1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[HopSong]

Thanks Mark.. that's helpful..

I've just done my first 1G batch yesterday.. the Boston Brew Everyday IPA. BOY, was I surprised at the boil off.. I started with 2G of water.. half in the mash and half in the sparge per instructions. I don't have a marked spoon so I don't know how much water was absorbed.. but possibly 2 qts (?) Anyhow I did my 1 hour boil after sparging with the other 1.5 gallons and by the time I poured it into the fermenter I was left with only 1/2G. and a pretty high gravity.. so I topped it off with boiled and cooled RO/Tap water blend to 1G. Ended up with a 1.056 OG.

So, this brings me to my question which I should possibly ask as a different thread.. but let's see how this goes. I've never had an excessive boiloff doing 5G batches.. probably due to the size of the pot.. taller than diameter dimensions. However, for this 1G.. size matters I guess.

Assuming I know I will have a 1G boil off in my hour.. is there any problem with adding an extra gallon to the BK after I do the sparge? That way I won't have such concentrated wort that will have to be diluted later??? I know I can't do it before with sparge water cuz I run the risk of extracting tannins.

What say you 1 gallon brewers??? Lend a hand?

 

[The_Glue]

Thanks Mark.. that's helpful..

I've just done my first 1G batch yesterday.. the Boston Brew Everyday IPA. BOY, was I surprised at the boil off.. I started with 2G of water.. half in the mash and half in the sparge per instructions. I don't have a marked spoon so I don't know how much water was absorbed.. but possibly 2 qts (?) Anyhow I did my 1 hour boil after sparging with the other 1.5 gallons and by the time I poured it into the fermenter I was left with only 1/2G. and a pretty high gravity.. so I topped it off with boiled and cooled RO/Tap water blend to 1G. Ended up with a 1.056 OG.

So, this brings me to my question which I should possibly ask as a different thread.. but let's see how this goes. I've never had an excessive boiloff doing 5G batches.. probably due to the size of the pot.. taller than diameter dimensions. However, for this 1G.. size matters I guess.

Assuming I know I will have a 1G boil off in my hour.. is there any problem with adding an extra gallon to the BK after I do the sparge? That way I won't have such concentrated wort that will have to be diluted later??? I know I can't do it before with sparge water cuz I run the risk of extracting tannins.

What say you 1 gallon brewers??? Lend a hand?

I think it is ok to add water to top up your beer. I've seen here that water and wort does not mixes too well at this stage so your gravity readings can be off. I personally add water during the boil to keep the concentration low for better hop utilization.

(i do BIAB so i don't know anything about sparging)

 

[BigRock947]

Thanks Mark.. that's helpful..

I've just done my first 1G batch yesterday.. the Boston Brew Everyday IPA. BOY, was I surprised at the boil off.. I started with 2G of water.. half in the mash and half in the sparge per instructions. I don't have a marked spoon so I don't know how much water was absorbed.. but possibly 2 qts (?) Anyhow I did my 1 hour boil after sparging with the other 1.5 gallons and by the time I poured it into the fermenter I was left with only 1/2G. and a pretty high gravity.. so I topped it off with boiled and cooled RO/Tap water blend to 1G. Ended up with a 1.056 OG.

So, this brings me to my question which I should possibly ask as a different thread.. but let's see how this goes. I've never had an excessive boiloff doing 5G batches.. probably due to the size of the pot.. taller than diameter dimensions. However, for this 1G.. size matters I guess.

Assuming I know I will have a 1G boil off in my hour.. is there any problem with adding an extra gallon to the BK after I do the sparge? That way I won't have such concentrated wort that will have to be diluted later??? I know I can't do it before with sparge water cuz I run the risk of extracting tannins.

What say you 1 gallon brewers??? Lend a hand?

I noticed an excessive boil off when I switched to 1 gallon so I turned down the heat so I got nice moving boil and not the violent boil most brewers suggest....I know what your thinking but when I did 5gallons on my stove top I couldn't get a strong boil back then either and my beer tasted fine to me. Maybe I'm not picky but it worked for me. So when I went to a smaller volume of wort my stove could really boil it and I got the same result as you....3/4 gallon of concentrated wort. I think I topped up with water to the fermentor to get 1 gallon.

Otherwise you could just mash with extra 1/2 gallon water and sparge with an extra 1/2 gallon of water. You might need to play with your techniques to get the results you want...but that's the fun part.

 

[HopSong]

I like the idea of of adding water during the boil to keep the level up.. rather than during the mash or sparge. It seems a great way to maintain the level without thinning out the mash too much or risking leaching tannins and sparging below a gravity of 1.010 which I've read you want to stay away from.

Fortunately this first 1g batch didn't need much of a blow-off.. I was worried about having so little headspace in the jug. I did add a blow-off.. but I think I only lost about 1-2 oz. It has dramatically settled after 36 hours. I see activity. but no bubbles.. so obviously airlock activity means nothing.. but I knew that already There is one HECK of a lot of sediment at the bottom of the jug. Be interesting to see how much beer I actually get out of the batch.. May be lucky to get a brewers 6 pack. We'll see. I've maintained the cooling bath at 67* through out.. not quite sure how that translates to the internal beer temp..

But, so far so good...

I'll do the rest of the 1g kits I got with the four Brooklyn kits I got on the BevMo sale.. Then I may just increase the recipe to make 2g batches and ferment in the MrBeer fermenters I bought and sell the 1g equipment on Craigslist. That should be easy. I don't know how well the "world" knows about that sale. I had to bring two of the four back due to thermometers being shipped upside down and the red liquid separated. Not many left.. But the big problem with the kits are that they are outdated. I still used them and they will likely make good beer. But BevMo is now selling the MrBeer Premium kits for about $10 off.

I bought my MrBeer fermenters directly from MrBeer.. they sell them for $10 ea and if you buy two, the shipping is reduced.. not bad. One thing good about them.. besides being larger is that they aren't breakable glass.. and they are dark brown.. so I don't really have to keep them covered with a towel in my spare bathroom/brewery during the day.

Lots of fun finding out about smaller batches. I found I didn't really have a shorter brew day tho. I prepared my tap water by boiling two days before and let it sit on the stove overnight to eliminate the chlorine. I also purchased a 5g bottle or RO water two days before.. that was taken care and I adjusted the chemistry of the water the day before. Brew day, I boiled the water.. that took less time base on the smaller volume.. but not much.. because I do my 5+ gal boils on a Blichmann burner which is HOT and boils that water rapidly.. Natural gas on the stove.. not nearly as hot. From that point on.. the rest was pretty much the same except for chilling. Chilling a 5g batch takes about 20 min with a chiller.. Chilling the 1g batch takes about 10m in the ice/water in the sink. The other adjustment I made was the mash pH.. I'm still learning to use the pH meter.. so, I'm not quite as adept at this as I will after doing it a few more times.. and learning how much acid to add to the mash to bring it to the proper value.

So the take away is.. doing the lower volumes wiil get better as I brew them more frequently.. and the process issues like water and mash chemistry will get faster as I do it over and over.

+1 for small volumes.

 

[HopSong]

So, you 1g brewers.. I just brewed my first Brooklyn Everyday IPA kit.. I think I have more trub in the bottom of my 1g fermenter than when I brew a 5g ag. Do you find this also??? Sheesh.. I think I have a bout 1/4 trub. But I'm only 3 days into it.. some of it may disappear or compact???

 

[The_Glue]

So, you 1g brewers.. I just brewed my first Brooklyn Everyday IPA kit.. I think I have more trub in the bottom of my 1g fermenter than when I brew a 5g ag. Do you find this also??? Sheesh.. I think I have a bout 1/4 trub. But I'm only 3 days into it.. some of it may disappear or compact???

it will compact a bit

for example in one of my brews the trub kinda disappeared and i got only a huge amount of whiteish yeast left, it was like the yeast completely ate everything.

i like to filter my wort when i put it into the fermenter but when i bottle my beer i leave like 1/4 of it behind, the bottom is just too messy/yeasty.

to be honest i don't even get 10 bottles out of my batches

 

[GeorgiaMead]

What is the best way to carb beer if you are bottling? I don't have carb drops or a scale... A tsp of table sugar in each bottle? Any help is much appreciated

 

[Leadgolem]

What is the best way to carb beer if you are bottling? I don't have carb drops or a scale... A tsp of table sugar in each bottle? Any help is much appreciated

These might be helpful.
http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html
http://www.ochef.com/1533.htm

So, about 2 tbs/gallon of table sugar. Dissolve that in a either a little bit of water, or in some brew. Then mix it well with the rest of the batch before you bottle.

 

[wetroads]

So, you 1g brewers.. I just brewed my first Brooklyn Everyday IPA kit.. I think I have more trub in the bottom of my 1g fermenter than when I brew a 5g ag. Do you find this also??? Sheesh.. I think I have a bout 1/4 trub. But I'm only 3 days into it.. some of it may disappear or compact???

Don't worry (yet!). I suspect it will compact for you.

Lee
www.picobrew.co.uk

 

[Flomaster]

So, you 1g brewers.. I just brewed my first Brooklyn Everyday IPA kit.. I think I have more trub in the bottom of my 1g fermenter than when I brew a 5g ag. Do you find this also??? Sheesh.. I think I have a bout 1/4 trub. But I'm only 3 days into it.. some of it may disappear or compact???

cold crash (just put it in the fridge) the gallon jug 2 days before you plan on bottling.


-=Jason=-

 

[schmeek]

I plan my recipes to have about 1.5 gallons of wort to be chilled in the kettle, then siphon into two separate gallon carboys leaving about 1/4 gal behind so I dont suck up any break material. I use two carboys in order to leave space for the krausen. After 2 weeks I cold crash and siphon the beer off the trub from both carboys and combine them into one for dry hopping or I just bottle at that point. Head space doesn't affect the beer in primary, so in order to get closer to a full gallon I split the fermentation.

 

[Opiate42]

I live in an apartment with my SO and two cats, not a lot of kitchen or workspace available so getting started on home brew with 1 gallon kits has been a dream I'm glad a friend introduced me to.

When we eventually get more space and upgrade to larger equipment I still plan on using the 1 gallon carboys to test out recipes and scale up the ones I find work well.

So, you 1g brewers.. I just brewed my first Brooklyn Everyday IPA kit.. I think I have more trub in the bottom of my 1g fermenter than when I brew a 5g ag. Do you find this also??? Sheesh.. I think I have a bout 1/4 trub. But I'm only 3 days into it.. some of it may disappear or compact???

This was the first kit I ever cooked up myself not long ago, was happily surprised how well it turned out even though I can count how many places I'd messed up the recipe (cheap apartment stove is hard to maintain a temp on).

I did find the trub was huge at the bottom but leveled out by bottling time. I was a bit sloppy on siphoning so still ended up with a pile of sediment at the bottom of the bottles, but nothing terrible.

 

[FatsSchindee]

I plan my recipes to have about 1.5 gallons of wort to be chilled in the kettle, then siphon into two separate gallon carboys leaving about 1/4 gal behind so I dont suck up any break material. I use two carboys in order to leave space for the krausen. After 2 weeks I cold crash and siphon the beer off the trub from both carboys and combine them into one for dry hopping or I just bottle at that point. Head space doesn't affect the beer in primary, so in order to get closer to a full gallon I split the fermentation.

That's a great idea. I did my first one gal batch of beer recently, and even with putting in almost a full gallon into the fermentor (I used a blow-off tube, knowing that the head space was limited), I still ended up with only about 3/4 gal after racking off the trub to lager. I think I'll give this a try next time. Also, Making one wort into two one-gal fermentors would be a good way to compare two dif yeasts, dry-hop vs. no dry-hop, add fruit to half, or some other side by side experiment (without blending them back into one, of course)...

 

[bleme]

Making one wort into two one-gal fermentors would be a good way to compare two dif yeasts, dry-hop vs. no dry-hop, add fruit to half, or some other side by side experiment.

This is my favorite use for one gallon batches. My memory is imperfect so side-by-side is the only way for me to see how small changes effect an outcome. It also lets me perfect a recipe 5 times faster.

 

[FatsSchindee]

That's a great idea. I did my first one gal batch of beer recently...

And here's the recipe for it, a Bohemian Pilsener brewed with brown sugar (I just posted it in the recipe forum as well, with more of a discussion about what I used and why):

Brown Sugar BoPils 1 Gal

Style: Bohemian Pilsener OG: 1.051
Type: Partial Mash FG: 1.014
Rating: 0.0 ABV: 4.79 %
Calories: 166.64 IBU's: 32.33
Efficiency: 78.00 % Boil Size: 1.90 Gals
Color: 6.8 SRM Batch Size: 1.00 Gals
Preboil OG: 1.030 Boil Time: 90 minutes

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
8.00 ozs 32.00 % Pilsner (2 Row) Ger 45 mins 1.037
2.00 ozs 8.00 % Cara-Pils/Dextrine 45 mins 1.033
1.00 ozs 4.00 % Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L 45 mins 1.035
4.00 ozs 16.00 % Briess DME Pilsen 90 mins 1.043
8.00 ozs 32.00 % Briess DME Pilsen 0 mins 1.043
2.00 ozs 8.00 % Brown Sugar, Dark 0 mins 1.046

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
0.25 ozs 16.52 Saaz 60 mins 3.20
0.25 ozs 12.70 Saaz 30 mins 3.20
0.13 ozs 3.12 Saaz 10 mins 3.20
0.13 ozs 0.00 Saaz 0 mins 3.20

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
75 B cells Southern German Lager White Labs 0838

Additions
Amount Name Time Stage
0.25 each Whirlfloc Tablet 150 mins Boil

Mash Profile
Profile Name: Partial Mash

Grain Temp: 78.00 °F Mash Tun Vol Loss: 0.00 Gals
Grain Absorption: 0.13 Gals/lb Tun Temp Loss: 4.00 °F
Cooling Shrinkage: 4.00 % Kettle Trub Loss: 0.13 Gals
Hourly Boiloff: 0.50 Gals/hr

Mash Steps:
Mash (BIAB) 45 [email protected]°F
Add 0.80 qts water @ 172.2°F
Dunk Sparge 10 [email protected]°F
Add 0.50 qts water @ 170.0°F
(null)
Sparge 6.66 qts water @ 0.00 °F

Water Profile
(none)

Fermentation Steps
Name Days / Temp
Primary 20 days @ 50.0°F
Primary 7 days @ 64.0°F
Lager 46 days @ 34.0°F

Carbonation
Bottle Carbonation
Desired Vol of CO2: 2.30 Vols
Beer Temperature: 75.00 °F
Residual CO2 in Beer: 0.78
Corn Sugar Required: 0.61 ozs

Notes
(none)
www.iBrewMaster.com Version: 1.0.9

The attached pic shows it (on the right) next to the standard of the style, Pilsner Urquell...

 

[HopSong]

cold crash (just put it in the fridge) the gallon jug 2 days before you plan on bottling.


-=Jason=-

Actually, the beer is clearing nicely from top to bottom.. but, the sludge on the bottom, while compacting.. is still huge. For a 1g batch.. I'd guess it's almost as much as I get in a 5g batch.. not quite.. but a lot.

 

[JohnSand]

What is the best way to carb beer if you are bottling? I don't have carb drops or a scale... A tsp of table sugar in each bottle? Any help is much appreciated

I find it easier to bottle prime with Domino Dots. They are 1/2 teaspoon sugar cubes (check the size, there are two, I'm told). One in each bottle works fine.

 

[divrguy]

I find it easier to bottle prime with Domino Dots. They are 1/2 teaspoon sugar cubes (check the size, there are two, I'm told). One in each bottle works fine.

Do you use the smaller dots? Sounds like a better deal than carb drops if they work good.

 

[GeorgiaMead]

Awesome I made a simple syrup with 2tbs and mixed that in before bottling... So fingers crossed it not over carbed or under carbed...

 

[JohnSand]

I think so. They are 1/2 teaspoon, there are 198 in a pound. (I didn't do the math, it says so on the box.)

 

[Leadgolem]

Awesome I made a simple syrup with 2tbs and mixed that in before bottling... So fingers crossed it not over carbed or under carbed...

I think so. They are 1/2 teaspoon, there are 198 in a pound. (I didn't do the math, it says so on the box.)

Yup, for 1 gallon it should be about right.

This says 1 gallon with 2.7 volumes would require 1 oz of sugar at 75f.
http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

This says 1 tbs = .5 oz.
http://www.ochef.com/1533.htm

 

[janelf]

I keep my fermenting jugs in an old beer case box and right now I have an IPA and a thanksgiving ale. My girlfriend is one of those people that can't leave anything in the same place and move my box. Now am not sure which one is which. They are about the same color. I need to dry hop the IPA and cold crash the thanksgiving ale. I guess I should be able to smell the spices in the Thanksgiving ale. I guess I should label my jugs next time.

 

[GeorgiaMead]

Or backhand her for touching your booze with out permission!


Labeling might be an easier way but the back hand she'd never forget... Ha ha

 

[divrguy]

I think I saw someone mention this recently and if so... Sorry for the repeat. BEVMO has the Brooklyn brew kit everyday IPA kits on clearance right now for $5. Has a 1 gallon FERMENTOR, racking cane that's pretty useless but an airlock and grains with some tubing. I hit a store today and they were marked $9.99 but again at the register $5 I'm going to start experimenting with meads, graff's and ciders so this is perfect. I bought 6 kits. Can't beat that deal with a stick!

 

[HopSong]

I bought 4 of them hoping to do small batches. I had an issue(s) with my first batch.. First there is NOT enough headspace to do beer, IMO. This Everyday IPA is not a big beer.. and I had, luckily, a blowoff. There wasn't much that was blown off.. maybe a couple ounces.. but..

The amount of trub was literally as much as I get in a 5g batch.. also, the krausen that rose to the top coagulated into a thick dryish mass that I had to dig out with a sanitized spoon before I could get my auto siphon into the jug. I ended up with about 3/4 of a gallon of beer that is now in a secondary. I have three batches left. I think what I'll do is either sell them on Craigslist or just keep them and maybe make one 3g batch in my regular fermenter. As far as the jugs go, I'm going to probably use them as secondaries when I make 2g batches of apple cider and use them for secondary treatment with adjunct flavors.

I thought this would be great as I wanted to get into small batches of beer.. but… looks like she's a nota gonna work for me.

 

[The_Glue]

I bought 4 of them hoping to do small batches. I had an issue(s) with my first batch.. First there is NOT enough headspace to do beer, IMO. This Everyday IPA is not a big beer.. and I had, luckily, a blowoff. There wasn't much that was blown off.. maybe a couple ounces.. but..

The amount of trub was literally as much as I get in a 5g batch.. also, the krausen that rose to the top coagulated into a thick dryish mass that I had to dig out with a sanitized spoon before I could get my auto siphon into the jug. I ended up with about 3/4 of a gallon of beer that is now in a secondary. I have three batches left. I think what I'll do is either sell them on Craigslist or just keep them and maybe make one 3g batch in my regular fermenter. As far as the jugs go, I'm going to probably use them as secondaries when I make 2g batches of apple cider and use them for secondary treatment with adjunct flavors.

I thought this would be great as I wanted to get into small batches of beer.. but… looks like she's a nota gonna work for me.

I have only brewed 7 batches so far, using a brewferm top fermenting yeast at first and then us-05 for the rest, using 1.6grams of yeast to 4.5grams, gravities ranging from 1.050 to 1.090 and i have never had more than 1 inch of krausen. My ferm temps have never went above 68F though. Well, i don't even really get krausen, it is just foam.

 

[HopSong]

I could deal with the krausen.. it's all the break material on the bottom.. HUGE..

Next time, I'm going to take my own advice and strain the wort thru my BIAB bag.. that is VERY fine material and should do a much better job than the strainer I used on this one.

 

[divrguy]

I bought 4 of them hoping to do small batches. I had an issue(s) with my first batch.. First there is NOT enough headspace to do beer, IMO. This Everyday IPA is not a big beer.. and I had, luckily, a blowoff. There wasn't much that was blown off.. maybe a couple ounces.. but.. The amount of trub was literally as much as I get in a 5g batch.. also, the krausen that rose to the top coagulated into a thick dryish mass that I had to dig out with a sanitized spoon before I could get my auto siphon into the jug. I ended up with about 3/4 of a gallon of beer that is now in a secondary. I have three batches left. I think what I'll do is either sell them on Craigslist or just keep them and maybe make one 3g batch in my regular fermenter. As far as the jugs go, I'm going to probably use them as secondaries when I make 2g batches of apple cider and use them for secondary treatment with adjunct flavors. I thought this would be great as I wanted to get into small batches of beer.. but… looks like she's a nota gonna work for me.

I actually had no intentions on brewing beer in these as I usually use my 2G buckets for small batches. I'm sure you can though as I've been following this thread, many do. Maybe a blowoff tube and a better bag to filter would make the difference.

Since I ended up buying 6 kits, I plan on putting all those together, adding some more hops and brewing it as a 5 gallon batch. I really plan on using the small fermenters for meads, ciders graff's braggots.. Etc

 

[PistolaPete]

I just bought some more 1 gal Brooklyn kits for only $30 each! Excited to brew them up this weekend! I didn't see any on their website, but you can call or email them for availability.

http://www.urbansunshine.com

 

[HopSong]

Did you miss them at BevMo for $10? I think they actually had close outs for $5.99.

I made a batch.. tastes good pre carb.. but, the kits, IMO, should be for 3/4 gal.. there is NO headspace. I guess I could have made a higher gravity beer with 3/4 gal rather than the full gallon. I guess I intimated that in my prior posts

 

[Matthias]

I just bought some more 1 gal Brooklyn kits for only $30 each! Excited to brew them up this weekend! I didn't see any on their website, but you can call or email them for availability.

http://www.urbansunshine.com

Ouch, I buy 5gal extract kits for $32... Made an all grain 1 gallon APA at lhbs and it cost like $9.75 with full pack of yeast...

 

[bleme]

Ouch, I buy 5gal extract kits for $32... Made an all grain 1 gallon APA at lhbs and it cost like $9.75 with full pack of yeast...

My thoughts exactly. My last 5gal batch of Caramel Amber was $18.

 

[The_Glue]

My thoughts exactly. My last 5gal batch of Caramel Amber was $18.

i think these BB kits contain a fermenter, airlock, sanitizer and other stuff

 

[Matthias]

i think these BB kits contain a fermenter, airlock, sanitizer and other stuff

Might be worth it then.

I personally am using 1 gal to dabble in all grain and recipe creation though so kits won't help me.

 

[bleme]

i think these BB kits contain a fermenter, airlock, sanitizer and other stuff

They do:
$4.95 One gallon jug (if you don't use a free wine jug)
$1.25 3-piece airlock
$6.99 12" lab thermometer
$2.25 Racking cane
$1.17 3' of tubing
$0.50 Tube clamp
$2.00 Sanitizer (insanely over-priced)
--------------------
$19.11 in equipment
$ 8.20 is equipment that allows you to produce an extra batch at a time
$10.91 of that can be used in every time, no matter how many are
going at the same time.

 

[JoBoo]

I just found this thread and LOVE IT! However I have a question and couldn't filter through all of this to find it. How much dry yeast do you normally pitch for a one gallon ale?

 

[BorealBrewer]

Hi JoBoo!

I have great success using about 1/4 of a pack of dry yeast to 1-Gal of wort.

That's using Notty, Windsor, Cooper's, US-04/5, and Danstar Munich.

Hope that helps!

 

[Leadgolem]

I just found this thread and LOVE IT! However I have a question and couldn't filter through all of this to find it. How much dry yeast do you normally pitch for a one gallon ale?

I prefer to use a pitching rate calculator.

 

[Matthias]

Got a 1 gallon done, a pale ale. Trying this to celebrate.

 

[The_Glue]

I just found this thread and LOVE IT! However I have a question and couldn't filter through all of this to find it. How much dry yeast do you normally pitch for a one gallon ale?

i've pitched from 1/5 pack to 1/3 pack (us-05) and anything in between and it was always good.