1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[Ash1616]

what beers are they?

To begin, I have two SMaSH brews. First is a MO/Nelson Sauvin and second is a MO/Pacific Jade. Both used the same grain bill and hop additions so I could get a feel for both variety of hops.

Third is a Canadian 2row/Saaz Cream ale followed by a Crystal hopped Pils on the forth day which is a SMaSH as well.

The fifth is a Strong Rhubarb/Strawberry Ale, and sixth, a Cucumber Saison which are both BBS recipes that I got from their newest book.

While she's visiting I'm also gonna have her help me brew a few small batches up while we sample a few

Cheers!!!!

 

[sumbrewindude]

I put my 5 yr old to work... He powered through just about all of the 12 pound grain bill by hand. He didn't care for the smell of East Kent Goldings though. It was like smelling salts for him.

Wait until he get's his sniffer into some Simcoe - you'll never get him out of the hop bag.

Oh wait, that's me. :rockin:


Congrats on the first brew for a LONG time coming, Craig!

Ohiobeer - you brewing again?! What are you making now? Get that pipeline rolling, bud!

 

[ohiobeer29]

To begin, I have two SMaSH brews. First is a MO/Nelson Sauvin and second is a MO/Pacific Jade. Both used the same grain bill and hop additions so I could get a feel for both variety of hops.

Third is a Canadian 2row/Saaz Cream ale followed by a Crystal hopped Pils on the forth day which is a SMaSH as well.

The fifth is a Strong Rhubarb/Strawberry Ale, and sixth, a Cucumber Saison which are both BBS recipes that I got from their newest book.

While she's visiting I'm also gonna have her help me brew a few small batches up while we sample a few

Cheers!!!!

Those sound tasty

 

[ohiobeer29]

Wait until he get's his sniffer into some Simcoe - you'll never get him out of the hop bag.

Oh wait, that's me. :rockin:


Congrats on the first brew for a LONG time coming, Craig!

Ohiobeer - you brewing again?! What are you making now? Get that pipeline rolling, bud!

Still the same beer the rum runner finally bottled it Friday.will be brewing later today making nb caribou slobber

 

[plath]

My six year old helps me bottle all the time . Brewed a gallon of northern brewer's dead ringer this morning. I have four gallon jugs in various stages right now in my basement!


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[HomebrewCraig]

Hi Plath,

I am hoping my 5 yr old also learns to love bottling.. Or will at least hang out with daddy while I do it. We'll find out in three weeks!

 

[plath]

Hi Plath,



I am hoping my 5 yr old also learns to love bottling.. Or will at least hang out with daddy while I do it. We'll find out in three weeks!

My daughter loves to put in the fermenting drops and tell me when to stop filling the bottles before I overflow. It's also her job to count out the bottle caps


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[sumbrewindude]

Man, I thought S04 was a powerhouse at chewing through wort - this MangroveJack Bavarian Hefe chewed through 3gal in less than 48hrs and the krausen's on the way down this morning. Heated the snot out of the swamp cooler water - went from 65F ambient to 72F while rocking out. Highest I've EVER had in the carboy too - almost got to the airlock!

Hope I get some clove with my banana!

 

[pennahighlandbrew]

Hey all, I'll be doing my first one gallon batch here in a couple days (barleywine, here I come), and I have to ask: how can I effectively take a gravity reading in such a small batch? I really don't want to lose out on any wort or beer when there's so little. If anyone has any tips or methods they use they could share, I would appreciate it. Thanks!


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[sumbrewindude]

Hey all, I'll be doing my first one gallon batch here in a couple days (barleywine, here I come), and I have to ask: how can I effectively take a gravity reading in such a small batch? I really don't want to lose out on any wort or beer when there's so little. If anyone has any tips or methods they use they could share, I would appreciate it. Thanks!


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There's a couple ways you can do it - most of us that are doing small batches are using refractometers - it will allow you to get the measurements with only a few drops of solution instead of an entire cylinder.

The other way, if you don't have a refractometer and hopefully have a deep pot, is to sanitize the hydrometer and just float it in the pot after it's cooled and measure before you transfer. From there I just let it do it's think for a few weeks, and then check the FG in the bottling bucket (I use sugar cubes in the bottles so I'm not worried about the extra sugar from bottling).

Refractometer's nice tool once you've gotten used to how it compares against a hydrometer.

 

[sumbrewindude]

Checked the carboy again tonight - nothing but yeast rafts on top! I think Whitbread has some new competition on the ferment and drop...

Wort's not too cloudy either for a hefe yeast. I'll be curious to see how this ages out over the next two weeks, then into the keg!

 

[ohiobeer29]

Crazy blow off from the.caribou slobber

 

[MrG]

I couldn't search this thread for some reason, but do you folks cold crash your 1-gallon vessels? If so, for how long in the fridge? and then do you bottle once it comes back to room temperature?

 

[ohiobeer29]

I couldn't search this thread for some reason, but do you folks cold crash your 1-gallon vessels? If so, for how long in the fridge? and then do you bottle once it comes back to room temperature?

I bottle at cellar temp no cold crash

 

[leesmith]

I couldn't search this thread for some reason, but do you folks cold crash your 1-gallon vessels? If so, for how long in the fridge? and then do you bottle once it comes back to room temperature?

I cold crash at 36 degrees for a couple of days...I have found I can put a sanitized plastic growler cap on and have no problems with oxygen or suck back when using an airlock...works great...take it out before getting all other stuff out for bottling to start it warming back up to room temp, bottle as usual and then store at 75

 

[leesmith]

I couldn't search this thread for some reason, but do you folks cold crash your 1-gallon vessels? If so, for how long in the fridge? and then do you bottle once it comes back to room temperature?

I cold crash at 36 degrees for a couple of days but don't worry of I go longer...I have found I can put a sanitized plastic growler cap on and have no problems with oxygen or suck back as when using an airlock...works great...take it out before getting all other stuff out for bottling. This starts it warming back up to room temp and bottle as usual.

 

[MrG]

Okay, that's great to know. Many thanks!

 

[sumbrewindude]

I used to cold crash - and it does work great if you've got a really fine yeast like Kolsch, but for most of my ales I can just bottle at celler temp so long as I let it mature long enough, and don't slosh the carboy around.

 

[MrG]

Interesting. What kind of mature time? Weeks? Months?

 

[sumbrewindude]

All my beers sit 21 days once the krausen forms.

Have some been ready sooner? Yup. Could I speed up the process on certain beers? Yup. Would I do it? Nope. Let's the beer mature a little, gets the yeast out of suspension after they've cleaned up, and usually allows the FG to stabilize fully. I say usually becuase I have found a yeast that if you let it chillax a month or more, it'll continue to chew down the FG a bit more than you expected (S33).

I'm not in a hurry, and if you have a pipeline rolling you'll be surpised at how fast that 21 days comes due.

This shouldn't be confused with allowing high ABV beers (other than hop bombs) to hang out and really meld together. Those need time to mature, sometimes well into months, to make sure they're ready.

 

[bleme]

I cold crash in a bucket of ice water for a day. Replace the airlock with a cotton ball soaked in StarSan. Bottle cold.

 

[shaky6]

brewed my first 1 gallon batch last night. I am liking this light weight version of brewing that I can complete in the kitchen with smaller equipment.

 

[plath]

brewed my first 1 gallon batch last night. I am liking this light weight version of brewing that I can complete in the kitchen with smaller equipment.

It's perfect for me! I'm often making or prepping meals at the same time.


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[sumbrewindude]

brewed my first 1 gallon batch last night. I am liking this light weight version of brewing that I can complete in the kitchen with smaller equipment.

Awesome!

What'd you brew?

 

[shaky6]

Awesome!

What'd you brew?

My version of a rye PA. I'm not much for following directions so I keep tinkering. Instead of a partial mash I used light extract and steeped flaked rye. I'm kind of new. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm pretty sure you have to mash flaked rye and instant rice. I probably have a fermenter full of unconverted starches right now.

 

[pennahighlandbrew]

My first one gallon barleywine (1.092 OG) is in the fermenter and it's started active/bubbling fermentation in a blow off tube after less than 30 minutes. It's officially the fastest-starting ferment I've ever had, and I just had to post with a big thank you to all of HBT for all of the lessons you've taught me in making good beer, from temp control to pitching rate and everything in between. This website is an amazing resource and I'm proud to be a part of this grand hobby with such passionate and helpful individuals out there. (Yes, I've had many a homebrew tonight, but my sentiments remain true).


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[Yreval]

My version of a rye PA. I'm not much for following directions so I keep tinkering. Instead of a partial mash I used light extract and steeped flaked rye. I'm kind of new. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm pretty sure you have to mash flaked rye and instant rice. I probably have a fermenter full of unconverted starches right now.

I'm also new, and can't speak from experience, but I have also heard that you need to mash rye to utilize its starches. Maybe you'll still get some rye flavor or character from steeping, though?

I guess let us know how it turns out.

 

[sumbrewindude]

Yep, unfortunately you needed enzymes to convert the flaked rye, if you'd have used malted rye it would have done better in the steep. For future reference, any of the flaked adjuncts (rice, barley, corn, rye) need some kind of base malt with them to convert, and for full conversion you want to stay with at least 2x the amount of base grain to adjunct.

Obviously there's some wiggle room in there that can end well/poorly depending on the diastatic power of the base grain you're using, but the easy rule of thumb for adjunct is no more than 20-25% unless you're confident of the outcome - that's my catch-all comment as I've made beers with way more than 25% adjunct and they were, interesting.

You'll have some rye flavor for sure depending on the percentage of rye used, in addition to some haziness in the beer, but you will have BEER!

And that's awesome. :rockin:

 

[HomebrewCraig]

Today, I got to replace the guts of the main toilet on the first floor of my house. And that's the connection to what I've done for beer today.

 

[Spinout]

for those of you that do all grain 1 gallon batches, what are you using for a mash tun, or are you taking more a BIAB approach?
when it comes to yeast, are you using a whole pack/vile on 1 gallon, or splitting between 2 or 3 batches?
i'm planning on doing some 1 gallon batches just to experiment with stuff, or try some lagers since those jugs will fit in the fridge.
i have 2-3gallon stockpots, i think those will work handily to brew 2 batches at the same time inside on the stovetop.