1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[ohiobeer29]

cool thanks

 

[FatsSchindee]

Anybody have any experience on the 1-gal level with bourbon oaking a RIS? I brewed up a 2.3 gal batch, which after racking off the trub gave me just under 2 gal (was hoping for 2 even, but underestimated the amount of trub that dropped out!), with a final abv of 10%. I racked it into two 1 gal glass jugs to bulk age for a while, and want to add some bourbon-soaked oak chips to one of them. I bought 1 oz of medium toast French oak chips... But not sure how much to use and for how long.

I've seen many 5 gal recipes call for 4 oz, so I'm thinking of just using the whole 1 oz. Was thinking of soaking in Makers or maybe Knob Creek for a few weeks to a month, and then putting the chips in the beer for...? A week, two, more? I guess the common sense answer would just be "to taste", obviously... But just wondering if any of you had any experience with something similar and what amount and time worked for you. Thanks!

I was also considering adding some other extras to bulk age, including vanilla beans, cacao nibs, and/or star anise. Maybe to the other (non-oaked) gal, or maybe with the oak/bourbon as well... Thoughts? I made it with some molasses, and also had 9 other malts for a whole complexity of flavors (I figured with a beer like this, "go big, or go home!", and it's just two gallons so no biggie if it doesn't turn out well. But tastes good so far, and will be better with some age and mellowing of the alcohol, I think), so it already has a lot going on. Not sure if even more flavors would help or hurt...

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[sumbrewindude]

My experience with oak chips ended poorly and required MONTHS of conditioning just to get down from #2 pencil status. I used .5oz of medium french oak chips (Carlson), bourbon soaked for 3 weeks before adding them in for 5 (!) days to the secondary.

The effect was WAAAAAYYY overpowering. All tannin from the oak, no bourbon.

Knowing what I know now, I'd tell you to be very cautious with the chips. If you go with the oak CUBES you'll be in better territory as they don't release the "oak" as fast as the chips.

If you use the chips, boil/steam them first to get the bulk of the tannins out first, then add them. Sample constantly, and when you've reached the level you want, rack out or pull the chips. The margin of error on a small batch is very tight, vs a large volume.

If you're interested in adding bourbon/rum/whatever do it at bottling. I like the little 50ml bottles in the liquor store, they're easy to measure out and I'm not stuck with something I won't drink.

 

[Calichusetts]

I used 1/3 of an oak spiral soaked in bourbon and left it for a week or two. Amazing. Though after a year it is almost gone. Might want to try half a spiral for two-three weeks. This should not be overpowering and still shine for a few years.

 

[FatsSchindee]

I already bought the chips, so I'm going to just go with those over the cubes (on the advice of the LHBS salesman - but forget his reasoning now) or spirals. Good advice about boiling or steaming them first, SBD... Did you do that in the above example, and they were still too tannic after that, or are you saying you didn't do it, and that's why you'd recommend it now? Thx...

Gonna now go look up the best technique to "blanch" (for lack of a better word) the chips, as I bought some Makers today and am ready to start soaking them!

I brewed it in May, left it over a month in primary, and plan on bulk aging for at least until sept, at which point I'll bottle (which reminds me... After 3-4 months sitting in a 10% beer! think I should at new yeast when bottling? I'm thinking probably?). I don't plan on drinking the first one until at least Xmas, so they'll have a few months in the bottle to mellow by then. And I do hope to save a few to see how they age over the next few years, so do want the flavor to last/integrate well over time...


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[FatsSchindee]

Well, after reading multiple articles on adding oak, it does look like most recommend cubes over chips, as said above. Guess the lesson learned is to ask the question before purchasing anything! Now that I think about it, I think the reason the LHBS salesman favored chips is because they work quicker. I have plenty of time to age this RIS, though, so I should have not listened to him. Oh well, I'll still give it a try.

Looks like most boil the oak in water for a couple to 15 minutes, I'll probably go 15... Thinking this may extract more of the upfront oak tannins, and therefore I can leave them in the beer longer than otherwise. Thinking one week before I start tasting (with only one gallon, don't want to have to taste too often!), then every couple days from there.

And it sounds like one oz will be too much for only one gal of beer (even at 10%)... I think 1/3 to 1/2 oz will be better...


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[sumbrewindude]

Fats -

I DIDN'T boil the chips, which was the start of my undoing, I have a suspicion. Definitely boil/steam them first.

Second mistake I think I made was after soaking the chips, I added everything including the soaked bourbon to the carboy. I'm pretty sure that's what sealed the deal in my case. I'd heavily recommend just adding the soaked chips, and not the alcohol. If you want the bite/flavor of the bourbon, add it back in at bottling.

The thing about chips is they've got a ton of surface area, so they release the oak so much faster than the spirals or the cubes. Next time I play with oak it'll be either cubes or spirals - no chips.

 

[FatsSchindee]

Gotcha - thanks. I did boil just 1/3 oz chips for 15 min, let them dry a bit, then poured 1/4 cup Maker's Mark over them to cover. I'll take your advice and only add the chips (but will use the makers in some sort of cocktail, of course!). I'll let sit on the chips until I get the oak taste I like, then I can always dose with more makers if the bourbon flavor isn't enough...



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[sumbrewindude]

Exactly - you can always add the bourbon in later to taste. Good luck! (and that pic looks dang tasty as I'm stuck at work..)

 

[MT2sum]

I like doing 1 gallon brews, gives me a chance to try out many more of the thousands of recipes out there. I may have made a mistake tho, I tried branching out into a 1 gal batch of cider (another thread) and it may have flopped (I should have known better than to try to make an alcoholic drink for the wife!). So if the cider can't be resurrected, I'll just go back to beer (Stouts, Porters, IPA's, etc.).

 

[ohiobeer29]

I'm a big fan of stones ruin ten and southern tier 2 x one any ideas on what to add to this to make it remotely close to these. here is what I have to work with
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/northern-brewer-s-white-house-honey-ale-1-gallon-recipe-kit.html

 

[ohiobeer29]

sorry double post

 

[sumbrewindude]

Ohio - So I'm going to assume you're referring to Souther Tier 2xIPA, as the Stone's Ruination is a IIPA. Either way, the kit that you have is not going to work well as a base to make either. You've got the wrong style of beer (and english ale base), with the wrong yeast (Windsor is a low attenuation yeast, you need something like US05 or Wyeast 1065, or whitelabs 001 Cali Ale), and the wrong hops (English low AA hops).

You really need to find a good solid IPA kit, and build off of that. I'd make your kit as is, and then get a good IPA kit and supplement it with more hops and some additional DME/Dextros to boost the ABV and thin the beer out. Any of the "C's", Simco, etc would be a good start.

 

[ohiobeer29]

Ohio - So I'm going to assume you're referring to Souther Tier 2xIPA, as the Stone's Ruination is a IIPA. Either way, the kit that you have is not going to work well as a base to make either. You've got the wrong style of beer (and english ale base), with the wrong yeast (Windsor is a low attenuation yeast, you need something like US05 or Wyeast 1065, or whitelabs 001 Cali Ale), and the wrong hops (English low AA hops).

You really need to find a good solid IPA kit, and build off of that. I'd make your kit as is, and then get a good IPA kit and supplement it with more hops and some additional DME/Dextros to boost the ABV and thin the beer out. Any of the "C's", Simco, etc would be a good start.

thanks

 

[ohiobeer29]

one week yet before I take the fg reading can't wait.how everyone else doing ? any new brews?

 

[sumbrewindude]

Still slacking terribly.

Trying to clean out the bottles from the cellar and build the kegerator so I can get the 3 kegs that are waiting cooled down and serving.

 

[Breadontap]

Haha. So I bought flowers for the wife but realized I didn't have a vase. So I guess you can say I brewed up a present for her. She loves it.




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[Ash1616]

My mother is coming to visit in a few weeks and I have 6 different brews for her to try, one for every day of her visit!!!

 

[Wolfbrau]

1-Gallon Dyslexics UNTIE!

Sorry that's all I've got.

 

[ohiobeer29]

Haha. So I bought flowers for the wife but realized I didn't have a vase. So I guess you can say I brewed up a present for her. She loves it.

View attachment 212803


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now this is love.

 

[ohiobeer29]

My mother is coming to visit in a few weeks and I have 6 different brews for her to try, one for every day of her visit!!!

what beers are they?

 

[ohiobeer29]

came in at 6.5 abv

 

[shaky6]

I just found this thread. I can't believe its 453 pages long, thats a lot to get caught up on. I've decided to switch to 1 gallon brews because I am just now starting to do all grain, but my last two concoctions have turned out like crap and I don't want to waste all those ingredients on another 5 gallons. Plus I could probably do a complete boil on my stove. I'm trying to figure out how to cut my yeast consumption for 1 gallon. If I use part of the package of dry yeast, can I seal it back up and stick in back in the fridge?

 

[Broham1]

If I use part of the package of dry yeast, can I seal it back up and stick in back in the fridge?

Yep!

 

[ohiobeer29]

bottled it a little bit ago can't wait

 

[sumbrewindude]

Woo! Ordered grains/hops yeast for a long overdue Sat brew day.

Dampfbier here I come!

 

[sumbrewindude]

Mashed in and everything's waiting on conversion. Come on enzymes! Kettle's lonely! Sparge water starts in 15min....

 

[HomebrewCraig]

Grinding the grains for a nut brown! these are exciting times.

 

[ohiobeer29]

nothing like a relaxing day brewing great beer

 

[HomebrewCraig]

I put my 5 yr old to work... He powered through just about all of the 12 pound grain bill by hand. He didn't care for the smell of East Kent Goldings though. It was like smelling salts for him.