Just a couple of beginner questions

[Shaika-Dzari]

Hi everyone,

New brewer here with only 2 small batch and still patiently waiting to taste both

Anyway, I made a couple of researches for my next batch but I found so many post and information I kind of feel the need to kindly ask 2-3 questions...

So a bit of context/info in case it is useful:
Small apartment with limited space, BIAB, no real temperature control (I put my jug in a bucket with frozen water bottle when it's too hot but that's it). Using bottles, no keg.

My questions:
1. In my first recipe (coming from a book), I mashed with 2.4L of water then sparge with 3.8L. With 2.4L, the mash was kind of thick.
Do I need to follow some kind of ratio? Could I mash with more water and then only sparge with 1 or 2 L ?

2. Doing small batch means a complete pack of yeast is overkill (and costly).
Can I use a pack of liquid yeast, create a 1L starter, use half (or less) of the start for my batch and store the rest in the fridge for a next time ?

3. I used 1 Gallon jug to ferment and to be honest It's not cool to wash and siphon. With the trub and the head space I need to keep, I only get 6 x 500 ml.
I have a 5 gallon bucket I could use instead, is it OK to ferment only 2.5 gallons in it ? 5 gallons is too much for me alone...

4. My bucket lid is fairly tight but is not 100% sealed (I plan to install a small ring to put an airlock on it).
Is it OK or I should try to add some kind of seal ?

Thank you very much for your help!

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

1. I mash with about 1.5L for every 1 pound of grain. You can pretty much use as much water in the mash as you want all the way to no sparging, but your grain won’t go as far as if you do sparge. You can just throw another pound of grain in to bring up your sugar concentration, but you also cut into space in a smaller pot and it costs a little bit more. It sounds like keeping cost down is important to you as well. The lowest mash ratio I’ll use is 1.25L/Lb.

2. You can re-use your yeast at the bottom of your fermentor for the next batch. Just pour it on the yeast cake after you empty your fermentor of the last batch of beer, especially if your previous beer doesn’t have strong flavors like a lot of hops or spices. You can do that about 3 times before it starts to go sideways depending on your sanitation practices. You can save yeast as you suggested as well.

3. Get free 3 gallon frosting buckets at the grocery store baking department, they’re food safe by nature and are the right size for a 2.5 gallon batch.

4. Making your fermentor air tight will keep out oxygen. A lot of people don’t like a beer that has been exposed to oxygen as much as one that hasn’t.

 

[RM-MN]

1. BIAB was intended to be full volume, no sparge. That limits the brewhouse efficiency because there will be sugars still in the bag of grains but it is simple. About any sparge you can do will improve the efficiency. I try to get as close to full volume as my kettle will allow and then sparge to get to my wanted pre-boil amount of wort.

2. Lots of people do just what you propose, make a bigger starter than needed and refrigerate the excess. They call it yeast ranching.

3. I make 2 1/2 gallon batches and ferment them in either 5 or 6 1/2 gallon buckets. You can too.

4. You don't want a real loose fitting lid but don't get overly concerned about a little leak. You'll introduce more oxygen in your bottling than will get in past a poorly sealed bucket lid. Just don't leave the beer in the fermenter too long. I'd probably define too long as more than a couple months. That one turned out to be one of my best beers.

 

[Shaika-Dzari]

Thanks, both of you!

I will try to find/make a gasket but in the meantime I have an idea for my lid.
I will tape it. It's already very tight so I'm kind of curious to see the effect to my airlock with a bit of scotch tape.

I'll probably try an hefeweizen for my next batch and at the same time, try liquid yeast and a starter (which I will split).
So a lot of new stuff!

Thanks again!