advice, 1 gallon brewing

[jason1973]

what peoples opiniun on 1 gallon?
and also what think about Brooklyn Brewshop Beer Making Kit ?
am now leaning towards this root, first whole grain, second i have to stove top brew and have limited space for fermentor, yet i could store several 1 gallons at a time.
just in a condo. plus like idea of makeing several different beers at once.
also id assume yes but could i use my mr beer as a extra fermentor with 1 gallon batches?

 

[NTexBrewer]

1 gallon brews are great.

The only downside if you make something awesome it could be gone in a week!

1 gallon brews are also good to experiment with ciders and meads.

Mr. Beer fermenters work great. You can pretty much ferment in anything that is easy to clean/sterilize and is food grade. I have some 2 gallon buckets I got from the LHBS but I really like glass so I can see what is going on. I have a few 1 gallon apple cider bottles, 2 2.5 gallon Anchor Pickle Jars and a 2.5 gallon plastic Pretzel container that I got from Costco that I ferment my small brews in.

I've never used Brooklyn Brewing before. If you know what your recipe is you should be able to go to your LHBS and get the ingredients for a 1 gallon brew cheaper then something that is already packaged. But, I'm guessing that Brooklyn Brewing should have some good instructions for their kits so that may be a good place to start.

Check out the book True Brews by Emma Christensen. I have made most of the beer recipes from this book and all have turned out well. All of her recipes are for 1 gallon batches. The book also has recipes for meads, wine, cider and other fermentable drinks.


Any recipe can be scaled up or down also.

 

[jason1973]

Thx for reply, i think ill go this root , latter if want up game will only need get a bigger fermentor, unfortenetly for 5 gallons i can only do partial boils.
Plus when i do go 5 gallon will be a stainless conical

 

[Cyclman]

I don't do one gallon, but have a 4G brewpot and a 3G cooler mash tun, and do BIAB on the stove. Makes a case of beer. I am not sure 1G is worth it. If I like it, I scale up on my 10G full AG system.

 

[teleplucker]

I started with a 1G BBS kit. Then, I bought the grain/hops/yeast I needed from the LHBS for new batches....then, a second 1G fermenter....and, so on. It's a great way to start. I'm planning to move up to 2.5G BIAB at some point, so I can keep brewing in my kitchen, once I have some good recipes. I'll still do 1G batches as experiments, though.

Chapter's was selling the BBS kits around Father's Day, but I got mine at a local indie store for $10 less.

 

[mamies]

1 gallon brews give you the opportunity to practice with your procedures and recipes. Since you brew more to keep up with stocks you get your procedures down pat a lot faster.

You also get to experiment with recipes. If you make a bad one you only have 1 gallon to drink.

 

[Calichusetts]

LOVE 1 gallon. Equipment is minimal (most needs are already met with your current kitchen cookware) and space is also the most managable. Started 1 gallon 5 years ago and haven't left it. I even have the equipment for 5 gallon gathering dust in my basement. Will switch to 2.5 gallon this winter after the kitchen reno but I would never take the experimental chances I do with larger batches. I am willing to try more and learn more with my 1 gallon batches.

 

[bernardsmith]

Total newbie when it comes to brewing but I have been making wines and meads and ciders for some years. I really only brew 1 gallon batches because a) it allows me to experiment by making several similar batches and changing one variable (say the specialty grain or the hop or the length of time boiling etc) and b) I can brew frequently without concern that I am storing large quantities of brews. True , the one downside is that it takes almost the same amount of effort and time to brew one gallon as it does five but this is my hobby and not something I measure in terms of economic efficiencies.

 

[dzlater]

Personaly I'd rather do a 5 gallon partial boil, then a one gallon full boil. I guess if you're experimenting one gallon makes some sense, but I'm not much of an experimenter.

 

[C-Rider]

I started doing 5 gallon extract kits, but got tired of drinking the same beer all the time. so I went straight into AG BIAB. size started at about 1.75 ga and now do 1.9 gal in a 2 gallon plastic bucket from HD. Each brew produces 18 bottles. Check this "old" video

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