon pot is sufficient? That's in just the brewing up, sparging, transferring, what may. That's what I have on hand. Do I need at least a 3 gallon pot to do 1 gallon batches? This will be all-grain recipes by the way.
Click to expand...

I brew with a 3 gallon pot, but I think you'll be fine with a 2 gallon. Preboil volume for me is about 1.45gal. Just watch it like a hawk for a boil over during the hot break and you should be fine.
 
Holiday101 said:
Looking to start brewing 1 gallon batches for my first time. I wanted to ask as far as the brewing aspect if 1 x 2 gallon pot and 1 x 1 gallon pot is sufficient? That's in just the brewing up, sparging, transferring, what may. That's what I have on hand. Do I need at least a 3 gallon pot to do 1 gallon batches? This will be all-grain recipes by the way.
Click to expand...

I make 1.5 gallons happen in a 9qt kettle. I just move the kettle off the heat repeatedly once hot break starts. It'll stop eventually and you can boil as much as 2 gallons at once. I do biab and have used nearly five pounds of malt in a brew with no trouble.
 
For my AG 1G recipes, I use a 3G (12qt) pot mainly because that's what we've got (my wife's stockpot) and I do the BIAB (brew in a bag), however looking at Brooklyn Brew Shop's instructions, they recommend using an 8qt stock pot and says a second pot would be handy. So I think you'd be just fine with the two pots.
 
Hey thanks. I think if I do the BIAB method it would be the easiest for what I have however I also think as long as I have another vessel of adequate size, like a 2 gallon food grade bucket, I can do regular all-grain brewing. This would be in regards to sparging, which I would do over the bucket and then transfer the wort back to the primary pot to boil.

Only other consideration is the cost vs batch size. I noticed for example 1 gallon kits work out to being per bottle the same price as a moderately priced craft beer or import. So it looks like it makes more sense to buy larger quantities of malts etc. and just tailor to batch size. I may then buy a few 1 gallon fermentor vessels to do multiple batches and see what different kind of beers I can make with the malts, etc. I get in bulk. Only other consideration is not wasting yeast packets meant for larger batches.
 
Holiday101 said:
Hey thanks. I think if I do the BIAB method it would be the easiest for what I have however I also think as long as I have another vessel of adequate size, like a 2 gallon food grade bucket, I can do regular all-grain brewing. This would be in regards to sparging, which I would do over the bucket and then transfer the wort back to the primary pot to boil.

Only other consideration is the cost vs batch size. I noticed for example 1 gallon kits work out to being per bottle the same price as a moderately priced craft beer or import. So it looks like it makes more sense to buy larger quantities of malts etc. and just tailor to batch size. I may then buy a few 1 gallon fermentor vessels to do multiple batches and see what different kind of beers I can make with the malts, etc. I get in bulk. Only other consideration is not wasting yeast packets meant for larger batches.
Click to expand...

I buy in bulk due to the ridiculous costs of kits. I also just love making my own recipes. The cost is very reasonable, sometimes down to 25 cents a bottle. I use primarily dry yeast, but always make sure to brew again soon after a batch so that I can save and use the rest of the yeast sachet. Or, I'll just brew on bottling day and pitch yeast directly from one fermenter to the next. It spreads the cost out nicely. I also would advocate for biab. I get 80% efficiency and don't spend more than 4 hours on a brew day thanks to the rapid squeeze sparge you can do with a bag.
 
luizffgarcia said:
Thanks for the help.

And how long into the boil would you put the corn sugar? Right in the beginning? At the end?
Click to expand...

I think the general rule of thumb is 15 minutes before the end of the boil to sterilize it. I looked for some recipes, and the ones I saw either did that, or at the start of the boil, so I think you'd be okay either way.
 

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