Test beers... how to do it?

[paparker21]

Okay, so i've got a couple styles of beer i'd like to give a shot but i no longer have a roomate (nor have i had opportunity to make friends in the area) and brewing 5 gallons of a beer i may not just absolutely love isn't very prudent. I'd really like to be able to do something like 2.5 gallons or something. This seems ideal for a couple reasons:

1) I have a 20 qt pot; normally i do a 3 gallon wort boil. 2.5 allows me to do a full volume boil while still allowing for evaporation
2) 2.5 gallon boil should be easy to scale ingredients
3) 2.5 gallon boil, i could even do all grain, brew in a bag style.

but i'm unsure of a couple things:
1) what happens if i overpitch yeast? The book im using does adress calculating pitching rates, but if i err, i want to know which side to err on-- under or over pitch?
2) Where do i ferment and secondary at? It seems a bit silly to ferment 2.5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon fermenter -- that's a LOT of headspace that the yeast need to produce CO2 to fill or risk oxidation. Same deal in the secondary.

2a- i'm considering fermentation in my normal fermenter, I keg so i've got bottled CO2 and i think i could tinker a way to purge teh headspace with my CO2. That leaves me with the question of how to secondary. I could single-stage ferment i suppose but i've never liked the thought of it sitting on trub.

2b- i've long considered pickin up a couple glass growlers; i suppose i could split the batch once it goes into secondary although that triples my work if i decide to do something that is dry-hopped.


What are ya'lls thoughts? got any tips for doing small scale brews like this? What pitfalls should i expect to encounter as I try to scale down the recipes?

 

[Suthrncomfrt1884]

but i'm unsure of a couple things:
1) what happens if i overpitch yeast? The book im using does adress calculating pitching rates, but if i err, i want to know which side to err on-- under or over pitch?

Overpitching is sometimes as bad as underpitching...but as a homebrewer, it's hard to nail it on the head every time. I would choose to overpitch...

2) Where do i ferment and secondary at? It seems a bit silly to ferment 2.5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon fermenter -- that's a LOT of headspace that the yeast need to produce CO2 to fill or risk oxidation. Same deal in the secondary.

Your beer will produce plenty of co2 during primary to purge that headspace. I wouldn't worry too much about it. As for secondary...get rid of it. Just let your beers sit in primary for 3-4 weeks. It saves you a step and actually makes a better beer in the long run. If you absolutely need to secondary (bigger beers, strong ingredients, etc.) then I'd concider buying a few 1 gallon growlers and airlocks. It may be a pain, but at least they're cheap.

2a- i'm considering fermentation in my normal fermenter, I keg so i've got bottled CO2 and i think i could tinker a way to purge teh headspace with my CO2. That leaves me with the question of how to secondary. I could single-stage ferment i suppose but i've never liked the thought of it sitting on trub.

Sitting on the trub for 3-4 weeks does more good for the beer than bad. Off flavors caused by trub only happen when you let it sit for 2-3 months. Even then, I'm skeptical.

2b- i've long considered pickin up a couple glass growlers; i suppose i could split the batch once it goes into secondary although that triples my work if i decide to do something that is dry-hopped.

You could always dry hop in primary... I almost never use a secondary, so I'll dry hop in the last week of my 3-4 week primary. It doesn't cause any problems.

What are ya'lls thoughts? got any tips for doing small scale brews like this? What pitfalls should i expect to encounter as I try to scale down the recipes?

Other than scaling your AAU's back properly, you shouldn't have any other problems coming up.