To scale or not to scale

[mattd017]

So, last night I was going to rack into a secondary onto 2oz hops for a Hazed and Infused clone. Then, I suddenly decided to just toss the hops into the primary, because, hell, it was so much easier, less risk of oxidation, infection, etc... I completely forgot I was going to rack because I wanted to free up the primary to brew a wheat beer for a crawfish boil about a month and a half from now. So, now my 6.5gal primary is indisposed, and all I have is my 5gal secondary free.

What I'm asking is should I scale the recipe to make 4 or 4.5 gallons, keeping the same ratios, or can I just use everything as is, but only make 4 or 4.5 gallons. I know that the ABV will be considerably higher, but what else could happen?

Here's my recipe. It's the AHS anniversary Lemon Wheat with honey added per my discretion.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 3.67 gal
Post Boil Volume: 3.38 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.060 SG
Estimated Color: 6.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 19.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 94.5 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 24.3 %
1 lbs Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 2 10.8 %
1.00 oz Whitbread Golding Variety (WGV) [6.00 %] Hop 3 17.0 IBUs
5 lbs Wheat Liquid Extract [Boil for 45 min](8 Extract 4 54.1 %
3.50 g Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 5 -
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 6 -
1 lbs Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 7 10.8 %


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 9 lbs 4.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 4.06 qt of water at 163.1 F 150.0 F 75 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 3.04 gal water at 168.0 F
Notes:
------


Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com


Thanks for your help!

 

[acidrain]

I was going to suggest downloading a free trial of Beersmith, but it doesn't scale in the trial version.
I've done quite a bit of scaling, and it does make a difference (grains and volume are not lineal with hops).
It's the main reason I got Beersmith, but I'm finding all sorts of perks that help brew a great beer.

Edit: Wait, you have Beersmith? You can see for yourself that just cutting back water is going to completely change everything. Might be a good beer, but it won't be the same..

 

[dzlater]

Why don't you just dry hop for a week bottle it, and then brew the wheat beer?

 

[mattd017]

The party I wanted to brew it for is May 5. That's still pushing it close if I brew this Sunday, 2 week fermenter, 2 week bottling. If I wait another week, there's no way it'll be done, to my liking, in time.

I know it won't be the same, but what can I expect from decreasing the volume and keeping the recipe the same? Will it be like drinking a glass of wheat flour?

 

[Schol-R-LEA]

If you use a blow-off tube during the active fermentation, you should be able to use a 5 gallon carboy for a full five gallon batch. The loss from blow off ought to be negligible.

 

[dzlater]

The party I wanted to brew it for is May 5. That's still pushing it close if I brew this Sunday, 2 week fermenter, 2 week bottling. If I wait another week, there's no way it'll be done, to my liking, in time.

I know it won't be the same, but what can I expect from decreasing the volume and keeping the recipe the same? Will it be like drinking a glass of wheat flour?

OK makes sense you said a month and a half so I was thinking you had more like 6 weeks. I also didn't realize you were bottling.