I have had a lot of fun this year brewing at least one batch a month. Surprisingly we have been drinking it all too…. Well, not just me, a couple well attended summer family BBQs and such has helped out with that quite a bit. I have brewed 12 batches this year already, and I still have 4 more months to go! It will be a banner year. But I am not quite ready to recap my brew year yet. I wanted to write down some thoughts on something else.
I have a small scale experiment planned, the one gallon batch. Using small batch brewing as part of an effort to really hone a couple of my favorite recipes, I feel it’s important to be able to taste changes side by side. The one gallon batch might be a great way to do this. Whether it be splitting a larger wort and using different yeasts or dry hops; making a beer that is just as fresh as a different version is key to good comparators.
Here’s my plan: What I worry about most is yeast blow off and making a big mess, only because it’s a hassle. I purchased a couple pounds of DME, some C60, some EKG and a pack of dry yeast (that I’ll measure and rehydrate for one gallon). I also have some anti-foam that I used recently on a starter and it worked really well. Some night soon I’ll attempt my first small batch brewing session in a spare one gallon glass jug I have been saving. I’ll actually use less than one gallon to give me a headspace and help with krausen.
My hope is that if I can control the ferment enough to not make a total mess maybe I’ll be able to get 2-3 decent bottles of beer out of the batch. I have multiple 1 gallon jugs and then I could do a dream experiment of making a big batch of English Brown Ale or Ordinary Bitter wort. Split it up and compare 6-8 English yeasts all side by side at the same time. That would be EPIC.
Just some Friday ramblings. Let me know what you think. Or if you’ve tried this yourself, give me some pointers. It’s all about making better beer and learning how to do it as we go.
BREW ON!
John
I’ve recently started experimenting with small batches (4.5 litres, brew in a bag). For me they’re a great way to try a variety of beers without creating a storage problem.
If there’s a downside it’s that there’s a lot more wastage than with larger batches. Some of the losses (starting and stopping a siphon, for instance) are fixed rather than a percentage of batch size. So relatively speaking you end up with a lot less beer.
I’ve also found it’s harder to control the boil. With such a small amount of wort most of it evaporates off, so it’s useful to have some pre-boiled water standing by for top ups.
Good luck –your English yeast experiment sounds interesting.
Kevin
I’m planning the same thing soon. I have a lot of specialty grains left over from an oatmeal stout recipe but not enough to make a full batch. I’ve been doing a side by side comparisons of cider in some Oberweiss half gallon glass milk bottles. Bought some stoppers from the specialty hardware section at home depot drilled them and gave them each an airlock. I usually ferment in a bucket so it was interesting to watch and see how the different yeast/sugar combinations worked. Figure I’ll get 4 bottles or so out of each. Nice thing is how fast racking goes! Looking forward to coming up with some different stouts. May leave slightly more headroom. Hope yours goes well. Cheers!
Larry
As a complete rookie to home brewing (only on my third batch), my wife got me a one gallon kit from a local home brew shop, and I’ve fallen in love. The biggest issue I’ve run into converting recipes to one gallon is the yeast. I feel like I’m stuck with dry, because at least I can calculate the right weight. As for controlling krausen, my first batch exploded in the airlock, so for my second batch I made a blow off tube coming out of the cap of the fermenting jug and into a bowl of sanitizer. That at least contained the blow off without sacrificing space in the fermenting jug or making a huge mess. Good luck, and keep up the good work, I feel like I’m learning a lot from reading this site. Thanks.
David
I do this pretty regularly, but only at the secondary stage. I haven’t tried splitting a 5-gallon batch of wort into 5 fermenters with different yeast or hops, though I have considered it. I suggest taking very detailed notes and measure ingredients as accurately as you can. Mostly, I’ve just done this to finish five gallon batches than tried brewing smaller batches, although I have done some 2.5 gallon beers. I worry that boiling a small batch a gallon in size would result in different wort fermentability than boiling a 5-gallon batch. This is a concern of both heat/water loss and Maillard reaction, though it’s just a hunch on my part, it seems like it would be difficult to scale this experiment.
Yes, it impacts your final yield a bit when you are transferring in and out of 1 gallon containers, but is a great way to play without having to worry about ‘ruining’ a five gallon batch with some hair-brained scheme.
Some examples: Recently I brewed a chocolate stout. One gallon went to secondary on chipotles, one gallon on cherries and bourbon-soaked oak, and the remaining three gallons I finished as-is. Previously, I finished an IPA three different ways. I suggest always having the original beer as your ‘control’ for the experiment.