1 Gallon Batches?

[corvax13]

Hello

I just purchased a 1 gallon carboy for some experimental batches - I was wandering, is there any easy way to scale down recipes to 1 gallon, without using any software? I suspect it is not as simple as just using 1/5th of the ingredients.

If there is no easy way, would BeerTools or BeerAlchemy have this option? (Mac user)

Thanks everyone!

Corvax

 

[SavageSteve]

If the recipe was assuming a full volume boil, then you can scale it down by 1/5th. If it was assuming a concentrated boil, then you'd have to adjust for increased hop utilization.

I prefer BeerTools Pro on my Mac-- I just don't care for the BeerAlchemy interface. Not that BTP doesn't have its issues. BTP has a very easy way to scale recipes. Just select "scale" from a dropdown menu then change your final volume.

The nice thing about small batches is that it's way easier to hit proper yeast pitching rates!

-Steve

 

[corvax13]

This is very true - I hadn't even thought about that. I think most recipes ask for a concentrated boil, so guess Im purchasing software.

As I am getting deeper and deeper into homebrewing, I was hoping to do some SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) recipes in 1 gallon batches, so I can start getting a taste for what each individual malt and hop variety does. I feel somewhat like a mad scientist, throwing a bit of this and that and seeing what happens.

 

[ThinkinDavid]

I also plan on making very small batches of experimental brew. One thing you might want to check out is Ray Daniels Designing Great Beers. It will show you how to formulate your recipe from the bottom up, so making a 1 gallon batch would be just like making a 5 gallon batch.