1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[Griffin495]

Try out the 15min pale ale recipe on here. I used Citra for my hop and it was awesome. Makes a quick and tasty beer!

Do you have a link where I can find that?

 

[Sharkbrewingco]

Ok, small batch Brewers! I am new and on my third batch. First one (APA) was ok. Second (Honey Porter) better. I have my third (Red Ale) my first full grain fermenting now and the bubbling sounds great.

I like to secondary for clarity, so my question is do I wait a week, or should I do secondary as soon as the first fermentation stops and settles? I have waited a week on the first two.

I would wait 2 weeks before transferring to the secondary. Bigger beers I've waited 3 weeks. I only leave my beer in secondary for a week because its pretty much done by this point. I usually dry hop while its in the secondary.

 

[Sharkbrewingco]

Its nice to see someone here has the same reason for doing 1 gal. batches; I'm not a big beer/ale drinker, so I don't want a lot of bottles collecting in the closets. I do like the ales better than the beer, so I will be focusing there. I am just starting with my first batch, so it is all new to me. I will be watching your posts.

Newbie question: I noticed the oven....do you boil the wort there vs stove-top?

My oven was out of order, so I had to revert back to using a Mash tun cooler to conduct my mash in recently. I noticed that my temp kept dropping at a higher rate than I liked. I have a 12 inch dial thermometer that goes through the lid into the mash. Oven at least kept my temp with 1 or degrees of desired mash temp. I also used my burner for the 1 gallon batch. Major boil over, so back to the stove for this or more practice with the burner with this amount of volume.

 

[ayrlander]

I use the oven for mashing, boil on the stove top.

What temperature do you set the oven to? My oven's lowest temp is 170°F, I would worry about my mash temp slowly climbing over an hour but I've never tested it.

 

[bransona]

What temperature do you set the oven to? My oven's lowest temp is 170°F, I would worry about my mash temp slowly climbing over an hour but I've never tested it.

I just preheat mine to 170, cut the heat when I'm at about 130* in the kettle, and crack the door of the oven to let it cool. Slap my kettle in there after I mash in and just close it up. It's more of an insulator than an incubator. I usually lose about 2-3* over an hour, but really just in the last 15 minutes or so.

 

[Sharkbrewingco]

What temperature do you set the oven to? My oven's lowest temp is 170°F, I would worry about my mash temp slowly climbing over an hour but I've never tested it.

With my oven, I am fortunate that I set it to 170 and leave it. I usually mash in at 152. I also stir my mash at regular intervals, so this probably lets enough heat out of the oven to maintain the temp. I want

 

[EnderRoark]

Or, if you're not planning on brewing again that quickly (or are, but with another yeast), save it for longer and then use it in a starter when ready...

would I need to add anything in the sanitized container (such as nutrient)? or can I just have it by itself.

edit: sorry this is a double post. not sure what happened on the ipad app.....

 

[FatsSchindee]

would I need to add anything in the sanitized container (such as nutrient)? or can I just have it by itself.

edit: sorry this is a double post. not sure what happened on the ipad app.....

As mentioned above - no, don't add anything when you save it. You can look up yeast washing, which is more work, and nets you less overall yeast, but it will be "cleaner" or more pure. Or, you can just leave a bit of beer on the trub after racking, swirl that up, and just dump all of it into your sanitized jar(s). Throw those in the fridge, and when you're ready to use them, decant off the beer on top of the settled yeast, and then use this in a starter (this is when you'd want to add nutrient). If you do go this route, it's best to use hop bags or a hop spider in the original beer, to minimize the hop matter that's in the trub...
Use a yeast calculator (I like Brewers friend; mr malty is also great) to figure out approximate viability based on how long you stored it for, and how much you'll then get out of the starter.

 

[deanoaz]

Well, this newbie put on a 1-gallon batch of Caribou Slobber (Northern kit) on Sunday, February 14, mid-day, in a 1-gallon glass jug. I chilled the wort down pretty fast to about 74 degrees. Before adding the yeast the OG was 1.05. Even though the directions seemed to say just pour in 1/2 packet of yeast directly, I followed the directions on the back of the packet that said to mix it with warm water first.

- I forgot the step of gently aerating the wort before adding the yeast.
- I sanitized everything carefully
- I have kept the jug in a styrofoam cooler, cutting a hole in the top to clear the airlock
- I have the setup in a utility room to get more of a constant temp., which moves between 64-75 degrees (we're running high temps in the Southwest these days (the temp strip on the side of the jug has not varied off 74 degrees). I checked the wort temp. with a thermometer and it is reading 74

I had strong activity Sunday evening, but it fell off by the next morning, with just slight bubbling. There has been no activity since. Does this sound reasonable???

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Sounds good Dean. It has been a little warm here eh? If you toss in a small lunch box ice pack about twice a day it will bring down the temp about 10 degrees, which is good for right now. When it was still warm and we had our AC at 80 I would put in a chunkier ice pack to bring the temp down to 63-67 at the most active part of fermentation. After things slow down I try to keep temps around 70.

 

[deanoaz]

Sounds good Dean. It has been a little warm here eh? If you toss in a small lunch box ice pack about twice a day it will bring down the temp about 10 degrees, which is good for right now. When it was still warm and we had our AC at 80 I would put in a chunkier ice pack to bring the temp down to 63-67 at the most active part of fermentation. After things slow down I try to keep temps around 70.

Good idea. I bought some of those ice packs, so I think I will put a couple in the styrofoam cooler, around the jug....cool it down a little from 74.

 

[Griffin495]

I brewed the chocolate stout out of Beer Craft 11 days ago and I was curious to see how it was going and to use my new refractometer.

So I think I got a stuck fermentation. Or maybe I don't know how to use my new refractometer. I made sure it was calibrated using distilled water.

Then I used the calculator on Northern Brewer. I used a hydrometer to get my OG which was 1.065 (before I had a refractometer), so the caluculator told me it was 16 Brix. Tested a sample last night and it was down to 14 Brix. Which gives me a current gravity of 1.05. Plugging that in, my ABV is only 0.833 and my OG is at 1.059. Wasn't sure what to do, and I had had a few, so I just pictched another tsp of yeast. Hoping this helps.

I know I tested it a little early, but I figured that it would have been lower by now. Did I screw up my pitching more yeast?

Yeast was Safale S-04 and its been close around 64-68 the whole time.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Did you calibrate your hydrometer with water?

 

[fuzzy2133]

A refractometer is not accurate when alcohol is present in the sample.
Try this one: http://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/

Edit: deleted wrong link posted correct one.

 

[ba-brewer]

I brewed the chocolate stout out of Beer Craft 11 days ago and I was curious to see how it was going and to use my new refractometer.

So I think I got a stuck fermentation. Or maybe I don't know how to use my new refractometer. I made sure it was calibrated using distilled water.

Then I used the calculator on Northern Brewer. I used a hydrometer to get my OG which was 1.065 (before I had a refractometer), so the caluculator told me it was 16 Brix. Tested a sample last night and it was down to 14 Brix. Which gives me a current gravity of 1.05. Plugging that in, my ABV is only 0.833 and my OG is at 1.059. Wasn't sure what to do, and I had had a few, so I just pictched another tsp of yeast. Hoping this helps.

I know I tested it a little early, but I figured that it would have been lower by now. Did I screw up my pitching more yeast?

Yeast was Safale S-04 and its been close around 64-68 the whole time.

If you had visual signs of active fermentation like krausen and a very active airlock your 14Brix is probably wrong. Did you taste the sample, does it still seem real sweet?

When I first got my refractometer I took some wort and diluted it to a couple gravities and played around with it until I could get reading that matched my hydrometer. I started with a few drops but got too much variations. I found if I flooded the sample area with wort I got more consistent reading which matched my hydrometer. I tend to take/believe the lowest readings I get on my refractometer.

I like this calculator http://seanterrill.com/2012/01/06/refractometer-calculator/

 

[Griffin495]

Honestly, I never check my beers until they are at least 3 weeks old. I was checking a 2 gallon Hefe I did to see if it was ready to bottle (and it is) so I figured why not check the stout to see where it's at.

I've got 2 hydrometers. Not sure which one I initially used, but both checked out fine tonight.

Also checked the stout again. 13 Brix on the refract and 1.044 with a hydrometer, so it's moving again. I'll probably just leave it alone till at least next weekend which will put it at 3 weeks. Or maybe wait 4. I'm not in a rush.

 

[Griffin495]

I saw krausen but never saw much activity on the airlock because I wasn't checking it much. Figured I just missed it and it was over quickly. Brix dropped another point since last night. Not sure if I didn't have enough wort like you mentioned or what. Or if the extra yeast I pitched for it going.

 

[Griffin495]

For those using buckets, do you use the stick on thermometer strips on them? Does it work through the plastic? I have them on my glass fermenters, but got to wondering if they work on plastic buckets. If not, how do you keep track of your fermenting temps?

 

[Darth_Beer]

For those using buckets, do you use the stick on thermometer strips on them? Does it work through the plastic? I have them on my glass fermenters, but got to wondering if they work on plastic buckets. If not, how do you keep track of your fermenting temps?

They work decent enough for my 3gal frosting buckets

 

[deanoaz]

I have had this in my bar fridge (in my shop) for awhile. I took it out because I wasn't really getting water from it and had an idea. It is 1.25 gallon, has a large cap on top and a tap at one end on the bottom, far enough off to avoid much sediment. It his long, tall and narrow. The large cap could be drilled to accept an airlock. It seems to me that there would be no need to "thief" any out as you could put the hydrometer in right at the large cap. I'm looking for some feedback on whether this might work before I do a batch. I am a newbie and am not thinking of all the things that might prevent its use.

 

[jimdkc]

I have heard of people successfully fermenting in similar containers.

 

[ChocolateMaltyBalls]

As long as you clean it immediately after its empty, with something like oxyclean free. Lots of nooks and crannies for crud to hide in.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

As long as you clean it immediately after its empty, with something like oxyclean free. Lots of nooks and crannies for crud to hide in.

I scrub my 1 gallon carboys after bottling and it can be just a little bit of work to get all the residue off. Like Maltyballs says, it could be hard to get it clean clean clean after use, but otherwise it would probably work great so long as you are willing to put in the time to clean it after each batch.

 

[treacheroustexan]

How much Pb2 would you guys recommend for a 1 gal. batch?

 

[tblume]

Going to brew a 1 gallon brown ale. I want to add cinnamon and clove. How much should I add? Can I add it to the boil?

 

[bransona]

How much Pb2 would you guys recommend for a 1 gal. batch?

I used 8oz in a gallon. Almost no detectable flavor, and I lost a TON of beer to trub. Unfortunately, I may be on the side of "use peanut butter flavoring" now...

 

[treacheroustexan]

I used 8oz in a gallon. Almost no detectable flavor, and I lost a TON of beer to trub. Unfortunately, I may be on the side of "use peanut butter flavoring" now...

Thanks! Dang. I was afraid of that.

 

[Griffin495]

Had a pretty busy weekend. The wife took the kid out of town and I had to work two half shifts, but I was able to brew 5 gallons of nut brown Saturday, and after work Sunday I bottled my 2 gallons of Bavarian Heffe (double one gallon batch divided into two 1-gallon jugs) while I was mashing a 1 gallon Citra Pale Ale.

First time using the oven trick. I've tried using my 5 gallon mash tun for one gallon batches and even pre-heated, I couldn't keep temp. It fell too much. But the oven trick worked like a charm. Started my boil outside (wife hates the smell of wort and hops), started raining so moved to the garage. Got it all finished and cleaned up before she got back in town. Pretty nice brew day and it was bubbling away this morning before I left for work. Already want to brew another gallon batch, but I've got a 5 gallon cream ale I need to knock out first.

Oh, and I got 20 bottles out of that Heffe. 10 12oz bottles and 10 11.2 bottles that are swing top. I think they were Flensburgers.

 

[Griffin495]

This might be a stupid question...or a beginner question...but how do you determine efficiency? I keep reading about it, but have no idea. I've never calculated it in any of my batches.

 

[ba-brewer]

This might be a stupid question...or a beginner question...but how do you determine efficiency? I keep reading about it, but have no idea. I've never calculated it in any of my batches.

calculate anticipated gravity then measure how close you got.

http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Understanding_Efficiency