1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[SimonPascal]

looks just like mine.

i leave the blow-off tube in for about 5 days after brewing, and then switch to an airlock for the rest of the primary.

so, if you are doing something wrong, so am i.

I use a #6 plug with 1/4 tube for mine. I am making a "decanter" bottle to harvest the CO2 from the fermentation for my aquarium plants. But that's an other topic.

Blow-off tubes are way better then the "bonde" thing.

 

[bleme]

Perhaps you might want to consider that James Spencer, probably is doing it "correctly" whatever way he's doing it? I've found a lot of times the "theory" that doing "x" is going to affect head retention tends not to actually occur, like so many folks are so sure it will. I've used tortilla chips, and chocolate, in the mash tun and have had perfect head in those beers.

If you're really curious, then why don't you actually check on the basic brewing site, and see if he posted a video, or email him, or write to him on facebook.

Folks on here have managed to make peanut butter beers, with really peanut butter, and have had fine head.

A good article in BYO this month about using nuts and seeds, and dealing with the oils.

A brief quote: "I found that if you balance your recipe with ingredients to help head retention, the small amount of oil is not an issue. Altering your mash schedule, adding grains like crystal, wheat, or Carafoam® and using more alpha acids from hops can enhance head-retaining proteins."

 

[divrguy]

I just bottled a 1.5 gallon farmhouse ale (my name) today. Have a stout and a hop bomb conditioning as well. Love this variety of beer!

 

[gwdraper4]

do you have any idea how hard it is to find other small batch brewers?

i don't have much to add today, except that i'm really happy i found this thread.


i'm doing ALL my brewing in one gallon batches.

+1 dadshomebrewing. All hail to the small batch brewers!

 

[gwdraper4]

Havent worked my way thru all the posts yet but Ill be doing small batches to transition into AG. The 1 gal starter kit from NB is better than Brooklyns, but BBS has more interesting recipe kits. Dividing by 5 or 6 at the LHBS is a good option too.

Does anyone have the BBS small batch book?

I don't have the book but would be more than happy to help you scale down any recipe you may have. Just contact me through this forum, FB, or our website and we'll help you in any way we can. Cheers!

 

[mirogster]

BBS book is at Amazon Kindle Store.

 

[ninkasi2012]

Havent worked my way thru all the posts yet but Ill be doing small batches to transition into AG. The 1 gal starter kit from NB is better than Brooklyns, but BBS has more interesting recipe kits. Dividing by 5 or 6 at the LHBS is a good option too.

Does anyone have the BBS small batch book?

i bought the BBS book because i just started AG brewing. all the recipes i tried are amazing. i've brewed a few of them. after a handful it kinda teaches you how to create your own recipes. i recommend it if you need an easy way to start AG brewing. my 2 cents.

 

[mirogster]

One small drawback from BBS book, would be for me, that almost 99 % recommended mash temps are 152F. So not exactly as some styles are calling for.

 

[rawkstar320]

One small drawback from BBS book, would be for me, that almost 99 % recommended mash temps are 152F. So not exactly as some styles are calling for.

I have that book as well, but I guess the idea is that you get started quickly and easily. I try to focus on making my process better, not on nitty gritty details like that. (but that's me, I'm not trying to win awards.....yet)

 

[wmarkw]

I've done several of their recipes and they are good. But I like finding a clone I want to do and scale down. Just brewed up Highland's Gaelic Ale on Sunday. My first batch since May and got it going in my new fermenter controlled with the ebay temp controller. That thing is awesome and wish I would have done that way sooooner as I would have brewed over the hot ass summer.

 

[Yesfan]

I've done several of their recipes and they are good. But I like finding a clone I want to do and scale down. Just brewed up Highland's Gaelic Ale on Sunday. My first batch since May and got it going in my new fermenter controlled with the ebay temp controller. That thing is awesome and wish I would have done that way sooooner as I would have brewed over the hot ass summer.

Does that book have a lot of clone recipes? There's a few I would like to try and I've been eyeing it. One beer in particular is ***** Modelo. If funds are available, I may try to order this week as I got a 5 gallon batch that should be ready for consumption this weekend. Both of my one gallon batches should be ready to bottle the next weekend as well, so gotta maintain the pipeline!

 

[BigRock947]

When I started homebrewing 15 years ago, I was brewing 5 gallons batches because it was what everyone seemed to be doing. I was brewing less often and I wasn't able to try out as many recipes or experiment....so about 3 years ago, I went to brewing 2.5 gallon batches and brewing was fresh and new again. Now finding this thread, I think I'm going to try 1.25 gallon batches....what a great way to experiment with different ingredients and recipes. Lots of great information and help in this thread...especially for new brewers that might be intimidated to brew 5 gallon batches.

 

[Epimetheus]

.. which would be pico brews.

As a noob, I started looking for 7 and 10 gallon pots then thought
" I just wanna ferment something without straining my back!"

So I'm gonna mess around with gallon batches and have fun with consistency. I could do 5 different trials with the same stuff!

 

[MTate37]

Has anyone brewed the BBS Cranberry Wheat?

 

[rawkstar320]

Ah, well today I cracked openmy blonde ale, it was fantastic! Of course, as we all(small batch brewers) know, I only have 8 more left......

Guess I better get brewing!

 

[dadshomebrewing]

Drinking my first bottle of my first ever batch tonight

I likes it.

 

[HIlife]

I've started collecting these from the lab before they end up in the trash. I do mainly 5g batches but having a bunch of dark glass 4L carboys might encourage me to start playing with smaller brew sizes or just get crazy with yeast strains.

 

[ReaderRabbit]

Has anyone brewed the BBS Cranberry Wheat?

Not yet, but I plan to once the cranberries show up in the grocery store. I have to admit, I'm a little worried about that one. 1 cup of cranberries sounds like a lot for a gallon of beer but I'll find out when I try it out.

(And if it is too much, I only have a gallon of off-beer.)

 

[Calichusetts]

Has anyone brewed the BBS Cranberry Wheat?

Planning my own...went out to a bog the day after the harvested and got like 2 pounds of the floaters left...nothing like the freshest of the fresh.

 

[crispy44]

I've started collecting these from the lab before they end up in the trash. I do mainly 5g batches but having a bunch of dark glass 4L carboys might encourage me to start playing with smaller brew sizes or just get crazy with yeast strains.

I've been curious about using those from our labs as well. Isopropyl should be fine... what about acetone bottles? I'm not a chemist so I'be just played it safe for now

 

[Bootlegger_Brewery]

I was thinking to go cheap on my 1gal set-up and not make a chiller. How long does it take you guys to cool down 1 gal in a cold bath ?

For those who say they lose too much wort by taking gravity readings.... I just dump my hydrometer in sanitizer (wich is in my primary ferm. from the start) and stick the hydrometer in the wort without losing anything. Never had a problem with contamination do to this. Only reading you can't take this way is pre-boil because the wort is too hot, but i don't really care about pre-boil...

 

[Calichusetts]

I was thinking to go cheap on my 1gal set-up and not make a chiller. How long does it take you guys to cool down 1 gal in a cold bath ?

It takes at most 10 minutes...by the time I actually get it in my chill pot, get my yeast ready and set up transfer to my carboy, its in the 80/70s. Usually 5 minutes is what I am at.

 

[BigRock947]

Not yet, but I plan to once the cranberries show up in the grocery store. I have to admit, I'm a little worried about that one. 1 cup of cranberries sounds like a lot for a gallon of beer but I'll find out when I try it out.

(And if it is too much, I only have a gallon of off-beer.)

I've never used cranberries only raspberries but when I did I would use like 2#. My first thought was it too much fruit but then I would open a bottle when it was ready and the raspberry flavor was very faint to almost none. Which lead me to change how I used the raspberries to gain the flavor I wanted but I was never happy with the outcome. I guess my point is that it may seem like a lot a cranberries but I'm sure BBS has it worked out and like you said its only a gallon. Makes me wish I was only making a gallon each time I tried to make a Raspberry Wheat Beer. Nothing worse than drinking 5 gallons of a disappointing beer when I'm too cheap to dump it out

 

[rawkstar320]

I was thinking to go cheap on my 1gal set-up and not make a chiller. How long does it take you guys to cool down 1 gal in a cold bath ?

For those who say they lose too much wort by taking gravity readings.... I just dump my hydrometer in sanitizer (wich is in my primary ferm. from the start) and stick the hydrometer in the wort without losing anything. Never had a problem with contamination do to this. Only reading you can't take this way is pre-boil because the wort is too hot, but i don't really care about pre-boil...

It used to take forever and a day, but I was pretty much just setting the pot in cold water....

This past brew, I planned ahead and saved ice for a few days, collecting a full gallon zip lock full...took maybe 10 minutes. It goes faster if you stir the wort as it chills. This keeps the hot wort from hanging out in the center of the pot.
I think this method should also save a significant amount of water compared to using a chiller.

 

[jwalk4]

It goes faster if you stir the wort as it chills. This keeps the hot wort from hanging out in the center of the pot.
I think this method should also save a significant amount of water compared to using a chiller.

Yeah, I agree with this, no need for a chiller with 1 gallon. I also stir the ice water around (*WITH A SEPARATE SPOON THAN THE ONE YOU STIR YOUR WORT*). I was quite surprised with the temperature change around the pot after just leaving it in the ice bath. Chills in no time.

 

[dadshomebrewing]

I was thinking to go cheap on my 1gal set-up and not make a chiller. How long does it take you guys to cool down 1 gal in a cold bath ?

For those who say they lose too much wort by taking gravity readings.... I just dump my hydrometer in sanitizer (wich is in my primary ferm. from the start) and stick the hydrometer in the wort without losing anything. Never had a problem with contamination do to this. Only reading you can't take this way is pre-boil because the wort is too hot, but i don't really care about pre-boil...

takes me exactly 30 minutes to get from boil to 60 degrees in a kitchen sink with ice. for convience i use the bags of ice from the store

i use a small wash basin in the sink, and a bag of ice, put in the pot, and slowly fill with water.

wait 15 minutes, dump the water, refresh the ice, and repeat.

at the 30 minute mark, take off the lid and check the temp.

 

[MTate37]

Not yet, but I plan to once the cranberries show up in the grocery store. I have to admit, I'm a little worried about that one. 1 cup of cranberries sounds like a lot for a gallon of beer but I'll find out when I try it out.

(And if it is too much, I only have a gallon of off-beer.)

Based on amounts of fruit I've seen others mention for a five gallon batch I'm thinking one cup might not be enough for a gallon, especially for the short amount of time they are actually in the wort. At least it is only a gallon if out isn't great. I'm doing this one tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.

 

[HIlife]

I've been curious about using those from our labs as well. Isopropyl should be fine... what about acetone bottles? I'm not a chemist so I'be just played it safe for now

I'm actually using methanol bottles but that was the only picture I could find. Anything that is water soluble and not super toxic is fine, just rinse the bottle out like 9 or 10 times and let it air dry. Anything you don't rinse out will evaporate.

 

[MedBrewer]

Hiya guys I'm new and picked up a brooklynbrewshop everyday IPA kit today as my first brew, I also purchased 2 8.5 qt aluminum pots,steel strainer,and funnel. I live in nyc and would like to know if it's ok to use tap water, or should I go with bottle water? My building is old and don't know what could be in pipes mineral build up wise if that's even an issue? The water is ok to drink. Please feel free to add any advise or tips as this is my first batch . Much appreciated.
-MedBrewer

 

[Yesfan]

"If the water tastes good, then the beer will taste good". That seems to be a phrase I here/read often. I would think you would be ok, but it's also not going to break your bank if you decide to go with bottled water. After all, we're just talking a gallon here. Even if you need to top off the fermentor a bit due to boil off, that little of tap water shouldn't hurt. The short? Go for it!