Help Me Nail My Next Batch

[Mike Page]

Alright, I'm looking to get into all grain from extract but I don't want to make a full 6 gallon batch. I am looking to cut this Zombie Dust clone to a 2 gallon recipe... I apologize for my ignorance in advance...

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/5916/zombie-dust-clone-all-grain

1. So can I just multiply all the values by .33 +/- and expect the same result?
2. Also, how long should the boil be? 60 minutes? The recipe doesn't say.

I'm sure I will have more question if/when this thread continues. So thank you for all your help in advance.

 

[Pharaoh Bob]

1. Yea you can just use 1/3 of all the ingrediants and you will get a beer very close to what the 6 gallon recipe intends. Beer recipes scale very well like that.
2. The recipe says 60min boil

 

[bransona]

Your efficiency may differ, especially with scaling, but only a bit. Otherwise, you're right on the money.

 

[Mike Page]

Thank you for the replies. Also, should I keep the mashing time the same?

 

[bransona]

Yup! The mash should scale just like the rest of it (so the time doesn't change)

 

[Mike Page]

What about yeast? Not sure how much to pitch.

 

[Lefou]

Dry ale yeast?
Just re-hydrate one packet of US-05/1056 or BRY-97 yeast in water for 30 minutes and stir according to directions. Don't use distilled or reverse osmosis water. Soft bottled mineral water should be OK.
One 11 gram packet is fine for 5 gallons of wort up to 1.050 OG, so if you're doing 2-2.5 gallons, one packet will provide more than enough yeast.

 

[Mike Page]

Dry ale yeast?
Just re-hydrate one packet of US-05/1056 or BRY-97 yeast in water for 30 minutes and stir according to directions. Don't use distilled or reverse osmosis water. Soft bottled mineral water should be OK.
One 11 gram packet is fine for 5 gallons of wort up to 1.050 OG, so if you're doing 2-2.5 gallons, one packet will provide more than enough yeast.

Ok so no worries over pitching? My understanding is the yeast eventually floculate and will drop to the bottom and become the yeast cake?

 

[bransona]

Over pitching isn't a huge concern here, especially with a yeast that you want to be clean. Just keep those temps under control

 

[Mike Page]

Awesome. Thank you guys. You have been a great help!

 

[Mike Page]

Okay, I hope you guys are still willing to help me out.... I plan on doing this with the BIAB system. But I am a little confused on the procedure and want to run a few more things past you. I've watched so many conflicting youtube videos.....

1. The original mash guide lines state 5.5 gallon mash 1/3 of that is 1.815 gallons... So I bring 1.815 gallons of water to 155 and mash for an hour correct?
2. Original boil size is 7 gallons. 1/3 of that is 2.33 gallons. So I would sparge the grains to bring the boil pot up to 2.31 gallons and boil for an hour? After and hour i wouldn't have an wort left!

Please help!

 

[JohnSand]

Good questions.
1 You can mash in the full amount, it will help maintain temperature.
2 You are correct. Water volume does not scale directly, as boil off remains constant. If you want to put two gallons in the fermenter, you should start with about 3.5. You will lose about 1 to boil off, and some to break and hops. That material can actually go into the fermenter if it fits, it won't hurt your beer.
I know this seems daunting at first. Soon enough it will be routine. Study and practice will produce good beer. Don't get too crazy over precision at first. It will take repetition to get used to your efficiency, boil off etc. Have fun, keep us posted.

 

[DU99]

load the recipe and see if the batch size will scale it down by reducing the figure..i use brewers mate and that's how i scale my recipes

 

[Mike Page]

Good questions.
1 You can mash in the full amount, it will help maintain temperature.
2 You are correct. Water volume does not scale directly, as boil off remains constant. If you want to put two gallons in the fermenter, you should start with about 3.5. You will lose about 1 to boil off, and some to break and hops. That material can actually go into the fermenter if it fits, it won't hurt your beer.
I know this seems daunting at first. Soon enough it will be routine. Study and practice will produce good beer. Don't get too crazy over precision at first. It will take repetition to get used to your efficiency, boil off etc. Have fun, keep us posted.

John Sand, can you define what you mean by "mash in the full amount"

Thank you for the encouragement, I plan on working specifically on this recipe to hone my skills. I am a little paranoid as my first batch I did turned out horrible and un-drinkable. I still don't know exactly why but came out unbearable sweet...

 

[Mike Page]

Ok, I think I am staring to wrap my head around this. I downloaded a free trail of beer smith and am quickly realizing this is an invaluable resource. Once the recipe is scaled down the total boil amount is 5.31 gallons. Sounds like I will bring the 5.31 gallons to mash temp, dough-in and mash for 60 minutes.

The pre-boil amount is 4.31. So its safe to assume that one gallon will be absorbed by the grain and evaporated off? From there I would continue like I have with my extract brews..

 

[JohnSand]

Yes Mike, I meant to use all of the water in your mash.
There are calculators to find grain absorption, a gallon for a small batch seems high.
I also suggest keeping some extract on hand in case you need to adjust gravity after the boil. When I first started all grain brewing, I found that I had troubles with volume and efficiency. Sometimes I needed to add water to come up in volume and down in gravity. I also sometimes had to boil a little extract and add it to bring my gravity up.
Don't let it make you too crazy, you'll figure it out.

 

[Mike Page]

Alright, brew day was yesterday. Things went relatively well for my first all grain. Couple of questions for you guys.

1. My original gravity was 1.061 witch isn't to far off from what it should be according to the recipe. According to the pitch rate calculator I needed to use a starter and the entire package of yeast. I didn't have the equipment or the knowledge to do a starter. I'm guessing my beer will still ferment strongly but not as aggressive as it would if i had done a starter. How does not using a starter effect the fermentation and taste of the beer?

2.This was my only screw up for the whole day. I read the hop schedule wrong. It states to "dry hop at 0 days". Well I read this completely backwards and added the dry hop about 30 minutes before adding my yeast directly into the fermenter. After doing some reading some people actually intentionally do this. Other say it can ruin the beer. What are your thoughts on this? I plan on skipping the actual dry hop at 0 days.

Thanks for the help guys. I wouldn't of made it this far with our your help.

 

[JohnSand]

Hi Mike. An extreme under pitch (way too little yeast) can make poor beer. A small under-pitch will generally just take longer to taste just right. I generally follow the yeast producer's instructions and let it ferment three weeks.
For a 2 gallon batch at 1.061 one pack of yeast should be fine. Are you sure the calculator was set for 2 gallons?

 

[Mike Page]

Hi Mike. An extreme under pitch (way too little yeast) can make poor beer. A small under-pitch will generally just take longer to taste just right. I generally follow the yeast producer's instructions and let it ferment three weeks.
For a 2 gallon batch at 1.061 one pack of yeast should be fine. Are you sure the calculator was set for 2 gallons?

Yes, I ended up scaling up to a 3 gallon batch and getting nearly 3 gallons on the dot. As of now there is a health krausen so I'm not to worried. I plan to dial in this particular recipe, so next time I plan to use a starter.

 

[JohnSand]

I think it will work out. Let me know.