Small Batch AG

I've been homebrewing since the early '90s and have always been an extract brewer. I don't mean to brag, but I make great beer. I have very good sanatation and control of my fermentation temp. In my opion, having control of your process is the key to making great beer. I've been kicking around starting to brew AG. My only hesitation is that I like to brew small (2 1/2 gal or less) batches very frequently. I like the variety. Can this be done AG? If so, is it as simple as cutting a 5 gal recipe in half?

Yes, there is a difference in hop utilization between a 5 gallon and 2.5gal boil but if you're already brewing 2.5gal extract batches then you are already dealing with that.

The best part about all grain is you can have so much more variety.

I love doing half batches, because I just stove top and brew in the house.

Like now, my wife is gone this whole week on a trip. Shes been asking for me to brew her something she likes, so I'm going to be a blueberry ale and surprise her. Just a half batch, because I know I'm not a fan and wont drink much of it, and shes not a big drinker, so no real need to do a full batch.

I have always made 2.5 gallons batches. Recently I switched to all grain, and have continued doing 2.5 gallon batches, with BIAB.

I would love to make 5 gallon batches, but unfortnantly I live in an apartment so that's not really an option with all grain.

skyzo said:

I would love to make 5 gallon batches, but unfortnantly I live in an apartment so that's not really an option with all grain.

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+1
I do 2.5 gallon batches no problem on stove top. I just have to be real careful with the boil as my pot doesn't leave much head room.

There's a ton of threads on here for small batch brewing.

You can brew any sized batch you want. I do a lot of 2.5 gallon recipe test batches. You can even do 1 gallon AG brews. The basic brewing guys call that the six pack brew.

A recipe is scalable, so a 1 gallon recipe is 1/5th of a 5 gallon one....a 2.5 gallon one is half the ingredients.

2.5 gallons is one case of beer.

I use my normal 5 gallon mash tun for most of them, but I do a lot of Experiments, test recipes, or beers that I know I won't need/want more than a case of.

I sometimes use an unmodified 2 gallon cooler for a lot of my small btaches it holds up to 4 pounds of grain.

I just us a folding steamer in the bottom along with a grain bag. Just break off or unscrew the center post.



One of these, it helps to lift the grain bag above the spigot to keep the drainig from getting stuck.







I posted a lot of info in the mr beer thread that you may find helpful.

I posted some all grain small batchrecipes here, https://www.homebrewtalk.com/785533-post702.html

ANd a bit of a primer on AG with pics here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/738927-post659.html

But I mostly use my regular 5 gallon cooler mash tun which holds 14 pounds of grains...and 14 pounds of grain for a 2.5 gallon batch can be a mighty big beer.....


One of our memebers chubbykid had plans for a minikeg mashtun http://sites.google.com/site/chubbykidhomebrew/Home/equipment/mini-keg-lauter-tun



THe basic brewing radio guys are big fans of tiny batch brewing...3/4 gallon (1 6pack) in a 1 gallon winejug fermenter.

They demo the 6-pack IPA here

[ame]http://en.sevenload.com/shows/Basic-Brewing/episodes/PERGFAJ-01-12-06-Basic-Brewing-Video-A-Six-Pack-of-IPA[/ame]

and they also have done barleywines as well.

I ferment my 2.5 gallon batches in all manner of things, I have a 3 gallon better bottle, I also use 3 gallon water jugs, AND my old Mr Beer keg (it's perfect because you can even lager in your own fridge with it when you are starting out.)

You can even ferment a 2.5 gallon batch in a 5 gallon carboy if you want, though I would say a 6.5 gallon carboy is a little too much headspace for my confort.

Hope this helps....any more questions feel free to ask...But look through ALL THE OTHER INFO first and I bet you, you won't HAVE any other questions. This has been thoroughly covered like just about everything else.

If you are going to do 1 gallon batches try BIAB. Check out the Sticky in the All Grain section. I has instructions and pictures. As we say in the islands "easy as duck soup". I have no idea why we say that, but it means really easy to do.

Question Revvy,

If you were to leave out the strainer from your small cooler and use a sparge bag, once you've pulled the grain out, would it be safe to dump your wort into your kettle to boil? My concern is hot side aeration but I'm still unsure of at what point that comes into play. I guess the concern may be more of getting O2 in the wort post-boil but pre-cool.