danthebugman
Well-Known Member
When I first started I did the typical 5 gallon extract batch and a few of the beers I made didn't turn out like I expected they would. Probably mostly my fault. And 5 gallons was quite a bit to drink of those beers. Luckily some friends really liked them and so I was able to get the bottles empty for future brews pretty quick. I have recently made the switch to all grain and have been doing 3 gallon batches mostly. I brew in the comfort of my kitchen (no 100+ days in the summer and no freezing my butt off in the winter) and my stove will only really handle about 4 gallons of wort. I also don't have a lot of space to store beer and brewing equipment. But it also means that I can brew more frequently without worry of being overwhelmed with a particular brew. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life. That said, I do sometimes feel that my return on investment (time spent brewing) could be increased. I expect that to be corrected once I try a few techniques to get more out of my brew day (partigyle, split boils, etc.). I also have been doing 1 gallon batches to test out recipes or to try crazy ideas. If they turn out great, then just scale up the recipe. If they suck then I'm out about 9 beers. So for my brewing life style 10 gallons or more at a time doesn't fit, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't have it's place elsewhere.