Brewing a 1 gallon (All Grain) batch

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by DerrickW, May 6, 2014.

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  1. DerrickW

    DerrickW Pundit (991) Jan 17, 2013 Georgia

    Greetings BAs,

    I've been brewing exclusively extract batches and was thinking about trying an all grain batch soon. I was thinking I should be able to steep a pound or two of grains in a muslin bag for 60 min and then bring it to boil. My question is, have any of you brewed a 1 gallon all grain batch this way and if so, how did it turn out?
     
  2. kalvarez

    kalvarez Initiate (0) Jul 22, 2010 Wisconsin

    You're essentially describing the BIAB (Brew in a Bag) method. It's a relatively easy way to all grain brew. I one gallon BIAB quite often and am happy with the results.
     
  3. od_sf

    od_sf Initiate (0) Nov 2, 2010 California

    I brew BIAB exclusively and love it.
     
    BILF likes this.
  4. jae

    jae Initiate (0) Feb 21, 2010 Washington

    I do 2-2.5 gallon BIAB batches and some smaller batches (1-2 gallons) as experimental batches. I like the small batches. I can mash/boil on the stove and do a batch after work while fixing dinner for the fam/getting the kids in bed.

    I use 5 gallon paint strainer bags, which are cheap.
     
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  5. Chrispy

    Chrispy Initiate (0) Oct 30, 2012 Washington

    How long do these small batches take you? Still a 60 min mash and boil and then cooling in an ice bath?
     
  6. Mag00n

    Mag00n Initiate (0) Nov 21, 2008 New York

    Yes its still all the same procedure which is why most people go bigger, but I personally love the 2-3 gallon batch range.
     
  7. Chrispy

    Chrispy Initiate (0) Oct 30, 2012 Washington

    Why not make a 5 gallon batch and siphon off 1-2 gallons to smaller carboys for experimentation? I have done this many times experimenting with open fermentation/bottle dregs/fruit.
     
  8. od_sf

    od_sf Initiate (0) Nov 2, 2010 California

    A lot of people (me included) cannot brew outside, we have to do it indoors in a kitchen. Good luck doing 5 gallon all grain full boil on a kitchen stove.
     
    kalvarez likes this.
  9. DerrickW

    DerrickW Pundit (991) Jan 17, 2013 Georgia

    Have you noticed any issues with a partial boil? I plan on doing a 5 gallon partial boil soon and wanted to know what's the difference between a partial boil and full boil in terms of the finished product.
     
  10. od_sf

    od_sf Initiate (0) Nov 2, 2010 California

    I did a couple of 5 gallon partial boils before switching to 2.5 gallon BIAB full boils. The beers tasted just fine, but I had a hard time hitting the planned original gravity with both beers. I ended up roughly 10 gravity points lower than intended. I'm sure I would have eventually adjusted had I kept doing them, though.
     
  11. PaulyB83

    PaulyB83 Maven (1,399) Sep 1, 2013 Michigan

    Been doing BIAB 1 gallon batches myself, don't have the hardware for bigger batches right now, it's really easy and doing all grain I feel more like a brewer. I've been mashing in my oven for 75 min with the oven set as low as it will go and it holds the mash temp nicely.
     
  12. Homebrew42

    Homebrew42 Initiate (0) Dec 20, 2006 New York

    I've been doing it for years, and I'm definitely not the only one.
     
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  13. Chrispy

    Chrispy Initiate (0) Oct 30, 2012 Washington

    Until I got a burner a few months ago, I brewed my first 14ish batches on stove top. All 5 gallons, 1 six gallon. The only difference I noticed is how long it takes to boil/heat the water.
     
    kennyg likes this.
  14. od_sf

    od_sf Initiate (0) Nov 2, 2010 California

    Y'all have some mighty good kitchen stoves then. I can barely get 4 gallons of wort to a (not so vigorous) boil on mine.
     
  15. CrackTheSkye

    CrackTheSkye Initiate (0) Nov 3, 2011 Maryland

    For single headin bathes, what do you do for pitching yeast? I love the smack packs for full 5 gallon batches but I'd imagine that would be a little overkill for a 1gal batch.
     
  16. Davl22

    Davl22 Maven (1,341) Sep 27, 2011 New Hampshire
    Trader

    I still use the wyeast smack packs for 1 gal batches, I just don't dump the whole pack in.
     
  17. sixa66

    sixa66 Initiate (0) Jan 20, 2015 Florida

    Any idea on how much initial water to use for a one gallon BIAB? With 2 lbs of grains I would figure maybe 2 gallons? With grain absorption and boil off I would think I would be right around the one gallon mark. I thought there was a calculator somewhere but I can't seem to find it.
     
  18. CrackTheSkye

    CrackTheSkye Initiate (0) Nov 3, 2011 Maryland

    I think I would feel bad wasting all that yeast. I guess it's boy the end of the world, but should I set some wort aside and make a "starter" for another beer? Would there be something else productive to do with it?
     
  19. tedvr

    tedvr Initiate (0) Oct 24, 2014 Ohio

    There are quite a few one gallon recipes out there. I also have had good luck converting a five gallon recipe to grams and dividing by five.
     
  20. kalvarez

    kalvarez Initiate (0) Jul 22, 2010 Wisconsin

    Here's what I use:

    1 Gallon (Desired Batch Size) + Grain Absorption (Total Grain * 0.10) + Boil Off Rate (Varies) + Trub Loss (Roughly Total Hops * 0.15)

    So for a 1.065 IPA (2.8 LBS of Grain and 1 total oz of hops)
    1 Gallon + 0.30 Gallons Grain Absorption + 0.5 Gallon Boil Off + 0.15 Trub Loss = 1.95 Gallons
     
    Junkforadam, JxExM and sixa66 like this.
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