1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[sumbrewindude]

Beerlover - pick a style, then pick a beer. It's slightly easier.

I try to keep at least one dark and one light(ish) beer on hand at all times, then do something funky. So right now I just finished brewing up an APA (I was getting low on light colored beers), and will be bottling a red tonight also. Still have some of the brown in bottles, along with a mexican lager that will be good to open next week, plus a bunch of blonde also. Lots of choices!

I can't wait for the Keptinis to be ready to bottle, and my first real IIPA will go into dryhopping this week.

Now I need to start planning another three recipies for the next few weeks!



Edit -

So last night was a minor disaster of sorts. I broke tradition and try doing the sugar cube thing instead of my usual priming sugar amount - SWMBO picked me up some sugar cubes from the store (I specifically asked for the 0.5tsp ones) and set about putting them into the bottles.

I SHOULD have gotten the hint immediately, as the cubes wouldn't fit into the bottles without some serious effort. As I finished up everything (capping and the whole 9) I popped a sugar cube in my mouth and suddenly questioned the amount of sugar. Doing some math, I ended up at 3.6g per cube, or just under a teaspoon per. Crap. Opened all the bottles, poured back off what I could knowing that there was still a fair amount of sugar already in solution, rinsed all the bottles and resanitized. Rebottled EVERYTHING, and then put it in the "bomb-locker" for the next few weeks.

Man. What a pain, and to make matters worse, it tastes like an awesome Irish rye.

Well, lets see what the future holds!

 

[Avocado_Power]

Sumbrewindude, that sucks, and I feel your pain!

I have had to do something similar in the past, which is drop more sugar into bottles because I had under carbonated them...I hope you don't get bottle bombs...good that you put em in the bomb locker just in case!

Btw I just may have added a new homebrewer to the world - I went to the lhbs with my friend and set him up to brew his first batch of a 5-gallon hefeweizen (extract). The lucky bastard has a mansion of a house with soooo much basement space. (Folks with ideal fermentation temps in their basement make this apt-dweller rather envious). I'm gonna tell him to join hbt next!


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[rave808]

I know Domino make two sizes of sugar cubes....gotta read box not sure which brand your wife picked up



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[sumbrewindude]

I know Domino make two sizes of sugar cubes....gotta read box not sure which brand your wife picked up

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I have no idea what brand, I know the box was pink and not the usual Domino yellow.

Hmm... Oh well. Honestly I don't know if it saved any time in the process, I usually make the sugar solution in the microwave then put it into the freezer while I'm sanitizing everything. Usually by the time I'm ready to transfer the beer to the bottling bucket it's cooled down enough.

The major reason I wanted to try it this time around was I had a few bottles that were under/overcarbed in the bottles and I wanted to have consistancy between bottles.

All this does is make me want to order up my regulator and fittings to get my kegs online. Consistant, definable carbonation would be really, really nice.


In other news -

Bought the first 12pack I've bought in a while tonight. Just wanted to try some new beer from some breweries. Actually was kind of sticker shocked when I picked them up - I've been getting used to spending 20$ and getting 3+ twelve packs of my own stuff.

I do enjoy sampling other's efforts, though.

 

[bleme]

I have a syringe that measures up to 5 cc's. I have often considered doing the math to figure out how much water to add so that I can prime in the bottle.

 

[rave808]

I have no idea what brand, I know the box was pink and not the usual Domino yellow.

Hmm... Oh well. Honestly I don't know if it saved any time in the process, I usually make the sugar solution in the microwave then put it into the freezer while I'm sanitizing everything. Usually by the time I'm ready to transfer the beer to the bottling bucket it's cooled down enough.

The major reason I wanted to try it this time around was I had a few bottles that were under/overcarbed in the bottles and I wanted to have consistancy between bottles.

All this does is make me want to order up my regulator and fittings to get my kegs online. Consistant, definable carbonation would be really, really nice.


In other news -

Bought the first 12pack I've bought in a while tonight. Just wanted to try some new beer from some breweries. Actually was kind of sticker shocked when I picked them up - I've been getting used to spending 20$ and getting 3+ twelve packs of my own stuff.

I do enjoy sampling other's efforts, though.

+1 on the keg hopefully if I get any extra money I'm going the keg way too everyone who kegs always says you won't regret move from bottles


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[Owly055]

Anybody cold crash in small portions? I lack space to cold crash much beer in the fridge, and don't have a fridge set up just for that purpose. Yesterday put a gallon in an ice tea jug with bottling sugar and put it in the fridge for several days to clear it. I will then bottle right out of the ice tea jug with the sugar already mixed in. Does this make any sense ;-)....


H.W.

 

[beerlover87]

Anybody cold crash in small portions? I lack space to cold crash much beer in the fridge, and don't have a fridge set up just for that purpose. Yesterday put a gallon in an ice tea jug with bottling sugar and put it in the fridge for several days to clear it. I will then bottle right out of the ice tea jug with the sugar already mixed in. Does this make any sense ;-)....


H.W.

Let me know if it works interesting idea

 

[Owly055]

I'm splitting a small batch into portions........ one this week, and one next week. I see no reason why it shouldn't work. My crashing jug is also my bottling bucket and my secondary, all in one....... secondary only in that it will settle out more sediment.

H.W.

Let me know if it works interesting idea

 

[mkh]

So, slight issue last night. I brewed on Sunday, placed my jug in a big plastic bin, checked in on it last night to see if it was bubbling per usual, and turns out it was, just a bit too much. I had the blowoff tube in a pint glass which was now a nice brown beer color, and you can see that foam had gone about half way up the side of my container, the bottom of the bin was also covered in a lot of liquid. Probably lost about 1/8 of the liquid in my gallon jug. Cleaned it all up but a, what probably caused this? b: Anyway to prevent it in the future. Out of 4 brews this is the first time it's gone this bonkers.

 

[Opiate42]

I got to get my mind made up on a recipe before I brew again their are so many !!!! Anyone have a suggestion ?

After having made about a dozen 1 gallon kits, thinking of doing a rye pale ale for my first non-kit experiment.... so much variety!

 

[sumbrewindude]

So, slight issue last night. I brewed on Sunday, placed my jug in a big plastic bin, checked in on it last night to see if it was bubbling per usual, and turns out it was, just a bit too much. I had the blowoff tube in a pint glass which was now a nice brown beer color, and you can see that foam had gone about half way up the side of my container, the bottom of the bin was also covered in a lot of liquid. Probably lost about 1/8 of the liquid in my gallon jug. Cleaned it all up but a, what probably caused this? b: Anyway to prevent it in the future. Out of 4 brews this is the first time it's gone this bonkers.

Active fermentation with certain types of yeast can definitely make a mess, it's in their nature.

If you keep ferm temps low (mid 60's) and increase the volume of your fermenter so you have more headspace, you'll have no more issues with blow off.

FWIW, my favorite carboys are 4gal containers, and I'm fermenting about 1.5gal of beer - LOTS of headspace, and never had a kruesen go over an inch (even fermented hot).

 

[BigRock947]

+1 on the keg hopefully if I get any extra money I'm going the keg way too everyone who kegs always says you won't regret move from bottles


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I actually went the other way....I bought a kegging system and was going to build a fridge to hold it all. Then I decided I wanted to brew 2.5 gallon batches...of course that was 15 years ago and I didn't know that 2.5 gallon kegs existed so I sold it to someone who was starting out.

Now at 1.5 gallons batches I really don't think about bottling...its something I just do on brewing days.

 

[bleme]

Anybody cold crash in small portions? I lack space to cold crash much beer in the fridge, and don't have a fridge set up just for that purpose. Yesterday put a gallon in an ice tea jug with bottling sugar and put it in the fridge for several days to clear it. I will then bottle right out of the ice tea jug with the sugar already mixed in. Does this make any sense ;-)....

I guess the pro here is that by priming a couple days ahead of time, you should have less stratification.

The downside is even though fermentation is slowed, it isn't entirely stopped, so it is going to be a little harder to guess how much sugar is left when it goes to bottle. I have had wines that were back sweetened, bottled still, and straight into the fridge. A month later they were sparkling.

 

[BigRock947]

I guess the pro here is that by priming a couple days ahead of time, you should have less stratification.

The downside is even though fermentation is slowed, it isn't entirely stopped, so it is going to be a little harder to guess how much sugar is left when it goes to bottle. I have had wines that were back sweetened, bottled still, and straight into the fridge. A month later they were sparkling.

bleme.....I was thinking the same thing but having not done this myself I couldn't put any personal experience behind it.

I think the amount of sugar left shouldn't effect his carbonation too much...it may take a longer to get the level intended.

 

[gromitdj]

The problem is you have no way of knowing how much work the yeast has completed on the sugar you added. If You added the appropriate amount of sugar for the carbonation level you want the best possible scenario is undercarbonated beer. Worst case, no carbonation. Either way it's unlikely that the yeast hasn't began its attack on the sugar you added.

 

[Owly055]

The problem is you have no way of knowing how much work the yeast has completed on the sugar you added. If You added the appropriate amount of sugar for the carbonation level you want the best possible scenario is undercarbonated beer. Worst case, no carbonation. Either way it's unlikely that the yeast hasn't began its attack on the sugar you added.

I would never have thought that a significant amount of fermentation would occur at refrigerator temps...........

H.W.

 

[beerlover87]

After having made about a dozen 1 gallon kits, thinking of doing a rye pale ale for my first non-kit experiment.... so much variety!

I kinda have eyes on a blueberry wheat recipe

 

[bleme]

I kinda have eyes on a blueberry wheat recipe

Don't do it!!! I brewed one 2 years ago and my wife has been bugging me to make it again ever since!

 

[gromitdj]

I would never have thought that a significant amount of fermentation would occur at refrigerator temps.......

You are probably right... not a lot at fridge temps. I guess I didn't realize you were talking about in the fridge. Only one way to find out. Give it a try and report back.

 

[MedBrewer]

I kinda have eyes on a blueberry wheat recipe

Let me know what recipe you use if you don't mind, I've been thinking of making a nice smooth flavored wheat also

 

[beerlover87]

Don't do it!!! I brewed one 2 years ago and my wife has been bugging me to make it again ever since!

Well was it great to her and not so great to you? lol I just thought it sounds interesting... Got any good suggestions?

 

[beerlover87]

Let me know what recipe you use if you don't mind, I've been thinking of making a nice smooth flavored wheat also

Sure thing I really like most wheat beers myself so just gotta make up my mind .... Hard thing to do I drank some of my IPA ( my first brew ever) pleased with how it turned out just can't say I am a major fan of the little aftertaste it has overall smooth beer tho ;-)

 

[bleme]

Well was it great to her and not so great to you? lol I just thought it sounds interesting... Got any good suggestions?

It was good, but nothing that made me say "I have to make this again!". Also, I am a bit of a penny pincher and it was by far my most expensive beer to date. $8 in blueberries for a 3 gallon batch and I wouldn't have been able to tell it was blueberry without someone telling me. That was probably it's biggest fault; it didn't taste like the one I had in my head.

I just thought it was funny that you posted that a few minutes after my wife asked for it again.

 

[sumbrewindude]

Dryhopped LIVID last night, bottling day is getting closer... man that was a weird, dumping over 2oz of dryhops into a 1.5gal. Smelled great though!

Kind of at a crossroads for my next few batches.

I want to do a wheat (haven't done a focused wheat/wit style beer yet), and after having an American stout that a friend made I'm also leaning to one of those. Plus the table beers (I've got a bunch of S33 I picked up CHEAP that I want use and play around with on that front), not to mention a Kentucky Common, etc.

So, light (wit), dark (stout), and what? I've got US05, S04, Notty, and a few other yeasts rarin' to go.

 

[beerlover87]

It was good, but nothing that made me say "I have to make this again!". Also, I am a bit of a penny pincher and it was by far my most expensive beer to date. $8 in blueberries for a 3 gallon batch and I wouldn't have been able to tell it was blueberry without someone telling me. That was probably it's biggest fault; it didn't taste like the one I had in my head.

I just thought it was funny that you posted that a few minutes after my wife asked for it again.

Well on hearing that I will probably search for another wheat style. Thanks for the info I have only brewed once and it was a kit so I want to do a all grain this round

 

[Owly055]

I would never have thought that a significant amount of fermentation would occur at refrigerator temps...........

H.W.

Nervous about the concerns people have expressed over adding bottling sugar, then crashing........ A strategy I devised to allow me to cold crash a larger amount of beer than would fit in my fridge, by crashing a gallon at a time in a gallon ice tea jug, I gave in and bottled after 2 days. The crashing had the desired effect. Crystal Clear Beer........ A thin layer of sediment was on the bottom of the jug. I bottled using the spigot on the one gallon jug which was less than ideal, but worked. I left the sediment and the beer I couldn't recover, in the jug, and repeated my process...... I took the appropriate amount of sugar, boiled it with a small amount of water, added it to the remaining sediment and small amount of beer (hot), then refilled the gallon jug. I will do this a third time Friday. I have no expectation of problems.

 

[BigRock947]

Nervous about the concerns people have expressed over adding bottling sugar, then crashing........ A strategy I devised to allow me to cold crash a larger amount of beer than would fit in my fridge, by crashing a gallon at a time in a gallon ice tea jug, I gave in and bottled after 2 days. The crashing had the desired effect. Crystal Clear Beer........ A thin layer of sediment was on the bottom of the jug. I bottled using the spigot on the one gallon jug which was less than ideal, but worked. I left the sediment and the beer I couldn't recover, in the jug, and repeated my process...... I took the appropriate amount of sugar, boiled it with a small amount of water, added it to the remaining sediment and small amount of beer (hot), then refilled the gallon jug. I will do this a third time Friday. I have no expectation of problems.

I'm sure you'll be fine.....I'm a Keep It Simple Stupid brewer though.

I don't like to open and close containers to add or remove things or at least keep it to a minimum like dry hopping a couple of days before bottling.....In my mind it opens the possibility of infection or contamination unless your very disciplined on sanitation.

 

[Babybatch]

Thought that I would solicit the help of some experienced 1 Gallon Brewers. I'm going to do a 2.5 batch and split it between to 1 Gallon carboys. My first time brewing, scaling, anything....

The Original Recipe for Cream of 3 Crops:

11.50 gal Batch

Ingredients:
------------
12.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) - 5.4 kg - 5400 g
4.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) - 1.8 kg - 1800 g
1.00 lb Minute Rice (1.0 SRM) - 0.45 kg - 450 g

1.00 oz Williamette [5.20%] (60 min) 28.34g
1.00 oz Crystal [3.50%] (60 min)

I scaled it using the following guidelines:

Most homebrew recipes are formulated for 5 gallons (19 L) of beer. To scale a recipe down linearly, just multiply the amount of each ingredient by your batch size, then divide by the batch size specified in the original recipe. For example, if a 5-gallon (19-L) recipe called for 9.0 oz. (0.26 g) of crystal malt. A 3-gallon (11-L) recipe for the same beer would require [9 x 3 / 5 =] 5.4 oz. (0.15 kg) of crystal malt. Of course, at a smaller scale, you may be boiling more vigorously, boiling your full wort, cooling quicker and doing other things that will affect how the recipe turns out. Take good notes and use these as a guide to making recipe adjustments.

This is what I get for a 2.5 Gallon batch:

-----------------------
Ingredients
-----------------------

2.1 lbs two row - 0.94 kg - 940 g
.71 lbs corn - 0.32 kg - 320 g
2.72 oz rice - 0.078 kg - 78 g 0.17 lb
5 g Williamette [5.20%] (60 min) 5 g
5 g Crystal [3.50%] (60 min) 5 g

Does that look about right?

I've been told elsewhere to up the 2 Row & Corn Maze and this should help with my OG. Is that necessary? What say you?

 

[BigRock947]

Thought that I would solicit the help of some experienced 1 Gallon Brewers. I'm going to do a 2.5 batch and split it between to 1 Gallon carboys. My first time brewing, scaling, anything....

The Original Recipe for Cream of 3 Crops:

11.50 gal Batch

Ingredients:
------------
12.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) - 5.4 kg - 5400 g
4.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) - 1.8 kg - 1800 g
1.00 lb Minute Rice (1.0 SRM) - 0.45 kg - 450 g

1.00 oz Williamette [5.20%] (60 min) 28.34g
1.00 oz Crystal [3.50%] (60 min)

I scaled it using the following guidelines:



This is what I get for a 2.5 Gallon batch:

-----------------------
Ingredients
-----------------------

2.1 lbs two row - 0.94 kg - 940 g
.71 lbs corn - 0.32 kg - 320 g
2.72 oz rice - 0.078 kg - 78 g 0.17 lb
5 g Williamette [5.20%] (60 min) 5 g
5 g Crystal [3.50%] (60 min) 5 g

Does that look about right?

I've been told elsewhere to up the 2 Row & Corn Maze and this should help with my OG. Is that necessary? What say you?

Your amounts look a little low on the grain side of things and a little high on the hops so....

Using a smartphone app the amounts should be more like...

41.75 ounces of 2-Row
14 ounces of Flaked Corn
3.5 ounces of Minute Rice

1.5 grams of Williamete
1.5 grams of Crystal

Hope that helps...you play with the amounts of ingredients up or down a little or a lot. I like to round up to the nearest whole number.

Good luck....