Scaling recipes from homebrew to micro batches

[Roundhouse]

I've found several threads about scaling recipes from 5 to 10 or 15 or so gallons but haven't seen much on going from lets say a 5 gallon batch to a 3 barrel or say a 7 barrel or larger system. What kinds of things get adjusted?

On the grain side of things I wouldn't think that any grains would need to be substituted or ratios changed but I don't know. This seems like just figuring out what efficiency you are getting and adjusting for target gravity from there. Then again, I don't know which is why I'm asking.

The hops would seem to be the biggest change. Is there merely a reduction in overall time of each addition or quantity at each addition? Is there more to it than that?

Forgive my ignorance. I know that some of you probably know this stuff and I'm hoping you'll share that knowledge.

 

[ajdelange]

Any time you change equipment you will change the beer. The changes are usually not terribly dramatic but are noticeable. And it is pretty well known that recipes do not scale. There is no particular guidance (that I am aware of) as to what has to be changed for a particular scale change or equipment change. If efficiency goes up then use less grain next time and if it goes down use more. Same for hops utilization..... There will be many things that need tweaking and the only way to nail them down is to do the tweaks followed by tastings. At least that's my take on it.

 

[brewfun]

Honestly, scaling recipes is very much dependent on the flavor goals of the beer.

Hugely hoppy beers don't need much malt adjustment, but more complex malt driven styles like Porter and Brown Ale do. You do get a lot more punch and color from specialty malts as size scales up. It's amazing how much impact you can get from less than 15% specialty malt.

Hop considerations are things like kettle yield (wort that can't get out of the kettle can't become beer, which means lost money) and overlapping hop flavor issues. If the brewery uses a longer whirlpool and settling times, then timing can get changed.

When scaling up homebrew recipes during collaborations, I pay particular attention to darker, more acidic malts, but that has a lot to do with the water I have. I also pay attention to "stray" amounts because I don't like a lot of open, partially used bags lying around. If there are malts in the recipe with overlapping flavors, it may need some review to be commercially viable (do you really need biscuit, munich and victory malts in that pale ale?).

Bottom line: every ingredient has to have an impact and reason to be in the beer or else it's wasted money and effort.