1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[Damoxemus]

What do you guys do for yeast? Do you just add 1/4- 1/2 a vial or pack and save the rest for later?

 

[fuzzy2133]

Hi Everyone,

I've only been brewing for a short while, having started with some 6 gallon coopers kits. One day I saw a Brooklyn Beer Shop kit at a local store, and it piqued my interest. I've been reading up on the subject of small batches, there are still some things I'm not sure about.

1) What is the ideal sized stock pot for doing 1 gallon batchs of all grain? Or to be on the safe side, if I do eventually want to make 1.5 or 2 gallon batches, what should I get? I currently have a 1.75 Gallon pot. Would I be able to get away with my current pot for a 1 gallon batch?

2) From watching the BBS video, they do a sparge step. I'd be more interested in the BIAB method, as you save some steps and time. Can you follow the recipes in the BBS recipes book while doing BIAB, or would you have to modify them?

I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future, but I'll start with these, thank you!

Pot size can be tricky since you need to account for the grain bill. I have a 12qt and 20qt that I will used based on the grain bill.

For BIAB you use the same grain bill however you need all the water that you will lose in grain absorption and boil off in the mash.

See the BIAB sticky for more info

 

[HomebrewCraig]

What do you guys do for yeast? Do you just add 1/4- 1/2 a vial or pack and save the rest for later?

yep! if half a pack of dry or partial smack will give you enough viable cells, save the rest for the next batch. This yeast calculator will become your friend:http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

And there are others out there, but that's the one I use.

 

[Calichusetts]

What do you guys do for yeast? Do you just add 1/4- 1/2 a vial or pack and save the rest for later?

I do pretty big beers so it usually works out to one full vial, which is nice. I highly recommend switching to liquid yeast if you have a LHBS. Even if you do smaller beers, you can often find vials that are a few months old and the pitch rate will still be almost the whole vial.

Its more expensive, but you can harvest afterwards and your options go up significantly when you go liquid.

 

[teleplucker]

Hi Everyone,

I've only been brewing for a short while, having started with some 6 gallon coopers kits. One day I saw a Brooklyn Beer Shop kit at a local store, and it piqued my interest. I've been reading up on the subject of small batches, there are still some things I'm not sure about.

1) What is the ideal sized stock pot for doing 1 gallon batchs of all grain? Or to be on the safe side, if I do eventually want to make 1.5 or 2 gallon batches, what should I get? I currently have a 1.75 Gallon pot. Would I be able to get away with my current pot for a 1 gallon batch?

2) From watching the BBS video, they do a sparge step. I'd be more interested in the BIAB method, as you save some steps and time. Can you follow the recipes in the BBS recipes book while doing BIAB, or would you have to modify them?

I'm sure I'll have more questions in the future, but I'll start with these, thank you!

I use a 2 gallon pot and it's nearly at the top at the start of the boil. Researching 2 and 2.5 gallon batches, my conclusions are 2x size pots are the minimum you would need.

For BIAB, the recipes would be a good starting point with tweaks to follow. I haven't done the calculations, but I *think* that would also increase the size of the pot that you would need above and beyond the usual BBS recommended process.

 

[MrG]

I do pretty big beers so it usually works out to one full vial, which is nice. I highly recommend switching to liquid yeast if you have a LHBS. Even if you do smaller beers, you can often find vials that are a few months old and the pitch rate will still be almost the whole vial.

Its more expensive, but you can harvest afterwards and your options go up significantly when you go liquid.

Even on a one gallon brew do you do a yeast wash and harvest it?

 

[matthewmurray]

Even on a one gallon brew do you do a yeast wash and harvest it?

Yes. Or top crop. Often both.

 

[MrG]

That's good to know. I wasn't sure if it was worthwhile/feasible on a small scale. I'll have to look into this! I have about 7 1-gallon jugs going, and it's getting expensive to keep re-buying (and shipping) yeast!

 

[Damoxemus]

Thanks for the yeast tips!

I plan on making a short video on how to make a first time batch cheap/simple/minimal equipment. Basically going to do the 15 Minute Cascade IPA but 1 gallon.
Wasn't sure what to do yeast wise but now I do.

 

[leesmith]

Yes. Or top crop. Often both.

View attachment 218766

What's the blow off jar contraption? Is it for yeast harvesting?

 

[matthewmurray]

What's the blow off jar contraption? Is it for yeast harvesting?

It's a simple jar with two grommets, one for the blow off tube and another for the airlock. It's like a pseudo Burton Union, but the beer doesn't return to the fermentor. It works best with a really active yeast, especially second generation or higher. It usually yields an ounce of yeast which is perfect for the next batch.

 

[Calichusetts]

Even on a one gallon brew do you do a yeast wash and harvest it?

Yes, or you can just pitch directly on the yeast cake. Be careful though, there is about 4 times the necessary yeast in the cake as needed for an identical brew. You could always do something light and sessionable and then pitch a large beer on top of it.

 

[ericbw]

Even on a one gallon brew do you do a yeast wash and harvest it?

A gallon batch is like a 1 gallon starter. You could get 4 batches of yeast from the gallon. And 4 from each of those. That's 21 batches from a pack of yeast. Or a half pack. That's like 12 cents a batch.

 

[MrG]

Whoa, that's a lot of yeast. I gotta figure out how to make this happen.

 

[EnderRoark]

hey guys, this is my first time posting and i'm in a bit of a pinch.

I've brewed a couple times before but that was almost a year ago and tomorrow i'm brewing my first beer in a while. i've decided to go small batch because i've been living in japan and space is tight. locking down all the equipment has taken a while but everything is finally here and i was just making last minute checks on the stuff when i realized i bought the wrong size muslin bags. instead of bigger grain bags, i have these tiny 6" bags that definitely wont fit anything. i've decided to ask the one gallon brewers for their advice on any alternate options? are there super easy ways to make the bags myself? could i just use a cheap pillowcase? it was pretty tough getting all this stuff in japan already and i'm freaking out cuz i'm not sure how to proceed.

 

[sumbrewindude]

hey guys, this is my first time posting and i'm in a bit of a pinch.

I've brewed a couple times before but that was almost a year ago and tomorrow i'm brewing my first beer in a while. i've decided to go small batch because i've been living in japan and space is tight. locking down all the equipment has taken a while but everything is finally here and i was just making last minute checks on the stuff when i realized i bought the wrong size muslin bags. instead of bigger grain bags, i have these tiny 6" bags that definitely wont fit anything. i've decided to ask the one gallon brewers for their advice on any alternate options? are there super easy ways to make the bags myself? could i just use a cheap pillowcase? it was pretty tough getting all this stuff in japan already and i'm freaking out cuz i'm not sure how to proceed.

Head to a fabric store and get a yard of nylon voile, that'll work. Otherwise look for a cheap nylon fabric shower curtain. Nearly the same thing.

All else fails, mash in one pot, and then pour through a strainer into another!

 

[ericbw]

Whoa, that's a lot of yeast. I gotta figure out how to make this happen.

Make a batch, then bottle it. Get 4 pint-size mason jars. Sterilize them (dishwasher, boiling water, soak them in bleach overnight if you can't do one of those things).

Sanitize them. Sanitize the mouth of your gallon fermenter. Sanitize the lids of your jars.

Pour off as much of the beer on top of the yeast in the fermenter as you can, but leave enough to swirl it all into suspension. (Some will say pour it all off and add some distilled water. That's fine, too, but this is easier).

Swirl it all up into suspension. Pour the yeast slurry into the 4 jars and put the lids on. Label them with the yeast type, generation 1, and the date.

Refrigerate.

When you make your next batch, make a starter to get the yeast going again.

After that batch is done, do the same thing, only this is generation 2. Use all of your gen 1 yeast first (the next 4 batches). Then use all of the gen 2 yeast (16 batches). Do the same thing and label it gen 3 (64 batches). Etc.

Opinions vary about how many generations to do this. I have done 3 and it's fine, but you might be pushing it to go any further. Each time you do it, you run risks with sanitization and with yeast mutation. You'll eventually get a bad batch, so don't save the yeast if the batch has problems.

Opinions also vary about how long you can save the yeast, but I think it's longer than the conservative estimates.

 

[MrG]

Thanks ericbw!! Sounds like I'm gonna be doing some reproducing this weekend!!

Ugh... that sounds just wrong...

 

[EnderRoark]

Head to a fabric store and get a yard of nylon voile, that'll work. Otherwise look for a cheap nylon fabric shower curtain. Nearly the same thing.



All else fails, mash in one pot, and then pour through a strainer into another!

sweeeeet thanks. I just have another couple of questions

would a yard of muslin do the same? would the nylon melt?

 

[thomajt]

hey guys, this is my first time posting and i'm in a bit of a pinch.

I've brewed a couple times before but that was almost a year ago and tomorrow i'm brewing my first beer in a while. i've decided to go small batch because i've been living in japan and space is tight. locking down all the equipment has taken a while but everything is finally here and i was just making last minute checks on the stuff when i realized i bought the wrong size muslin bags. instead of bigger grain bags, i have these tiny 6" bags that definitely wont fit anything. i've decided to ask the one gallon brewers for their advice on any alternate options? are there super easy ways to make the bags myself? could i just use a cheap pillowcase? it was pretty tough getting all this stuff in japan already and i'm freaking out cuz i'm not sure how to proceed.

6" bag does sound pretty small, but for a 1 gal extract brew, you're looking at about 3-4 oz of grain to steep. Not sure if you're doing extract, but might as well for a 1 gallon batch. See if your grains will fit, then worry about getting a bigger one.

 

[PhantomBrew1111]

Thank you! That worked!

 

[ohiobeer29]

Just bottled northern brewer caribou slobber got 11 bottles out of it

 

[Yreval]

Just bottled northern brewer caribou slobber got 11 bottles out of it

Let us know how it came out once it's ready! I've heard great things about the Moose Drool that I believe it to be based off of. I'm a fan of browns in general, but I've never had the original or this brew.

 

[fuzzy2133]

sweeeeet thanks. I just have another couple of questions

would a yard of muslin do the same? would the nylon melt?

1 yard should be more than enough. That is what I used for a 5 gallon BIAB before I stopped being lazy and made my bag.
As far as melting goes yes it can melt or scorch so most of us typically only have the bag in during the mash. If you have to heat up the mash, keep the heat low and stir constantly to minimize scorching.

 

[bleme]

Let us know how it came out once it's ready! I've heard great things about the Moose Drool that I believe it to be based off of. I'm a fan of browns in general, but I've never had the original or this brew.

I just finished my last of it and it was awesome after about 8 weeks in the bottle. It needs more age than a lot of brews.

 

[ohiobeer29]

Awesome to hear can't wait!

 

[mythbustingpyro]

I was going to do my smashing pumpkin ale small batch kit last night, but my biggest pot was 1.5 gallons... I was too worried about boilovers to try. Looks like I need a kettle.

Also are the 5 gallon kits splittable? It would be cheaper that way it seems.

 

[matthewmurray]

Tonight I am celebrating 50 consecutive one gallon batches in 50 days!

 

[A1_Knucklehead]

The beauty of 1 gallon brewing. .. 3 batches bottled in 1 day.

 

[phug]

I did two 1 gallon batches on the stove top yesterday back to back to nail down my water amounts. While I was doing that I bottled 1 gallon of graff, and 6 gallons of cider.

The only problem is I dig one batch with a 3 quart dribble sparge and the other one as a no sparge squeeze it like it owes you money.

The first came out 90+ eff and the second only about 75. The good part is that with my adjustments to correct for final volume, the SG we're pretty close


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