1 Gallon Batches

[JJL]

I was staring at my pipeline the other day, and came to the conclusion that I'm sure many homebrewers come to. I have a bunch of random bottles of various homebrews sitting around. I like variety. I also like a challenge, so I'm not one to make the exact same recipe twice. In fact, since I typically only brew about once a month, I rarely make the same style of beer more than once a year. I also find that I just don't drink as much as I used to, so I get through maybe a case of homebrew before I'm ready to move on to something different. Couple this with my penchant for craft brew, and voila, a homebrew stockpile amasses.

So, what to do? I tinkered with the idea for a while of brewing small batches, but I recently stumbled upon a couple of 2 gallon plastic buckets, so the brew target was one gallon.

I had intended to do 2 PM batches from 1 mash a couple of days ago, but then I started screwing with one of the recipes, so I actually did 1 batch 2 days ago and the other last night. I used a BIAB process for the mash. Each batch took roughly 3 hours start to finish.

A couple of learnings:

1) Hop additions are tricky, especially with high AA% hops. Keep in mind that a 1oz hop addition in 5 gals is equal to 0.2oz in a 1 gal batch. You definitely need a scale that does fractions of an oz, preferably grams. You may also have to shift your hops additions to later in the boil if you are trying to keep your IBU's down.

2) You can heat and cool liquid for a 1 gal batch very quickly. Keep this in mind when preparing strike and sparge water. Don't walk away from it for too long or you'll end up boiling your water and you'll have to start over.

3) I'm hoping this will actually shave a few days off fermentation. Being that this is a 1 gal batch, I thinking it should take less time to hit the FG.

4) You definitely lose economies of scale with ingredients. Particularly, specialty grains. Most LHBS I've seen won't sell you 2oz of a specialty grain. You're stuck with 1/2lb or 1lb increments.

5) My boil off rate is similar for 5 gal or 1 gal. I started with 1.5 gals and ended up adding top off water. I boiled of 0.75-1 gal in an hour.

6) You have to treat each batch as a full boil. Probably goes without saying, but you aren't going to boil a 0.5 gal wort.

That's all I can think of right now. No great revelations i suppose. Questions and comments are more than welcome. I'll try to update later on in the process when the beers are close to being finished or something significant happens.

 

[birvine]

I went through the same thought process and just last week brewed a 1-gallon BIAB SMASH. Then on the weekend I racked an IPA onto raspberries in another 1-gal jug.

Racking may prove a little tricky but I love how the smaller batches are easier to manoeuvre (I can mash right in the oven), I won't be tripping over yet another carboy, and I can be fiddling with a variety of batches at the same time, and move on very quickly and not have to drink all 23 litres!

B

 

[JJL]

That's pretty much my thought process. I'm hoping racking will go relatively smoothly. With the small buckets I should have enough depth to get my autosiphon going.

 

[Rivenin]

been wanting to do this lately for a ton of batches, just found out that i cannot drink much because of a blood sugar issue i have, so instead of keeping 5 gallons, 1-2 gallon batches would be fun and still be stovetop worthy.
now only if i could find 1 or 2 gallon kegs, that would be pimp juice.

 

[Cregar]

I currently brew 3.5 gallon AG batches (ferment in 5 gal carboy). Living in a apartment, it's the way to go. Like you I really don't drink that much and it's a pain in the ass to setup my turkey fryer on my small balcony and have to worry about the management seeing me. With the 3.5 gal batch I use a 5 gallon cooler for my mashtun and a 6.5 gal pot on my stove. Works GREAT!

But I have been thinking about also doing 1 gal batches for experiments. I have a small 3 gal cooler converted into a mashtun and a 2.5 gal pot.

 

[seabass07]

Another possibility with 1gal batches is doing 2 different ones at once. I use a 2 gallon stock pot for my experimental batches. A single 8" burner is plenty for this. I have 2 8" burners. All I need is another 2gal pot. You could do 2 simultaneously and both would likely fit in the oven. Time spent and work are about the same but you end up with 2 different batches. I usuallyy just do 6qt batches since I ferment them in gallon jugs.

They also make great starters for larger batches!

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I've been doing 1 gallon recipes for a little over a year. It's a good way to experiment and add variety without getting stuck with 3 or 5 gallons of each beer. The downside is when you make a really great beer you wish you had more.

I've scaled 1 gallon batches up and had them taste identical. You really have to be careful with your measurements on the small batches to make sure you can scale appropriately.

The hardest part of 1 gallon recipes is to try to do a decoction mash. It's a pain in the ass to try to decoct such small amounts and keep them at the right temperatures for the rests. You basically have to watch and adjust the whole time. It's generally not worth it but if you plan on making the full batch with a decoction mash you need to taste the small batch the same way.

 

[JJL]

now only if i could find 1 or 2 gallon kegs, that would be pimp juice.

Definitely, a small keg would be the way to go.

Living in a apartment, it's the way to go. Like you I really don't drink that much and it's a pain in the ass to setup my turkey fryer on my small balcony and have to worry about the management seeing me.

This was kind of the other thought I had. It's so much less hassle than lugging around all of my bulky 5 gal AG equipment.

Another possibility with 1gal batches is doing 2 different ones at once. I use a 2 gallon stock pot for my experimental batches. A single 8" burner is plenty for this. I have 2 8" burners. All I need is another 2gal pot. You could do 2 simultaneously and both would likely fit in the oven. Time spent and work are about the same but you end up with 2 different batches. I usuallyy just do 6qt batches since I ferment them in gallon jugs.

This was kind of the idea I was going for originally, but I realized for cooling purposes I was probably going to have to stagger the boil times, and I realized I wasn't going to have enough time to finish both batches.

I've been doing 1 gallon recipes for a little over a year. It's a good way to experiment and add variety without getting stuck with 3 or 5 gallons of each beer. The downside is when you make a really great beer you wish you had more.

I've scaled 1 gallon batches up and had them taste identical. You really have to be careful with your measurements on the small batches to make sure you can scale appropriately.

This is the thought I had. I'd rather experiment a little. It's more fun for me and, as you said, a 1 gal experiment gone wrong is better than a 5 gal experiment gone wrong.

You are right about the scaling though. Scaling down to 1 gal can be tricky depending on the ingredients. Measuring out 0.1 oz of hops can be tough. And you need a reasonably sensitive instrument to do the weighing.

 

[IffyG]

now only if i could find 1 or 2 gallon kegs, that would be pimp juice.

It's 2.5 gallons, but the smaller kegs are kick ass. I've got 2, 3 gallon kegs for high gravity and test batches and would like to get another 2 or 3.

http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/2.5-Gallon-"Ball%2dLock"-Kegs-%2d-New.html

 

[jtakacs]

love 1 gallon batches... i have a few sour 1 gallons and a wild ale going now...

tossing a little brett-b and malto into an already fermented 1 gallon white belgian IPA to see what happens on tuesday...

 

[birvine]

Small kegs would be nice, but...

Another benefit to small-batch brewing is that bottling is a breeze. Many fewer bottles to worry about. By the way, I do have a kegerator and STILL am a proponent of bottles.

B

 

[Apendecto]

I've been doing small batches, too. One thing I'm going to do is make two gallon batches and split them into two 1 gallon jugs. When I make a gallon and rack it off the yeast and crap, I'm left with like 7 bottles. If I'm going to get out all the gear and clean it all off, I want a 12'er out of the deal.

 

[dslater]

I've done a few 2.5 gal AG batches but with my crappy stove I still have to use the turkey fryer. I often brew 5 gal batches and split between 2 fermentors, using different yeast and / or dry hopping schedules.

 

[JJL]

I've been doing small batches, too. One thing I'm going to do is make two gallon batches and split them into two 1 gallon jugs. When I make a gallon and rack it off the yeast and crap, I'm left with like 7 bottles. If I'm going to get out all the gear and clean it all off, I want a 12'er out of the deal.

I'm waiting to see what the yield will be. The 2 gal buckets I have could probably accomodate 1.5 gal with head space. But the math gets a little weird when trying to scale between 1.5 and 5 gals. You get a lot of fractions of ounces of ingredients. Part of what I was trying to do was avoid buying a 3 gal carboy. The 2 gal buckets I have were free, so there's no investment in even more equipment. Trying to get swmbo to warm up to the idea of a keg system at some point.

I've done a few 2.5 gal AG batches but with my crappy stove I still have to use the turkey fryer. I often brew 5 gal batches and split between 2 fermentors, using different yeast and / or dry hopping schedules.

This was the original idea, but I ran out of time. I was going to do one mash and 2 boils. Instead I brewed the 2 batches on consecutive nights.

 

[IffyG]

I'm waiting to see what the yield will be. The 2 gal buckets I have could probably accomodate 1.5 gal with head space. But the math gets a little weird when trying to scale between 1.5 and 5 gals. You get a lot of fractions of ounces of ingredients. Part of what I was trying to do was avoid buying a 3 gal carboy. The 2 gal buckets I have were free, so there's no investment in even more equipment. Trying to get swmbo to warm up to the idea of a keg system at some point.

Grams are your your friend (especially when it comes to measuring out hops). Get one of these and you are good to go. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012N1NAA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[weirdboy]

The biggest issue I can remember having with one gallon batches was trying to rack off the dry hops without losing all of my beer.

 

[JJL]

Grams are your your friend (especially when it comes to measuring out hops). Get one of these and you are good to go. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012N1NAA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Yep. Got one. Not that one exactly, but I have a scale that measures grams.

The biggest issue I can remember having with one gallon batches was trying to rack off the dry hops without losing all of my beer.

I was toying with the idea of dry hopping on of the batches. Given that the batch is so small I really only want to rack one time - into the bottling bucket. I was thinking about dry hopping and cold crashing at the same time.