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I forget the website, I think it was KorneyKeg, or something real similar. Anyway, the sell 5 gallon kegs that have been converted to ball and lock for like 45 bucks. They're used and could be "ugly", dents and what have you, but all the reviews are great
 
Do any of you folks harvest yeast from the small batches? If I only use a third to half of a packet, does it make much sense to harvest that amount from the jugs?
 
Immocles said:
Do any of you folks harvest yeast from the small batches? If I only use a third to half of a packet, does it make much sense to harvest that amount from the jugs?
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I usually use my 1 gallon batches to ferment my next 5 gallon batch, but I don't know why you wouldn't. Dollars are still dollars...
 
That’s kinda my thinking, it’s something I’ve just started reading into and wasn’t sure if it had diminished results at a lower pitch. Thanks!
 
Immocles said:
That’s kinda my thinking, it’s something I’ve just started reading into and wasn’t sure if it had diminished results at a lower pitch. Thanks!
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I have on several occasions poured my wort over a yeast cake. It’s a lot of work doing it that way though because when I do that, I bottle and brew on the same day.
 
You can brew 2 gallons with one pack of yeast, at least my HB store only sells them fit for 5 gallon. A few bucks for 2 guaranteed gallons of usable yeast, versus 20 bucks or so of ingredients is worth the piece of mind in my opinion. But, I'm also just starting out.
 
offenbeckerm said:
I keg a lot of my 2.5 gallon batches in smaller keg (I think it's 2.5 gallons?) that I bought. They're not that hard to find, but sadly they're no cheaper than a 5 gallon. They also have some great 1 gallon and even 64oz. systems as well. I don't have one yet, but it's on my want list. In a small batch like that, bottling is pretty easy as well, but I want one so I can force carbonate mead and cider that I've killed to back-sweeten.
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I just bought a 1.75 gallon keg and a 24oz co2 paintball bottle (plus converter).
While bottling a 1 gallon batch is easier than a 5, I've got to say that being able to drink my beer the next day was amazing. No worries about bottle bombs, dealing with tabs, or having to wait another 3 weeks. And it fits in my garage fridge.
 

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I did two batches today and now they are in fermentors doing their thing. One is a nut brown ale the other is a honey porter. Two weeks can't come soon enough.

edit... I think I can't add images because I don't have enough posts.
2nd edit... I figured out what I did wrong
 
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It was fun to hear about variations in the "Hop Sampler" process in the (Basic Brewing Radio) Feb 7, 2019 episode - replace Pilsen/light with Amber or Vienna.

I've also done some "hop steeps" this way. Rather than adding all the hops at "flame-out", let the wort cool to 180* F (or 170*, or ...) then add the hops (and keep the wort at 180* F) for 20 - 30 minutes.

Anyone else trying multiple hops? Perhaps Hop Stand vs. Dry Hop scaled to a gallon and converted to use extract+steep (and maybe cold steep)?
 
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I picked up a cheapo 1 gal kit that was on clearance in target, heating up my mash water now. Looking forward to trying 1 gallon test batches before I scale up to my 5 gallon system
 
I dont have any temperature control right now for fermentation, other than a cold basement (not colder than 63 or so) so haven't looked into lagers. Have seen many recipes though on the recipe section of the forums. If I had one, I'd share it though. Cheers!
 
I have a keezer I built out of a 10 ft³ chest freezer with wooden collar, and a raspberry pi for temp control. Inside are 4 1.5 gal kegs and 2 2.5 gal kegs. Those 1.5s (morebeer.com stackable torpedo kegs) are some of my favorite things in the world.

I can brew a 3.5 gallon batch, split between 4 1-gallon fermenters with different dry hops or yeast, then keg them all and compare. Or try 3 different fermentation temps for the same batch at the same time, ruling out just about every variable but temperature.

I've done at least 20 1-gallon batches to compare variations when 'dialling in' my saison and my patersbier, plus several to address the "what if I brew 5 gallons of this and it sucks" worry.

1-gallon batches can be very finicky in ways (trying to get exactly 0.12oz bittering hops, for example) but can be very rewarding when you hit 'just right' and know you can easily scale it up to 3gal or 5gal.
(imho the biggest drawback in 1 gallon brews is that people always want to try my beer, and I hate having to explain "well, there's 6 bottles left of the latest")

j
 
Immocles said:
Looks like I’m acquiring a free mini fridge for the basement, anyone have a simple small batch lager recipe? Been dying to try one.
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I brewed my first lager (essentially a helles bock) a few months ago, sized to fit the 2.5 gallon destination keg. 65% pilsner malt, 35% munich malt, 24 IBU Magnum hops for full 60 min boil, fermented with WLP835 (Andechs, yeast vault) at 50°F in my keezer for about 20 days followed by 2 days at about 62°F then kegged and back into keezer now at 36-40°F.

Came out delightful. OG 1.066 FG 1.011. Scaled to 1 gallon I'd go with 22oz pilsen malt, 12oz munich, and 0.1oz Magnum (or 24 IBU of your favorite bittering hop), mash between 150 and 152 for 60-75 mins, boil for 60 mins. For extract find one that is similar proportions of pilsner/munich (65/35) and target 1.065 OG.

j
 
newkirk said:
Came out delightful. OG 1.066 FG 1.011. Scaled to 1 gallon I'd go with 22oz pilsen malt, 12oz munich, and 0.1oz Magnum (or 24 IBU of your favorite bittering hop), mash between 150 and 152 for 60-75 mins, boil for 60 mins. For extract find one that is similar proportions of pilsner/munich (65/35) and target 1.065 OG.

j
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I’ll have to try something similar to this (or exactly!) when I get my fridge and next grain order going. Thanks for the advice
 
Immocles said:
I’ll have to try something similar to this (or exactly!) when I get my fridge and next grain order going. Thanks for the advice
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Biggest factors are to select a yeast you like, and chill wort to that yeast's optimal temperature before pitching. Then rest in low 60s for 2-3 days before packaging.

j
 
Hmm okay. I’ve rummaged through various recipes and I have a very simple inventory at the moment. I really like seeing a basic grain bill to start with. Yeast will be an experimentation for a time, but maybe I’ll get lucky early
 
Living on a boat, most of our brewing is very small batch. Started a gallon of apple cider and a gallon of cranberry cider two days ago and they're happily bubbling away. We'll rack in a few days and bottle and try to ignore them for a bit.....that never works, does it?
 
Mungo said:
Living on a boat, most of our brewing is very small batch. Started a gallon of apple cider and a gallon of cranberry cider two days ago and they're happily bubbling away. We'll rack in a few days and bottle and try to ignore them for a bit.....that never works, does it?
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Have you ever had issues with constant rocking of the boat and oxidation? or trub not setting to the bottom?
 
Glad to see a lot of new activity on this thread again. I love one gallon batches (and 2.5gallon batches), perfect size for me.

Last weekend, I brewed a one gallon batch of Irish Red from Brewing Classic Styles. This weekend, I brewed a 2 gallon batch of Irish Red from How To Brew. It got split into two one gallon batches. One I'm going to leave as is and the other I'm going to dry hop with Cascade (which is totally out of style) just for sh!ts and giggles. I'll end up with 3 different Reds in time for St. Patty's day which will be just over a case of beer instead of 6 cases of beer if I had done the same in 5 gallon batches. Gotta love variety!!

So...any thoughts on how much Cascade I should use to dry hop that third batch? I'm thinking somewhere between 5 and 10 grams of Cascade.
 
Griffin495 said:
Glad to see a lot of new activity on this thread again. I love one gallon batches (and 2.5gallon batches), perfect size for me.

Last weekend, I brewed a one gallon batch of Irish Red from Brewing Classic Styles. This weekend, I brewed a 2 gallon batch of Irish Red from How To Brew. It got split into two one gallon batches. One I'm going to leave as is and the other I'm going to dry hop with Cascade (which is totally out of style) just for sh!ts and giggles. I'll end up with 3 different Reds in time for St. Patty's day which will be just over a case of beer instead of 6 cases of beer if I had done the same in 5 gallon batches. Gotta love variety!!

So...any thoughts on how much Cascade I should use to dry hop that third batch? I'm thinking somewhere between 5 and 10 grams of Cascade.
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That sounds about right to me. I’d go with the 10. More than that and it will start to be and American amber ale and less than that, the difference between the dry hopped one and the other won’t be much of a contrast.
 
frenchbrewer said:
With small amount how do you guys take OG and FG? I feel it overkilled to waste so much with hydrometers...
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I do my small batches in 2 gallon buckets. I start with a desired packaged volume and add back to Strike in order to ensure I get exact volumes into packaging. That includes hydrometer readings if I need them.

Immocles said:
I took some advice early on and shoot for a bit over a gallon in the fermenter so I can take OG and at least one FG to see if I'm close to where I need to be. I never put samples back in, though, but have seen folks do it.
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I usually plan for 2 hydro readings in the fermenter and check the rest with the refractometer.
 
RPIScotty said:
I do my small batches in 2 gallon buckets. I start with a desired packaged volume and add back to Strike in order to ensure I get exact volumes into packaging. That includes hydrometer readings if I need them.



I usually plan for 2 hydro readings in the fermenter and check the rest with the refractometer.
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Can I ask you why you are not only using refractometer if you have both.
 
frenchbrewer said:
With small amount how do you guys take OG and FG? I feel it overkilled to waste so much with hydrometers...
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I asked the same question earlier in this thread and it was suggested using a refractometer and take a couple readings a day apart, looking for no change, if you're just looking to verify FG. There are also conversion calculators available when using a refractometer to calculate FG for abv.
 
frenchbrewer said:
With small amount how do you guys take OG and FG? I feel it overkilled to waste so much with hydrometers...
Click to expand...

I use a 100 ml graduated cylinder which works good unless gravity goes below 1.010. Lower than that and the the hydrometer won't float. It doesn't us much wort or beer.
 
frenchbrewer said:
With small amount how do you guys take OG and FG? I feel it overkilled to waste so much with hydrometers...
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With small batches, I also aim for a packaging volume.

For fermenter sizes, one gallon carboys work well for a six pack (and storing Star San) and two gallon food grade pails work well for a 12 pack.

Scale the recipe volume to account for trub volume (hop volumes will impact this), hydrometer readings (~ 4 oz each), beer left in the siphon (~ 4 oz) and beer left on the bottom of the fermenter (~ 4 oz?, but varies based on fermenter).

Occasionally, I'll get an extra bottle - which is OK.
 
I use a refractometer to check for OG, but don't bother taking a FG. I know people will say but what if your fermentation is stuck and bottle bombs and such, but I've never had an issue. I've got plenty of experience with larger batches and taking FG and I just go with how it looks. When it drops crystal clear and the color changes, I know its done. It always done in 2 weeks and 3 to be on the safe side. With one gallon batches, I'm also not that concerned with the actual ABV. I don't need to know if it came out at 5.0%, or 5.2% or whatever. I'm just not that concerned as long as it tastes good.

As far as one gallon batches, I usually get 8-9 bottles a beer out of a gallon glass carboy.
 
InspectorJon said:
I keep my glass carboy fermenter in an ice chest filled with water to about the same level as the wort/beer. I add a frozen gel pack or frozen water bottle if the temp gets too warm. I just add a bunch of ice when it is time to cold crash. I could do cooler lager fermenting this way but it would not be practical to try and do a long term cold lager like this. This is the first time I have used this setup to make a lager at ale temps.
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This in warmer weather
 
I'm having a hell of a time bottling my 1 gallon batches. I've tried 2 different racking canes from Northern Brewer and I end up with what I perceive to be way too much oxygen going into my bottles. What do all of you use for racking out of such small batches? I have been fermenting in the Little Big Mouth Bubbler, which means I have a hard time starting a siphon without ending up aerating everything like crazy. It sucks making a small batch of beer and watching as fermentation does its thing perfectly, and then having the stupid siphon backfire a bunch of air into the beer as you're trying to bottle.
 
So, I've bottled 2 gallons of cider and 1 of my porter. Used the cane on the first batch of cider and also noticed bubbles, so i took the black capper off the racking cane, did away with the racking cane, put it straight onto the tube and no more bubbles. Does require more attention but worked for me. Looking forward to some other fixes
 

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