1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[dadshomebrewing]

I will be interested in how that refractometer works out.

I'm tired of losing a half cup of beer every time I measure my specific gravity.

 

[cheesecake]

I use a ref refractometer. It works great

 

[dadshomebrewing]

It's on my Christmas list

 

[cheesecake]

Ill post a link to the one I have

 

[BigRock947]

Used the refractometer for pre-boil and post boil gravity checks...very simple and very small amount of wort needed. Used a straw to take a sample, placed sample into shot glass and only needed 2 or 3 drops of that sample. Wish I would of gotten one sooner. It will make getting future samples much easier on the final volume for us 1-gallon brewers!!!:rockin:

PS: Yeah Cheesecake its nice to have....diffidently kicking myself in the butt for not getting one earlier.

 

[JollyIsTheRoger]

I will be interested in how that refractometer works out.

I'm tired of losing a half cup of beer every time I measure my specific gravity.

Here's the one I use and it works great, just have to get used to working in Brix/Plato vs SG, but it's not a big deal to convert. (http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1014)

And I have been increasing my yields, the first batch as 7 12oz bottles, 8 for the second and 9 for the third. Starting with batch after that I went to brewing 1.1 gallon batch to account for the trub loss when I rack to the one gallon jugs for secondary. With the 2 gallon buckets I use for primary I could do up to 1.5 gallons without a blow off, but I want to be able to have the option to secondary easily.

 

[Stauffbier]

I don't take hydro readings when I do one gallon batches. I almost always end up with a half filled bottle when I get to the end of the bottle bucket. I just use that half bottle to measure FG and I subtract the points that the priming sugar adds. This way I'm only wasting what I never would have been able to bottle anyway...

I just bottled an all Citra IPA one gallon batch and I got 7.5 @ 12 oz.. There was a lot of trub in that batch due to the fact it was BIAB and I don't filter wort. I've gotten as much as 10 @ 12 oz. out of other one gallon batches with less trub...

 

[cheesecake]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/221135623967?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649


thats the one i have.

 

[cheesecake]

Brooklyn brew shop 5 dollar recipe kit use coupon code happyhour in the coupon box

http://brooklynbrewshop.com/1-gallon-beer-mixes/bruxelles-blonde-beer-mix

 

[divrguy]

Hey guys I did a discover scuba class this weekend and I played Santa. Wanted to make sure this group saw my Post!

Happy holidays everyone!

 

[stevedore]

Brooklyn brew shop 5 dollar recipe kit use coupon code happyhour in the coupon box

http://brooklynbrewshop.com/1-gallon-beer-mixes/bruxelles-blonde-beer-mix

Bummer that doesn't work.

 

[ReaderRabbit]

I think I've also crossed that line with the BBS recipes I've made. I don't get any cranberry from the Cranberry Wheat recipe, but for a wheat beer I'm really happy with the flavor. I'll be bottling the New Year Beer this weekend and the last sample was the best flat beer I've ever had. Now if I can just develop a little patience so that by the time the beer is really ready I'll have more than three bottles left.

I'm getting ready to open my first bottle of the cran wheat tomorrow (unfortunately cranberries didn't arrive in stores in time for the brew to go with Thanksgiving but we're having leftover Turkey pot pie) but I thought the sample I took during bottling had a good cranberry taste. It had a nice red color when I bottled it but a week later it cleared in the bottle to an even richer pale scarlet.

I just bottled an English Old Ale I made as a 3-gallon batch. I had it in the carboy for two months and it tastes like it'll need a little more time to age. I've defied I'll probably do those high-alcohol brews in 1-gallon batches in the future, with the 1-gallon jugs taking less space it'll make the long maturation time less of a hassle.

This week's 1-gallon brew is a brown porter I'm planning to secondary with some root beer herbs and molasses.

 

[cheesecake]

Bummer that doesn't work.

I must have gotten in right before it ended. I ordered 2 of them

 

[Calichusetts]

You should get 8 or 9 bottles from a 1 gallon batch almost every time. A few things to consider:

When transfering your beer, as it get real low, make sure to tip the carboy to get more beer and no trub.

If you use a secondary, don't be afraid if you get a little of the cloudy trub in the secondary, it will settle out. Especially if you cold crash.

Finally, if you know that you come up 2-4 oz short of a bottle each time. Add that amount to the water you use to mix your priming sugar. It won't hurt the brew and you will get your extra bottle.

Unless your getting that half bottle left over and using it for a hydrometer reading, I would not take one with the beer during transfer. If anything, right before you transfer or as you are transferring, drop a sanitized hydrometer into the primary itself and take the best reading you can.

 

[Kahless]

For using 5 gallon kits into 1 gallon demijohns, i've been tinkering with the idea of splitting it into 3 slightly higher gravity brews; they wouldn't have to be particularly strong; instead there would be a higher ratio of LME to DME/sugar.

Hops are a concern for me as they come in a larger bag than I need. I'm looking into using gruit I might be able to share hops around if a friend of two get into homebrewing!

One thing I have been considering is an Ale bag-in-box;
http://www.baginboxonline.co.uk/buyit2.html
A 5 litre one of these could maybe act like a cask for a (non aged) 1 gallon brew.

 

[dadshomebrewing]

You should get 8 or 9 bottles from a 1 gallon batch almost every time. A few things to consider:

When transfering your beer, as it get real low, make sure to tip the carboy to get more beer and no trub.

If you use a secondary, don't be afraid if you get a little of the cloudy trub in the secondary, it will settle out. Especially if you cold crash.

Finally, if you know that you come up 2-4 oz short of a bottle each time. Add that amount to the water you use to mix your priming sugar. It won't hurt the brew and you will get your extra bottle.

Unless your getting that half bottle left over and using it for a hydrometer reading, I would not take one with the beer during transfer. If anything, right before you transfer or as you are transferring, drop a sanitized hydrometer into the primary itself and take the best reading you can.

i've severely cut down on the number of "touches" of the beer, until i can get a refractometer instead of hydrometer. i do OG and FG (at bottling time only).

I also didn't think to try to squeeze the last drop out of primary, and then again after secondary, knowing that it will all settle out again.

That's a good call, and perhaps a good reason (in this case) for using a secondary. Might be worth trying if it gets me an extra bottle of beer.

probably the smartest thing to do, however, would be to stop fermenting in carboys, and switch over to 2 gallon buckets, where i can get 1 1/4 worth of wort in the bucket, and thus still have a gallon yield.

thanks for the suggestions. appreciate it

 

[Calichusetts]

Bucket is definitely a great option. For me, after I cold crash the primary, I can get almost all of the beer out...literally 2-4 ounces left in there. Do i get some cloudy trub once I start tipping it? Absolutely, but after a week of dry hopping and a few days cold crashing, its nothing more than a tight ring around the base.

 

[JollyIsTheRoger]

I'm buying more buckets today so that I can double up my brewing and do component test batches. Just have to figure out the logistics of brewing them now.

 

[BigRock947]

After looking for the best/cheap way to do 1-gallon batches, I finally just settled on getting the 2-gallon buckets with grommet in the lid from the LHBS. I think I'll just pick one up the next couple of times I stop in for ingredients. In a couple of trips, I'll have enough to do multiple batches.

 

[dadshomebrewing]

so, here's what i'm thinking about the "beer yield" issue.

for those of us in the one gallon world, losing a half pint of beer to trub is like the big batch crowd losing more than a quart of beer.

i can guarantee that if everyone were losing a quart of beer every time they bottled, they would ALL be using a two stage fermentation, simply to get as much beer out of their batch as possible.

so, that's what i'm going to do. I'm going to try the two stage approach for a couple batches, not for any reason than to get more beer out of my yield.

also, like everyone else i'm going to buckets as soon as i can get some.

 

[cheesecake]

I may have some buckets for you. Im waiting to see how many I can get

 

[dadshomebrewing]

i actually have a source for buckets.

i'm currently constrained by an "external factor".

SWMBO gets mad when i buy myself lots of stuff in the last 3 weeks, or so, before Christmas. Apparently I'm difficult to purchase things for, and the family units are all asking for suggestions. When I buy myself toys it creates dis-harmony

 

[cheesecake]

These would be free buckets

 

[BigRock947]

i actually have a source for buckets.

i'm currently constrained by an "external factor".

SWMBO gets mad when i buy myself lots of stuff in the last 3 weeks, or so, before Christmas. Apparently I'm difficult to purchase things for, and the family units are all asking for suggestions. When I buy myself toys it creates dis-harmony

Gift cards or certificates to local HBS is what I ask for...I buy brew stuff...make beer...share with family...win...win.

 

[divrguy]

i actually have a source for buckets.

i'm currently constrained by an "external factor".

SWMBO gets mad when i buy myself lots of stuff in the last 3 weeks, or so, before Christmas. Apparently I'm difficult to purchase things for, and the family units are all asking for suggestions. When I buy myself toys it creates dis-harmony

That's hilarious because my SWMBO and daughter say the same thing. I tell them I need something, get impatient and go buy it!! Lol

 

[dadshomebrewing]

So divrguy, the way I see it, we are ensuring domestic tranquility.

That's in the constitution, or declaration, or something like that.

We are being patriotic.

 

[Yooper]

so, here's what i'm thinking about the "beer yield" issue.

for those of us in the one gallon world, losing a half pint of beer to trub is like the big batch crowd losing more than a quart of beer.

i can guarantee that if everyone were losing a quart of beer every time they bottled, they would ALL be using a two stage fermentation, simply to get as much beer out of their batch as possible.

so, that's what i'm going to do. I'm going to try the two stage approach for a couple batches, not for any reason than to get more beer out of my yield.

also, like everyone else i'm going to buckets as soon as i can get some.

I must be totally clueless here, but how does doing a two-stage fermentation mean less racking losses? I'm a winemaker, and each time I rack I experience racking losses because it's impossible (even with no lees on the bottom at all) to get every less drop out. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to do a primary only, with a highly flocculant yeast, and then leave it there for 2-3 weeks and crash cool before racking?

I guess I'm just not understanding how adding another racking can mean less racking losses.

 

[Yooper]

After looking for the best/cheap way to do 1-gallon batches, I finally just settled on getting the 2-gallon buckets with grommet in the lid from the LHBS. I think I'll just pick one up the next couple of times I stop in for ingredients. In a couple of trips, I'll have enough to do multiple batches.

Also, sometimes bakeries in grocery stores give away 2 gallon buckets that previously held peanut butter, frosting, or strawberry preserves (filling for doughnuts, I presume). That is where I got about a dozen 2 gallon buckets with lids, and I just drilled a little hole in the lid for the airlock.

 

[divrguy]

I must be totally clueless here, but how does doing a two-stage fermentation mean less racking losses? I'm a winemaker, and each time I rack I experience racking losses because it's impossible (even with no lees on the bottom at all) to get every less drop out. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to do a primary only, with a highly flocculant yeast, and then leave it there for 2-3 weeks and crash cool before racking?

I guess I'm just not understanding how adding another racking can mean less racking losses.

Beat me to it Yooper! I was just about to respond with I'm confused too....lol

 

[stevedore]

I must be totally clueless here, but how does doing a two-stage fermentation mean less racking losses? I'm a winemaker, and each time I rack I experience racking losses because it's impossible (even with no lees on the bottom at all) to get every less drop out. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to do a primary only, with a highly flocculant yeast, and then leave it there for 2-3 weeks and crash cool before racking?

I guess I'm just not understanding how adding another racking can mean less racking losses.

Interesting, I just read that post and I'm curious to know how an additional racking improves the gain.