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Just bottled my first batch..... woohoo... ok, well it has been a few hours now..


BUT... I can say... even the flat, young beer tasted better than Bud Light.... so it should be a pretty good and drinkable beer after another three weeks.

It's the Smoked Wheat from BBS.

I bottle another gallon this weekend... the Bourbon Dubbel.
 
schweedo said:
Does anybody have a method they use to test gravity from 1 gallon batches and safely return it?
Click to expand...

I've done it a couple of ways with small cider batches in growlers and gallon jugs. I haven't had issues so far carefully applying StarSan and using a mini auto-siphon to fill a hydrometer flask and then transfer it back leaving the last couple of oz to drink. Since my gallon jugs are clear, unlike my brown growlers, I've also dropped my hydrometer directly in to them when I know the gravity will be high enough to retrieve it and not have it bottom out. This doesn't work well with my 10" precision hydrometer at the end of fermentation so I have to revert to removing a sample.
 
bford said:
Just bottled my first batch..... woohoo... ok, well it has been a few hours now..


BUT... I can say... even the flat, young beer tasted better than Bud Light.... so it should be a pretty good and drinkable beer after another three weeks.

It's the Smoked Wheat from BBS.

I bottle another gallon this weekend... the Bourbon Dubbel.
Click to expand...

Hey bford, let us know how the Smoked Wheat tastes in a few weeks. My first AG batch ever was a Beyond Blonde from BBS and it was pretty good other than a slight off-taste and it being way more yeasty/cloudy than I thought it should be. A LHBS guy said it tasted completely fine though.

I'm currently fermenting scaled down versions of a trappist ale and a Sierra Nevada clone, but if they don't turn out well I might give another BBS kit a try.
 
Will do. I'm going to wait three weeks before cracking the first one.

It was certainly a bit yeasty... but it's a wheat beer... so I wasn't expecting super clear anyway.
 
I brew 1 to 2 gallon batches every now and then. Mainly when I need a decent sized starter for lagers or imperials. I just make a 1.050 beer and end up with more than enough yeast to do a full batch.
 
I assume most small batch, one gallon dudes, use the stove? I have been looking at upgrading to a canning element. A power boost and better support. What do you think?

Canning element vs. standard 8" element. More turns. Higher wattage. Quicker boils! :rockin:

canning burner.jpg


whirpool-8.jpg
 
It just plugs into your stove? Looks like a good enhancement for any electric stove, brewing or not!
 
What I forgot to explain in my stumbling post last night was the top pic is the canning burner and the bottom pic is the standard 8" burner. The standard burner is 2100 W and the upgrade burner is 2600 W.

It also has a lift kit and sits higher off the stove. This is just an upgrade element...pull the old one out and stick the new one in.
 
I just realized that I've been screwing up something in my brewing...only after buying "joy of homebrew" did I realize that you're supposed to be filtering out the hops in the wort post-boil and right as you're pouring it into the primary fermenter. Damn. I already have two batches sitting in my closet which didn't get this treatment - though I did transfer the first batch to a secondary fermenter and am about to do the same to the second.

Does anyone know whether neglecting to filter out the hops will matter?
 
Avocado - doesn't matter in the slightest, based on my experience. I've strained out the hops and trub, and I've dumped the entire contents of the kettle into the fermenter, and found no real discernible difference.
 
Avocado- the only real difference I have noticed is that the yeast is cleaner if you filter it out. Not worth the hassle IMO unless you are using a paint strainer bag.
 
sammy33 said:
@Avocado Power
How long does it take you to get to strike temps or a boil?
Click to expand...

@Sammy33: After mashing (or BIAB for the specialty grains) it probably takes around 7 mins or so to get it boiling, since you are already starting with the water temp at around 150 degrees. I'll time it next time to find out for sure.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app
 
@stratslinger and @bleme - thanks for your input. Sounds like there's no real difference with taste but perhaps with the clarity - good to know that my batches aren't doomed (at least not for that reason!)

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Home Brew mobile app
 
I am about 40 mins to warmup to strike temps and another 25 or so to get to a boil. This is over an hour of just heating time when I am doing a 2.5g batch!

Thats why I was looking at the upgraded canning element. I am after turbo boils! :mug:
 
Wow Sammy I can see why you're looking for upgrades to get to a boil faster. If the wife vetoes you, consider doing a partial volume boil (like 1.25 gallons) and then have the other 1.25 gallons of cold water just chilling in the fermenter. My bad if this is something you've already tried - just trying to give you options other than buying something.
 
ericbw said:
OK, here's what I did with my messed up stout grain bill.

2 lb 2-row
.4 lb flaked barley
.4 lb roast barley
.2 lb chocolate malt
.25 lb sugar (to hit OG)

1.1 oz Willamette pellets (4%)

Mashed in 1 gallon at 152-53 for 60 minutes (that's 1.33qt per pound)
Sparged with 2 gallons at 174
Boiled almost 3 gallons for 60

I had to top up with about a quart total.

Then I split the wort into two 1 gallon jugs.
A: 3g S-04 - aerated by splashing and shaking
B: 2g WB-06 - no aeration

I deliberately pitched the WB-06 low and didn't aerate in an attempt to coax more banana and bubblegum esters out of it. Not sure if it will work, but I want to avoid the clove and spiciness. Trying to keep it warm, too, since I read that can help.

Fermenting the S-04 at 60 degrees.

This still tasted very roasty, but maybe it will be interesting anyway.
Click to expand...

I tasted these yesterday. The two yeasts tasted identical. The one with WB-06?was nicely carbed with a nice head. The S-04 was basically flat. They only conditioned two weeks in the basement, a little on the cool side.

Pretty unimpressive, honestly. Bland with a slight sourness. Surprisingly little roast bitterness or hop bitterness.

I've made better stout with a mix of chocolate malt, crystal, and black patent. Next time I make a stout, I'll probably follow the old recipe, but it does look like the flaked barley enhanced the head.

It was an experiment. Oh well.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
I surprised that WB06 didn't get stressed from underpitching. What temp did you ferment at? I've been told that over 73-4 get you bubblegum, but under 65 gets you clove. I personally dislike bubblegum and banana, so I usually ferment low.

With S04 I've learned I need to up the sugar at bottling day if I want any kind of carb, most (using the calc) end up cask carbed and not US bottle carbed.

Exciting news for me - I got tired of playing around with bottle carbing, so I broke down and got three 3gal cornie kegs. Hoping to get the regulator and tank next paycheck, so I can start to get a good handle on carbonation - the one weak point I've been struggling with.

Took my ESB in for a tasting at the local HB gathering, got a ton of positive reviews. Really made me feel good, like I almost know what I'm doing.. LOL
 
sammy33 said:
I assume most small batch, one gallon dudes, use the stove? I have been looking at upgrading to a canning element. A power boost and better support. What do you think?

Canning element vs. standard 8" element. More turns. Higher wattage. Quicker boils! :rockin:
Click to expand...

Quick update for you small batch stove brewers. I got my canning element in and tested it last night. Overall, it is an improvement over the standard element. I got to strike temp from 46F tap water in 30 minutes with a 3.1g mash-in for 2.5g batch. Boil took another 12 mins. Before I was at about 40 mins to strike and another 20 min to boil. The boil is also a bit more vigorous with the new element.

Here is the canning burner and an action shot heating up the old kettle. :D

canning-element.jpg


heating-up.jpg
 
Holy crap.

Finally, a smooth brew day. :ban:

Picked up some new water that just happened to have a 4gal PET bottle around it (that also happened to take my #10 stopper for my airlock). Water tasted great, and 4gal was more than enough to use for a 1.5gal batch. Even had some sipping water left over. Fastest way to a clean carboy I know.

Got a chance to use my new manifold in the Cooler Tun, effeciency jumped from 65% to 86%. Note to others - build a dang manifold. Also got a chance to use my homemade IC - with a cold water bath around the pot, running the IC with cold tap water I went from 180deg to 68deg in 4 min. 4 - FrEaKiN - minutes, with less than 4gal used (which went into the tun for cleanup water). Why didn't I make one of these sooner??!?!?!

I do believe, even with some minor screwing around, brew day was under 3 hours.

Now what am I going to do with the rest of the day? :confused:

Maybe go icefishing... :beard:
 
Today I'm brewing Northwest Brewers Bomber Barleywine, one gal kit. Anyone try it before?


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
I would say the negativity towards 1 gallon brewers comes from people because of the little additional time needed to brew 5 gallons vs 1.

If 1 gallon works for you, then great keep it up. Also I wouldn't consider it stepping up, going extract to all grain is stepping it up.
 
sumbrewindude said:
I surprised that WB06 didn't get stressed from underpitching. What temp did you ferment at? I've been told that over 73-4 get you bubblegum, but under 65 gets you clove. I personally dislike bubblegum and banana, so I usually ferment low.

With S04 I've learned I need to up the sugar at bottling day if I want any kind of carb, most (using the calc) end up cask carbed and not US bottle carbed.

Exciting news for me - I got tired of playing around with bottle carbing, so I broke down and got three 3gal cornie kegs. Hoping to get the regulator and tank next paycheck, so I can start to get a good handle on carbonation - the one weak point I've been struggling with.

Took my ESB in for a tasting at the local HB gathering, got a ton of positive reviews. Really made me feel good, like I almost know what I'm doing.. LOL
Click to expand...

That's interesting to know about S-04. I haven't noticed much difference in taste from that yeast, so I'm not sure that it's important to use it.

I was disappointed that I didn't get anything interesting from WB-06, even though I underpitched and didn't aerate. I do wonder if the low temps I had caused the yeast to drop out and not really get roused back up. I think it got down to about 57-58 while I was out of town.

I got 2.5 gallon kegs and a paintball tank. We got it for cider (to make sweet, carbonated cider), and it is very convenient for carbonating and serving. It's a single regulator with an adapter for that kind of tank, and it works fine. I think it was from kegoutlet.com (either that or kegconnection.com).
 
Mead seems to be a kindred spirit in the 1 gallon world.

Yes. What yeast BGBC?

ETA: I have never done a mead. How long to make a batch? Do you bottle it? Off to google mead...
 
Yes bottle it, and the longer you let it sit the better, a year is recommended for most but JAOM (joes ancient orange mead) can be drank at bottling 2 months, but improves greatly after time...


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
I bottle mead in standard beer fashion. And while JOAM is drinkable after 2 months, its way better after 6. My most recent batch has been bulk aging for 8 currently.
 
Not sure why I never thought of this before? Been brewing 5 gallons for some time, but got my start with Mr. Beer. (Thanks Mr. Beer!) Had a leftover can of HME so brewed it up in the ole Mr. Beer keg. I like using a blowoff tube. Don't like kreusen settling back into beer. Racked into two 1 gallon carboys.....viola. I accidently put this on a new thread with a picture of kreusen flowing. Can't seem to figure out how to attach a picture on this thread from my phone? Guess I'll go have a brew!


Sent from my LG-P769 using Home Brew mobile app
 
Just brewed NB Bourbon Barrel Porter 1 gal, OG 1.082. I am just using my old Mr. Beer keg for this one, my first 1 gal batch 2 weeks ago blew my cider jar stopper with a blowoff attached across the room. I'm going to play it safe with this one!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
derek704 said:
Just brewed NB Bourbon Barrel Porter 1 gal, OG 1.082. I am just using my old Mr. Beer keg for this one, my first 1 gal batch 2 weeks ago blew my cider jar stopper with a blowoff attached across the room. I'm going to play it safe with this one!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Click to expand...

Better safe than sorry, had one blow on me once a while back and what a mess. Broke out my old Mr. Beer to use for a bottling bucket for my Irish stout this morning. I've been brewing 2 gal. batches lately and using the Brew Demon conical fermenter, works great.
 
My fellow OGB
I'm having issues dialing in my carbonation level. I think it may be due to not having my volume known exactly.
Sometimes I get 6 bottles, once in a while I get 8.

Does anyone else have this problem? How have you dealt with it?
 

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