1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[BrewnWKopperKat]

there's nothing particularly different about recipes at five gallons versus one gallon.

And given the lack of home brew recipe books and recipes for batch sizes other than five gallons, this is good thing!

Speed Brewing is an interesting exception for a couple of reasons. It covers a number of fermented beverages. For beer, it starts all grain. And it packages the beer in 1.75 gal kegs. And published in 2015.

 

[An Ankoù]

I haven't read the entire thread so I don't know if this site has been mentioned. I've made some decent beers from these recipes (scaled up to 12 or 20 litres, I have to confess).

https://smallbatchbrew.com.au/small-batch-home-brew-recipes/

 

[aceluby]

I like this book a lot so far. Spot on recommendation for this thread as well. The secondary recommendations are not necessary as previously suggested. Shout out to @aceluby!

One thing I learned is that she does suggest a bit more mash water than needed. My notes have 1/4 gallon per pound of grain and the rest of the water used to sparge.

I also target the low end of mash temps, put it in a 170 degree oven for an hour, drain into strainer over my boil pot, then fly sparge the clean water through the grain sitting in the strainer. Efficiency is not quite perfect, but the beer is still damn good.

 

[RevA]

I'm playing with yeasts the two on the sides are one two gallon batch split in two. One got kveik Voss one got SO-04. And in the middle a ½ gallon batch of cold fermented Voss.

 

[aceluby]

View attachment 777258I'm playing with yeasts the two on the sides are one two gallon batch split in two. One got kveik Voss one got SO-04. And in the middle a ½ gallon batch of cold fermented Voss.

What kind of grain/hop bill you got going there?

 

[RevA]

What kind of grain/hop bill you got going there?

4.4lb 2 row
3.5oz cara blond
1.5oz Crystal 40
¼oz of citra at 30 min
¼oz of citra at flameout
And plan on dry hopping as well

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I'm playing with yeasts the two on the sides are one two gallon batch split in two. One got kveik Voss one got SO-04. And in the middle a ½ gallon batch of cold fermented Voss.

Interesting. I posted a page up about my US-05 vs Lutra vs Voss split 1-gallon batches. I want to give those a bit more time in the bottle to make any real conclusions. I currently have a split batch of Voss with half fermenting at 85F-90F, with the other half fermenting at 65F. (Both are 2.5 gallon batches.). Visually, the hot Voss batch looked to be done fermenting in about 24 hours. The batch at 65F is acting like I would expect a vigorous yeast like Nottingham (brewed Sunday, currently about 2.5 days into fermentation). I am hoping they are both ready to keg by this weekend.

I am not sure if it counts as "1 gallon brewing" but I now have several small fermenters (6 with spigots) so I hope to do more split wort batches looking at 3 to 6 yeasts at a time (or yeasts at different temps). I find that making 7-9 bottles of these types of batches is a great size. It gives me a few bottles to sample and enjoy, and I have a few bottles to take along to a club meeting or share with other homebrewers.

 

[Drewch]

Please let me continue to clarify. I'm having fun with my one-gallon brews. It was an easy step for me coming from brewing fruit & rice wines and meads in one-gallon carboys and jars. I have all the gear right out of the gate. I'm not interested in taking five-gallon recipes and doing the maths. I'm off too a heckuva start with one-gallon beers. So any more five-gallon suggestions or book recommendations that don't give at least a passing nod to one-gallon brewing should be considered either off topic or general information (no matter how helpful and accurate) and not directed toward me. I'm in a one-gallon brewing thread and in a one-gallon state of mind, and I'm uniting with other one-gallon brewers.

Have you read Speed Brewing: Techniques and Recipes for Fast-Fermenting Beers, Ciders, Meads, and More by Mary Izett? It's all about 1-2 gallon recipes.

 

[MrClint]

Have you read Speed Brewing: Techniques and Recipes for Fast-Fermenting Beers, Ciders, Meads, and More by Mary Izett? It's all about 1-2 gallon recipes.

Looks pretty good! Nice share. I put it on my Amazon shopping list. I have two beers fermenting, three kit beers waiting in the wings, and some more SMaSH beers in the planning stages. When things clear out a little bit I will grab the kindle version. Thanks!

EDIT: Who am I kidding? I pulled the trigger on this one too. Another nice read. Thanks!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Looks pretty good! Nice share

... but ... but ... but ... it's not a 1 gal recipe book.

If you're still reading this reply, the book is an "all-grain" focused book and mentions 5.2 pH Stabilizer (link) which isn't needed (link).

 

[MrClint]

... but ... but ... but ... it's not a 1 gal recipe book.

If you're still reading this reply, the book is an "all-grain" focused book and mentions 5.2 pH Stabilizer (link) which isn't needed (link).

Haha! It has some flaws, I can't deny that, but it has some good things to draw from. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone that hasn't brewed before. She cuts some corners that could lead to bottle bombs on some recipes. The book has 1 and 2 gallon recipes, the 2 gallon recipes aren't that hard to cut in half on the fly (easy maths). I won't be futzing around with water params at this point.

 

[mashpaddled]

Please let me continue to clarify. I'm having fun with my one-gallon brews. It was an easy step for me coming from brewing fruit & rice wines and meads in one-gallon carboys and jars. I have all the gear right out of the gate. I'm not interested in taking five-gallon recipes and doing the maths. I'm off too a heckuva start with one-gallon beers. So any more five-gallon suggestions or book recommendations that don't give at least a passing nod to one-gallon brewing should be considered either off topic or general information (no matter how helpful and accurate) and not directed toward me. I'm in a one-gallon brewing thread and in a one-gallon state of mind, and I'm uniting with other one-gallon brewers.

I don't know if you know this but this entire thread is not just for you

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I won't be futzing around with water params at this point.

Water adjustments don't have to be futzy (link).

 

[RevA]

I got some Finnish bread yeast from a friend and decided to make a no boil Sahti. ½ Gallon batch as I have no idea whether it will be good.

 

[aceluby]

Got on a Belgian kick lately so brewed a Trippel w/ Abbey yeast and have that bottle conditioning, plus a delirium tremmens clone, which is a Belgian strong ale with coriander, grains of paradise, and ginger that I'll let ferment for a few more weeks. I'm hoping to get a brown ale going as well since it's getting to that time of year

ETA: Even after "upgrading" to a 5 gallon setup, my favorite way to brew is still one gallon. Hate bottling, but the brew process is just so nice for one gallon.

 

[chthon]

My first kit, a present for Father's Day, was a one gallon kit. After brewing that, I brewed a beer with DME. And then I decided to experiment with grains. My parents have an old Peugeot mill (a heirloom from my father's grandfather).


This crushes things, and was very nice for crushing grain, albeit a bit slow.

I did upgrade in the course of time, but not that much. I brew between 8 and 10 litres (24 to 30 bottles).

I also split up my brew day. One evening I do the mash and the filtering, and pasteurise the wort. Then I seal off my boil kettle so that it can cool. The next day I do the boil. After the boil I seal it again, and the yeast is pitched on the third evening.

I did buy a real malt mill, a pH meter, a cooling coil and an RO system. Those were the most expensive things. But for most part I try to use simple things. My filter system consists of two buckets that I got for free in the fries shop.

One of the things that convinced me that it was possible to brew small amounts was this article.

I also wrote my own brewing model, so that I can brew starting from how much I want to brew, what the ABV should be, what the percentages of fermentables should be, the attenuation of the yeast (which I also keep, and use the statistical average of their usage). I only need to add solutions for the hops, to get the amount needed based upon boiling time and desired IBUs. Something for the winter months.

 

[aceluby]

My first kit, a present for Father's Day, was a one gallon kit. After brewing that, I brewed a beer with DME. And then I decided to experiment with grains. My parents have an old Peugeot mill (a heirloom from my father's grandfather).

View attachment 781620
This crushes things, and was very nice for crushing grain, albeit a bit slow.

I did upgrade in the course of time, but not that much. I brew between 8 and 10 litres (24 to 30 bottles).

I also split up my brew day. One evening I do the mash and the filtering, and pasteurise the wort. Then I seal off my boil kettle so that it can cool. The next day I do the boil. After the boil I seal it again, and the yeast is pitched on the third evening.

I did buy a real malt mill, a pH meter, a cooling coil and an RO system. Those were the most expensive things. But for most part I try to use simple things. My filter system consists of two buckets that I got for free in the fries shop.

One of the things that convinced me that it was possible to brew small amounts was this article.

I also wrote my own brewing model, so that I can brew starting from how much I want to brew, what the ABV should be, what the percentages of fermentables should be, the attenuation of the yeast (which I also keep, and use the statistical average of their usage). I only need to add solutions for the hops, to get the amount needed based upon boiling time and desired IBUs. Something for the winter months.

That article was why I started brewing as well. Read it years ago and didn’t do anything about it until this year. Now I always have something brewing

 

[TBA]

Other than a higher boil off rate is there a reason to not use a large pot? I have a 10 gallon pot. Been making slightly smaller batches lately and thinking of going even smaller. Also, I started fermenting in standard cornies. Any issue with fermenting only 1.5-2 gallons in a 5+ gallon keg? What about serving from a 5+ gallon keg? Last question right now, will the blowoff from the small batch purge a full size keg?

 

[AlexKay]

Other than a higher boil off rate is there a reason to not use a large pot? I have a 10 gallon pot. Been making slightly smaller batches lately and thinking of going even smaller. Also, I started fermenting in standard cornies. Any issue with fermenting only 1.5-2 gallons in a 5+ gallon keg? What about serving from a 5+ gallon keg? Last question right now, will the blowoff from the small batch purge a full size keg?

Boiloff is the only downside to a larger pot, but it can be significant. I use an asparagus steamer (tall, thin) for my one-liter batches.

Fermenting in oversized kegs really shouldn’t be a problem, nor should serving or purging.

 

[TBA]

Thanks for the reply. I guess it would take some experiments to see how much the boil off is. I guess another issue is cooling as my immersion chiller would not be very effective.

 

[chthon]

Other than a higher boil off rate is there a reason to not use a large pot? I have a 10 gallon pot. Been making slightly smaller batches lately and thinking of going even smaller. Also, I started fermenting in standard cornies. Any issue with fermenting only 1.5-2 gallons in a 5+ gallon keg? What about serving from a 5+ gallon keg? Last question right now, will the blowoff from the small batch purge a full size keg?

Some basic physics: boil-off rate is dependent upon the power of the heating source, not on the width or the size of the boil kettle. More power/higher fire gives a bigger boil off rate. A lid will not influence this, the speed of the steam coming out will just get greater.

 

[RevA]

I mostly use my 5 gallon kettle for my small batches. It works for me, if anything my boiloff is sometimes a bit less than expected

 

[AlexKay]

Some basic physics: boil-off rate is dependent upon the power of the heating source, not on the width or the size of the boil kettle. More power/higher fire gives a bigger boil off rate. A lid will not influence this, the speed of the steam coming out will just get greater.

Boil-off rate is dependent upon the difference between the power of the heating source and the heat lost to the environment. I’m not an engineer, but I bet the latter depends rather a lot on kettle geometry and the presence or absence of a lid.

 

[chthon]

Boil-off rate is dependent upon the difference between the power of the heating source and the heat lost to the environment. I’m not an engineer, but I bet the latter depends rather a lot on kettle geometry and the presence or absence of a lid.

Less than you think.

First, yes, there is a bit of loss due to the temperature difference between the boiling wort and the surrounding temperature. But the bigger the vessel, the less heat it can lose. I think that in case of a gas burner, there is probably much more loss from the bottom to the sides of the kettle than with electric resistance or inductance heating.

Second, a lid. Once you get steam, the lid will also be heated to appr. 100° C, so you will not get any condensation there anymore. If the lid is completely on the kettle, then it will start to dance. If the lid is there with a small opening, then the steam will escape with a high speed. If there is no lid, the same amount of steam will escape but with less velocity.

One of the things to be learned in physics is that bringing water to the boil costs much energy, but keeping it boiling takes much less energy. And all the energy not needed for the boil will escape as steam (granted with some losses due to temperature difference between the boiling kettle and the surroundings).

 

[Drewch]

Pivoting the discussion slightly...

Has anyone else found themselves tweaking their batch size to fit a convenient pre-boil volume? That is, I tweak my batch size until BrewFather calculates a 7.56 L pre-boil volume. Because RO water is conveniently available in 1-gallon jugs here.

(This also works well because after losses & boil-off, I usually wind up with about 6.5 L which fills a cheap & conveniently available 2-gal food-grade bucket with about a liter of ullage.)

 

[2_gal_brewer]

Talking of 1 gallon brews ..............
..the AHBA Learn to Homebrew Day recipe in 2022 is a 1 gal recipe (they say)
The beer ABV/IBU/SRM they cite looks good (4-5, 45-60, 14) but when I plug their ingredients into Brewer's Friend calculator, I get very different results. The IBU. SRM and ABV are WAY too high. (6, 129, 19)
I am going to rework the recipe maybe using Mr. Beer Classic Light HME (11 IBUs in 2 gal) for a 2 gal brew, and I figure with 1 LME Pale softpack (8.8 oz), 4 oz Crystal 40, 4 oz Crystal 80, (malts steeped 30 min.) and .25 oz Amarillo @ boil 15 min, and 0.5 Nugget for 15 min boil I will get ~ 50 IBUs total. and
I guess I will get more flavor from the Nugget than if I boiled it 60 min, but there we go.

Or I could use the American Ale HME (36 IBUs in 2 gal) and skip the Nugget boil, ad I forgot the EKG add at flameout lol. I also did not double the late hops. If I do...This is:

Mr. Beer American Ale HME (36 IBUs in 2 gal) for a 2 gal brew, and I figure with 1 LME Pale softpack (8.8 oz), 4 oz Crystal 40, 4 oz Crystal 80, (malts steeped 30 min.) and .5 oz Amarillo @ boil 15 min (26 IBUs), and 0.5 oz EKG at end of boil I will get ~ 56 IBUs total.
I like this better.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Talking of 1 gallon brews ..............
..the AHBA Learn to Homebrew Day recipe in 2022 is a 1 gal recipe (they say)
The beer ABV/IBU/SRM they cite looks good (4-5, 45-60, 14) but when I plug their ingredients into Brewer's Friend calculator, I get very different results. The IBU. SRM and ABV are WAY too high. (6, 129, 19)

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/aha-events/learn-to-homebrew-day/

In the recipe narrative, it is noted that it is a 1.5 gal recipe that should be measured / adjusted at the end of the boil - not after moving into the fermenter.

If you match their boil volumes with what you used in Brewers Friend, the estimated OG/FG/SRM/IBU numbers will likely be close.

If you have additional concerns / issues with the recipe (and you would like to see those concerns / issues addressed), you may wish to connect with them directly (or perhaps by using the AHA forums).

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Talking of 1 gallon brews ..............
..the AHBA Learn to Homebrew Day recipe in 2022 is a 1 gal recipe (they say)

I like the idea that they published a 1 gallon recipe for the event, but they could have made it less confusing. "Note: this recipe aims to produce ~1.5 gallons of wort at the end of the boil." How much do they expect to go into the fermenter? Is the goal to have 1 gallon of beer into bottles? The recommended 1.5 to 2.0 gallons of water is a rather large range. Most people brewing "1 gallon" batches are using a 1 gallon jug that is not really even big enough for a full 1.0 gallons of wort into the fermenter. 2 different types of DME, 2 different types of Crystal, and 3 different hops?

Recipe link: LTHD22 Hoppy Amber Ale

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

let's go back to the 'pivot' ...

Pivoting the discussion slightly...

Has anyone else found themselves tweaking their batch size to fit a convenient pre-boil volume? That is, I tweak my batch size until BrewFather calculates a 7.56 L pre-boil volume. Because RO water is conveniently available in 1-gallon jugs here.

Yes. Water is typically in 0.25 gal increments. It probably helps that my boil of rate is about 0.25 gal in 45 minutes. For recipe development grains (except chocolate & black) are in whole ounches; hops in whole grams. Due to scale limitations, grain weights are converted to pounds & ounces for weighing. (FWIW, I use Excel for recipe construction and Word for brew day notes).

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

.

 

[RevA]

I bottled a batch of India Pale Lager.
Kinda forgot about it for a month or so in my fermentation chamber.

 

[AlexKay]

Just a normal brew day. Let's make a SMaSH with Crisp Hana Heritage and Boadicea! First we need to heat the strike water:

Now we need to mash in, using the smallest (so far!) Wilser bag:

45 minutes at 145 F ... though it doesn't really hold the temperature that steady. Now we pull 1.5 cups of thick mash:

Yes indeed! We're doing a 1/4-gallon batch, with decoction! Boil for 20 minutes, and add back into the mash.

The decocted portion raises the overall mash temperature to ... 145 F. Apply heat until we get to 160 F, so we can Hochkurz. 30 minutes at 160, boil, add hops, and so on. Time to cool:

I haven't gotten around to making the world's smallest immersion chiller yet, so a water bath in the sink is the only way to go. Luckily surface-area-to-volume works in our favor, and we cool quickly to ~100 F. Then it goes into the cold garage to cool down to pitching temperature:

For comparison, that's a 1.75-gallon corny next to the 64-ounce mini-keg I'll be using as a fermenter. Once things have cooled, pitch 2 g of 34/70 and put the airlock on:

I love these mini kegs as fermenters, but it was a serious pain drilling a 11/16" hole in the 1/4"-thick lid.

When it's all done, I'll bottle in a 1-L EZ-Cap bottle. I am definitely musing about putting together a keezer for 64-oz mini-kegs, though...

 

[BongoYodeler]

Wow, I have coffee cups bigger than that. (j/k).

 

[Yesfan]

Just a normal brew day. Let's make a SMaSH with Crisp Hana Heritage and Boadicea! First we need to heat the strike water:
View attachment 811534

Now we need to mash in, using the smallest (so far!) Wilser bag:
View attachment 811536

45 minutes at 145 F ... though it doesn't really hold the temperature that steady. Now we pull 1.5 cups of thick mash:
View attachment 811538

Yes indeed! We're doing a 1/4-gallon batch, with decoction! Boil for 20 minutes, and add back into the mash.
View attachment 811539

The decocted portion raises the overall mash temperature to ... 145 F. Apply heat until we get to 160 F, so we can Hochkurz. 30 minutes at 160, boil, add hops, and so on. Time to cool:
View attachment 811540

I haven't gotten around to making the world's smallest immersion chiller yet, so a water bath in the sink is the only way to go. Luckily surface-area-to-volume works in our favor, and we cool quickly to ~100 F. Then it goes into the cold garage to cool down to pitching temperature:
View attachment 811541

For comparison, that's a 1.75-gallon corny next to the 64-ounce mini-keg I'll be using as a fermenter. Once things have cooled, pitch 2 g of 34/70 and put the airlock on:
View attachment 811542

I love these mini kegs as fermenters, but it was a serious pain drilling a 11/16" hole in the 1/4"-thick lid.

When it's all done, I'll bottle in a 1-L EZ-Cap bottle. I am definitely musing about putting together a keezer for 64-oz mini-kegs, though...

You just took pico brewing to the next level.


Those 64oz mini kegs are pretty universal. I have two of them I bought back when I started brewing. They were from a company called "Deep Woods Brewing Company" or similar (anyone remember them?). The labeling on the lids have worn off. I think there are caps that have ball lock posts/diptube that would fit those if you wanted to serve out of them too. I'm sure you could get one of those and a spunding valve for some pressure fermentations. I'm sure they would work great for that.

 

[AlexKay]

You just took pico brewing to the next level.


Those 64oz mini kegs are pretty universal. I have two of them I bought back when I started brewing. They were from a company called "Deep Woods Brewing Company" or similar (anyone remember them?). The labeling on the lids have worn off. I think there are caps that have ball lock posts/diptube that would fit those if you wanted to serve out of them too. I'm sure you could get one of those and a spunding valve for some pressure fermentations. I'm sure they would work great for that.

The mini kegs are cheap, too, if you buy from no-name vendors on Amazon -- I paid less than $25 for mine. 128 oz and 170 oz kegs are also available, but there are good options for other fermenters in those sizes, and virtually nothing except mason jars in the sub-half-gallon category. I think it will make an excellent fermenter, though I'm not looking forward to cleaning it out afterwards (thank heavens for PBW!)

The ball-lock lids are like $40 each, best I've found. This makes the total cost $65/keg in a functioning draft system, and while it's cheaper than real 1.75-gallon ball-lock kegs, it seems pretty steep. I'm really tempted to put together a mini-batch keezer, though. Brew your own beer, they say. Think of the money you'll save, they say...

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Related to this thread, I see that Kegland has the 4L versions of the Oxebar kegs listed on their website. Hopefully they will show up in the US soon! I have a number of 10L Torpedo kegs, so I am not that interested in the 8L Oxebar kegs, but the 4L kegs look like a great option. I can see myself using these as 1) a portable keg solution to take along beer to events/gatherings/parties and 2) as a packaging option for my 1 gallon batches.

I could easily see the 8L kegs being a decent fermenter, then do a closed transfer into the 4L kegs. I am pretty happy with my Little Big Mouth Bubbler fermenters, so I will probably stick with those.

https://www.kegland.com.au/4l-oxebar-multilayer-keg-ball-lock-tapping-draught-pack-pco38.html

 

[AlexKay]

Public service announcement: right now (2/10) Northern Brewer has 2.5-gallon kegs at a really good price:
New Ball Lock Cornelius (Corny) Keg - 2.5 Gallon
$87 each, and then 20% off that (code KEG20), so just under $70 for a new keg. You do pay shipping, but it seems to be on the order of $5-10 per keg (I bought 8 and some grain and they charged me $35 for shipping.)

 

[aceluby]

Public service announcement: right now (2/10) Northern Brewer has 2.5-gallon kegs at a really good price:
New Ball Lock Cornelius (Corny) Keg - 2.5 Gallon
$87 each, and then 20% off that (code KEG20), so just under $70 for a new keg. You do pay shipping, but it seems to be on the order of $5-10 per keg (I bought 8 and some grain and they charged me $35 for shipping.)

Did you buy them out? Showing $125 per keg when I click the link

 

[ba-brewer]

The cannonball 1.75gal kegs are 84here before the discount. I have bought a few of those before on sale when free shipping was lower. If you buy two of those then you get free shipping.

I like the 1.75 as a 2gal batch of beer fills them up and they stack nicely.

 

[AlexKay]

Did you buy them out? Showing $125 per keg when I click the link

Maybe it was a mistake and they noticed it when I bought 8. It was just the 2.5-gallon size that was cheaper; the 1.75 and 3 were both $125 all along.