1 Gallon Mash in 5 Gallon Mash Tun

[TyeInwood]

I hope I am in the right area and I've been looking for some more advice on this subject for a while. I have built a 5 gallon mash tun and was wondering if anyone has experienced doing smaller batches in a 5 gallon mash tun (i.e. 1-3 gallon) batches due to space issues living in the city and it will allow me to experiment and doing multiple batches.

Cheers,

Tye

 

[panfishrfun]

I just brewed a 3 gallon batch in a 5 gallon pot. I did it as a brew in a bag, with all the grains (I think 4.5 lbs) in a large grain bag. I mashed with 4.25 gallons of water and lost another gallon during the boil, leaving me with just about 3 gallons. I did it to use up some leftover hops I had lying around, but the process was quick and easy, and would be a great way for cheap experiments. I could even split this batch into 3 - 1 gallon batches and add vanilla, oak chips, fruit, dry hop, etc. Hope this helped, and happy brewing

 

[ShadyBrewer]

I've done that, but I made a aluminum foil "cap". I fold some foil a couple of times and pushed it down on top of the mash. It held temps really well


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[farmskis]

I do 3 gal batches with my 5 gallon mash tun. That works perfect. I would think I might be able to go a little smaller with this set up but anything smaller and I am would think that my grain bed would be really too shallow to get the proper mash. That is where the BIAB comes in....

 

[TyeInwood]

Thanks everyone for the tips helps a lot
Cheers,
Tye

 

[Clintaurus]

The first 1 gal batch I did in a 5 gal mash tun and it didn't turn out as good as I hoped. I had a hard time keeping my temp right and didn't get a good conversion. I built a MLT out of a 13 quart cooler with a manifold false bottom and it works perfectly for 5 to 6 lbs of grain or smaller.


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[kanzimonson]

When I mash batches that are too small for my equipment I expect lower efficiency, but overall it'll still make beer. Maybe buy a few pounds of DME for the first few brews until you can get a consistent efficiency number.

 

[sumbrewindude]

I've done that, but I made a aluminum foil "cap". I fold some foil a couple of times and pushed it down on top of the mash. It held temps really well


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Yep, this works great.

The real trick is to pre-heat the MLT before you add the grains. I usually over heat the strike water by a few deg, add it to the cooler, then let it coast down to the strike temp and add grain. Doing this I've been able to hold temp with the lid on and no foil (3#'s grain, 1.5gal batch in a 5gal cooler).