Considering going to 2 gallon batches--looking for advice.

[Reindeer]

My wife and I have been homebrewing for a few years, doing 5 gallon extract batches and bottling. We've come to a couple conclusions: 5 gallons is too much for us. We drink plenty of beer, but we've never even come close to making all the way through a batch. And we hate bottling.

I've settled on downsizing to 2 or 2.5 gallon batches, and this seems like the time to switch to all grain, possibly brew in a bag. I also want to start kegging.

A couple questions for those who brew smaller batches--based on available equipment, is 2 or 2.5 gallon a better option? Is brew in a bag the best option for small batches?

Any recommendations for fermenters? The FastFerment 3 gallon conical seems like a nice solution, and I like the price, but I'm not sure I'm a fan of plastic. Also considering the 3.5 gal SS Brewbucket Mini.

As far as kegging--I've seen 3 gallon kegs. Is there an issue kegging 2 gallons in a 3 gallon keg? I've never kegged before, so I'm not sure how it really works, if headspace is an issue.

 

[Kent88]

I mostly brew 3 gallon batches.

If I could find 2-gallon carboys I might have considered those, but 3 gallon carboys are common at the Homebrew supply stores I frequent.

I bought a 3-gallon cooler that I BIAB in. I can't trust myself not to fiddle with burners BIAB-ing in a kettle. That 3-gallon cooler can comfortably hold about 5.5lbs of grain. It could probably hold another pound if I felt like pushing it and making a drier mash.

There shouldn't be an issue kegging two gallons into a 3-gallon keg, you might just be wasting carbon dioxide because you're purging the oxygen when you fill the keg. I don't know, I don't keg yet.

 

[Griffin495]

I came to the same conclusion. 5 gallons was too much for me as my wife doesn't drink much beer.

2 or 2.5 is fine. 2.5 gets you closer to a case. I start with 3.5 gallons of wort, boil off .5 g on my stove. Leaving me 3 gallons. 2.75 g goes into my glass carboy and .25 trub stays in the kettle. Once its done fermenting, I generally have another .25 g of trub in my fermenter allowing me to bottle 2.5 gallons, but that's just my process.

I use a Wilser bag to BIAB. Couldn't be easier and he'll make a bag to match your kettle dimensions. I use a 5 g kettle.

For mashing, I preheat my oven to 200. Once I mash in, I turn off the oven, put the kettle in and throw a towel over it. I only lose a degree or so of heat this way. Would lose less, but I usually stir it at 20 minutes and again at 40.

I use a 3 gallon glass carboy. I know some people say how dangerous glass is, but lifting a 3 gallon vs 6 is a lot lighter. Mine stay in a plastic crate that is lined with towels.

As for kegging, can't help you there as I still bottle.

I find the great thing about small batches is that it allows you to brew more often which I think helps me dial in my process more and allows you to keep a variety of beers on hand. It does shave down some time on brew day as it takes less time to get to mash and then to boil. I also do other size small batches. I've got a gallon of bourbon barrel porter fermenting right now and 1.5g of a red ipa as well.

 

[rodwha]

BIAB is a good idea for smaller batches as using a large mash tun with a small grain bill leaves too much head space, which will make your temp drop a bit too much. However you could use a 2 gal Igloo water jug IF you can better insulate the lid, which is just thin plastic.

I used my 2 gal water jug for my first partial mash and found the temp dropped a fair amount. A folded towel might work well enough.

The issue with BIAB is keeping a steady temp. I like to use the stove top and at that time I had to really keep an eye on the temp and stir often. Once the temp rose to 180* and left me with a sickly sweet stout.

So I was determined to create a better mash tun out of my pot. I bought a plastic plant pot, wrapped my pot in aluminum foil, and used a spray insulation to fill in the gap. Unfortunately it expanded more than I expected and some got on my pot, but it did work when using folded towels on the lid.

windows screenshot tool

I actually like plastic fermenters. What is your aversion?

I don’t keg, but would like to if/when I have the space for the same reason. Why not brew 3 gal batches to fill the keg(s)?

 

[Reindeer]

Reading up on it a little more, BIAB seems perfect for us. What size boil kettle is recommended for BIAB 2.5 gal batches?

For recipes, is it as simple as taking a 5 gal kit and dividing in half for a 2.5 gal batch? How about yeast?

As far as fermenters, I’m not necessarily against plastic, maybe just too much reading on the internet convincing me it’s bad. I do like to do big, high gravity beers, which for some reason I seem to remember it being suggested that aren’t the greatest in plastic. Not sure why.

 

[El Nino]

I do 2.5g BIAB, 5 gallon kettle is perfect. I don't bother insulating it during the mash, since the strike water + grains will have it nearly filled to the brim (I most commonly use a 6-6.75lb grain bill). I mash for 90 mins and it only drops by 2-3 degrees F during that period.

3 gallon carboys are perfect for it, I have two, so I can have 2 batches going at once in the ferm chamber. I thought about buying stainless, though decided against it. Thing I love about glass is I can see the progress of the fermentation without lifting the lid. The 3g carboys are also a lot less lighter, so chances of accidents happening from carrying them are much less than carrying a 5g container of liquid.

As far as batch size, I think it's perfect, although I do find myself going through the 24 bottles with the quickness because I probably share too much of my brews. Though as far as personal consumption, I probably go through about 6 beers a week. So if just brewing for myself, I could probably stretch a brew out 4 weeks. However, it's been gone in 2-3 weeks since friends / family always want to try out my latest creations lol.

I could imagine bottling 5g batches as being a pain, but tbh it's not too bad when you only have 24 or so bottles to fill. I exclusively bottle and tinkered with kegging. Didn't really see it worth the cost since bottling 2.5g batches isn't all that time consuming. Add to the fact that the convenience of pulling the tap caused me to drink too much lol.

 

[Griffin495]

5 g kettle is fine

For most recipes, its just splitting it in half. Do you use any brewing software? brewer's friend allows you to have 5 recipes at a time. Just type in the recipe and then use the scale tool to drop it down to 2.5 gallons. After I brew one, I just delete it (after I've printed it out) and type in a new one.

For the most part, I just use dry yeast. A half pack is more than enough. Vacuum seal the rest and toss it back in the fridge. Although, recently I did use a White Labs yeast. Probably overpitched using the whole thing, but I harvested the yeast slurry and got 4 1cup mason jars. I've used two of those so far.

 

[Scturo]

Did the same thing switching from 5gal to 2.5, and 3 gal batches at the beginning of the year.

It’s worked out great. I’m brewing more often, I have more variety on hand, and I’m not over drinking just to kill a keg.

As far as kegging, I would recommend the 2.5gal torpedo kegs. You can stack them easily in your keezer to save space.

 

[bondra76]

Lots of great ideas in here

I love the idea of small batching. I concluded 2 years ago that I couldn’t drink 5 gallon batches and got rid of all my equipment. I’m in the process of rebuilding my stuff on a much smaller scale. I’ve thought about going electric but I don’t know if it’s even worth it for the small size.

One other idea on small batch - I was starting to brew 5 gallon batches and splitting my wort between Apple cider glass jugs and pitching different yeasts into each. It was a lot of jugs with 5 gallon batches but I’m hoping to do this type of thing a lot more on a smaller scale brew setup. I always read about different saison yeasts (for example) and wonder how my favorite recipes would taste under different yeast varieties or temps.

 

[chickypad]

I also BIAB in my 5 gal kettle, with a warm stove turned off to hold mash temp. To get 2.5 gals finished (I have a bunch of 2.5 gal kegs) I like to aim for 3 gal post boil, 2.75 or so into 3 gal better bottles (with blow off tube and temp control not an issue). I usually need to do a small sparge (quick and easy to do dunk style in a second pot or bucket) as I can't quite fit a full volume mash comfortably and end up with 3 gals post boil. With big beers you will definitely need to sparge if you choose a 5 gal pot. I'd guess the issue people are talking about with big beers in plastic would be extended aging, but you can do that in your kegs.

 

[cajunbrewer14]

I came to the same conclusion. 5 gallons was too much for me as my wife doesn't drink much beer.

2 or 2.5 is fine. 2.5 gets you closer to a case. I start with 3.5 gallons of wort, boil off .5 g on my stove. Leaving me 3 gallons. 2.75 g goes into my glass carboy and .25 trub stays in the kettle. Once its done fermenting, I generally have another .25 g of trub in my fermenter allowing me to bottle 2.5 gallons, but that's just my process.

I use a Wilser bag to BIAB. Couldn't be easier and he'll make a bag to match your kettle dimensions. I use a 5 g kettle.

For mashing, I preheat my oven to 200. Once I mash in, I turn off the oven, put the kettle in and throw a towel over it. I only lose a degree or so of heat this way. Would lose less, but I usually stir it at 20 minutes and again at 40.

I use a 3 gallon glass carboy. I know some people say how dangerous glass is, but lifting a 3 gallon vs 6 is a lot lighter. Mine stay in a plastic crate that is lined with towels.

As for kegging, can't help you there as I still bottle.

I find the great thing about small batches is that it allows you to brew more often which I think helps me dial in my process more and allows you to keep a variety of beers on hand. It does shave down some time on brew day as it takes less time to get to mash and then to boil. I also do other size small batches. I've got a gallon of bourbon barrel porter fermenting right now and 1.5g of a red ipa as well.

So you don’t heat pot on stove first? Just heat oven to 200 and cut it off and put in your pot of water and grain?

 

[ba-brewer]

Any recommendations for fermenters? The FastFerment 3 gallon conical seems like a nice solution, and I like the price, but I'm not sure I'm a fan of plastic. Also considering the 3.5 gal SS Brewbucket Mini.

As far as kegging--I've seen 3 gallon kegs. Is there an issue kegging 2 gallons in a 3 gallon keg? I've never kegged before, so I'm not sure how it really works, if headspace is an issue.

I used to brew 3gal batches in 5gal plastic buckets, but recently switched to a mini SSbrewbucket. I switched to 2.5gal batches because I dont think there is enough headroom in the mini ssbrewbucket to brew a 3gal batch. Might be OK with some yeast but the more active ones would probably make a mess.

Reading up on it a little more, BIAB seems perfect for us. What size boil kettle is recommended for BIAB 2.5 gal batches?

For recipes, is it as simple as taking a 5 gal kit and dividing in half for a 2.5 gal batch? How about yeast?

The general rule of thumb is you need a kettle twice the size of your batch size. Stepping up to a 6 gal or even 8gal kettle would give you some room to do a bigger beer or a safety margin to prevent boil overs. I multi-task while brewing, it is amazing how much foam can form in a minute.

I find I loose a little efficiency on 3 gal batches compared compared to 5gal batches, but you can just halve a 5gal recipe and get pretty close.

 

[RPh_Guy]

How do you guys cool your wort? My basic 25' immersion chiller doesn't work because most of the coils are above the level of liquid when brewing less than 5 gal.
For my 1 gal batches I use an ice bath.

I've been looking at counter-flow chillers anyway.

+1 for plastic fermenters.
https://www.morebeer.com/products/plastic-pet-carboy-3-gallon-ported-spigot-included.html
PET = low oxygen permeability. Clear = visibility. Spigot = easy sampling and no siphoning. Light-weight. No breaking. Inexpensive.

 

[brew703]

I started off brewing 1 gallon batches, then 2 gallon then 3 gallon and now I am at 5 gallon since I started kegging.
It takes me about 1-2 months to finish off a keg but my wife does occasionally drink some of the beer I brew. So I try to brew something not too hoppy every other brew. She enjoys Saisons, sessions beers, blondes stuff like that and she will sometimes add in fruit to change the flavor profile. if I had to drink alone, 5 gallons would be too much.

I would ditch buying kits and start BIAB as you mentioned, which is what I do. I find it is cheaper to design or find a recipe on HBT and buy the grain. Get a Wilser bag, a 3 gallon PET carboy (if you can find them) as they are much lighter than glass. If you are buying a kettle get one with a 3 pc ball valve as it makes transfers much easier then dumping or using an auto siphon.
If you can find a 6 or 8 gal kettle I would go with that. If you brew big beers, you may be pushing at capacity once you add in the grains. I have a 10 gal kettle and if I brew close to a 1.060 beer I'm pushing the limit as I hold back a gal or two of strike water so I have more room to pull out the bag and not have the wort spill over the top.

Another thing you will need, if you don't already have is an immersion chiller. I have a 25' copper one but it takes me 30 min to cool down a 5 gal batch and that's using a submersible pump in ice water. Getting ready to order a new chiller from Jaded Brewing. Check them out. Not cheap but worth the price.

I also use an insulated sleeping bag to cover my kettle during the mash. never loose more than 2 degrees.

Whatever you decide, enjoy.
Cheers!

 

[Bobby_M]

Biab is a no brainer at 5 gallons and even more so for 2.5 gallons. The bayou 1420 5gal pot is good. Fermenter, the 3 gallon fermonster wide mouth. Kegs come in 2.5 gallon. Also, while I dont care for the all in one brewing systems for 5 gallon batches, the non pumped Robobrew is a nice option for 2.5 gallon batches.

 

[Radboud]

I do 2-2.5gal BIAB on the stove in the kitchen which is a lot of fun to do. I mash in a haybox (just stick the entire kettle in there) which works great.

I'd suggest you build a keezer/kegerator. One of the awesome things of doing small batches is that you can ferment in a corny and use the keezer for temp control (the obvious drawback being that you can't use it to dispense beer from when fermenting). Fermenting in a keg gives you: a ss fermenting vessel, almost no oxygen ingress while racking (if you push the beer out with co2). Fairly large investment up front but it will make your hobby more fun!

 

[madscientist451]

For small batch brewing, a 5 gallon round water cooler works great.
I added a spigot, a BIAB bag and a stainless steel steamer basket to keep the bag off the bottom. The last item is optional, I'm not sure if it makes all that much difference. You can do full volume mashes or batch/fly sparge if you want to.
If you already have a kettle you can start brewing all grain with a small cooler for about $60.
I used to BIAB in the kettle, but getting the temperature right is much easier (for me) when using the cooler BIAB method.
For small batch fermenting, I use 3 gallon better bottles.
I have both 5 gallon corny kegs and the smaller 2.5 gallon Torpedo kegs and the smaller kegs are easier to handle, easier to clean, and easily fit on the bottom shelf of a spare fridge.
I still brew 5 gallon batches and can go up to 10 gallon if I get out my big mash tun, but brewing smaller batches lets me experiment with lots of different styles and I like having several varieties on tap at once.
My last brew, I tried to cut down my brew day time, so I heated 4.5 gallons of strike water, did a full volume mash, manually recirculated a few times and then drained the mash tun to the kettle. I hit my numbers and the beer came out fine, so maybe I'll try it again next time, seemed like it was less trouble with no sparge.

 

[Griffin495]

So you don’t heat pot on stove first? Just heat oven to 200 and cut it off and put in your pot of water and grain?

My bad. Sorry for any confusion. No, I heat up my pot on the stove to my strike water temp. Then, cut the stove off, add my bag to the kettle, then mash in. Then I put the lid on, put it in the preheated oven, put a towel over it and cut the heat on the oven. Sorry about that, I should have been more clear. I use http://www.biabcalculator.com/ to calculate my strike water temp and it is always spot on for me.

 

[cajunbrewer14]

My bad. Sorry for any confusion. No, I heat up my pot on the stove to my strike water temp. Then, cut the stove off, add my bag to the kettle, then mash in. Then I put the lid on, put it in the preheated oven, put a towel over it and cut the heat on the oven. Sorry about that, I should have been more clear. I use http://www.biabcalculator.com/ to calculate my strike water temp and it is always spot on for me.

Thanks! Im brewing a Partial mash Roggenbier next week. I will try this.

 

[El Nino]

For recipes, is it as simple as taking a 5 gal kit and dividing in half for a 2.5 gal batch? How about yeast?

That's what I do, haven't had any bad results from that yet. I use the whole pack of yeast (mostly brewed with safale us-05). No other reason than that's what I did in my first go & the beer came out perfect. If a process works, stick with it, right?

 

[alexnova]

I started at 5gal extract, then soon ventured into 5gal partial-mash. My all-grain batches have been 2.5gal or less. BIAB is great at these smaller volumes. I've done more 1gal BIAB batches lately. I started with these to try out new recipes, but I'm really liking the shorter brew days (inside on an induction burner no less) and easier clean-up.

Putting 2gal in a 3gal keg is fine. Maybe not as efficient with CO2 since you'll need more gas to pressurize the beer plus the head space, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

Biggest downside is the cost of kegs. Cornys tend to be roughly the same price regardless of volume, so 3/2.5/2/1.5 kegs are quite expensive on a price-per-gallon basis. I have several 5gal cornys, 2 2.5gal cornys and a lone 1.5gal Torpedo.

 

[alexnova]

For recipes, is it as simple as taking a 5 gal kit and dividing in half for a 2.5 gal batch? How about yeast?

That's what I do, haven't had any bad results from that yet. I use the whole pack of yeast (mostly brewed with safale us-05). No other reason than that's what I did in my first go & the beer came out perfect. If a process works, stick with it, right?

That's what I do too. I often build a recipe for 5gal, then scale down to whatever volume I want to make. Can you say "pilot batch"?

As far as the wee yeasties, half a packet of dry is plenty as long as its fresh (and you plan to use the other half fairly soon). Otherwise, chuck the whole packet in.

 

[WFox93]

I typically do 2 gallon batches but have started doing 5 gallon batches too. not really much difference in 2 or 2.5 with equipment options. I used my Mr.Beer LBK for a while then switched to the FastFerment 3G. I did have an issue with the valve but that's been rectified by them sending me a new valve. Lately though, I've been more prone to just ferment in a modified corny keg (shortened dip tubes). That actually brings me to your next concern. I keg all my beers in 5 gallon kegs. no issue. People claim you use more CO2 but its really not that much more. and you only lose it while purging. Unless you're working with size constraints, just using 5 gallon kegs will definitely be cheaper than buying 2.5 gallon ones. It would take quite some time for the costs to catch up with you with the "wasted" CO2. I used a 4 gallon pot on the stove for all grain batches using a cooler to mash in. I've since upgraded to a turkey fryer and 8 gallon kettle that suits my needs for both 2.5 and 5 gallon batches.

 

[Leapsandbounds]

I’ve been doing 2.5 gallon all grain BIAB batches lately. I use water jugs (Walmart) and #10 stoppers. Makes about a case 12 oz bottles.

 

[GnenieGone]

My wife and I have been homebrewing for a few years, doing 5 gallon extract batches and bottling. We've come to a couple conclusions: 5 gallons is too much for us. We drink plenty of beer, but we've never even come close to making all the way through a batch. And we hate bottling.

I've settled on downsizing to 2 or 2.5 gallon batches, and this seems like the time to switch to all grain, possibly brew in a bag. I also want to start kegging.

A couple questions for those who brew smaller batches--based on available equipment, is 2 or 2.5 gallon a better option? Is brew in a bag the best option for small batches?

Any recommendations for fermenters? The FastFerment 3 gallon conical seems like a nice solution, and I like the price, but I'm not sure I'm a fan of plastic. Also considering the 3.5 gal SS Brewbucket Mini.

As far as kegging--I've seen 3 gallon kegs. Is there an issue kegging 2 gallons in a 3 gallon keg? I've never kegged before, so I'm not sure how it really works, if headspace is an issue.

I do 3.5gal batches in home depot buckets with a spigot you can buy at any LHBS store. Use a step bit to drill it in along with the air lock to the top. I put mine at the gallon mark. Great $7 fermenters. One advantage is I actually brew more experimental beers because..what the hell. I went from 5gal AG to 3.5gal PMs and not looking back now that I'm getting the hang of it. It's less money, less time, and less wear on one's back!

I just bit the bullet and bought 5-2.5gal kegs. But bottling right from these homer fermenters is fine to, hence the spigot above the trub.