Factoring down ingredients lists - will it work?

[mr_meeple]

Just a quick question regards ingredients lists.

I'm really not sure I want to go straight into a full on 5gal brew so was wondering how possible it is to go for, just as an example, half that and just divide all the quantities on the ingredients list in two.

Is it as easy as that or am I wildly over simplifying this?

I'm going to say that the mash time and temperature is going to be the same regardless of volume, as this is time and temperature required to convert the starches to sugars. Is that correct or am I way of the boil? (PUN!)

Apologies if this has been asked before or is a really daft question!

 

[philipCT]

Just a quick question regards ingredients lists.

I'm really not sure I want to go straight into a full on 5gal brew so was wondering how possible it is to go for, just as an example, half that and just divide all the quantities on the ingredients list in two.

Is it as easy as that or am I wildly over simplifying this?

I'm going to say that the mash time and temperature is going to be the same regardless of volume, as this is time and temperature required to convert the starches to sugars. Is that correct or am I way of the boil? (PUN!)

You are not "way off the boil" (total Limey expression BTW and I like it). If you just 1/2 the recipe it won't be a cock up.

If you use software like Beersmith, and scaled the recipe to 1/2 size it would do something slightly different, but I've found the differences are minuscule and because it actually changes the percentages of the grain bill, I believe unintentional.

And yes, mash and boil times would be the same. And as long as you are properly calculating your boil-off rate you should be blinding.

 

[Dizzey]

Since recipes here are posted in weight, yeah. Ultimately you can convert all weights to grams, and then divide that up. To scale a recipe, the formula is the weight of the ingredient, multiply it by whatever batch size you want, then divide it by the initial batch size of the recipe.

Im seriously considering it as well, but I think small-batch all-grain brewing also has a slightly different process than a full 5-gallon. I think people suggest brew in a bag as being easier, but I think one worry might be that you would have to watch your mash temperatures more carefully with a smaller volume of water especially if you choose an all grain recipe, since that's how you get the sugar and malt flavor.

 

[SanPancho]

Since recipes here are posted in weight, yeah. Ultimately you can convert all weights to grams, and then divide that up. To scale a recipe, the formula is the weight of the ingredient, multiply it by whatever batch size you want, then divide it by the initial batch size of the recipe.

Im seriously considering it as well, but I think small-batch all-grain brewing also has a slightly different process than a full 5-gallon. I think people suggest brew in a bag as being easier, but I think one worry might be that you would have to watch your mash temperatures more carefully with a smaller volume of water especially if you choose an all grain recipe, since that's how you get the sugar and malt flavor.

for small batch, go BIAB. yes a smaller amount of water will hold temp less than a big one, but most folks either just wrap it in blankets/insulation or warm up your oven to 150 and let the kettle sit in there to keep the mash warm. if you've got some spare coin, try a sous vide cooker. automatic temp control with recirculation. perfect for small batch sizes. i use the anova unit. you cook with it too, so its not just a "brew" toy.

as for the other big difference- boil off. more than likely you're going to see a much faster boiloff once you go down in size. its worth filling the pot with water and doing a timed "dry" run to see the difference.