1 Gallon Batch

[phynes1]

Anyone ever tried 1 gallon batches? Whats your experience?

I like the idea of a quicker brew time and trying more recipes.

But it seems like a horrid amount of work for less than 4 litres of beer!

Interesting article: http://homebrewingfun.blogspot.com/p/one-gallon-homebrewing.html

[irish_goat]

I did a batch of pale ale once and split 1 gallon into a demi john, added extra hops, orange peel and some extra speciality grains. The beer that came out was really nice but as you said, it was a lot of extra effort for 8 bottles. Bottling from a 1 gallon demijohn isn't easy either.

[JDC]

My first full year of brewing was one gallon All Grain batches.  It was only when I joined GCB's that I moved to 5 Gallon.  In hindsight, it was a lot of work for little reward, but I was brewing every week or so (compared to once a month or less now), so once I found something I liked, I would tweak little things each brew to see the effects to the beer.  That whole year was spent just trying to learn the process of brewing by trial and error and I loved it.

When I moved to 5 Gallon, I just presumed it would be the same length brew day for 5 times the reward, not realising that 5 times the volume is going to take longer to heat and cool (depends on your equipment I suppose), so a one gallon brew day can be quite quick once you're used to it.  You tell yourself that you will go back and experiment with one gallon batches once every so often, but I'm nearly 2 years on 5 Gallon now and haven't gone back.

For someone getting into brewing, as I was, I would highly recommend the one gallon route though as it doesn't break the bank if you decide it's not for you.

[Leann ull]

The only thing I've noticed in bigger 10g batches and any barrels I've been involved with I feel I get better consistency, that could all be in my head tho

[robotmonkey]

I do mostly one gallon batches. It's great for test batches before doing them at 5+ gallons.

Only real issue I had was maintaining that mash temperature on such a small scale. I use a two gallon water cooler (smaller version of the 10 gallon Rubbermaid ones) now that does the job but I know others who just put the pot in the oven on its lowest setting.

[Parky]

I brewed 1 gallon batches for quite awhile, and it suited my situation at the time (read: living in a tiny apartment  ).

My focus was to learn about brewing technique and different styles of beer. Brewing small batches allowed me to brew at least once a week, and learn at a much faster rate than I could otherwise. It meant that I could experiment and explore with minimum consequence or cost. It also meant that I could brew all-grain on a domestic hob without the equipment that comes with brewing larger batches.

My basic setup was a 9L stock pot, and I used the BIAB technique to mash the grain, keeping it in the oven on low heat to maintain temp. Then a no sparge/single sparge to extract the goodies. After that a regular 60 min. boil and cool-down in an ice bath in the sink. I fermented in a 5L 'bottlejohn' (5L water bottle), as I used bottled water to brew (recycling and reducing my carbon footprint, ha ha), and racked to a bottling bucket with a simple siphon before bottling with same.

The whole brew day took about 3.5hrs, as the boiling and cooling of the water/wort happens much faster at lower volumes. Bottling day was a breeze too – less bottles to clean and sanitize. Using a new 'bottlejohn' to ferment each brew also meant my FV would be new and unscratched every time, and I'd just chuck it in the recycle bin afterwards – again, cleaning ain't my favourite part of brewing  .

As far as 'a horrid amount of work' is concerned, this is a hobby not a job, and for me at least, the end volume wasn't the point. I still brew small batch, but in 10L-15L batches now, and have the advantage of being able to set up a brew day, and store equipment/bottles/fermenters, while still maintaining the domestic equilibrium.

You can find some pics of my 1 gallon batches in my older posts, or the BrewWiki here.

At the end of the day, depends what you're trying to achieve, but brewing small can help you 'skill up' a lot quicker, And if you brew each week you'll probably produce as much beer as you would making 5 gallon batches every 3-4 weeks, bonus being you'll have a fridge full of many different styles.

Happy brewing !

[phynes1]

Sounds like 1 gallon batches would be handy for someone who wants the flexibility of a highly iterative process, for example recipe tweaking or developing knowledge of the brewing process. 

[Joe Cal]

I brew all one gallon for almost 2 years now and love it. Agree with all what Parky said. I'm in a tiny apartment so less equipment is key. One thing I'd say is storing grains and hops is something to be on top of. I dunno about 5 gallon but I imagine they can get through stock faster and buy fresh. I still have some hops (I buy 100g at a time) at the back of the freezer for 14 months. I've done a lot of substituting using online sources and it usually goes ok. I've only recently worked out the alpha acid degradation and am giving serious thought to a vacuum packer


Wanted to add in this link I just found today

http://www.bullcityhomebrew.com/recipes.aspx?category=onegallon


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[Qs]

Do you guys ferment in demijohns and if so how do you package from them?

[Joe Cal]

I use a demijohn, syphon to an 8.5 litre Stainless Steel Casserole Dish Pot that is also my kettle. Add bottling sugar solution to that then syphon from that to bottles.

Was thinking about getting a ~5 litre container with a spigot to cut out that second syphon but not sure how much oxygen would be introduced

[Parky]

Do you guys ferment in demijohns and if so how do you package from them?

I'm using Tesco water for brewing, so have plenty of 5L bottles left over and use them as 'bottlejohns' and priming vessels. Just siphon from the one I use for the FV to another sanitised bottle with priming solution, and bottle from that. Both 5L bottles go in recycling bin afterwards, so no fuss having to clean a demijohn every time I brew. I find the 5L bottles easier to sanitise, as they have a screw top, and they come with a handy carrying handle too - bonus 

[Joe Cal]

Do you guys ferment in demijohns and if so how do you package from them?

I'm using Tesco water for brewing, so have plenty of 5L bottles left over and use them as 'bottlejohns' and priming vessels. Just siphon from the one I use for the FV to another sanitised bottle with priming solution, and bottle from that. Both 5L bottles go in recycling bin afterwards, so no fuss having to clean a demijohn every time I brew. I find the 5L bottles easier to sanitise, as they have a screw top, and they come with a handy carrying handle too - bonus 

Would it be an easy job to fit a spigot to the bottom of one?

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[molc]

Are they good grade for fermenting?

[Drum]

Do you guys ferment in demijohns and if so how do you package from them?

I'm using Tesco water for brewing, so have plenty of 5L bottles left over and use them as 'bottlejohns' and priming vessels. Just siphon from the one I use for the FV to another sanitised bottle with priming solution, and bottle from that. Both 5L bottles go in recycling bin afterwards, so no fuss having to clean a demijohn every time I brew. I find the 5L bottles easier to sanitise, as they have a screw top, and they come with a handy carrying handle too - bonus 

Would it be an easy job to fit a spigot to the bottom of one?

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It's pretty much impossible to cut the hole for a spigot on one of those,  I tried and failed.   

Why not get a small fv like this http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/5-litre-fermentation-vessel-and-lid-p-861.html order a tap at the same time and ask nicely if hbc or whoever will pre drill the hole for you. Im pretty sure any hbs buys the buckets and drills the tap holes themselves.

[Parky]

It's pretty much impossible to cut the hole for a spigot on one of those,  I tried and failed. 

+1 to what Drum said, the plastic is fairly thin, so difficult to drill a hole that will make a good seal for a spigot. Besides, not sure how you would get the back nut on the spigot tight enough. Bit like putting a ship in a bottle 



@Joe Cal - Nothing wrong with the approach you're already using. My own approach was to attach a bottling wand to the end of the tubing to control the flow of beer, and having all the bottles arranged side by side meant I could fill them in one sweep, capping when they were all done. I held the siphon end in place with a bulldog clip (although duct tape works well too), tilting towards the end of the fill. There are clips available if you're using an autosiphon which will do the job nicely.

@molc -

Are they good grade for fermenting?

You'd have to ask Mr Tesco for a definitive answer on that, but my logic is that if they're used for water they would have to be food grade - EU rules and all that.