1-Gallon Brewers UNITE!

[BongoYodeler]

I'm having a hell of a time bottling my 1 gallon batches. I've tried 2 different racking canes from Northern Brewer and I end up with what I perceive to be way too much oxygen going into my bottles. What do all of you use for racking out of such small batches? I have been fermenting in the Little Big Mouth Bubbler, which means I have a hard time starting a siphon without ending up aerating everything like crazy. It sucks making a small batch of beer and watching as fermentation does its thing perfectly, and then having the stupid siphon backfire a bunch of air into the beer as you're trying to bottle.

Here's my process when I brew one gallon batches, (actually closer to 1.25 gallons). Like you I'm also fermenting in the 1.4 gallon Little Big Mouth Bubblers. I bought a smaller siphon from my LHB shop and I siphon into a 2 1/2 gallon food-safe bucket I picked up at Lowes. I drilled a hole in it and installed a spigot. I have a two or three inch long hose coming off the spigot and a bottling wand attached to the other end of the small piece of hose. I rack to the bucket (no sugar at this point). Using a tip I picked up from @TwistedGray I use a sanitized funnel and measuring spoon to add between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp of table sugar (depending on style), to each empty bottle. I rack the beer on top of the sugar, usually getting 10 to 12 bottles per batch, and then cap the bottles.
I haven't really had an bubbling issues with the siphon as long as I keep it fully submerged. Have you tried a different siphon?

 

[ba-brewer]

I'm having a hell of a time bottling my 1 gallon batches. I've tried 2 different racking canes from Northern Brewer and I end up with what I perceive to be way too much oxygen going into my bottles. What do all of you use for racking out of such small batches? I have been fermenting in the Little Big Mouth Bubbler, which means I have a hard time starting a siphon without ending up aerating everything like crazy. It sucks making a small batch of beer and watching as fermentation does its thing perfectly, and then having the stupid siphon backfire a bunch of air into the beer as you're trying to bottle.

get a standard racking cane and cut to size for your small fermentor. You can use some of the cut off part as the bottling wand.

I put a sanitize glass pipette(any sort of straw like thing will work) into the transfer tube and start a siphon. I remove the pipette after beer is well down the tube but before beer gets to the end of the tube. Allow a little beer to leave the tube then Pinch off the tubing. Hold the tubing and install your bottling wand. Pinch the tube to stop flow between bottles.

edit:this requires sugar be pre-measured and put into the bottles

 

[Big Monk]

I'm having a hell of a time bottling my 1 gallon batches. I've tried 2 different racking canes from Northern Brewer and I end up with what I perceive to be way too much oxygen going into my bottles. What do all of you use for racking out of such small batches? I have been fermenting in the Little Big Mouth Bubbler, which means I have a hard time starting a siphon without ending up aerating everything like crazy. It sucks making a small batch of beer and watching as fermentation does its thing perfectly, and then having the stupid siphon backfire a bunch of air into the beer as you're trying to bottle.

I put bottling spigots on my fermenters.

 

[Immocles]

+1 to the mini siphon.

I put a bag clip on the siphon to keep it from slipping further into my jug. It’ll keep the other end a bit above the cake and now use a smaller length of hose. I seemed to get bubbles using the longer length, so I shortened one and try to keep it as straight and descending as smoothly as possible.

 

[Leezer]

I use the mini auto siphon too and use Immocles method to siphon directly into the bottles, using a clamp on the tubing to stop flow in between bottles.

 

[Immocles]

I've got a question for anyone who uses yeast slurry on small batches. I saved a few jars of both a kolsch 2565 and US-05. Planning on brewing sometime next midweek and wanna reuse the 05. I have two small jars, both with about 20-25ml on the bottom, and i'm curious if pitching just one jar of slurry would be enough for a basic ale in the 1.045-1.050 range?

 

[Big Monk]

I've got a question for anyone who uses yeast slurry on small batches. I saved a few jars of both a kolsch 2565 and US-05. Planning on brewing sometime next midweek and wanna reuse the 05. I have two small jars, both with about 20-25ml on the bottom, and i'm curious if pitching just one jar of slurry would be enough for a basic ale in the 1.045-1.050 range?

Without counting the cells to assess the viability you can’t know for sure. However, depending on how old the slurry is, and using 1.2 B/ml as a guide, you may have a maximum of:

25 ml * 1.2 B cells/ml = ~ 33 B cells

So depending on the volume to fermenter, and the pitching rate desired, you may or may not have enough cells.

 

[offenbeckerm]

get a standard racking cane and cut to size for your small fermentor. You can use some of the cut off part as the bottling wand.

I put a sanitize glass pipette(any sort of straw like thing will work) into the transfer tube and start a siphon. I remove the pipette after beer is well down the tube but before beer gets to the end of the tube. Allow a little beer to leave the tube then Pinch off the tubing. Hold the tubing and install your bottling wand. Pinch the tube to stop flow between bottles.

edit:this requires sugar be pre-measured and put into the bottles

So, I've done some bottling with 5 gallon batches before I started kegging everything. Now, that I'm playing with 1 gallon batches, I'm back to bottling. In 5-gallon batches, I added a priming solution to my bottling bucket and siphoned the beer in there to mix...then used the spigot/bottling cane method that you all know.

I'm wondering if something similar would work with a plastic beverage cooler like this? Seems like I could replace the spigot with one that will attach nicely to length of hose and bottling cane. Then you could "batch" bottle by adding about an ounce of dissolved sugar solution to a 1 gallon batch...siphon into the container, and bottle? Thoughts?

 

[Griffin495]

You might be able to, but it'd probably be cheaper just to get a 2 gallon food safe bucket from Lowe's or Home Depot and drill a hole for a spigot.

 

[ba-brewer]

I agree with @Griffin495, plus it looks like it might be had to get a hose/tube attached to spigot on the you posted. Get a spigot from you LHBS that you can slip a hose on easily.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Well, I am pretty impressed with this uKeg, from Growlerwerks, and with my latest 1-gallon brew: an Earl Grey Tea Pale Ale.

Three days after kegging the beer, it was ready to pour. I got a little more foam than I expected, and the beer was a little bit hazier than I expected; however, I am 95% sure that this was due to the fact that I drove 3 miles on a bumpy road before trying it, and also because I am pretty sure one of my sons loosened the pressure cap while it was carbonating. I'll know more about this next time.

In any case, the beer looked great:

The colour, even with the unexpected haziness, was absolutely beautiful. The aroma was very nice, with a balance of the malts and the nugget hops that I really liked, with a nice, light, citrusy kick from the bergamot in the tea that went well with the woodiness of the Nugget hops.

The mouthfeel was smooth and full-bodied, kind of addictive in a way that I really liked. The taste of the beer reflected the aroma, with a prominent (but not over-whelming) maltiness balanced by a delightful freshness from the hops and tea. Regretfully, I do not know the grain bill for this American Pale Ale, but Brooklyn Brew Shop nailed it. If I can come close to duplicating it in future brews, I would be very happy. The tea itself was represented very well, and I am convinced that two bags for the gallon as just right. It did not over-power but was definitely noticeable - and complimented the entire beer nicely.

The finish was just a touch more "resiny" (resinous?) than I would prefer, but not by very much. I suspect that most people who enjoy an American Pale Ale would find this to be just about right, or possibly even a little on the light side where that quality is concerned.

Above all, the beer tasted both fresh and refreshing, with no "green" qualities that I could detect in the slightest. This was a true winner!

In summary, I really enjoyed this, and so did my father. The keg made a nice conversation piece and convenient delivery method while we played cribbage that evening. We drank a little more than half the gallon in the one sitting, and I suspect that we'll finish it off before this coming weekend is out.

 

[offenbeckerm]

Well, I am pretty impressed with this uKeg, from Growlerwerks, and with my latest 1-gallon brew: an Earl Grey Tea Pale Ale.

Three days after kegging the beer, it was ready to pour. I got a little more foam than I expected, and the beer was a little bit hazier than I expected; however, I am 95% sure that this was due to the fact that I drove 3 miles on a bumpy road before trying it, and also because I am pretty sure one of my sons loosened the pressure cap while it was carbonating. I'll know more about this next time.

In any case, the beer looked great:

The colour, even with the unexpected haziness, was absolutely beautiful. The aroma was very nice, with a balance of the malts and the nugget hops that I really liked, with a nice, light, citrusy kick from the bergamot in the tea that went well with the woodiness of the Nugget hops.

The mouthfeel was smooth and full-bodied, kind of addictive in a way that I really liked. The taste of the beer reflected the aroma, with a prominent (but not over-whelming) maltiness balanced by a delightful freshness from the hops and tea. Regretfully, I do not know the grain bill for this American Pale Ale, but Brooklyn Brew Shop nailed it. If I can come close to duplicating it in future brews, I would be very happy. The tea itself was represented very well, and I am convinced that two bags for the gallon as just right. It did not over-power but was definitely noticeable - and complimented the entire beer nicely.

The finish was just a touch more "resiny" (resinous?) than I would prefer, but not by very much. I suspect that most people who enjoy an American Pale Ale would find this to be just about right, or possibly even a little on the light side where that quality is concerned.

Above all, the beer tasted both fresh and refreshing, with no "green" qualities that I could detect in the slightest. This was a true winner!

In summary, I really enjoyed this, and so did my father. The keg made a nice conversation piece and convenient delivery method while we played cribbage that evening. We drank a little more than half the gallon in the one sitting, and I suspect that we'll finish it off before this coming weekend is out.

Adding tea isn't something I've considered, although I've had a chai beer or two in my time. Thanks for sharing!

 

[offenbeckerm]

I agree with @Griffin495, plus it looks like it might be had to get a hose/tube attached to spigot on the you posted. Get a spigot from you LHBS that you can slip a hose on easily.

I actually have a spigot and hose already that should work well together...and I have the jug already as well. I'm going to give it a go and see how it works. I'll report my findings in a couple of weeks!

 

[Immocles]

Hey folks. I’m making a batch of a maltier ale with Munich and maris otter and I’m kinda going back and forth on hops. Due to an online order mix up, I find myself with strygian Aurora, challenger, ekg, and fuggles. What’s the best combo for this brew? Never brewed with Munich either, so especially unsure haha. I was going to bitter w aurora and toss a bit of ekg at 15?

 

[ba-brewer]

not familiar with aurora, but challenger can be used for bitter and finishing. Maybe challenger at 60 and 15min then use the EKG at 5min.

Munich will enhance the biscuit flavor of the Maris otter and give you some color.

 

[TwistedGray]

So, I've done some bottling with 5 gallon batches before I started kegging everything. Now, that I'm playing with 1 gallon batches, I'm back to bottling. In 5-gallon batches, I added a priming solution to my bottling bucket and siphoned the beer in there to mix...then used the spigot/bottling cane method that you all know.

I'm wondering if something similar would work with a plastic beverage cooler like this? Seems like I could replace the spigot with one that will attach nicely to length of hose and bottling cane. Then you could "batch" bottle by adding about an ounce of dissolved sugar solution to a 1 gallon batch...siphon into the container, and bottle? Thoughts?View attachment 613739

Save the headache and prime each bottle; you only have a few to prime anyways (1/2tsp table sugar per 12oz bottle).

 

[Immocles]

not familiar with aurora, but challenger can be used for bitter and finishing. Maybe challenger at 60 and 15min then use the EKG at 5min.

Munich will enhance the biscuit flavor of the Maris otter and give you some color.

I went with this. I’ll keep the aurora for another time, these two sounded like they’d work well together. The brew came w a few hiccups but I rolled with it and split 2 gallons into two fermenters and pitched two different harvested yeasts, and jeez, the fermenter took off within three hours on each one! Exciting stuff.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I'm having a hell of a time bottling my 1 gallon batches. I've tried 2 different racking canes from Northern Brewer and I end up with what I perceive to be way too much oxygen going into my bottles. What do all of you use for racking out of such small batches? I have been fermenting in the Little Big Mouth Bubbler, which means I have a hard time starting a siphon without ending up aerating everything like crazy. It sucks making a small batch of beer and watching as fermentation does its thing perfectly, and then having the stupid siphon backfire a bunch of air into the beer as you're trying to bottle.

I don't have a lot of bottling experience lately (been kegging for many years, helped my GF bottle 1 gal batches a few times from the fermenter with a auto-siphon, heard her horror story of trying to bottle by herself, getting into small batches that I will bottle myself). I think the reality is that bottling with a siphon is much better as a 2 person job. I knew that if I was going to skip the bottling bucket I needed fermenters with a spigot. That probably does not help you much since the LBMB is glass and they don't offer a version with a spigot for whatever reason as this seems to be the size that needs a spigot the most.

If you don't have somebody to help each time you bottle, I would look for a solution where you can clamp your racking cane solidly in place...more so than the plastic clips that are often sold for this purpose. Are you using a bottling wand or just a hose clamp?

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I did my first hop sampler batch in this fermenter based on a container from Walmart. It worked great...and it is so cute! The container itself is around $14, so not dirt cheap. It was pretty easy to drill for the spigot and airlock/stopper. The lid has a gasket and seals nicely. Up the the underside of the lid, it holds about 1.5 gals, so it should be good for about 1 gal of finished beer (this batch was 3 qts of water, no-boil). I had to use two gaskets on the outside to get the spigot to seal, but my son is going to 3d print me a curved washer (saddle washer) that should help.

 

[Immocles]

Which hops ya sampling? I've never done the no-boil, or the hop stand methods, but I do enjoy the single hop pale ales I have made. Palisade and Amarillo are the next ones up for me. I would have never believed there were so many hop varieties out there 6 months ago before I ever tried brewing.

 

[Immocles]

Save the headache and prime each bottle; you only have a few to prime anyways (1/2tsp table sugar per 12oz bottle).

Does this work pretty reliably? Just racking the beer straight onto the sugar without dissolving? I've been using carb drops, but this seems convenient.

 

[TwistedGray]

Does this work pretty reliably? Just racking the beer straight onto the sugar without dissolving? I've been using carb drops, but this seems convenient.

Every time, and I am well over 100 bottles carbonated this way by myself alone. The residual yeast you're pulling into each bottle is enough to turn the sugar into Co2.

 

[BongoYodeler]

Every time, and I am well over 100 bottles carbonated this way by myself alone. The residual yeast you're pulling into each bottle is enough to turn the sugar into Co2.

I've tried TwistedGray's suggestion and it works for me as well, although I usually bottle with my wife. 1/2 tsp of table sugar worked great for the pale ale I did. But it was a bit too much for my next beer, a porter. Maybe should have backed it down to a rounded 1/4 tsp to be truer to style. So I just open the porter, and let it sit for a few minutes and then it's fine.

I probably wouldn't use this method on a 5 gallon batch, as it seems like it'd be too much of a pain for 50ish bottles. But I recently bought a couple corny kegs and will be kegging 5 gallon batches from now on.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Which hops ya sampling? I've never done the no-boil, or the hop stand methods, but I do enjoy the single hop pale ales I have made. Palisade and Amarillo are the next ones up for me. I would have never believed there were so many hop varieties out there 6 months ago before I ever tried brewing.

This one is Amarillo. I would love to do several more but want to see how this turns out before brewing more. I followed the Basic Brewing process (3 qts water + 1 lb DME + no boil + hop stand). I bottled it a week ago.

 

[SirHC_]

Thinking up a sage ale to brew this summer, a historic style that was apparently very popular.
1 lb wheat DME
.5 lb brown sugar
.5 oz sage @30
.5 oz sage @0
No chill, no hops
Probably use either US05 or t58, a "specialty" strain, both dry yeasts, both on hand.
Depending on how well my sage comes back after this winter, maybe I'll do 2 gallons, one w each yeast...

 

[TwistedGray]

I've tried TwistedGray's suggestion and it works for me as well, although I usually bottle with my wife. 1/2 tsp of table sugar worked great for the pale ale I did. But it was a bit too much for my next beer, a porter. Maybe should have backed it down to a rounded 1/4 tsp to be truer to style. So I just open the porter, and let it sit for a few minutes and then it's fine.

I probably wouldn't use this method on a 5 gallon batch, as it seems like it'd be too much of a pain for 50ish bottles. But I recently bought a couple corny kegs and will be kegging 5 gallon batches from now on.

I did a few 5 gallons. I just had music going in there background, so it didn't seem as bad. If I am doing two or more gallons I'll use bombers as well.

 

[treacheroustexan]

This one is Amarillo. I would love to do several more but want to see how this turns out before brewing more. I followed the Basic Brewing process (3 qts water + 1 lb DME + no boil + hop stand). I bottled it a week ago.

I’ve been doing this as well. I recently did falconers flight and pacific jade. The pacific was very good but the falconers was great! I would recommend that.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Is anyone doing interesting hop blends with "Hop Sampler"?

Or doing a "Hop Steep" variation (pasteurize/sanitize the wort, add the hops, hold wort temperature at 170-180 F for 30 minutes)?

I do this with Citra (but as a 'pale ale': 1 gal water + 1 lb DME + 1 oz hops) with tasty results.

 

[Immocles]

I’ve been doing this as well. I recently did falconers flight and pacific jade. The pacific was very good but the falconers was great! I would recommend that.

One of the pale ales I did was with falconers flight. Probably my favorite so far.

 

[Leezer]

Thinking up a sage ale to brew this summer, a historic style that was apparently very popular.
1 lb wheat DME
.5 lb brown sugar
.5 oz sage @30
.5 oz sage @0
No chill, no hops
Probably use either US05 or t58, a "specialty" strain, both dry yeasts, both on hand.
Depending on how well my sage comes back after this winter, maybe I'll do 2 gallons, one w each yeast...

Using sage sounds interesting. I used rosemary once in a pale ale with hops added too. Was okay but I used too much rosemary. Would like to hear how your sage ale turns out.

 

[dwhite60]

Today I bottled 2.5 gallons of an American Wheat Ale I brewed of couple of weeks ago. This came out really nice even though the pale malt I used was over two years old and the white wheat was easily approaching a year. This grain had been kept in a sealed container at room temperature. The Centennial hops were over two years old and have been kept in the freezer. This is easily as malty and hoppy as I expected.

Doing this volume makes a LOT of things easier. Probably will try a one gallon batch at some point but for now, two to two-and-a-half suit my needs, and consumption, well.

Bottled this with "Domino's Dots" sugar cubes. Wow, was this easy except the 12 oz. bottle neck was a bit tight to fit one through. A little extra pressure helped.

ETA: I bottled right out of the fermentation bucket too. Why rack to a bottling bucket using sugar cubes?

All the Best,
D. White

 

[r4dyce]

Does this work pretty reliably? Just racking the beer straight onto the sugar without dissolving? I've been using carb drops, but this seems convenient.

If you like the convenience of the drops you can accomplish the same thing using sugar cubes. There are small sugar cubes that I believe are 1/2 tsp each. They fit perfectly in beer bottles and give consistent carbonation. I was struggling with consistency with batch priming so I like using this method.

 

[TonyKZ1]

If you like the convenience of the drops you can accomplish the same thing using sugar cubes. There are small sugar cubes that I believe are 1/2 tsp each. They fit perfectly in beer bottles and give consistent carbonation. I was struggling with consistency with batch priming so I like using this method.

This is one of the priming methods I use for 12oz bottles, works great for me.

 

[TonyKZ1]

Saturday I Brewed a 1G Orange Golden Ale Extract with steeping grains recipe from Craftabrew. The yeast start working that evening and it was pretty active by Sunday.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

I'm in the process of brewing my first beer in quite a few years. Single Malt Scotch Ale that I'm in the process of mashing out as I speak. Being paranoid and running it through a second time to improve clarity and maybe extraction. Sadly I'm remembering while I'm brewing the things I didn't like about my one gallon setup and why I stopped using it. Need myself a better kettle mainly. My polar ware kettle is warped all over the place. Also I forgot to by emergency yeast so here's hoping my wyyeast is still viable. Whoops.

 

[Immocles]

Anyone use seedling mats for heat? I bought a 3 x 20 to test it out and it seems it’ll do the job on a gallon glass jug. Downside is that I don’t have a temp controller yet but I think I might struggle to find a spot for the sensor. It comes about 2-3 inches shy of wrapping around

 

[PCSharkynose]

I was bottling a 1 gal Hemp Brown Ale 2 days ago. The recipe called for fizz drops but I opted for 1 teaspoon of infused cane sugar per bottle. When I was transfering to the bottle I got air in some of the bottles. Heres to hoping I didn't screw anything up....

 

[TwistedGray]

I was bottling a 1 gal Hemp Brown Ale 2 days ago. The recipe called for fizz drops but I opted for 1 teaspoon of infused cane sugar per bottle. When I was transfering to the bottle I got air in some of the bottles. Heres to hoping I didn't screw anything up....

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm have you done this before? A teaspoon is a lot of sugar in each bottle, but maybe "infused cane sugar" is a different kind of sugar? I haven't a clue.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Ummmmmmmmmmmmm have you done this before? A teaspoon is a lot of sugar in each bottle, but maybe "infused cane sugar" is a different kind of sugar? I haven't a clue.

I was thinking the same thing. That’s about 4 volumes. Probably would cause gushers at least, unless using bombers (22 oz.) in which case at 2.5ish volumes is just about right.

 

[TonyKZ1]

Yeah, I usually use 1/2 or .5 teaspoons per 12oz bottle (a Domino Dots sugar cube works great), if I'm bottle priming instead of batch priming.