1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[CascadesBrewer]

can you please post a link to this vessel on walmart's site. or if its not online, could you post what its called

thanks

Here: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Latching-Jar-Large/39082929

The only downside I have found (besides having to drill the spigot holes yourself) is that the plastic is a stiff and little fragile. I cracked one when I was trying to tighten the spigot enough that it did not leak. I found that putting 2 rubber washers on the outside and 2 on the inside is needed to get a good seal without having to tighten the spigot too much. I did like them enough that I picked up another replacement for the cracked one.

I am curious about the 1 gal Fermonster fermenters. They are about the same price. I am just not sure if they hold more than a gallon (where the Walmart canisters are big enough to ferment a full gallon with room for headspace).

 

[Sharkbrewingco]

I purchased a new 2 gallon bucket with lid. I cleaned and sanitized it as per the norm. For my last 2 batches, I did not see any signs of life from the airlock. I take readings and its doing its thing. I'm wondering if the lid is not sealing properly. The lid does have that snapped on feeling when I put the lid on. Anyone else experience this?

 

[ba-brewer]

I have had good luck with the 2 gal buckets from northern brewer, they seem to seal fine.

I have also used 2gal ones from home depot or lowes don't recall from which but they also sealed.

When I have a bucket that does hold air I get the rim soaking wet with starsan then reseat, that usually does the trick.

 

[Sharkbrewingco]

I have had good luck with the 2 gal buckets from northern brewer, they seem to seal fine.

I have also used 2gal ones from home depot or lowes don't recall from which but they also sealed.

When I have a bucket that does hold air I get the rim soaking wet with starsan then reseat, that usually does the trick.

I had no problem until I got the news lids because I wanted to try something to help me maintain a better fermentation temperature. Now I am curious if I back track to see if my trick is the real cause. Of course, I need to by another lid. The lid that I am currently using had a tear off. Other option: if I had left the tear off on it would hold the seal better.

 

[user 263363]

I have been lurking around here for a good while. I am a fairly new home brewer with 4 total 1 gal extract brews under my belt. 2 were kits and 2 were of the 15 minute pale ale variety. All but my very first (a hefeweizen) turned out as well as I could have hoped for.

I have a couple paint strainer bags and I am looking to begin BIAB brewing. My main concern is buying grain and also storing it. I imagine I will buy 2 row maybe 10 lbs at a time and specialty grains could probably be had a pound at a time. As long as I get them unmilled, they should have a fairly long shelf life, correct?

How do you all fellow 1 gallon brewers buy and store your grain?

 

[BongoYodeler]

I have been lurking around here for a good while. I am a fairly new home brewer with 4 total 1 gal extract brews under my belt. 2 were kits and 2 were of the 15 minute pale ale variety. All but my very first (a hefeweizen) turned out as well as I could have hoped for.

I have a couple paint strainer bags and I am looking to begin BIAB brewing. My main concern is buying grain and also storing it. I imagine I will buy 2 row maybe 10 lbs at a time and specialty grains could probably be had a pound at a time. As long as I get them unmilled, they should have a fairly long shelf life, correct?

How do you all fellow 1 gallon brewers buy and store your grain?

I haven't yet moved to buying 50lb sacks of grains, but I do usually buy more than I need for a particular recipe. I have a Food Saver brand vacuum sealer so leftover grains get bagged, vacuum sealed, and thrown in the freezer.

 

[OnePlate]

I have been lurking around here for a good while. I am a fairly new home brewer with 4 total 1 gal extract brews under my belt. 2 were kits and 2 were of the 15 minute pale ale variety. All but my very first (a hefeweizen) turned out as well as I could have hoped for.

I have a couple paint strainer bags and I am looking to begin BIAB brewing. My main concern is buying grain and also storing it. I imagine I will buy 2 row maybe 10 lbs at a time and specialty grains could probably be had a pound at a time. As long as I get them unmilled, they should have a fairly long shelf life, correct?

How do you all fellow 1 gallon brewers buy and store your grain?

Since I don't have a grain mill (yet), I plan out a few recipes and put them together at my local homebrew shop and mill them there. Then I put them in reusable vacuum seal bags until I'm ready to brew. As long as you keep milled grains in a dry and airtight environment they should stay fresh quite a while. Unmilled grain can last a few years with good storage.

If you go the route of buying a few pounds of bulk grain, stick to the basics like 2-row, pilsner, maybe some vienna, carapils... stuff that can be used in nearly any recipe and will get used up quickly.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

How do you all fellow 1 gallon brewers buy and store your grain?

I ended up doing something similar to this: https://www.beer-simple.com/brewing...uilding-your-own-brewing-ingredient-stockpile

Over time, learning how fresh ingredients taste/smell/look seems to have enabled me to avoid vacuum sealing "all the things". I'm not afraid to throw an ingredient I think is past it's time.

For me, grains (and DME) keep well for a number of months in their original packaging (with a rubber band to keep the packaging closed) in a storage tote. The storage area is cool and apparently relatively dry (as the DME doesn't turn to a rock in the bag).

I find that buying hops in smaller packages works well for me. With small batches, I get good "single hop" beers with an oz of hops, so generally there are no "left overs" to be concerned about.

I also make reasonable efforts to use up recently opened packages of yeast, hops, and DME in the next batch or two. Again, I'm not afraid to throw an ingredient I think is past it's prime.

 

[Bubbles2]

I was just thinking.... If you all Unite, like 5 at a time, ya'll could make a 5 gal batch...LOL

 

[TwistedGray]

By the way, I have a BUNCH of smaller one gallon and sub-one gallon carboys that I am willing to ship for nothing but the shipping costs should someone be interested in one, two, or more.

 

[wstumper]

How do you all fellow 1 gallon brewers buy and store your grain?

I use 1 quart mason jars to store all my specialty grains. While not vacuum seal-able, the canning lids & rings have a nice and tight seal. I use several different brands of jars, but should switch to one brand since it's easier to weigh (minus the jar tare weight) to know how much is left. A quart jar holds about 1 pound of whole grain.

This works for me...until I start to brew more often. I recently bought a grain mill and expect that the jars will empty faster now!

 

[OnePlate]

I also use 1 quart mason jars (amber glass) for my meager stock of specialty grains. I put chalkboard stickers on the lids to write what they contain, because my stash tends to change.

 

[user 263363]

Looking like mason jars are a good way to go for the specialty grains. Thanks for all the input! I can’t wait to begin this portion of my homebrew journey.

 

[Ahks]

You can vacuum seal mason jars as long as you have the type with the small accessory port!

https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-FCARWJAH-000-Wide-Mouth-Regular-Accessory/dp/B016OL1AB6

I use this with wide mouth jars to vacuum seal hops I buy in bulk.

 

[jimdkc]

I use 1 quart mason jars to store all my specialty grains. While not vacuum seal-able, the canning lids & rings have a nice and tight seal. I use several different brands of jars, but should switch to one brand since it's easier to weigh (minus the jar tare weight) to know how much is left. A quart jar holds about 1 pound of whole grain.

This works for me...until I start to brew more often. I recently bought a grain mill and expect that the jars will empty faster now!

FoodSaver actually makes an attachment to remove the air from a mason jar...

https://www.amazon.com/FoodSaver-T03-0006-02P-Regular-Mouth-Jar-Sealer/dp/B0000CFFS6/


Edit: LOL! Didn't read the whole thread! Ahks beat me to it!

I actually recently bought a 55 lb. sack of Pale Ale Malt for a killer price. I'm going to store most of it in a 5 Gallon bucket with a 2000cc oxygen absorber (should last a couple of years):

https://www.amazon.com/2000cc-Absorbers-Dehydrated-Emergency-Storage/dp/B00H3RNCHQ/

 

[ericbw]

I have been lurking around here for a good while. I am a fairly new home brewer with 4 total 1 gal extract brews under my belt. 2 were kits and 2 were of the 15 minute pale ale variety. All but my very first (a hefeweizen) turned out as well as I could have hoped for.

I have a couple paint strainer bags and I am looking to begin BIAB brewing. My main concern is buying grain and also storing it. I imagine I will buy 2 row maybe 10 lbs at a time and specialty grains could probably be had a pound at a time. As long as I get them unmilled, they should have a fairly long shelf life, correct?

How do you all fellow 1 gallon brewers buy and store your grain?

I've used milled grain that was pretty old (like 9 months). It's not ideal, of course.

 

[Immocles]

I very recently discovered that I really, REALLY like ekg hop flavors. Ive never made a stout before, and Im debating throwing a gallon stout brew together using EKG hops. Anyone have a solid recipe, or can point me into the right direction?

 

[OnePlate]

I very recently discovered that I really, REALLY like ekg hop flavors. Ive never made a stout before, and Im debating throwing a gallon stout brew together using EKG hops. Anyone have a solid recipe, or can point me into the right direction?

Here's my dry Irish stout, based off of Jamil's recipe in Brewing Classic Styles. It's basically Guinness.

Original Gravity: 1.043
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV: 4.33%
IBU: 40

Maris Otter (62.5%)
Flaked Barley (25%)
Roasted Barley 550L (12.5%)
40 IBUs worth of Kent Goldings @60 min

Mash at 64C (150F) for 90 minutes to extract as much flavor as possible from the grains. I use WLP004 Irish Ale yeast but any English ale yeast should work well.

If you want more EKG flavor you could add some near the end of the boil I suppose.

 

[treacheroustexan]

I’ve brewed quite a few of one gallon BIAB batches on my stove top using a paint strainer bag. They turned out fine but nothing in quality that compared to my 3-5 gallon batches with my grainfather. I usually just start with 2 gallons of water and no sparge. I’m going to give another shot at a batch tomorrow. Any tips on improving this process?

 

[Immocles]

Here's my dry Irish stout, based off of Jamil's recipe in Brewing Classic Styles. It's basically Guinness.

Original Gravity: 1.043
Final Gravity: 1.010
ABV: 4.33%
IBU: 40

Maris Otter (62.5%)
Flaked Barley (25%)
Roasted Barley 550L (12.5%)
40 IBUs worth of Kent Goldings @60 min

Mash at 64C (150F) for 90 minutes to extract as much flavor as possible from the grains. I use WLP004 Irish Ale yeast but any English ale yeast should work well.

If you want more EKG flavor you could add some near the end of the boil I suppose.

Seems simple enough. How long does one need to age a stout style? Should be a fairly quick turnaround if I leave the abv on the lower side?

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

.

 

[OnePlate]

Seems simple enough. How long does one need to age a stout style? Should be a fairly quick turnaround if I leave the abv on the lower side?

Primary for 14 days and another 14 days in the bottle and it's good to drink, mostly because it's a simple recipe. Higher alcohol stouts with lots of crystal malts can take several weeks to meld together properly.

 

[ba-brewer]

I brewed a 1.5gal version of this old Rasputin clone once that turned out very well. The article says it does not need too much and that seemed the case for me.

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/homebrew-recipe/north-coast-old-rasputin-clone/

 

[HardyFool]

I’ve brewed quite a few of one gallon BIAB batches on my stove top using a paint strainer bag. They turned out fine but nothing in quality that compared to my 3-5 gallon batches with my grainfather. I usually just start with 2 gallons of water and no sparge. I’m going to give another shot at a batch tomorrow. Any tips on improving this process?

A few possible points of interest:

• water chemistry; which is to say, if you're brewing styles amenable to your local or doctored water on your grainfather, but other styles in your small batch system, that would skew your results
• hot spots; if your grain bag is in contact with the bottom, or if your wort temp fluctuates too much, that might affect, if nothing else, mouth feel
• grain color; I recently read an article about the effects of sparging, bag-squeezing, etc., on light-to-dark grain, and the punchline is that light grains extract similarly on large and small scales, but the extract, flavor character, and color of the wort produced by dark grains changes considerably over long sparges, which may explain the difficulty in scaling test batches to large, say, 7BBL batches professionally (one brewery quoted a 17/20 reduction of dark malt when scaling up a test batch recipe); which is all to say, dark beers are probably trickier to nail the smaller you get
• general practices; beyond that, smaller systems are more sensitive to errors, so things like proper pitch rate and oyxgenation become, in my opinion, more crucial on a smaller scale (which is to say I suspect the higher variance induced by using the same accuracy on a smaller scale introduces more variance in quality and repeatability). Maybe pull out more tricks - use a starter, be more careful about separating trub when racking to the fermenter, use pure O2 if you don't already, use a thermowell on your one gallon batches to really lock in temperature control, which leads to the final point:
• fermentation control; a smaller mass of liquid is subject to faster and bigger temp swings than a bigger system (for example, I don't even blink anymore when I lose 10˚ in my mash over an hour, which is the reason I'm building a RIMS system), so thermowell'ing, and, perhaps, blanketing your fermenter would help fight this serious problem (yeast aren't fond of large temperature swings)

I hope that helps, and if you'd like sources for any of my claims, as always, I'd be happy to procure them

 

[user 263363]

Do any of you gallon brewers use big mouth bubblers? I have a couple and I love them with the extra head space even with 1.25 gal batches and they are easy to clean.

The one thing I dislike about these are the lids tend to be hard to get off after cranking them down to get a good seal. Has anyone else had this issue? Is there any sort of way around it?

 

[BongoYodeler]

Do any of you gallon brewers use big mouth bubblers? I have a couple and I love them with the extra head space even with 1.25 gal batches and they are easy to clean.

The one thing I dislike about these are the lids tend to be hard to get off after cranking them down to get a good seal. Has anyone else had this issue? Is there any sort of way around it?

I use the Little Big Mouth Bubblers for my one gallon test batches. No spigot so I have to siphon. Very easy to clean, as you point out. I don't care for the lid gaskets so I bought a thin sheet of silicone and had the local HS Technology teacher cut out some gaskets on his laser trimmer for me. And finally, yes, I also have trouble removing the lids after fermentation is complete. I use something similar to these which makes it a bit easier.

 

[Leezer]

I love my little big mouth bubblers as well but also find the lids hard to remove. I use a couple oven mits that have some pieces of rubber-gripping material on them. Similar idea to what bongoyodeler uses.

 

[OnePlate]

Do any of you gallon brewers use big mouth bubblers? I have a couple and I love them with the extra head space even with 1.25 gal batches and they are easy to clean.

The one thing I dislike about these are the lids tend to be hard to get off after cranking them down to get a good seal. Has anyone else had this issue? Is there any sort of way around it?

I love mine. I have a pair and I try to keep them both going in my tiny fermentation fridge. If you keep the trub to a minimum and are ok with using a blowoff tube you can squeeze a dozen bottles out of them easily.

My lids can be pretty tight sometimes but the bigger issue for me is the inconsistent seal on both of them. Sometimes no co2 leaks, sometimes I get blowoff coming out from under the lid. The gaskets just suck. I've tried the universal lid as well and it has its own host of problems.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Do any of you gallon brewers use big mouth bubblers? I have a couple and I love them with the extra head space even with 1.25 gal batches and they are easy to clean.

I have been curious about what size they actually hold. It sounds like it is more than 1 gal? Have you checked the amount that they hold to the top. (I looked at the site and I see info that they hold 1.4 gals...I recall trying to find that info before...I also see a 1.4 gal PET Little Mouth Bubbler with a spigot!!!)

I have been using some containers that I got from Walmart (pic somewhere in this thread). I like them in general and like that they hold ~1.5 gal total. I drilled them for spigots, but I often have a hard time getting the spigots to seal.

 

[HardyFool]

Do any of you gallon brewers use big mouth bubblers? I have a couple and I love them with the extra head space even with 1.25 gal batches and they are easy to clean.

At this point I deign not to use the standard moonshine gallon bottles with the thin necks, but I love these bottles; if you have a 5/8" hole bit (if I recall correctly), you can drill a hole, grommet it, and then fit an airlock (hell, half of mine have a thermowell port as well). That said, I've been pleased with anything I've been able to get my hand into (that's what she said), though in particular, I've recently been fond of 1.5 gal kegs, and these 6qt, cylindrical, plastic, see-through fermenters, because you can drill airlock and thermowell ports as with the wide mouth fermenters, plus get very good volume markings built in, plus add a sampling port for refractometer readings (and this makes even the "fast lager" process, wherein you need to make roughly quarter-fermentation changes, viable, particularly if you do a forced fermentation test)

 

[user 263363]

I use the Little Big Mouth Bubblers for my one gallon test batches. No spigot so I have to siphon. Very easy to clean, as you point out. I don't care for the lid gaskets so I bought a thin sheet of silicone and had the local HS Technology teacher cut out some gaskets on his laser trimmer for me. And finally, yes, I also have trouble removing the lids after fermentation is complete. I use something similar to these which makes it a bit easier.

That seems like a simple solution for the troublesome lid. I also like the idea of the silicone gaskets. I’ll see if the mechanics at work can hook me up. Thanks!

 

[user 263363]

I have been curious about what size they actually hold. It sounds like it is more than 1 gal? Have you checked the amount that they hold to the top. (I looked at the site and I see info that they hold 1.4 gals...I recall trying to find that info before...I also see a 1.4 gal PET Little Mouth Bubbler with a spigot!!!)

I have been using some containers that I got from Walmart (pic somewhere in this thread). I like them in general and like that they hold ~1.5 gal total. I drilled them for spigots, but I often have a hard time getting the spigots to seal.

The 1.4 gal PET models must be fairly new. I really like the looks of those, just too bad they are flirting with double the cost of the glass model.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I have been curious about what size they actually hold. It sounds like it is more than 1 gal? Have you checked the amount that they hold to the top. (I looked at the site and I see info that they hold 1.4 gals...I recall trying to find that info before...I also see a 1.4 gal PET Little Mouth Bubbler with a spigot!!!)

For the glass LBMB, I measured 152 oz (1 gal + 1 pt + 1 cup) to the top horizontal rib. (1.25 gal = 160 oz). I could see fermenting 1.25 gal batches (with a blow-off tube) in them, but I haven't tried it.

edit: missed the question on the maximum capacity. May have time to measure this later in my evening. IIRC, 1.4 gal (1 gal 3 pt) is roughly to the bottom of the neck.

 

[BongoYodeler]

For the glass LBMB, I measured 152 oz (1 gal + 1 pt + 1 cup) to the top horizontal rib. (1.25 gal = 160 oz). I could see fermenting 1.25 gal batches (with a blow-off tube) in them, but I haven't tried it.

I always go to the top of that horizontal rib, maybe even a scoonch higher. Never used a blow-off tube either. I do tend to ferment cool though, usually with Nottingham or US-05, first week or so at around 63° No blow outs yet.

 

[OnePlate]

I always go to the top of that horizontal rib, maybe even a scoonch higher. Never used a blow-off tube either. I do tend to ferment cool though, usually with Nottingham or US-05, first week or so at around 63° No blow outs yet.

I go a little past that top rib too and because I use WY 2565 for the majority of my beers, I almost always have tons of blow-off, even when I ferment at 60F. 002 and 004 are pretty tame though, never had any blow-off from those.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

For those who fill to the 1.25 gal line, do you also try to keep trub out of the LBMB when transferring from the kettle? If so, what techniques work well for you to leave the trub behind?

 

[user 263363]

For those who fill to the 1.25 gal line, do you also try to keep trub out of the LBMB when transferring from the kettle? If so, what techniques work well for you to leave the trub behind?

I have been using just a strainer that fits across the mouth. After my last couple brews I’ve decided that I need a little more filtration. I haven’t decided on a solution yet though.

 

[BongoYodeler]

For those who fill to the 1.25 gal line, do you also try to keep trub out of the LBMB when transferring from the kettle? If so, what techniques work well for you to leave the trub behind?

I haven’t found an effective way to do that so I just don’t worry about it. I typically leave it in the fermenter for 3-4 weeks and by that time the trub is fairly compacted. I usually get 11 or 12 bottles out of a 1.25 gallon batch which is fine for me.

 

[InspectorJon]

I always go to the top of that horizontal rib, maybe even a scoonch higher. Never used a blow-off tube either. I do tend to ferment cool though, usually with Nottingham or US-05, first week or so at around 63° No blow outs yet.

I typically aim for 1.25 gallons into the fermenter. I boil enough to leave a couple cups in the boil kettle which leaves the majority of trub behind. I needed a blow off tube a couple of times but mostly not. I just measured mine. It holds 25 cups to the brim.

Simple blow off tube setup:

 

[ba-brewer]

Is anyone using the 1gal fermonster or know how much that size holds?