My girlfriend got me a Cooper 6 gallon homebrewing kit for my birthday after I told her that I didn't want one. She said she thought it was because I thought they were too expensive, even though I probably told her 15 times whenever she's asked why I don't homebrew that I'd rather pay for good beer than work to drink crap I made. Nevertheless, she got me the kit and got offended when I suggested returning it. She thought bigger was better, but I have no interest in brewing 6 gallons of rookie beer to make her happy when I already have a full cellar. So can I use the kit to brew less, say, 2 or 3 gallons? Do I just cut the ratios? Will the end result just be more alcoholic? Please BA, save my relationship!
Sorry bro. Sounds like it's doomed. lol jk. Sheesh man make your woman happy and use your beer kit! pour it out on the slick if it's undrinkable. Or, make some crap beer and get her to taste it and realize on her own that getting you a beer kit was a bad idea.
Make the full 6 gallons, bottle it and give the girlfriend a couple cases for her next birthday. Sorry, couldn't resist. You will be topping off your wort that you boiled on the stove to get to a full 6 gallons I'm assuming (not familiar with Coopers setup). Usually you'll have about 2-3 gallons of boiled then cool wort, then add 3-4 gallons to top off. So, you could add less water and yes just have higher ABV and IBUs. Godspeed man.
Basically, she thinks you're lazy. Make a half-hearted shit batch, and be more handy in other ways, and maybe she won't leave you for a man of action. Or, use it as a learning experience, get better at homebrewing, and save some money and heartache. Ain't no white whale in the trade forum that's only a two case batch.
What a weird problem to have.... I just say you brew 5 gallon batches and do your research to make good beer. It can be done, whether you believe it right now or not. I think your girlfriend is a good one!
It sounds to me like you're never going to get your heart into this hobby, thus you're not going to enjoy brewing this first batch, so that's strike one. To brew a 2-gallon batch in a large equipment set-up is not an easy thing to do, but you might be okay with a 3-gallon batch. You can proportionally divide the ingredients and follow the instructions, but the part that won't work well is when you try to ferment 2 or 3 gallons in a 6-7 gallon fermentor. There is too much head space so that you stand a greater chance of exposing your beer to oxygen that will be trapped inside the sealed container. That's going to affect the quality of your beer. Strike two. Either you should go ahead and brew the full recipe for these ingredients, or find another way to get yourself out of this situation. It's a fun hobby, so get yourself in the right frame of mind and brew a batch. See if you like the hobby, and see if you can produce a pretty good beer. By the way, what style of beer are the ingredients for? Something that you like?
The kit came with lager ingredients, which I imagine is the most simple thing to make, but also the least interesting style for me. Just seems like a waste to put a lot of work into making so much beer I won't even want to drink much of, but if you think that the oxygen in a half-full tank will hurt the quality of the brew, I guess I'll just brew the full batch and throw a party and share it around.
They're actually one of the hardest things to make properly. Is it one of those no boil kits? Head to a homebrew store, pick up some US05 yeast to use instead of the packet of yeast included, and 4oz of hops that you know you like in other beers. Add two ounces of the hops when you turn off the heat, and the other two once fermentation has subsided as a dry hop. Now you've got a session IPA of sorts.
You couldn't be more wrong...hard to hide mistakes in a lager. Seriously, brew 2 gal batches if you want. It will work fine as long as you don't transfer to a large secondary.
In terms of "time spent" it's not THAT much. You would spend either a morning, afternoon, or night to make the wort and put it in a fermenter. Then, you basically ignore it outside of checking that the airlock is bubbling or what the gravity is at. You then have to spend one more morning/afternoon/evening to bottle it. All in all, you've probably spent more time thinking about how long it will take then how long it will actually take. Also, what if you end up loving it and it's your new favorite hobby? I was in your mind-state for most of my beer drinking life. I've lived in very high quality craft beer cities (Chicago and Denver) and never homebrewed because, "I could buy way better stuff off the shelves". This past sunday a friend and I brewed our first beer and it was a ton of fun. You drink while you brew, hang with friends, and watch sports. It's really not worth the negative attitude you're creating for it until you actually try it.
I wouldn't expect great things to happen using the hopped malt concentrate from the kit. As MrOH said, make it an ale by using ale yeast. Chances are you don't have a temperature controlled fermentation chamber to properly make a lager. Your primary concern seems to be if you can ferment a half batch in the 6 gallon fermenter. Yes you can!
I second MrOH. My other suggestion is to get your girlfriend into it. Tell her you want her help with brewing. I do all extract brews and they work out decent (I got really into table beers - 2-3% ABV - and extracts are perfect for that). Get some of your favorite hops, some standard ale yeast, saison yeast, brett or a blend and shoot for a light, hoppy, session beer. I had my girlfriend help me bottle a few batches and she became interested. She eventually asked if she could brew her own batch and I happily obliged. Bought everything she needed but let her pick it all out (explaining things along the way). Even had her design her own labels and printed them for her. She still loves her beer and is really proud of it. Actually came out really nice. Just my 2 cents but you can easily turn this around to work to your advantage. Especially if she's a beer drinker as well and will appreciate a joint collaborative creation. Good luck!
