1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[sumbrewindude]

Trub happens.

My first few batches I was insane about letting the cold break settle out, then ever so carefully siphoning from the edge to keep the wort as clear as possible. I figure I left at least a bottle and a half in the pot, for no real reason.

Lately I've taken to just stirring like mad to get all the hops into the center of the pot, and siphoning from the edge - trub and all. Yeah, there's trub in the fermenter, but after a bit it all settles out anyway, and after cold crashing/etc it's a non-issue.

Keep in mind, though, I'm using a larger fermenting vessel than a 1gal jug.

Next thing I want to try is a hop bag for boil additions to keep the hop debris to a minimum - but I sort of subscribe to the idea that if you let them roam free in the boiling wort you get more out of them than in a bag (right or wrong).

I need to try the bag thing and see if it's worth it. As it works now my system is fine.

 

[MT2sum]

I live in a 16' x 16' cabin with the wife and 2 dogs (right now, for the next week or so, we have an orphan lamb in a furniture box as well to take up what little floor space we have!). I've been wanting to get back into homebrewing, but a lack of space has prevented that ...... 1 gallon batches is right up my alley, so to speak!

Old age and Social (in)Security SUX!!

We're living on my son's goat farm in Tennessee in what was built to be a storage shed - now it's a home LOL - My son's family are health nuts and they drink organic apple cider by the gallons (literally by the gallon jugs ) so I have unlimited access to gallon jugs for brewing. Also, I've been drinking micro-brews since we got here so I've got a lot of cappable beer bottles saved under the 'barn' as it's known.
I've brewed a couple of 5 gallon batches when we lived in Montana, but lost most of them to early freezes, I think I can control the temp in this small space a little better. I'm looking forward to being more involved in this forum and hope to see more 1 gallon brew recipes for my brewing pleasure .

By brewing in gallons I can brew more than one type at a time, (and if I have a bad batch, I don't lose 5 gallons) - IPA's, Porters and Stouts are my faves, not really interested in Pilsners, light Lagers or any other Budweiser-type beers. Since serving in the military in Germany in the early '60's, I aquired a taste for the darker beers. "The Mo' Bitter, the Mo' Better!"

It doesn't bother me that there's only 9 0r 10 bottles of beer in a gallon because I can brew enuff 1 gallon batches to have 1 or 2 beers each day and still experiment with the different flavors at the same time
Just my 2 centavos.....

 

[ericbw]

Trub happens.

My first few batches I was insane about letting the cold break settle out, then ever so carefully siphoning from the edge to keep the wort as clear as possible. I figure I left at least a bottle and a half in the pot, for no real reason.

Lately I've taken to just stirring like mad to get all the hops into the center of the pot, and siphoning from the edge - trub and all. Yeah, there's trub in the fermenter, but after a bit it all settles out anyway, and after cold crashing/etc it's a non-issue.

Keep in mind, though, I'm using a larger fermenting vessel than a 1gal jug.

Next thing I want to try is a hop bag for boil additions to keep the hop debris to a minimum - but I sort of subscribe to the idea that if you let them roam free in the boiling wort you get more out of them than in a bag (right or wrong).

I need to try the bag thing and see if it's worth it. As it works now my system is fine.

A bag will reduce the amount of crap in the kettle by a lot. That alone might solve the problem.

 

[rockstarpotion]

Just purchased my small batch and I am excited to get started! Last weekend my bf and I brewed his 5 galloner for the first time. It was awesome. Now I can't wait to start with mine. I feel like I'm going to be brewing a different batch every other week! :rockin:

I am happy this thread exists.

 

[BigRock947]

How are you guys keeping the cold break from going into your jug? I'm finding that with some of my 1 gallon brews, the break matter comprises a nontrivial volume of the batch, such that when I get to bottling, I'm losing a quarter of my batch. I would like to find a way to filter out the cold break and slightly increase my batch size so that I get closer to a full gallon of good beer in my fermenting jug. So far, I've tried using a fine-mesh stainless steel kitchen filter/strainer, and that caught some of it, but not all (less than half). I'd like something that can be sanitized, and ideally would catch the hop matter too (so far I've simply stopped pouring when I get to the bottom of the pot, where the hop gunk is).

What helped me was to brew slightly larger batches of wort...like 1 1/2 gallons. So when it was time to pour into my fermenter, I would get a whole 1 gallon and leave most of the hops and trub in the kettle.

Lately, I've been using 2 gallon buckets and pouring everything into the bucket...all 1 1/2 gallons. When its time to bottle, I'll transfer 1 to 1 1/4 gallons to the bottling bucket and I'll get 10 to 12 bottles when I'm done.

 

[harrke]

This^.

I use the 2-gallon buckets now. Still have the glass jugs for secondary when appropriate.


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[Groo]

How are you guys keeping the cold break from going into your jug? I'm finding that with some of my 1 gallon brews, the break matter comprises a nontrivial volume of the batch, such that when I get to bottling, I'm losing a quarter of my batch. I would like to find a way to filter out the cold break and slightly increase my batch size so that I get closer to a full gallon of good beer in my fermenting jug. So far, I've tried using a fine-mesh stainless steel kitchen filter/strainer, and that caught some of it, but not all (less than half). I'd like something that can be sanitized, and ideally would catch the hop matter too (so far I've simply stopped pouring when I get to the bottom of the pot, where the hop gunk is).

I fill up a 1 gallon jug to the very top and fridge it over night to settle everything out. The next day I rack it off to a clean jug. I've only done this twice and it's worked well. Before that I did the stir and rack from the side of the kettle trick which was also somewhat effective.

 

[FatDragon]

No love in my "General Techniques" thread, so I wonder if I might get some help by asking the experts, although this might be out of your experience as well.

In the next couple weeks, I want to split a mash into four one-gallon boils. I have a nine-gallon brew kettle (35x35cm) and a couple of one-gallon pots that I use for cooking. Can I do it without buying any new equipment, or do I need to get a moderate-sized brew kettle (20x20cm - 7 liters) for the task? The requirement to buy a new kettle, while it would only cost about 40 RMB/$7, would not be well-received by the SWMBO, so I'd like to explore alternative options before I resign myself to that path, since it might be wiser to skip the brew altogether if it's a decision between the IIPA and the doghouse.

For those who wish to read further, the project is four one-gallon IIPAs from the same grain bill but different hop schedules. The ideal situation would be one in which I could mash enough for four one-gallon batches, then boil two batches at a time, since the stove on which I brew only has two burners. That would make for a brew day only marginally longer than a regular 5 gallon batch. I considered doing the first part of the boil in the big kettle, using the same first-wort or bittering hops for all batches and differentiating from around the 15 minute mark, but even if my two smaller pots could manage the last 15 minutes of a 1-gallon boil (they're still too small for that task), it would mean leaving two batches cooling for at least half an hour before going back to a boil, and I don't know how that would affect the brew.

 

[bleme]

While the 9 gallon pot is the right size for mashing a 4 gallon batch, the 1 gallon pots are really too small to be of much use. I'm not even sure I could make spaghetti in a 1 gallon pot. A 2-3 gallon pot would be very useful.

 

[FatDragon]

This question's about the same 4-gallon IIPA split into four one gallon batches as above:

If I could transfer my wort relatively quickly, would I be able to essentially hopburst post-boil? The idea here would be a full boil of the four gallons (plus boil-off), with a bagged first-wort hop for the primary bittering, followed by quick transfer at flameout time (via 1 liter Pyrex cup/pitcher) directly onto hop bags in the PP buckets that will serve as fermenters. Remove the hop bags after a certain amount of time, chill, and pitch. Dry hop in primary after a couple weeks, and finally bottle when the time comes.

The biggest concern there, although I know PP is supposed to withstand significantly higher than boiling temperatures, would be potential chemical leaching. Any smart or well-informed folks know if this would be a safe option?

 

[harrke]

I've got no experience with leaching at boiling temps.

You could do 4 separate boils in the one big pot, but your boil-off would be higher than normal. That's OK. I would put two gallons of water in the big pot and boil for thirty minutes to get an estimate of the boil-off for the smaller batch and use this to determine how much wort you need to start. For example, if you lost a half a gallon in thirty minutes with the water test, then you would need 8-gallons of your initial wort to start then split that into four two-gallon boils.

Best of luck!


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[sumbrewindude]

Must be getting better at this fermenting/bottling/siphoning thing. When I started out I was happy to clear 12 bottles, now with the same volume I'm clearing 14-15. Practice makes perfect!

 

[ericbw]

Must be getting better at this fermenting/bottling/siphoning thing. When I started out I was happy to clear 12 bottles, now with the same volume I'm clearing 14-15. Practice makes perfect!

14-15 bottles per gallon? 12 oz bottles? A gallon only has 128 oz, so max is 12.75 from a gallon. You can get more than 1 gallon in a jug, but you still have trub.

What's your secret???

 

[Scout001]

14-15 bottles per gallon? 12 oz bottles? A gallon only has 128 oz, so max is 12.75 from a gallon. You can get more than 1 gallon in a jug, but you still have trub.

What's your secret???

Im dying to know also

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[sumbrewindude]

I'm brewing 1.5gal, not 1gal, so 192oz/16 standard bottles not accounting for losses from particulates or headspace.

Even so, with trub and cold crashing I'm dang happy with 12-16oz loss.

Man, if I could find a way to squeeze and extra bottle or two out of nothing, well.... I'd have a book to sell let me tell you!

 

[fury413rb]

Got my second gallon going!


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[AsgardNorth]

I brew 1 and 5 gallon batches. I love 1 gallon batches for the fact I can try something stupid like a Wintergreen Stout. (not for drinking, but for dessert making). If I find a 1 gallon I really like, I make it in a 5 gallon batch.

I 7 1-gallon carboys at my apartment. On the weeks I do not have my son. (1 week on, 1 week off, that myself and my son absolutely hate). On the weeks I do not have my son it is not uncommon for me to make 2 batches of 1 gallon something or other. (Or in this week, a 5 gallon batch of Kolsch).

Also, I brew 1 1-gallon batch during the week I have him as he really enjoys helping me. He loves holding the carboy while I dump in the brew.

Right now, I have 11 different styles of beer in my fridge. Most were created in 1 gallon batches. Now would I love to have 5 or 6 kegs on tap to offer variety, absolutely, but that has to wait for some time.

 

[fury413rb]

View attachment 183109View attachment 183110View attachment 183111
Got my second gallon going!


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[FatDragon]

I'm brewing 1.5gal, not 1gal, so 192oz/16 standard bottles not accounting for losses from particulates or headspace.

Even so, with trub and cold crashing I'm dang happy with 12-16oz loss.

Man, if I could find a way to squeeze and extra bottle or two out of nothing, well.... I'd have a book to sell let me tell you!

Easy, just mix your priming sugar with 24 oz. of water

 

[sumbrewindude]

HA!

Though really not a terrible idea, the last three batches jumped from 65% to 80% EFF which is boosting the crap out of my projected ABV. Not terrible, but my APA's are now Extra's/borderline underhopped IPAs.

Also - to whoever suggested the hop bag (Rave808? Someone in here, I know it - I'll have to go back through and see) THANK YOU! Tried it out tonight with a 1gal paintstrainer bag and was amazed at the hop goop it kept out of the wort. Siphoning was a piece of cake!

Going to be using that trick from now on, just curious to see if anything changes in the beer!

 

[sammy33]

I figure this is the best thread on HBT to ask this question.

Has anyone ever used the 1.7 gallon kegs from Williams Brewing?

Cute little things they are!

 

[sumbrewindude]

That one looks like the Chinese kegs that were around for a bit. There was some discussion on them in the keg forum, I think they're OBX kegs? Anywho there was questions regarding the build quality and the steel used. They also won't stack if that matters to you.

 

[LovesIPA]

I brewed a one-gallon batch last week and now that it's close to being done fermenting, I am left to wonder exactly how you guys bottle out of a 1-gallon jug?

 

[Renoun]

Has anyone ever used the 1.7 gallon kegs from Williams Brewing?

I've got the larger sibling of the product you are considering, a 2.5 gal. keg by OB Kegs. There's nothing beautiful about it but it holds pressure. The welds aren't terrible but only minimal detailing was done so there are edges that are not eased/deburred, the keg isn't uniformly polished at all, and the spot welds for the handle are a bit crude. There's no comparing it to the new Italian made kegs I've seen but IMHO they are priced appropriately and probably will work fine.

 

[ericbw]

I brewed a one-gallon batch last week and now that it's close to being done fermenting, I am left to wonder exactly how you guys bottle out of a 1-gallon jug?

The best way is to calculate the amount of sugar you need to bottle carb (find a calc online). Then dissolve that in about a quarter to half cup of water (I put it in the microwave to boil then let it cool).

Put that in another sanitized bottling bucket. Then siphon the beer into that bucket. No splashing but let it swirl to mix the sugar.

Then siphon from there into the bottles.

Alternately, you can use carbonation drops in each bottle or sugar in each bottle, but it's hard to measure, etc.

Did that make sense?

 

[Krrazy]

I brewed a one-gallon batch last week and now that it's close to being done fermenting, I am left to wonder exactly how you guys bottle out of a 1-gallon jug?

I brewed 1 gallon batches for about the first year of my adventures. In fact, I think I'm going to go back to them again soon to fine tune my recipes but for your question about bottling -- I actually made a mini bottling bucket using a 2 gallon beverage cooler. I took off the factory tap and then enlarged the stock hole so I could install a bottling bucket spigot. It works great, just like it's larger brother.

The only thing that's making me shudder a little is going back to bottling now that I've been kegging for the last year! No matter, I still say cheers to 1g batches!

 

[HomebrewCraig]

Well it only took me about two weeks of " morning coffee and evenings when kids go to sleep when I tell them" reading to go through each of these 393 pages. Over the span it feels like I kinda know many of you. There are so many from Chicagoland which is also where I currently call home, though I was born and raised in the great state of Wisconsin, the land of flowing beer and cheese.

sumbrewingdude, whereabouts in the state are you? And I'd love to see the plans for your homemade IC and manifold!

There's so much great information scattered throughout this thread.. A FAQ for newer brewers would be a cool idea, would prevent as much time and reading as it took me

To address the tongue-in-cheek opening post, I think it valid, to a degree. It may not be mean-spirited, but there's a bit of that big brother, little brother mentality that sometimes surfaces. Maybe like how a Mercedes owner looks at a Volkswagen owner. (haha!) Perhaps because there's the belief that a small-scale brewer is a nooblet who only took the leap into brewing because someone gifted them a Mr Beer.. Or perhaps some of the big batch boys feel that the scale of their operations and value of their gear separates them from the rest. While definitely not the common viewpoint, on some level and with certain types, it exists.

As for me, there was a day long ago where I brewed.. I had the gear to make up to 7.5 gallon batches, and then I wed a girl whose father was an alcoholic. She didn't care for my hobby, so into storage all my gear went. Fast forward nine long years and the itch to renew the hobby was ignited when I had a great beer which I thought would be an excellent prospect to attempt to reproduce. I cajoled and pleaded with SWMBO to lift the veto and she did.. It just took almost a decade to prove that I am not an alcoholic, I'm just a guy who appreciates an excellent beer once in awhile.

So I went to reclaim my gear from storage.. In my case, storage was a friend who was "babysitting with a free-to-use" clause. And, as it turned out, he decided to give away lots of it to others... So I was only able to reclaim a small portion of what I originally bought. The two pieces I miss the most was the brew kettle and the grain mill. So now I get to gear back up, and now I will be doing it on a smaller scale. It's all for the best I believe.. The wifey unit will see only one or two gallon batches which will go far to assuage her skepticism that by making my own beer I will become like her father.

Anyways, I am very happy to have found this thread and now that I have read the whole dern thing I can finally go read some other threads.

Cheers,
Craig

 

[BigRock947]

Well it only took me about two weeks of " morning coffee and evenings when kids go to sleep when I tell them" reading to go through each of these 393 pages. Over the span it feels like I kinda know many of you. There are so many from Chicagoland which is also where I currently call home, though I was born and raised in the great state of Wisconsin, the land of flowing beer and cheese.

sumbrewingdude, whereabouts in the state are you? And I'd love to see the plans for your homemade IC and manifold!

There's so much great information scattered throughout this thread.. A FAQ for newer brewers would be a cool idea, would prevent as much time and reading as it took me

To address the tongue-in-cheek opening post, I think it valid, to a degree. It may not be mean-spirited, but there's a bit of that big brother, little brother mentality that sometimes surfaces. Maybe like how a Mercedes owner looks at a Volkswagen owner. (haha!) Perhaps because there's the belief that a small-scale brewer is a nooblet who only took the leap into brewing because someone gifted them a Mr Beer.. Or perhaps some of the big batch boys feel that the scale of their operations and value of their gear separates them from the rest. While definitely not the common viewpoint, on some level and with certain types, it exists.

As for me, there was a day long ago where I brewed.. I had the gear to make up to 7.5 gallon batches, and then I wed a girl whose father was an alcoholic. She didn't care for my hobby, so into storage all my gear went. Fast forward nine long years and the itch to renew the hobby was ignited when I had a great beer which I thought would be an excellent prospect to attempt to reproduce. I cajoled and pleaded with SWMBO to lift the veto and she did.. It just took almost a decade to prove that I am not an alcoholic, I'm just a guy who appreciates an excellent beer once in awhile.

So I went to reclaim my gear from storage.. In my case, storage was a friend who was "babysitting with a free-to-use" clause. And, as it turned out, he decided to give away lots of it to others... So I was only able to reclaim a small portion of what I originally bought. The two pieces I miss the most was the brew kettle and the grain mill. So now I get to gear back up, and now I will be doing it on a smaller scale. It's all for the best I believe.. The wifey unit will see only one or two gallon batches which will go far to assuage her skepticism that by making my own beer I will become like her father.

Anyways, I am very happy to have found this thread and now that I have read the whole dern thing I can finally go read some other threads.

Cheers,
Craig

Welcome Craig....I'm glad you found your way back to brewing.

Yes this thread has taken a life of its own...Don't be afraid to ask a question even its been covered before....

 

[HomebrewCraig]

Thanks for the welcome! I enjoyed reading your many responses throughout this thread. You've been helpful since very early on! As the aphorism goes, I still remember how to ride the bike, but I am sure there will be questions.. Probably around specific procedures.

Here's one.. Does anyone inject pure oxygen into their wort?

 

[zman]

I typically brew 5 gallon batches and have 5 beers on tap at all times (usually). However, I love the idea of 1 or 2 gallon batches and although I have not done it yet (the grains are weighed out) I even built a lil brother for my 10 gallon Igloo mashtun. I made it out of a 3 gallon Igloo water cooler.

I went the mini bottling bucket route also because I typically brew 6 gallons and would put the excess in a gallon jug then bottle it later (I used carb drops). Now I use a 2.5 gal. keg and my bottling wand in a picnic tap or my beer gun if I am not feeling lazy.

I have really got into recipe development lately and love the idea of smaller batches. If my Hibiscus Pale ale is a flop I would hate to dump 5 gal. or have a slow mover taking up space in my keezer.