Small, experimental batches

[womencantsail]

Like many of us that have been bit by the homebrewing bug, I've become very interested in doing some experimental beers. My interest however, is not so great that I wish to (potentially) ruin a 5 gallon batch of beer.

What I want to do is to make some 1 or 2 gallon recipes and use some 1 gallon Carlo Rossi wine jugs as fermenters, but I'm just a bit unsure about this.

I've plugged in some numbers to BeerSmith for 5 or 6 gallon recipes and then converted them to 1 or 2 gallon recipes. My main concern is the small amounts of specialty grains and hops. I'm sure I can manage to get a decent scale that can do the ounce or two of specialty grains, but I am not sure how I should go about measuring out portions of ounces for the hops


For example, here's an IPA recipe that I have adapted to use to make a Pineapple IPA:

Batch Size: 2.00 gal
Boil Size: 2.29 gal
Boil Time: 60 min

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 93.75 %
0.17 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 3.13 %
0.17 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 3.13 %

0.17 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 16.5 IBU
0.33 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (30 min) Hops 25.3 IBU
0.33 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (20 min) Hops 13.0 IBU
0.17 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (10 min) Hops 6.0 IBU
0.17 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) Hops -

0.17 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
0.17 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -

1 Pkgs California Ale V (White Labs #WLP051) Yeast-Ale

Add a small amount of Pineapple Extract that (I would have made) at bottling.


Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[Orfy]

If I was you then I'd brew 5 gallons of a base recipe then split 5 ways.
Much easier than brewing 5 x 1 gallon brews.

 

[rocketman768]

I do this a lot...1-2 gallons at a time. I have a triple beam balance that is accurate down to 0.1 g. Those are about $100. The other option is a digital scale which is usually $30-50.

 

[flyangler18]

I've often done 2.5 - 3 gallon batches, and only done one or two 1 gallon batches (a medieval unhopped ale, for example). Splitting batches between several small vessels is an excellent way to experiment with different yeast strains or oaking.

What do you have in mind?

 

[Parker36]

You need to keep in mind that you will need some headspace in your fermenting vessel, so if it is 1gal, you will probably want to fill it more with something like 3/4gal. What I like to do to experiment is to make 6-6.5gallon batches and use the extra as a side project. Start with the same wort and experiment with different yeasts, hops, fruits, etc.

 

[Lcasanova]

Scroll down a little ways and you will see some similar threads on this topic.

As far as the hops go, I read in a post that hops are scalable but to use a little bit more of them. Im no expert but I suppose I would use .2 oz of the hops rather than 17 oz.

I also have a post on here about 1 gallon experimental batches: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/test-batches-gluten-free-beer-135082/

Hope that helps

 

[womencantsail]

Thanks for all the responses so far.

To answer some of you guys:

My intent for these batches is to experiment with fruit, homemade fruit extracts, and oak chips.

I will take into account the need for headspace in the fermenter and very probably split up these batches into a couple (or a few) of these jugs.

And I'll also look into a scale, as this will probably be useful anyway.