just wanting to start!

[dawalkertiger]

Future home brewer here. Just need to buy the supplies and equipment. I had a few questions, though, and wanted this community’s thoughts on them. I’ve been reading a ton (Homebrewing for Dummies, this forum, I’ve got Palmer’s How to Brew on the way). I’ve watched a ton of videos (BrewingTV, various YouTube folks, Alton Brown’s Good Eats brewing episode (I know, I’ve read about the controversy there)). I’ve also looked at a ton of different options for startup kits from Midwest, Northern, Austin, and LHBS (not many).

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Anyway, *please comment on my thoughts below and questions and either let me know I’m a fool (and why) or if I make sense.

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1.*******To me, starting out with a full 5 gallon brew seems excessive. I know a lot of kits are built for 5 gallon brews, but if you screw it up, that’s a lot of sub-par beer. Also, my wife and I don’t like the same beers for the most part, so that would be a lot of one kind that may be good for one, but not the other.

2.*******That being said, it seems that smaller batches to start out with make more sense. That way, you can experiment a little more with styles, methods, and see what you like and don’t like without having to deal with 50+ beers. I know there would be some math involved to cut the recipes, and that probably excludes most recipe kits, but it makes sense to me.

3.*******Regarding smaller batches, if you bought the smack pack type yeast, could you pour half the yeast into your wort, and put the other half in a cleaned/sanitized mason jar for storage on the next batch (that needed that style of yeast)? Are there any instructions for doing this?

4.*******Now maybe a more controversial/stupid/naïve thought: watching the videos, and reading about various all grain methods, particularly brew in a bag (BIAB), this doesn’t seem all that much more difficult than extract brewing (and that was the point of some of these videos, particularly the brewingTV ones, that all grain brewing isn’t something to be scared of). It seems that if you are deliberate, careful, and plan well, a new brewer should be able to step in to these methods pretty quickly, if not right off the bat.

5.*******With that in mind, then it seems to me that this fits in with my thought on smaller batches. Doing smaller all-grain batches would allow you to experiment more, and find what works and what doesn’t, without too much money out. Then once you find a recipe that you really like, then maybe ramp up to a 5 gallon batch.

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OK. That’s it. Let me know what you think. I appreciate the advice.

 

[unionrdr]

What's with all the ’? There are sites like Brookland brewery that sell one gallon brew kits,but most are devided from 5 gallon kits. I say skip all that & just brew the styles that are similar to the craft beers you two like. Then 5 gallon batches don't seem like such a waste. It takes the same amount of work for 1 gallon vs 5 or 6 gallons. I'd rather have more beer to show for my effort. There's also a thread called "one gallon brewers unite!" that might give you more info.

 

[TopherM]

The reason most people do 5 gallon batches is becaused you are going to do close to 5-6 hours of work on brewday followed by a few more hours of work throughout the fermentation process whether you are doing a one gallon batch or a 50 gallon batch. So, it's a matter of the production efficiency sweet spot. Do you want to spend 40 hours making five one gallon batches of different beer, or 8 hours making a good 5 gallon batch?

Even as a novice extract brewer, MOST of my brews were pretty good. Not many were outstanding, but 8 out of 10 were good and even the other 2 out of 10 were drinkable. I've only dumped 3 batches out of about 80+ I've produced over the years.

With about 2.5 years under my belt, and having about 70 BIAB all-grain batches under my belt, the ratios are pretty much the same, except I make slightly more outstanding batches, and actually slightly more subpar batches (due to some wacky experimentation)....but most are still squarely "good." I only keep the outstanding beers archived in BeerSmith, and I think I'm up to about 16 distinctive keepers.

Point being, in my opinion, the way to deal with a need for variety or to reduce subpar batches isn't to brew more smaller batches, it's to just have more keg space/bottle capasity

Just personal preference, though. You can go unite with those one gallon brewers if that's your cup of tea.

5 GALLON BREWERS, UNITE! :rockin:

 

[dawalkertiger]

I never said 1 gallon. but I see the appeal. Just enough ADD to crave that variety.

To me, spending 16 hours to produce 2.5 gal each of 2 different beer would be worth it. If only for variety's sake. Different strokes.

Anyway, what about my crazy thought regarding starting out with BIAB rather than extract. Am I way overconfident?

 

[divrguy]

I never said 1 gallon. but I see the appeal. Just enough ADD to crave that variety.

To me, spending 16 hours to produce 2.5 gal each of 2 different beer would be worth it. If only for variety's sake. Different strokes.

Anyway, what about my crazy thought regarding starting out with BIAB rather than extract. Am I way overconfident?

Hell no! Not at all. A lot will say you should have some extracts under your belt before you attempt an all grain. Nothing wrong with that and it will help you get a ritual, some needed consistency and it will give you the ability to concentrate on less things. But, that said, it's not that big of a deal to go the next step either. You can do extract, partial mash, BIAB and traditional all grain, right from the git go. And, if you do, you will be ahead of the curve and probably glad you did.

It sounds like you're almost ready to make the jump. I currently do it all, one gallon batches to 10 gallon batches and everything in between. I too, love a variety and only want a couple of cases of my house beer (for everyone including me) and then I like having singles of many different types to pick from. I love to brew!

 

[TopherM]

What about my crazy thought regarding starting out with BIAB rather than extract. Am I way overconfident?

There's definitely a learning curve to making good beer. It's about 80% process and about 20% art.

All-grain brewing has about double the variables to control as compared to extract. There's more process to learn all at once.

So, you can jump into all-grain right off the bat, but that's basically like taking a calculous course before you take algebra...you just have that much more to learn.

So, it certainly can be done, but I personally appreciate the foundation I received by starting out brewing with about 8 extract batches, and I always recommend new brewers start with learning that foundation before they move to all-grain. I believe knowing how to do the basics in your sleep helps you be more proficient as an all-grain brewer.

If you do start with BIAB, just know that you are going to make more subpar batches than good batches when you start out, and don't let it discourage you. You'll have more to learn than an extract brewer, and more oppertunities for mistakes than an extract brewer, and I guess it'll all depend on your attention to detail, your overall enthusiasm for doing everything correctly, and your patience as to whether you catch on quickly or get frustrated quickly.

That's about what you're facing. Not trying to discourage you, just how I see it.

Good luck!

 

[ortcutt]

That a "standard" batch size is 5 gallons is an accident of history; there's nothing to make it intrinsically optimal. I regularly brew 3-gallon AG batches and am perfectly happy with my ratio of labor time/intensity to product volume/quality. I've learned that I very often don't want five gallons of my latest homebrew, however delicious. One reason is that I'm a light drinker; another is that I brew often enough to have a decent number of batches in rotation.

Brewing 3-gallon batches allowed me to make the transition to AG at a relatively small additional cost. (All I added to my brewhouse were a couple of carboys and a picnic-cooler mash tun.) Since I get a good 4-gallon boil on my stovetop, I can brew in the kitchen -- a practical necessity for me, for a number of reasons.

 

[rklinck]

I agree with what most people have said. You can certainly start smaller if you want to, and you can certainly start doing BIAB. I disagree with the notion that it is like starting with calculus when you have not taken algebra. It is really just more steps. The only drawback is that if you brew a subpar beer, it will be harder to figure out why. There will be a lot more places that you could have screwed things up.

If your reason for wanting to do BIAB rather than extract is about doing smaller batches, you don't have to go that route. You can brew extract batches without buying recipe kits. You can find an extract recipe on this site, reduce it to the batch size you want, and just buy the components you need.

I think that you may end up enjoying having the equipment to do small batches even if you end up moving up to 5 gallon batches in the future. If you plan to try brewing extreme beers (e.g., 100 IBU beers, ultra-high alcohol beers, or beers with lots of flavor additives), it will be nice to brew those in smaller batches. I would think that a 2 or 3 gallon batch of those will probably last you a very long time.

 

[divrguy]

There's definitely a learning curve to making good beer. It's about 80% process and about 20% art.

All-grain brewing has about double the variables to control as compared to extract. There's more process to learn all at once.

So, you can jump into all-grain right off the bat, but that's basically like taking a calculous course before you take algebra...you just have that much more to learn.

So, it certainly can be done, but I personally appreciate the foundation I received by starting out brewing with about 8 extract batches, and I always recommend new brewers start with learning that foundation before they move to all-grain. I believe knowing how to do the basics in your sleep helps you be more proficient as an all-grain brewer.

If you do start with BIAB, just know that you are going to make more subpar batches than good batches when you start out, and don't let it discourage you. You'll have more to learn than an extract brewer, and more oppertunities for mistakes than an extract brewer, and I guess it'll all depend on your attention to detail, your overall enthusiasm for doing everything correctly, and your patience as to whether you catch on quickly or get frustrated quickly.

That's about what you're facing. Not trying to discourage you, just how I see it.

Good luck!

Topher, I almost always agree with everything you say..lol

I don't buy the subpar BIAB part. I believe you can make as many sub par extract, PM Or AG batches if you don't care about what you are doing. My one "ah hah" moment came when I watched my buddy do a traditional all grain batch and he explained it to me. Then after that it all made sense and became much easier to figure out. There is a place for small batch pilot brews or single malt single hop batches, more advanced traditional techniques and Partial mash or BIAB. Just depends on your confidence.

 

[RM-MN]

If you are the type of person who can read and understand the things needed to brew all grain and can lay out a procedure that will work for your environment you should start with all grain. All grain BIAB isn't terribly difficult and doesn't take a lot more time than an extract batch. Start with a proven recipe, not some wild idea and take care during the brew and you will do fine. I do a lot of 2 1/2 gallon batches BIAB because it fits my style, my home, and my drinking habits. It gives me a chance to try different styles without having to drink up as much if I don't like the style and I know that if I really like it, I can brew it again.

There are some things to know about with BIAB that aren't the same as the conventional all grain with a mash tun and batch sparging. First is you water temperature when you start mixing in the grains. It needs to be a specific temperature but that temperature depends on the amount of water, the weight of grains, and the temperature of the grains. I use an online calculator for that part. I like this one: http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/infusion.html You'll be starting with all or nearly all the water for you beer when you start instead of adding it later. Your ratio of water to grain will be about 2.5 qts/lb.

Next is the grains and their crush. BIAB relies on the fine mesh bag to filter the grain from the wort so you can use grains that are crushed or ground quite fine. Mine looks like coarse cornmeal when I am ready to mash. You can mix all the grains into the mash, no separate steeping.

When the mash is done, lift the bag to let it drain. I find that I can only hold it above the pot for just so long and it won't be done draining. I put a colander inside a plastic bowl and let it drain there, emptying the bowl when I get a reasonable amount. Then I squeeze the bag of grains to get more wort out. I use a pan lid so I don't have to use my hands. Squeeze it like it owes you.....wort. There is no advantage to leaving any wort in the grain, that's a waste of fermenable wort.

 

[eddie]

I never said 1 gallon. but I see the appeal. Just enough ADD to crave that variety.

To me, spending 16 hours to produce 2.5 gal each of 2 different beer would be worth it. If only for variety's sake. Different strokes.

Anyway, what about my crazy thought regarding starting out with BIAB rather than extract. Am I way overconfident?

My first beer was a partial-mash oatmeal stout and it turned out great despite the fact I had no clue what I was doing, lol. Just read up on the process and you'll be fine.

 

[WyomingBrewer]

I dont disagree with anything anyone has said. Now Im going to get slapped here but it fits what the OP is asking for sort of. Mr. Beer! I know I know, but its what got me started and the beer was okay. Not top shelf, but okay. The Little Brown Keg from Mr. Beer or The Little Brown Conical from DemonBrew seem to fit what you are wanting in regards to quantity. You can use their extract kits or make your own extract recipes, partial mash, all grain whatever. But the equipment is the right size. I will say dont be surprised when you upgrade to 5 gallons because youre doing the work anyways may as well double the yield. But sure, you can do BIAB in a 5 gallon pot for 2.5 gallon batches and ferment in these counter top fermentors. What ever you decide remember, its suppose to be fun! Now get out there and get your brew on! (em/crowd claps for the pep talk!)

 

[dawalkertiger]

Thanks y'all! I guess I'm not so crazy after all. It seems like if you put in the work ahead of time and get the recipe down with all the steps, it's fairly straight forward.
Anyone got suggestions for recipes? I am partial to stouts and IPA and really about anything buy wheats (maybe I just haven't had the right one), my wife likes Smithwick's and Newcastle Brown Ale and honey wheat styles.
I was thinking something like an Irish Red Ale would be something we both would enjoy.

 

[WyomingBrewer]

Thanks y'all! I guess I'm not so crazy after all. It seems like if you put in the work ahead of time and get the recipe down with all the steps, it's fairly straight forward.
Anyone got suggestions for recipes? I am partial to stouts and IPA and really about anything buy wheats (maybe I just haven't had the right one), my wife likes Smithwick's and Newcastle Brown Ale and honey wheat styles.
I was thinking something like an Irish Red Ale would be something we both would enjoy.

No shortage of recipes around here. Look in the recipe section and pick one, then convert it to the size you want. Heck, if you dont know how to convert just post it up and there are plenty of people here that will help ya get it done! Good luck my man!