1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[sumbrewindude]

Welcome Synap6 and mpghm!

Synap6 - It'd be better to go the DME route over LME if you're looking to proportion smaller amounts. LME can keep, but not nearly as well as DME. Just remember that DME's more concentrated than LME, so you actually use less of it.

Funny you mention the 5gal vs 1gal beer amounts - I've been drinking Tumbleweed now from the keg for about 2 weeks now (off/on with other beers in the keezer) and I'm still shocked the keg's heavy. It was only 3gal! I need more friends to stop over....

mpghm - Get some Domino sugar cubes, one yellow box will set you back a few bucks but you'll have enough cubes to last you a LOOOOOONG time. One sugar cube to the 12oz bottle; they fit better than tabs and were VERY consistent for me before the keg switch. I still have them for bombers, just using two per.

HBC - I'm on the hunt for Moteuka, I remember you saying you had some - where'd you find it, brother? Gotta craving for a Session IPA after having a couple Laguinta's last night...

 

[HomebrewCraig]

Heya SBD!

I found the Motueka at a very small LHBS between work and home. And by small I mean the store could fit into a medium storage locker. But their hops selection was pretty nice, carrying half a dozen "exotic" varieties that my go-to LHBS does not carry.

I wanted to brew up the Kiwi-hopped IPA this weekend, but since my friend is such a Guinness geek, I postponed the IPA brew til next weekend. The Guinness clone was an easy brew, and just a single up-front hop addition. Gave me more time to explain everything I was doing. The IPA is a little more involved, so it is probably better to have pushed it off a week.

I did get to crack the first couple bottles of my first all-grain batch yesterday though... A Nut Brown which experienced questionable fermentation (was swamping in the bathtub, which drained of water in the middle of the night) The beer had very nice carb, a small but persistent head that did leave some lacing on the glass... But it tasted like beer! And a nice beer at that. I was expecting a little more of a nuttier flavor, a little more of a malt backbone.. But I chalk it up to incorrect fermentation temp control, which was repaired before the second batch.

Second batch was LIVID, which will be ready to crack by next weekend! It'll be cool to drink an IPA while brewing another IPA.

I'll open another Nut Brown tonight and take a pic of two.

 

[ericbw]

Heya SBD!

I found the Motueka at a very small LHBS between work and home. And by small I mean the store could fit into a medium storage locker. But their hops selection was pretty nice, carrying half a dozen "exotic" varieties that my go-to LHBS does not carry.

I wanted to brew up the Kiwi-hopped IPA this weekend, but since my friend is such a Guinness geek, I postponed the IPA brew til next weekend. The Guinness clone was an easy brew, and just a single up-front hop addition. Gave me more time to explain everything I was doing. The IPA is a little more involved, so it is probably better to have pushed it off a week.

I did get to crack the first couple bottles of my first all-grain batch yesterday though... A Nut Brown which experienced questionable fermentation (was swamping in the bathtub, which drained of water in the middle of the night) The beer had very nice carb, a small but persistent head that did leave some lacing on the glass... But it tasted like beer! And a nice beer at that. I was expecting a little more of a nuttier flavor, a little more of a malt backbone.. But I chalk it up to incorrect fermentation temp control, which was repaired before the second batch.

Second batch was LIVID, which will be ready to crack by next weekend! It'll be cool to drink an IPA while brewing another IPA.

I'll open another Nut Brown tonight and take a pic of two.

What was the grain for the nut brown?




What wa

 

[HomebrewCraig]

Ingredients Amt Name Type # %/IBU
4 lbs 7.8 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 76.3 %
8.2 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 8.7 %
8.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 3 8.5 %
4.1 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.3 %
2.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.2 %

 

[Barhoppin]

I'm new to homebrewing and jumped right in with all grain full boil 1 gallon batches.
I built a 3 gallon Mash Tun, set up a dedicated fermentation fridge with temp control and I've already gotten a few batches under my belt.
I even hit my Preboil and OG gravitates @ 75% on my last beer.
Toughest part is the wait...
I bottled my first two batches a week ago but I've read you should wait 2-3 weeks to condition.
Next big investment is a keg setup!:rockin:

 

[sumbrewindude]

Welcome Barhoppin!

Sounds like you're ready to go! Not going to lie, while bottling wasn't TOO bad - just putzy, kegging is just lovely. Especially if you've already prepped/sanitized/sealed your kegs before hand. I think I spent an afternoon prepping all my kegs (getting them cleaned, lubed, replacing all the old parts and seals, then sanitizing and pressurizing them for storage), but now I just grab an empty keg, depressurize, pop the top and rack in from the carboy. Once done; lid on, hit it with 15psi to seal, and then into the keezer on pressure or just let it hang out next to the keezer waiting for it's turn in.

What kegs are you looking at? I think there's some chinese 1.75g running around, as well as new 2.5g - I'm running old 3g pinlocks (which honestly took more effort than I thought to make fully serviceable, but that's what you get for cheap kegs).

There was a post over in the kegging section where a member's got the 5L mini kegs all setup on a system - pretty cool actually, just wish the minikegs had more life in them than a few go arounds.

What someone needs to do is take that pubkeg (plastic PET Sanke keg) concept and make it work with those Miller/Coors Party Pig PET bottles that were running around for a while. That'd be PERFECT for small batch guys, and it wouldn't break the bank either!

Makes me wonder - whatever happened to those pubkeg things anyway? They up and vanished before they even got market presence.

 

[Barhoppin]

What kegs are you looking at? I think there's some chinese 1.75g running around, as well as new 2.5g - I'm running old 3g pinlocks (which honestly took more effort than I thought to make fully serviceable, but that's what you get for cheap kegs).

Honestly I've only just started my research.
I think I'm going to start with 1L mini kegs but set up a dual regulator with splitters so I can have 4 taps but I may end up going 1.75 or 2 gallon and skip the splitters.
I'm wanting best of both worlds so I can brew 1,2.5, or 5 gallon batches and keg without breaking the bank. It's a tall order.

 

[sportpak]

Im new here and completely new to brewing. There was a Brooklyn Brew Shop Kit on sale near my place and i figured I'd give it a shot, what with a boring weekend ahead. Turns out the kit wasn't exactly the best thing for a beginner, being an all-grain kit Still managed to do it but Im crossing my fingers it will come out right. Meanwhile, i have to wait a month's time before sampling it (for better or for worse, should it have failed).. I really enjoyed the experience as I also love cooking.

Thing is, I'm not much of a drinker, and my wife does not drink at all. So 5 gallon batches are out of the question as I'm not willing to go through 40 of the same beers during over 4-6 months. 1 gallons seem to be predestined for me

Now, Ive managed to find a local shop that deals out small quantities of grain, and I'm willing to put in the effort, but i was also wondering if there were other ways to work with small quantity extract instead of grain.. I.E. does Coopers/Muntons etc. make LME in smaller cans? Can i split one of those cans and store/refrigerate the excess without having to throw out 4/5ths? Im placing an all-grain order for a Nut Brown Ale and an Oatmeal Stout, but I'd also like to get my dad into the "sport" through LME/DME without him messing the kitchen up.

For small batch inspiration, check out basicbrewing.com. those guys are awesome and always doing small 6 pack size brews. The video and audio podcasts are great.

 

[sumbrewindude]

Barhoppin - Gotcha.

I'd skip the 1gal (5L) kegs unless you want to play with them, but I personally think you'd spend more money and time trying to make them work vs getting a real keg that will hold up for a long time. I know I played with the numbers looking into the viability of the 1gal mini kegs, and what killed it for me was the fact that those mini kegs are still disposable - no matter how careful you are, they're still coated steel. If the coating is damaged, the mini keg is junk.

I'd recommend going straight to the 2.5gal ball locks and being happy. You can always under fill them, and cover the rest of the space with CO2 - just make sure you get a big enough CO2 take to cover the excess. I've yet to fill my 5# tank, but I have a suspicion I'm due for it shortly.

Then grab a couple 5gal ball locks and use them as "fermenters" until you need to keg something big. Can't beat a 5gal stainless fermenter that you can pressure transfer from for the cost of a cornie!

 

[Synap6]

For small batch inspiration, check out basicbrewing.com. those guys are awesome and always doing small 6 pack size brews. The video and audio podcasts are great.

Amazing, thanks for the pointer

 

[Synap6]

For small batch inspiration, check out basicbrewing.com. those guys are awesome and always doing small 6 pack size brews. The video and audio podcasts are great.

Perfect!
Thanks for the heads up!

 

[malaleb]

I'm pretty new to brewing and have been doing small batches (1.5-1.75 gal) every week for a few weeks now.

I have a question about boil off. Is it normal to get a higher percentage of boil off when doing small batches? I've been losing almost a full gallon which is around a 30% boil off rate. This seems really high.

A couple of factors that may (or may not be contributing to this): I'm been brewing outside in the morning when it's a little colder, and I've been using an aluminum kettle.

 

[Synap6]

I'm pretty new to brewing and have been doing small batches (1.5-1.75 gal) every week for a few weeks now.



I have a question about boil off. Is it normal to get a higher percentage of boil off when doing small batches? I've been losing almost a full gallon which is around a 30% boil off rate. This seems really high.



A couple of factors that may (or may not be contributing to this): I'm been brewing outside in the morning when it's a little colder, and I've been using an aluminum kettle.

Dont take my word for it, as ive brewed a single batch only, but 1) time of boil can play on that and 2) overheating as well.

I cook a lot and the roiling boil is what u wanna aim for.. In essence (at least when cooking) you want the minimum heat possible that will keep your liquid boiling even when u stir it. Liquids get to a point where hey appear to boil, but stop doing so when u stir; you want just slightly more heat than that (again, that s with regards to cooking)

 

[HomebrewCraig]

I'm pretty new to brewing and have been doing small batches (1.5-1.75 gal) every week for a few weeks now.

I have a question about boil off. Is it normal to get a higher percentage of boil off when doing small batches? I've been losing almost a full gallon which is around a 30% boil off rate. This seems really high.

A couple of factors that may (or may not be contributing to this): I'm been brewing outside in the morning when it's a little colder, and I've been using an aluminum kettle.

Hello!

Boil-off of a gallon is pretty close to normal. I have a 20 quart and a 39 quart stainless steel pots, both of which boil off just under a gallon per hour. What are the dimensions of your pot? There are some environmental conditions that can affect your boil-off rate, such as temperature and level of humidity. But the biggest factors that affect the boil-off is the amount of surface area exposed to the environment for evaporation. So, a wider pot should have a greater rate of evaporation than a tall and skinny pot. Do you know your boil-off rate from experimentation, or have you discovered it by chance? If the former, I'd recommend boiling two gallons of water for an hour, and measure the amount of water you have left after the boil. Knowing this value is critical, especially for smaller batches, where each increment is a greater percentage of the whole.

 

[HomebrewCraig]

And here's a pic of the Nut Brown which I was finally able to crack this weekend... And what a wonderful weekend to celebrate with a homebrew! Green Bay eats the Bears, and I get to go to work and rub it in the faces of many co-workers.

 

[Barhoppin]

I'm pretty new to brewing and have been doing small batches (1.5-1.75 gal) every week for a few weeks now.

I have a question about boil off. Is it normal to get a higher percentage of boil off when doing small batches? I've been losing almost a full gallon which is around a 30% boil off rate. This seems really high.

A couple of factors that may (or may not be contributing to this): I'm been brewing outside in the morning when it's a little colder, and I've been using an aluminum kettle.

I cook on a stove top and I get .75 gallon/hour of boil off.
How big of a pot do you use? If you have a lot of extra surface area in your pot it will increase your boil off rate.

 

[ericbw]

I'm pretty new to brewing and have been doing small batches (1.5-1.75 gal) every week for a few weeks now.



I have a question about boil off. Is it normal to get a higher percentage of boil off when doing small batches? I've been losing almost a full gallon which is around a 30% boil off rate. This seems really high.



A couple of factors that may (or may not be contributing to this): I'm been brewing outside in the morning when it's a little colder, and I've been using an aluminum kettle.

Don't worry about the percentage. A gallon boil off is normal, but it's a lot in a small batch. It should be the same with a larger volume, and that means a lower percentage.

 

[malaleb]

Hello!

Boil-off of a gallon is pretty close to normal. I have a 20 quart and a 39 quart stainless steel pots, both of which boil off just under a gallon per hour. What are the dimensions of your pot? There are some environmental conditions that can affect your boil-off rate, such as temperature and level of humidity. But the biggest factors that affect the boil-off is the amount of surface area exposed to the environment for evaporation. So, a wider pot should have a greater rate of evaporation than a tall and skinny pot. Do you know your boil-off rate from experimentation, or have you discovered it by chance? If the former, I'd recommend boiling two gallons of water for an hour, and measure the amount of water you have left after the boil. Knowing this value is critical, especially for smaller batches, where each increment is a greater percentage of the whole.

I've been meaning to do this, but haven't yet. You're right that this would be a good idea. The pot is only a 12 quart and just a little less wide than it is tall.

Good to know this isn't an abnormal amount of boil off. I guess it makes sense that the boil off on a smaller batch would be a higher percentage than a larger batch with similar exposed surface area. I'll just adjust my water accordingly from now on.

 

[teleplucker]

I cook on a stove top and I get .75 gallon/hour of boil off.

Me too.

 

[HomebrewCraig]

malaleb,

I'd recommend performing the boil-off test two or three times in conditions that closely mirrors your preferred brewing habits. Doing a few times ensures that you are getting stable results. Once you have this value, it makes it quite easy to know how much water to start with to end up at your desired volume that you want to put into bottle.

 

[malaleb]

malaleb,

I'd recommend performing the boil-off test two or three times in conditions that closely mirrors your preferred brewing habits. Doing a few times ensures that you are getting stable results. Once you have this value, it makes it quite easy to know how much water to start with to end up at your desired volume that you want to put into bottle.

Probably a good idea. Everything I've done in my first few batches has worked out ok, but I'd definitely like to start being more consistent with temp. and water volume.

My decision to start with small batch brewing was initially based on equipment costs, but I've really been enjoying it so far. I've been using a set-up pretty similar to the one described here. (Apologies if its been posted already) Seems like a great way to do small-scale all-grain.

 

[HomebrewCraig]

I have scads of Grolsch bottles lying around, so the batch size I make is usually dictated by the size of the fermenter I have open. I have 2, 4.25 and 5 gallon buckets that I ferment in, so I choose a recipe size which will fill the fermenter about 75%.

Is your mash tun similar to the one in the link also?

 

[malaleb]

Same size but different shape. My cooler is a little taller and narrower.

I've been using 2 gallon buckets as fermenters because the LHBS I went to happened to have a small stack of them available. Haven't seen that size at the other stores I've been to unless they have them in the back room.

 

[mpghm]

Congrats mpghm on what appears to be a successful first batch! I assume that all went well, as you did not mention any hiccups or SNAFUs.It does get addicting, seeing how easy it can be to do it your way on your schedule, eh?

I just did a second gallon batch and realized that I pitched the yeast at too high temp. It was late, I was impatient, and I thought any pitch temp under 100F would be find as long as fermentation temps were lower.

I may just dump the batch, and try again, rather than wait 6 weeks for bad beer.

 

[ericbw]

I just did a second gallon batch and realized that I pitched the yeast at too high temp. It was late, I was impatient, and I thought any pitch temp under 100F would be find as long as fermentation temps were lower.



I may just dump the batch, and try again, rather than wait 6 weeks for bad beer.

What was the temp?

 

[HomebrewCraig]

At the worst, the yeast may have fried to death, which would mean that you may just need to pitch some more yeast. What temp did you pitch at? How long ago was this? Do you have any sign of fermentation yet? What yeast strain was it?

 

[Barhoppin]

You can always re pitch the yeast if

 

[jongrill]

I'm looking for a great and simple one gallon hard cider recipe. I tend to like sweeter ciders if that helps!

Thanks!!


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[phug]

Wanting a sweet cider complicates it a little, wanting it sweet and carbed complicates it more


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[ericbw]

I'm looking for a great and simple one gallon hard cider recipe. I tend to like sweeter ciders if that helps!

Thanks!!


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

You're asking for 3 things: great, simple, sweet. I think you have to pick two of those.