One gallon brewing

[Norwayson]

SO! I attempted my first all grain, one gallon recipe yesterday. It was an attempted Jalepeno IPA. I say attempted, because everything was going smooth, UNTIL!!! I decided to take the temperature during the cold break (I use an ice bath) and I couldn't understand why the temperature wasn't reducing. I pulled up my thermostat and realize it had broken (glass) and the small rock pebbles had spilled into my brew!!! So it was a waste!

After losing this one gallon, I pondered a few questions:

1. What's the most accurate way to convert five gallon recipes to a one gallon? (I found my self putting in a "pinch" of Irish moss and calcium carbonate).

2, are boil and mash times the same?

3. Recommendation for a digital thermometer

Thanks!

 

[Feeny]

For your questions 1 & 2. I would pick up a brewing software, like BrewSmith and there are a few other good ones too. They will do conversions from size to size. Which is really nice and will scale all of your ingredients, sizes and times.

I like this thermometer, it is easy to keep in a pocket and gives fairly quick and accurate readings. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Taylor-TruTemp-Digital-Instant-Read-Thermometer/16541966

 

[feinbera]

1. Divide everything by five. Irish moss you can probably put a little extra in without causing any harm, but that'll be less true for things like mineral additions.

One trick for measuring tiny volumes is to dissolve the smallest quantity you can accurately measure (say, a quarter teaspoon) into a larger volume of water (say, four ounces), then measure out part of that solution – it's a lot easier to measure out an ounce of water that you know has a sixteenth of a teaspoon of something dissolved in it than it is to measure out the sixteenth of a teaspoon itself.

2. Yes, mash and boil times are the same. Boil-off volume, in terms of percent of total wort, will be a lot higher, but as long as you know what your boil-off rate is, it's easy to take account for it by just sparging a little more.

3. Dunno, sorry, I'm still all-analog, but I do tend to use a cheap bimetal thermometer with a dial for taking spot readings, they're pretty indestructible and don't have any loose pieces/fluids to spill if they do fail; you do have to keep one of the floating alcohol thermometers around, though, to calibrate the other one against once in a while.

 

[Aristotelian]

This guy is your friend.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V5IM5PY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Norwayson]

Thanks for all the input. Yea, I figured a digital scale would also probably help.