Smaller Batches = More Variation

Everyone is talking about 10+ gal batches. I'm doing 5 gal right now. But i'm thinking about moving to 3 gallon or less batches. I enjoy what I'm producing now, volume and flavor wise. However, all of my roommates are splitting and it's going to be hard to drink 5 gal of beer before I want to change/experiment with the recepie. I have recently read Mosher's Radical Brewing and I'm interested in alot of those ideas/recpies. Dont get me wrong, I love BEER but 5 gal is way too much Cranberry Honey Bragot. It'll take me forever to drink all of that. So I'm thinking of scaling down so I can brew more often and brew more variations. I would love even doing 1 gal batches for certain test beers. I currently have a kegging setup so i dont know how this will effect my 5 gal cornies. I've heard that there are smaller ones out there. Just a thought. Is anyone else leaning this way or has done it in the past?

I've been thinking of doing this, mostly so I could do a full rolling boil on my stove. Also, I'd like to be able to try some all-grain batches without changing my setup (I have a small cooler that I've used for partial-mashes), and a smaller batch size would enable this.

I don't see this having any effect on a kegging setup, even with 5 gal. corny kegs as long as the larger head space is purged with CO2. It might even make force carbonation via shaking a bit faster.

The lighter weight of the batch would be nice, too (not that I'm a 98 pound weakling or anything).

i'd just like to have more variety of beer hanging around instead of drinking on the same couple of beers for 2 months straight.

I plan on keeping future barley wines to 1-2 gallons, 5 gallons takes a long time to consume. I'm still working on my 2003 batch.

Keep 5 gallon size but bottle half. Then you can keep the bottles around for variety later on. I'm actually thinking about going to either 6 or 6.5 gallon batch size. Keg 5 and bottle the rest. That way I have some variety once I build up a stash of bottled brew.

what i'm doing now is carbing on the keg (force) and then using the patented BierMuncher Beer Gun to bottle the rest when i'm ready to make another batch. that way i dont have to carb in the bottle. I just use the keg to do the work and then i bottle a 12 pack or so whenever i feel like it. its a good method i think. you should search for that beer bottler that he made if you havent already done so.

eschatz said:

i'd just like to have more variety of beer hanging around instead of drinking on the same couple of beers for 2 months straight.

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I am afraid I may be drinking a little too much. I brew a 5 gal batch a week. I never have a beer last 2 months. I have 4 kegs on my keezer and seldom have all four taps up.

Sad part is I am about the only one that drinks it.

I agree on some bigger beers I might scale down a bit. Not even I can go through 5 gal of barlywine in a month.

bigger batches=more beer

I say you make bigger batches AND brew more. You'll just have to have more parties.

i've got to 3 gal carboys and i'm splitting 5 gallon batches in them. just something that is easy on my back when i brew at home and i can do separate yeasts, different dry hops, etc.

i also do 5 gallon batches continuously and very soon will be set up for 18 gallon batches

Small batches are perfect for more experimental brews and like mentioned, when you don't want 5 gallons of a single batch hanging around or you want to do more variations on a theme.

This isn't a consumption issue, its a storage capacity issue I think. IDK, instead of kicking 5 gallon batches completely, maybe keg up the stuff that's session brew and make a smaller batch to be bottled in flip tops for "big beers" like braggots, barleywines, etc. I just keg up all my brew... with 8 kegs it makes it a little easier. I keep like ~4 in the session rotation and ~4 in the big beer rotation. I do have a decent stash of 16/22oz/1L flip top bottles but until now they all have been used for when I go over 5 gallons on a batch. Ya know if it comes out to 5.25gal Ill bottle the left overs in flip topers. It just seems silly to me to double your brewing time when its not THAT hard to kick a keg or something. I'm not sure if you are a member of a local brew club, but that is a very good way to taste a lot of different beers without making them yourself.

I am interested in doing some 3 gallon or less batches for experimental purposes. I do not have any fermenters that size, is it fine to have them ferment in a 5 gallon fermenter or should I go buy a smalled fermenter?
Im asking because I do not know if having all that extra space (oxygen) in the fermenter can be bad for the fermentation process or anything.

I do 2.5 gallon batches every other week because I'm still on a stove and I like the variety. I'd love to build a sculpture this summer but I can't see the need for a keggle sized system for such small batches. I drink them mostly myself but I do share with friends and I still generally have a lot on hand at any given time.

shepherds said:

I am interested in doing some 3 gallon or less batches for experimental purposes. I do not have any fermenters that size, is it fine to have them ferment in a 5 gallon fermenter or should I go buy a smalled fermenter?
Im asking because I do not know if having all that extra space (oxygen) in the fermenter can be bad for the fermentation process or anything.

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I ferment all my 2.5 gallon batches in 5 and 6 gallon vessels...no problem the C02 will displace the oxygen rather quickly.

I've recently switched to 2.5 gallon batches because I'm trying to come up with an original recipe. I just use all my normal equipment, 6 gallon fermentor and 5 gallon corny. It works great, I've always got 2 on tap and I get lots of variety. I brew every 10 days as my primary fermenter is open and I make sure a keg is empty, either by having a few extra one night or by bottling the extra if I need too. I like having bottles of old batches for tasting purposes and for taking to friends and family.

I am with the OP... it takes me 6 weeks MIN to kick a single keg. I just dont drink that much. If I were to do 10 gallon batches, Id be drinking the same thing for MONTHS... eww.

To me, 5 gallons IS like doing a 10 gallon batch. I love variety and I love to brew. If I brew larger batches, I will get less of both.

It takes my household 3 days if it's a good light beer, 3 hours if it's on a weekend and we have friends over. I need to start taking donations for beer...

DeathBrewer said:

i also do 5 gallon batches continuously and very soon will be set up for 18 gallon batches

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please adopt me 18 is a bit of an overkill...or are you planning on filling up 1/2 barrel kegs?

no, I have a 22 gallon conical and we fill up three 5 gallon cornies and some extra to drink that night.

I also ferment in three 15.5 gallon kegs for fermenting, generally filling them to about 11.5 gallons for a 10 gallon yield in two cornies.

Then there are the dozen or so 5 gallon carboys.

I really need to fill all of those suckers up again, tho. I've been slacking

WOW! Didn't think I'd see this thread for awhile....

Anyways, I'm still brewing 5 gal batches. I wish it were easy to get 3 gal kegs. Then I'd brew smaller batches. However, with my fermenter/keg size it's just easier this way. It just takes too long to drink a batch. I keep 5 beers on tap so it takes about 3 months to rotate the selection. That's with giving away most of the beer that I drink...

Yah, I brew about 60 gallons a year, that is about how supply and demand works out around here.

Which is why I spend so much time and $$ on the rig itself, keeps me busy while I am trying to empty kegs.

I'm thinking about bottling 2 gal out of every keg. That way I can start having an understanding of how my beers age. It would certainly make contests a little easier to enter.

I need to get set up so it's easy to bottle from keg. Then I would bottle at least a six-pack of everything. 3 for tasting as they age and 3 for competition. Gotta make sure to have a bottle to taste before you enter that stuff

Yeah, the BMBF seems to work. All of the beers that I've pulled off of it have kept their carb. I'm interested in a counter pressure filler but it looks like a lot of fuss for something that I'm not sure would be better than the BMBF.

The counter-pressure filler works perfectly, and you don't have to fill to the brim (better for competition.)

HOWEVER, unless you take it apart and clean it RIGHT AWAY every time, you're going to run into trouble. It's not for anyone lazy.

I just recently went to the LHBS and was picking up some hops for a batch and I got a free 3-gallon better bottle. I was psyched. So now i can do small batches of apfelwein or mead or an experimentALE. I need to get my grubby little paws on some more of these babies!!! I am going to do my first 3 gallon batch tomorrow. An amber. My friend is coming down in about a month so this batch will be almost ready by then.

I am set up to do partial mash so and am set up with a turkey burner and a 10 gallon pot. I can do 3 gallon AG batches. or attempt them. YAY

DeathBrewer said:

The counter-pressure filler works perfectly, and you don't have to fill to the brim (better for competition.)

HOWEVER, unless you take it apart and clean it RIGHT AWAY every time, you're going to run into trouble. It's not for anyone lazy.

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which one do you have? beer gun or a legit CPBF? i made one of the biermuncher ones with a picknic tap and it works ok.