Hi there, So i am fairly new to the home brewing scene, I actually have a Brown Ale in secondary fermentation as i write this. Brew day went smooth and everything smells great. So my question is this, i was thinking about this the other day, about brewing 5 gallons of one beer style, and having 48-50 beers of that one most likely delicious beer, or looking into having a few different beers in the 1 gallon way, say brew three times in one week or, once for three different weekends to stagger them in the process so your not bombarded on bottling day. My thoughts are to this, you can now have three different brews in a fairly close timeline vs. one style beer in that same timeline. Though i know this means more equipment, sanitizer and time, and you only get around 12 beers per 1 gallon batch, so it would go a lot quicker in a sense. I know i'm kinda answering and discussing this while i write it, but i guess my question is what are your thoughts on this idea, maybe a list of pros/cons, or personal experiences in it? One brew day of a 5 gallon brew. or multiple 1 gallon batches coinciding within a few week stretch? Also, if there is a forum on this topic already, maybe post the link to it, i would be glad to read it. Thank you in advance for your thoughts and help.
The other issue I have with the 1 gallon is getting it out of there. I can never seem to get the beer out of the 1 gallon jugs efficiently.
The only reason I don't like to do that is it always seems like a lot more work! I've also found it to be more expensive (per gallon) unless you use the same yeast and hops. What i like to do is take the same beer and split it up and add different items to the separate containers to see how they transform the beer.
I was also wondering that, Fermenting in the 1 gal jugs, how is the clarity of the beer? because can you or is it wise to rack it to another 1 gallon jug to try to clarify the beer a little more?
I have no issue with 1 gallon batch clarity. After cold crashing my beer is pretty clear. I've never had to rack to secondary. Advantages to a multi-one gallon set up: Batches are cheaper Brew day/bottle day is easier and faster Run multiple 1 gallon batches at once for more diversity If you mess up a batch, you only have 8-10 bad bottles of beer and not 50 Less equipment (no wort chiller, burner, giant kettle) You can do a 2-5 gallon brew and separate them into individual 1 gallon fermenters to dry hop/flavor differently, age differently, or pitch different yeasts
You can only do about .75 gallons in a 1 gallon jug for krausen room, then you will lose .05-.10 gallons to the yeast cake/trub in the bottom as well as to the syphon. That puts you at .65-.60 gallons in a 1 gallon jug, that is a lot of head space. If you can get 3/4 gallon jugs as a secondary (if needed, but not usually) that would be better. But then you will lose another percentage to the bottom of the secondary, plus losses to dry hop absorption/pellet sludge, fruit pulp, nib sludge, wood chips, etc. Not sure it is worth it.
What jbakajust1 relates is my exact experience. I do some small batches to experiment with yeast or hops, but expect to get 'bout six bottles from a one gallon carboy when it's all said and done. For the OP, you're after the flexibility of having different beers around (just like all of us). A good compromise is to make your 5 gallon batch and split to two 3-gallon carboys and add different dry hops and/or yeast. You will also find that once your homebrew machine is running at top form you will have a pipeline of beers coming online to give you diversity.
Nothing under 2.5 gallons is really worth it to me. I love variety, but you do essentially the same amount of work and have the same timeline for such a small amount of beers in 1 gallon batches.
I've done many 1 gallon batches, but don't do them anymore. I always managed 9 or 10 eleven ounce beers out of them, but a 4 hours + brew day is a lot of work for that. I now exclusively do 2.5 to 2.75 gallon BIAB batches in 3 gallon carboys. I get 24 to 28 beers per batch, which is perfect for my needs. I do still use my 1 gallon jugs to experiment with different brett strains and bugs. I'll frequently bottle 1.5 gallon of a 2.5 gallon batch, and rack the rest to a 1 gallon jug, then toss in some critters.
Thanks for all the replies so far. A good sense of knowledge and that might be a good idea, leave the 1 gallons for testing batches. I might try to do a few small batches in the future and then make full 5 gallon batches if i like something a lot. I have two cousins who brew as well, so i think we will swap beers anyway.
The other thing to consider is that most recipes, and pretty much every recipe kit, is built to 5 gallon batches, so until you get comfortable creating your own recipes or have a software program to do it for you, 5 gallon batches are your friends.
If you're anything like me, you'll run out of beer all the time. In my case even 5gal batches are almost too small, just for my own consumption (3-6 beers a day) plus I like to give samples out, and have company over etc. It's hard t answer your question because I don't know how much beer you drink/plan to drink. I personally think it's a lot of work for too little beer. You might want to look into BIAB (brew in a bag). It's a good introduction to all grain brewing, and yields about 2.5ish gallons. With BIAB, you can get very creative and really customize your beer with the abilities of AG brewing. Cheers, Chris
I think you make a valid point here. By the time you've thoroughly completed an experiment, you've drank about a case. That said, If I had to do cider again, I'd probably go back to the gallon growlers. This is also how I do wine. I'm still sort of new to wine.
Two things: 1) Most...if not every...home brewer wants a pipeline of ready-to-enjoy beers but not every homebrewer wants or needs or can manage the production of 5-Gs from one recipe. 2) A well-managed pipeline essentially ensures production equals consumption. 3) A 1-G batch size is not the only alternative.
I brew a lot of 1-3 gallon batches. I like brewing as much or more than I like drinking so increasing the frequency of brewing through small batch brewing helps me enjoy the hobby more often. I do a lot of one gallon batches but I've been moving up to two or three gallons now that my circle of friends includes a growing number of people who enjoy craft beer that will enjoy what I brew. It is more work per bottle for small batches than large batches but obviously you don't end up with fifty bottles of the same beer to kill. If you want to give away a lot of beer then you might be able to unload a lot of it but a bad or mediocre batch will be yours to drink or dump. There are a few places selling smaller kits but for the most part getting into small batches will become meaningful when you start managing an inventory of brewing ingredients and building your own recipes. You also need the equipment for small batches, which means scales that measure down to tenths of grams, the small autosiphon, a refractometer, etc. You may find it easier to break down one five gallon batch into multiple variants with different yeast, dry hops, fruit additions, etc. and only need to acquire a few gallon jugs instead of an entirely different brewing system.
Great responses and something ill definitely look into. In the future that might be a good idea, to maybe try a few different yeasts and addition of dry hopping and other sorts. @CDennyRun, i drink around a few beers a night, though some nights i don't and i do have enough friends and family to share with. I also have 2 cousins who brew, so we were talking over the weekend to possibly each batch we brew, exchange like a 6 pack to each other, to kinda try something else, or to have and to share. I might looking into BIAB, in the future after i get a few more brews under my belt and begin to have a more consistent knowledge of what i may be doing right/wrong. thanks again.
I don't think a 5-gallon batch is really THAT much (especially when you think about how inexpensive brewing is compared to purchasing), especially since I like the idea of giving some away or seeing how taste changes with time. On the other hand, I understand wanting to try a variety of beers in smaller volume, especially if you are experimenting with something you might not like that much. Similar to the hopping options mentioned above, I tried getting the best of both worlds by adding the flavoring late last time I brewed -- I made a 5 gallon stout recipe, and then at bottling time added flavors so I ended up with about 12 or 13 each plain stouts, vanilla stouts, coffee stouts, and chocolate stouts. I did the flavors in that order. By adding the flavors at bottling (which admittedly limited my options) I was able to basically limit my labor up through secondary fermentation to the same as it would have been with one big batch. Then when I prepped my priming sugar, I split it into 4 equal portions and added the flavorings in with the sugar. I put the plain priming sugar followed by 1/4 of the beer in my bottling bucket and bottled it, then did the vanilla/priming sugar mix and another 1/4, followed by the coffee and chocolate. Bottling day was a pain, but it always is. The beer itself was just OK, but I thought the flavoring worked well. If I did it again, I'd ideally like to get some 2 or 3 gallon carboys and do the flavoring in the secondary; I definitely think brewing completely separate one gallon batches would be too labor intensive (since you would have just as much sanitizing/brewing effort for a gallon as you normally do for five).
