What is the smallest viable all grain batch you have made?

[msa8967]

The wife will be having minor surgery soon and as a result I will having to be Mr Mom of the house since she cannot lift more than 15 lbs for 4-6 months. Thus, the size and frequency of my brewing batches will be affected. I have thought about trying to do small stove top all grain brews of 1-2 gallons in size. I was wondering what is the smallest viable all grain batch anyone has made. I was going to try to ferment in 3 gallon pastry buckets and wondered if anyone has advice on adjustments to scaling recipes or other things I should consider first.

[We have a 20 month old son that requires more supervision than what I can do if I were outside in the garage trying to brew. A few of my friends have said to just take a break from brewing but this hobby is what makes working easier to get through during the week.]

Thanks for any input you may have.

 

[bbrim]

I made a 3g batch once. You could probably get a 5g pot and do 2.5-3g BIAB. When it warms up maybe your son can hang out outside with you. When your son was born did it throw your brew schedule way off? I will have to figure this out soon.

 

[Revvy]

What do you mean "viable?" Brooklyn beer kits are 1 gallon AG batches....The standard mini batch many folks do is 2.5 gallon.

I really don't understand your question....You can ferment a batch of beer in a beer bottle if you're inclined.....we do it all the time, it's called making a starter.

 

[msa8967]

I made a 3g batch once. You could probably get a 5g pot and do 2.5-3g BIAB. When it warms up maybe your son can hang out outside with you. When your son was born did it throw your brew schedule way off? I will have to figure this out soon.

I had plenty of time to brew the first 6-8 months after he was born to brew because he would sleep much of the time. Now he is all over the place and we cannot put up a fence where we live so having him outside with me around a burner makes me very nervous. I did double up on some brewing gear to run 2 brews at the same time when I have time to brew outdoors. However, the wife (at 43) is undergoing IVF treatments so we hope to be able to have a second child. Thus, any brewing will be indoors for the next few months. I was hoping to be able to make a small (diy) mashtun for brewing up to 2 gallon size batches on the stove top so it will be easier to monitor what my son is doing.

I went straight from extract to 5 gallon all grain brews so I have not done the brew in a bag method to know how to adjust my recipes. I use Beersmith to adjust my 5 gallon brews to larger quantities and sometimes down to 4 gallon size but I was wanting to know if there are other factors to think about when scaling down to 1-2 gallons that Beersmith might not consider.

 

[msa8967]

Revy...I tried to rephrase my initial question in the previous response. Thanks for letting me know my first attempt at asking this was not clear. My two main questions are about rescaling recipes using programs like Beersmith (are there things i need to consider that BS does not account for when going from a 5 gallons to a 1-2 gallon recipe) and if there is anything else I should consider when moving onto smaller brews.

 

[seatbelt123]

I had plenty of time to brew the first 6-8 months after he was born to brew because he would sleep much of the time. Now he is all over the place and we cannot put up a fence where we live so having him outside with me around a burner makes me very nervous.

I'm in the same boat. Go electric. I did it on 120v and it it super easy and much safer. (I do all grain BIAB.)

My wife doesn't even know I'm brewing some times.

 

[frod1963]

Just did a 2.5 gallon all grain BIAB wheat beer on the stove top while watching my 2-1/2 year old daughter and my 10 month old son yesterday. It barely took any time and I just threw my old immersion chiller in at the end and did other things for 20-30 minutes. As far as calculating the recipe for brew in a bag, just adjust your recipe for 60% efficiency and you should be close enough.

 

[Calichusetts]

I got 30+ 1 gallon batches under my belt...love it. Easy, great for experimenting, and perfect for brewing up a future gift or celebratory event. On the flip side, fantastic for when you mess up*

*Note to self- do not go out to the bar for "inspiration" before brewing, the last thing I remember was stumbling around chilling my beer at around 2am...the only reason I am sure I added yeast is there was a half-pack of Notty in my fridge the next day

 

[wilserbrewer]

Sounds to me like you need to stream line the process, and make it as time eficient as possible. Brewing smaller batches is likely less time efficient. I would suggest BIAB stovetop, 40 qt. kettle, four / five gallon batch or the largest your stove will handle reasonably. At flame out, I would suggest doing a no chill for 24 hours right in the kettle. This will save a lot of time and effort and still reward you w/ a decent size batch.

Try and seperate yoursef from the process such as putting strike water on medium heat on a back burner...even if it takes additional time, you needn't watch it too closely as it is relatively safe. When you mash in the pot...stick it in your oven on low to maintain temp...if you can continue in an hour...fine...if it mashes for two hours...well that is fine as well...people even let a mash sit overnight. Perhaps just use a little extra grain and forfiet doing a mash out or a time consuming full drain of the bag...so what if you lose $.95 worth of grain...you have saved 20-30 minutes. You can also brew a split session by collecting your wort and bringing it to a temp above say 180 degrees...at this point you can simply flameout and cover the kettle and continue brewing at a more convenient time. Lastly, no chill and pitch yeast when convenient for you and your family. This way you can brew in chunks of time os 5-10 minutes when convenient, and not be handcufffed to a brew rig for 6 hours.

 

[bbbblaine]

I have done 1g AG brews, 2g, 2.5g, and 3g. 1g is very easy and relaxing, but as others have pointed out just not as time efficient as if you were to do larger ones.

The largest AG batch I have done on the stove top in my house was a 3g. I mostly do 2-2.5g, though.

 

[wailingguitar]

I have done MANY all grain brews inside on an electric stove top. have a 33qt kettle that will straddle two eyes... worked great. I PREFER to brew outside on my propane burner because it's easier to clean up and I can boil faster, but those are the only advantages in my opinion

 

[jfrank85]

I do 2.5 gallon experiment batches all of the time.

 

[RyanDe680]

For you guys making smaller experimental batches, are you making starters or just using a smackpack?

If I'm making a 2 gallon batch, having a smackpack would somewhat eliminate the need for a starter, no?

 

[jfrank85]

Depends on SG. I've used beersmith and/or mr malty to help me in these situations.

 

[msa8967]

I am going to read the stickies on BIAB method and not worry about making a mini-mashtun. The most I will be able to do on our current electirc stove is a 2 gallon batch. One area I need to read more about is determining how much yeast to pitch. I use a lot of washed yeast on my 5-10 gallon sized batches so it is harder to overpitch compared to just doing a 2 gallon batch. Maybe I will just go with dry yeast to start and see how things go. With my wife hoping to get pregnant beer consumption in our house will fall by 70% so 2 gallon size brews are probably more ideal anyway.

Thanks for the great feedback everyone.

 

[TopherM]

Buy an extra 20-30 gallon kettle and just put the kid in there on brewday. Not only will it contain the toddler, but in case of accidents, everything is self-contained for easy clean up.

Mr. Mom WINNING!

 

[seatbelt123]

Buy an extra 20-30 gallon kettle and just put the kid in there on brewday. Not only will it contain the toddler, but in case of accidents, everything is self-contained for easy clean up.

Mr. Mom WINNING!

I'm trying not to laugh.

 

[JoyousRuction]

My 40 quart brew kettle has fit on every stove I have encountered so far (4 different places)- No reason not to do a full 5 gallon batch...

 

[stamandster]

First you should watch this movie with your family
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085970/

Second, BIAB would probably be the best bet.

 

[rodisian]

I regularly do 1-3g batches with a BIAB setup. I find that it's a better "use" of my time to do higher gravity 1g batches instead of session beers. An 8%abv beer takes virtually the same "hands-on" time as a 4% session beer, but takes me twice as long to consume. For session beers I'll make a bigger batch, and between batches I'll supplement the homebrew with a variety of commercial beers, which also helps determine the next batch!

I also try to combine activities (e.g. do some bottling on a brew day). While this extends the brew day, it takes less time than doing both tasks on different days as there are efficiencies (cleaner and sanitizer are already mixed, workspace (kitchen) has been cleared for brewing, etc etc).

Good luck with the brewing and the family!

 

[D_Nyholm]

What are you using for fermenters for 1 gallon batches? I have a 3 gallon better bottle for 2.5 gallon batches, and would like to make some 1 gallon batches but don't know what to ferment them in!!

 

[msa8967]

Anyone have opinions on the idea of trying to ferment 2.5 gallon batches inside 5 gallon capacity food grade buckets? I have read that would be enough CO2 produced to take care of the empty headspace but I have not actually met a brewer that has tried this.

{By 5 gallon capacity I mean the max volume of the bucket is 5 gallons not 6.5 gallons for a traditional brewing bucket.}

 

[wailingguitar]

No reason it should be a problem

 

[lschiavo]

Bummer to be away from the garage.

I haven't tried it yet but here is a micro mash tun...should brew about a pint

 

[DannPM]

1 gallon biab

 

[C-Rider]

I do 1.75 g BIAB all the time. get about 16 bottles. Ferment in 2 gal paint buckets from H.Depot. Here a pretty good coffee stout