Dilemma- 1 gallon vs. 2.5 gallon

[JeffoC6]

Ok, so I live in a 2nd floor condo and currently, it's for sale. We have people coming in to see it randomly, which means that the place needs to consistently be clean and presentable for potential buyers. As you can understand, cleanliness and presentation are important factors for potential buyers.

With that said, I received the 1 gallon Brooklyn Brew Shop kit for Christmas and brewed up my first batch last Thursday. It's in primary fermentation as we speak. I'm completely hooked and want to brew more ASAP, but I can't because I only have 1 carboy. Even moreseo, I really only want to do all grain. So I said to myself, hmmm, why not buy a few more 1 gallon carboys, airlocks, etc., and have a few going at once? While this idea seemed to suffice, I got to thinking...Brooklyn Brew Shop doesn't really have a whole lot to offer in regards to 1 gallon kits. All of the other websites I've checked out show kits made for 5 gallon brewing, which I simply can't get into at this time due to the limitations I described.

So what can I do here? If I buy additional 1 gallon carboys (and all equipment to go with them), I'm basically limiting myself to only brewing what Brooklyn Brew Shop offers. Can I buy those 5 gallon kits from other online vendors and divide everything by 5? But even still, I'll be left with 4/5 of a kit after only brewing 1 gallon. Can the leftover grains be frozen? For how long? I feel like that'd kind of be a waste, ya know?

HELP!

 

[scrabbler]

A 2.5G Mr Beer keg doesnt take much room, and you only have to divide kits in half. In fact 2 of them still doesnt take much room and you can do a full kit. Just an idea, I'm space limited too and use two 2.5G to ferment.

 

[wmarkw]

I bought 2 1 gallon jugs of juice from a whole foods/earth fare store for $5 ea. My LHBS has them for $6. From there you can buy #6 stoppers. Then go build recipes based off 1 gallon.

 

[djfriesen]

Do you have a LHBS? If so, you can easily go in and buy smaller amounts. Scale any of the 5 gallon recipes you find on this website (divide everything by 5 and you'll be pretty close), and buy the appropriate quantities. That's how I started. I believe you can also order grains the same way online. You certainly don't HAVE to buy the complete kits. And again, depending on shipping, you may find buying stuff seperately is cheaper than the BBS kits. They mark that stuff up to try to make a little more off the convenience of getting everything at once.

Another option is brewing 2-3 gallons of the same wort, splitting it between 2 or 3 1 gallon jugs, and then pitching different yeast varieties, or adding different additions at bottling (dry hopping, adding fruit, adding coffee, etc.). You can get an amazing variety of finished products by using different yeast strains on the same base wort.

You can also consider buying a 3 gallon carboy or even a 5 gallon bucket. The advantage to a bucket is you can put it in a closet and to the untrained eye, it just looks like a bucket. You can scale recipes down to fit any fermentation vessel.

Bottom line, you shouldn't be limited to BBS's stuff no matter what. You can work around just about anything. Looks like you have a few LHBSs within driving distance, so you should be able to get this stuff fairly easily.

 

[nanofreak]

Buying a kit from a shop online and planning to when it arrive split it into 5 won't work because everything will already be mixed. Your base grains and specialty grains, etc. So you won't have a way to divide and know you are getting the right ratio of everything.

Also you will get one yeast pack, there are ways you can deal with that, but it makes it tricky.

 

[djfriesen]

Law of averages would say that if you mixed it well, then split everything evenly, you'd get close enough to not be able to tell the difference. Also, I believe the bigger Online vendors will leave your grain seperate if you request it. Dry yeasts are a great option, because you don't have to fuss with them, and they're really easy to split into whatever portions you need. A counter-top scale, which you'll want for hops/priming sugar anyway, will make it easy to divide it into fifths. It stores in the fridge well and with the flexibility of 1 gallon brews, you can use it all up over the course of 14-21 days, which is fine.

 

[Calichusetts]

You are exactly where I was a year ago...try a few of their kits, they are pretty decent and will give you some idea of where you want to go for your first recipe...BTW they have a book that lists their 1-gallon recipes ($12 as a kindle book)

You can scale down...I make my own based off of books, recipes available, experimenting. Coming up with my IPA was the most fun experiment I have ever done (6 months and about 12-16 batches) and I can wait to get started on my bohemian pilsner. Plus, you really need to hone in on what you like and don't like.

Start with SmaSHs until you figure out what you like. But its so cheap to experiment with one gallon, you really should develop on your own. Buy nice craft beers and then see what hops and malts they put in them, this helps as well

 

[Revvy]

A 2.5G Mr Beer keg doesnt take much room, and you only have to divide kits in half. In fact 2 of them still doesnt take much room and you can do a full kit. Just an idea, I'm space limited too and use two 2.5G to ferment.

Yes, the old mr beer keg is the perfect low profile beer fermenter for small batch brewing. You can even do stovetop ag brewing and ferment in there.

You can stash them someplace out of the way, maybe even in a kitchen counter hidden from salesfolk and potential buyers, AND you can even lager in your fridge.

 

[jonmohno]

A one gallon isnt going to make more of a mess than a 2.5 or 3. If your stove top can boil this muchthen go with the 3 gallon and make a 2.5 gallon batch. This is, if this is your argument of a mess.It is possible to have a simple 5 gallon set up.Unless you like variety,but you could have as much 1 gallon batches sitting around.Really you can make full 5 gallon batches by topping off and doing a 3 gallon boil.Personaly i wouldnt want to do a partial boil but thats just my preferance, and depending on your set up i dont see how its going to be any more of a mess.The only mess i have is the few hours i spend brewing/bottleing and the rest is clean /tidy up and store away.

 

[Ramitt]

I keep hoping to find a used MR Beer or 3 cheap on CL or classifieds. May just have go buy 1 new for small batches

 

[mradicsh]

I'm in the same boat as you in that I don't have space, or haven't convinced the wife that 5 gallons is the way to go yet. Been using the 1 gal recipes from the Brooklyn Brew Shop book, so far 3 batches brewed, 2 fermenting and 1 in bottle. Tempted to get another 1 gal jug....

 

[JeffoC6]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I think I'm going to get the Brooklyn Brew Shop book and use their 1 gallon recipes. I also think I'm going to find 5 gallon recipes and divide everything by 5 to make 1 gallon. I think that's a good start for now. That should keep me busy for awhile.

 

[jonmohno]

I started on one gallon myself, and it was practical until i gained more knowledge,and decided i wanted more than 8-10 beers of anything, i think it can be a smart move but stick to recipes until you get the hang of malts hop yeast water,temps,pitch rate.Although i started with one malt,one hop,one selected yeast and one gallon.By my third i actually did a pumpkin.Although i had researched for months before even beginning and buying stuff. I think variation of small batches will gain you experience faster as well as a few hours a day researching. Depending how often you brew,i was doing it every weekend pretty much.
THere are recipes on here as well as looking at kit recipes online.How to brew and Joy of homebrewing are pretty good books.

 

[flushdrew42]

OP and others,
I am in a similar situation, but have settled on using a two headed approach.
i have a MrB 2.5 gallon fermenter, and bought a 2gal from northernbrewer. right now, in a corner of a countertop, i have both going, and taking up almost no space.

I'm using Mrmalty.com and a few other resources to scale full size recipes down for the lack of space. also, it allows me to have a variety of beers at one time.

Cheers!

 

[Brockway]

Mr. Beer kegs on their own are $10, you don't need to find used ones. You can even get the clear ones if you like.

Mr.Beer - beer kits, home brewing systems, and microbrewery supplies - Replacement Parts