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JollyIsTheRoger said:
I have beersmith set up to do a no sparge biab, so my numbers will be a little off from what you are wanting, but you'll get the idea.

3# of grain in the mash with 7.5 qts of water, you will need a mash tun volume of 2.14 gallons. (if you do less water than that, then less volume and just sparge later like you said you were going to do.

This is also telling me the strike water should be 152.2F to hit 145, but if you don't have as much water this will be different, but a good starting point.

I suggest stirring the grain bag while sparging to make sure that fresh water is getting to the middle of the mash.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I found a mash infusion and rest calculator on http://www.brewersfriend.com/, but it doesn't give a mash tun volume. Since I plan to use a 4.8 qts of water, a 9 qt (2.25 gallon cooler should easily cover it. Using 3 lbs of grain in the mash with 4.8 qts of water it gives me a strike water temperature of 155. If I decide to go PM and only use 2 lbs of grain, it tells me 151.7.

Ultimately I'm just going to have to do this and see how my numbers and efficiency work out in the end, but at least I know a cheap $10 cooler from Walmart is big enough to mash high OG 1 gallon batches.
 
ianmatth said:
Since I plan to use a 4.8 qts of water, a 9 qt (2.25 gallon cooler should easily cover it. Using 3 lbs of grain in the mash with 4.8 qts of water it gives me a strike water temperature of 155. If I decide to go PM and only use 2 lbs of grain, it tells me 151.7.

Ultimately I'm just going to have to do this and see how my numbers and efficiency work out in the end, but at least I know a cheap $10 cooler from Walmart is big enough to mash high OG 1 gallon batches.
Click to expand...

I've been looking for a cooler to use as a mash tun for 1 gallon BIAB small batches and can't decide between a 2-gallon or a 5-gallon beverage-style cooler. There are 3-gallon models but they're more expensive than the 5-gallon coolers, which makes no sense. I've seen Rubbermaid and Igloo 2-gallon coolers at Home Depot and Lowes for less than $10. The lids of those coolers have air vents that can let heat escape even when they're closed and the lids aren't insulated at all. The larger 5-gallon coolers are over $20, but they appear to have insulated lids, which should help maintain mash temps. The choice seems to be between less headroom and no insulation vs. much better insulation but almost excessive head room. I'm not sure which way to go.
 
Go with the 5...you can put a layer of tin foil over the mash to help insure temps and then wrap it with a blanket, you will have no issues. And you will be happy if you ever decide to go to 2 or 3 gallon, or even do a double batch or partygyle one day. Also, the 3 is more expensive so that really ends the argument.
 
Calichusetts said:
Go with the 5...you can put a layer of tin foil over the mash to help insure temps and then wrap it with a blanket, you will have no issues. And you will be happy if you ever decide to go to 2 or 3 gallon, or even do a double batch or partygyle one day. Also, the 3 is more expensive so that really ends the argument.
Click to expand...

That makes a lot of sense.

I was leaning toward the 5-gallon cooler for the reason you mentioned -- the possibility of going to larger batches in the future -- plus it just seems to have better insulation than the smaller coolers. Your tip about using aluminum-foil to stabilize the mash temp is an easy fix and it eliminates my concern about excessive head space that needs to stay warm. Good idea!!!

Thanks.
 
Do 3 gallon brewers count here? lol... I considered 1 gallon, decided it was too little, 5 gallons too much. I want a quick turnover so i can brew more often and try new things!
 
I'm doing a Duvel clone this weekend with a recipe I found at my local homebrew store. The guy wasn't very clear with the instructions so I figure I need to ask here. It was for a 5 gal batch but I'm only doing 1 gal again. It says to steep 1/2 gal then sparge 1/2 gal. Should I just steep a qt then sparge a qt as well? Then it says to add water for 1.5 gal total for the extract and initial hops. Should I just do the 2 qts cause the next step calls to add 1.5 more gals to get to 3 gals. Then to add 2.5 gals a of water in the primary to get to 5 gals. Should I just do the whole thing as 2 qts then add 2 qts in the primary to get to a gal? This is confusing with 1 gal batches.

This is only my second attempt so I'm still learning.
 
EClayton08 said:
I'm doing a Duvel clone this weekend with a recipe I found at my local homebrew store. The guy wasn't very clear with the instructions so I figure I need to ask here. It was for a 5 gal batch but I'm only doing 1 gal again. It says to steep 1/2 gal then sparge 1/2 gal. Should I just steep a qt then sparge a qt as well? Then it says to add water for 1.5 gal total for the extract and initial hops. Should I just do the 2 qts cause the next step calls to add 1.5 more gals to get to 3 gals. Then to add 2.5 gals a of water in the primary to get to 5 gals. Should I just do the whole thing as 2 qts then add 2 qts in the primary to get to a gal? This is confusing with 1 gal batches.

This is only my second attempt so I'm still learning.
Click to expand...

I always do full volume boils with my 1 gal batches, even with extract, rather than adding a bunch of water to the primary. As far as the water volume for the steeping, it probably doesn't matter that much.
 
sterling757 said:
I always do full volume boils with my 1 gal batches, even with extract, rather than adding a bunch of water to the primary. As far as the water volume for the steeping, it probably doesn't matter that much.
Click to expand...

Alright thanks. So how much water should I use for the boil? 1.5 gal? Or exactly 1 and if I'm under in my primary add water to get to a gal?
 
Dybz said:
Do 3 gallon brewers count here? lol... I considered 1 gallon, decided it was too little, 5 gallons too much. I want a quick turnover so i can brew more often and try new things!
Click to expand...

We dont like your 3 gallon kind round here boy :D sorry I had too.
 
EClayton08 said:
Alright thanks. So how much water should I use for the boil? 1.5 gal? Or exactly 1 and if I'm under in my primary add water to get to a gal?
Click to expand...
Either way will work just fine. You can always add water at the fermetner or let it boil off a little longer if you have too much. If you know your boil off rate specific to your 1 gal brew setup that helps, but it sounds like you might need to do a few 1 gals to figure that rate out. If you have the time, you can test it with plain water. Mine is about .4 gal/hr. but it depends on a lot of variables. I like to have exactly 1 gal post boil mainly because I ferment in 1 gal glass jugs and have zero extra space.
 
Dybz said:
Do 3 gallon brewers count here? lol... I considered 1 gallon, decided it was too little, 5 gallons too much. I want a quick turnover so i can brew more often and try new things!
Click to expand...

I have come to the rather obvious conclusion that the perfect batch size is 2.4 gallon BIAB size.:drunk:

Here is my logic: 2.4 gallons should fill up a case of 12 ounce bottles with about 20 ounces left for waste/trub/minor spills etc...

That being said my last 3 or 4 perfect size 2.4 gallon brews seem to leave me with 1 or 2 bottles short of a full case. 2.5 gallon would probably be even more perfect, but I think it could get pretty tight on head space in a 3 gallon carboy. Might be OK with a blow off tube, but I haven't tried that yet.
 
RichE said:
I have come to the rather obvious conclusion that the perfect batch size is 2.4 gallon BIAB size.:drunk:

Here is my logic: 2.4 gallons should fill up a case of 12 ounce bottles with about 20 ounces left for waste/trub/minor spills etc...

That being said my last 3 or 4 perfect size 2.4 gallon brews seem to leave me with 1 or 2 bottles short of a full case. 2.5 gallon would probably be even more perfect, but I think it could get pretty tight on head space in a 3 gallon carboy. Might be OK with a blow off tube, but I haven't tried that yet.
Click to expand...

I just use a 5 gallon carboy for a 2.5 gallon beer.
 
TCGoose said:
3 gallon (12L), so I don't have to worry about boil overs. Pre-boil volume is somewhere around 2 gallons for me.
Click to expand...

What is your post-boil volume, when you use a pre-boil volume of 2 gallons?

I've been reading about 1-gallon batches, and one book (Beer Craft) recommends a 2-gallon pre-boil volume, however another book (Brooklyn Brewshop's Beer Making Book) recommends a 5 quart pre-boil volume.

I don't understand how their can be such a discrepancy. The beer craft book suggests that you will lose 1 gallon to boiling (1 hour), however I did a test boil with 2 gallons of water, and only lost 1.75 quarts (which is much less than the 4 quarts Beer Craft suggests, however also higher than the 1 quart that Brooklyn suggests).

I also noticed that the recipes in the Beer Craft book call for significantly more grain on average than the Brooklyn book (Beer craft is on average 2.5 to 3 lbs for standard beers, and Brooklyn is 1.8-2.2 on average).

Any help understanding this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Oilerfan_55 said:
What is your post-boil volume, when you use a pre-boil volume of 2 gallons?

I've been reading about 1-gallon batches, and one book (Beer Craft) recommends a 2-gallon pre-boil volume, however another book (Brooklyn Brewshop's Beer Making Book) recommends a 5 quart pre-boil volume.

I don't understand how their can be such a discrepancy. The beer craft book suggests that you will lose 1 gallon to boiling (1 hour), however I did a test boil with 2 gallons of water, and only lost 1.75 quarts (which is much less than the 4 quarts Beer Craft suggests, however also higher than the 1 quart that Brooklyn suggests).

I also noticed that the recipes in the Beer Craft book call for significantly more grain on average than the Brooklyn book (Beer craft is on average 2.5 to 3 lbs for standard beers, and Brooklyn is 1.8-2.2 on average).

Any help understanding this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I get what you get ~0.5 gallons of boil off. But then add in a quarter gallon for trub loss, add a bit more than a should into the fermenter... I originally based it of if the beer craft book, but I've found that 2 quarts if boil off is right for my pot. I just like to end up with more than a gallon after the boil, allows me to avoid the cold break.
 
TCGoose said:
Yeah, I get what you get ~0.5 gallons of boil off. But then add in a quarter gallon for trub loss, add a bit more than a should into the fermenter... I originally based it of if the beer craft book, but I've found that 2 quarts if boil off is right for my pot. I just like to end up with more than a gallon after the boil, allows me to avoid the cold break.
Click to expand...

I guess that is why the Beer Craft recipes have more grain in them as well, as they are "technically" designed to produce more than the 1 gallon of post-boil wort (If there actually was a 1 gallon loss to evaporation using these recipes, the post-boil wort gravity would be significantly higher than what the recipes called for, right?)

If I understand this correctly then, you could technically use less grain, and aim for a more efficient post-boil volume than the Beer Craft recipes give you.

Thanks for the response, it was helpful.
 
For liquid yeast, I am pretty much limited to using Wyeast smack packs due to availability.

As per MrMalty, 1/2 of an activated pack seems to be the standard for a 1-gallon batch of beer. Is this what everyone else finds?

Also, what (if anything) can be done with the 1/2 of the pack that goes unused? Is there any way to save this and use in another batch?

Thanks.
 
Oilerfan_55 said:
For liquid yeast, I am pretty much limited to using Wyeast smack packs due to availability.

As per MrMalty, 1/2 of an activated pack seems to be the standard for a 1-gallon batch of beer. Is this what everyone else finds?

Also, what (if anything) can be done with the 1/2 of the pack that goes unused? Is there any way to save this and use in another batch?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Usually if you use it within maybe two weeks at the most it should be ok. This is part of the reason I bought starter equipment and started a yeast library so I can use how much I need way cheaper and without waste.
 
Ostomo517 said:
Usually if you use it within maybe two weeks at the most it should be ok. This is part of the reason I bought starter equipment and started a yeast library so I can use how much I need way cheaper and without waste.
Click to expand...

So once I activate the pack (and wait 3 hours), I can dump half of it into my fermenter, and the other half into a sanitized contained and put it back in the fridge for up to 2 weeks?
 
Oilerfan_55 said:
So once I activate the pack (and wait 3 hours), I can dump half of it into my fermenter, and the other half into a sanitized contained and put it back in the fridge for up to 2 weeks?
Click to expand...

Ive done it before but I would say one week is better you have no tools to make a starter
 
Dybz said:
Do 3 gallon brewers count here? lol... I considered 1 gallon, decided it was too little, 5 gallons too much. I want a quick turnover so i can brew more often and try new things!
Click to expand...

Heck yes it counts! I do 1-1.75gallons in winter and 3-5 in summer cheers!
 
RichE said:
I have come to the rather obvious conclusion that the perfect batch size is 2.4 gallon BIAB size.:drunk:

Here is my logic: 2.4 gallons should fill up a case of 12 ounce bottles with about 20 ounces left for waste/trub/minor spills etc...

That being said my last 3 or 4 perfect size 2.4 gallon brews seem to leave me with 1 or 2 bottles short of a full case. 2.5 gallon would probably be even more perfect, but I think it could get pretty tight on head space in a 3 gallon carboy. Might be OK with a blow off tube, but I haven't tried that yet.
Click to expand...

I really like a 2.7 gallon batch.

Edit: meant 2.4 as it fits a 3 gallon bucket nicely!
 
Oilerfan_55 said:
What is your post-boil volume, when you use a pre-boil volume of 2 gallons?

I've been reading about 1-gallon batches, and one book (Beer Craft) recommends a 2-gallon pre-boil volume, however another book (Brooklyn Brewshop's Beer Making Book) recommends a 5 quart pre-boil volume.

I don't understand how their can be such a discrepancy. The beer craft book suggests that you will lose 1 gallon to boiling (1 hour), however I did a test boil with 2 gallons of water, and only lost 1.75 quarts (which is much less than the 4 quarts Beer Craft suggests, however also higher than the 1 quart that Brooklyn suggests).

I also noticed that the recipes in the Beer Craft book call for significantly more grain on average than the Brooklyn book (Beer craft is on average 2.5 to 3 lbs for standard beers, and Brooklyn is 1.8-2.2 on average).

Any help understanding this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...


No way in an hour boil you are getting .25 gallon evaporation no matter what your setup. 2 gallon seems like the right choice. I aim for 2.25 gallons and hit it almost every time. I FWH then check 20-30 minutes in for my boil off depending on the time of year. I vary from a 75-90 minute boil but never really any different. That is a .7 gallon per hour boil off to leave me with 1.15 gallons or so for cooling. Chilled, its literally exactly 1 gallon or slightly more. I use a very slim 3 gallon pot so I don't see how you can get much different than that. Maybe I have a newer, better stove, but if you are not getting anything more than .3 gallons an hour, I would be concerned if you are really reaching a true boil. I want a vigorous boil to get more mallard reactions, but even when I tone it down, I still hit .4 gallons at least an hour at minimum. Just my experience...

Also, if I remember (over two years ago) BBS called for a 4 quart mash and 5 quart sparge. That is around 2 gallons post-mash...maybe they have change but something seems amiss...
 
Wow...I just checked their website and it seems they do recommend a 6 quart total mash. This seems remarkably low IMO, but I am far removed from kits and have my own system. Still, I highly recommend getting at least 1.5 gallons, even if it means a longer boil to get you to 1 gallon. No harm, only benefits
 
Calichusetts said:
No way in an hour boil you are getting .25 gallon evaporation no matter what your setup. 2 gallon seems like the right choice. I aim for 2.25 gallons and hit it almost every time. I FWH then check 20-30 minutes in for my boil off depending on the time of year. I vary from a 75-90 minute boil but never really any different. That is a .7 gallon per hour boil off to leave me with 1.15 gallons or so for cooling. Chilled, its literally exactly 1 gallon or slightly more. I use a very slim 3 gallon pot so I don't see how you can get much different than that. Maybe I have a newer, better stove, but if you are not getting anything more than .3 gallons an hour, I would be concerned if you are really reaching a true boil. I want a vigorous boil to get more mallard reactions, but even when I tone it down, I still hit .4 gallons at least an hour at minimum. Just my experience...

Also, if I remember (over two years ago) BBS called for a 4 quart mash and 5 quart sparge. That is around 2 gallons post-mash...maybe they have change but something seems amiss...
Click to expand...

On my test boil (8 quarts for an hour), I lost 22%, which seems about right when looking around at other statistics.... I think that since the recipe calls for so much grain though, it is anticipating having unused wort. If you boiled it more than 60 minutes to concentrate it more, the gravity would be too high. That's just my hunch though. I am going to follow the recipe from the book exactly tomorrow, and see how it turns out (first ever brew, wish me luck)
 
Calichusetts said:
Wow...I just checked their website and it seems they do recommend a 6 quart total mash. This seems remarkably low IMO, but I am far removed from kits and have my own system. Still, I highly recommend getting at least 1.5 gallons, even if it means a longer boil to get you to 1 gallon. No harm, only benefits
Click to expand...

If you have the right amount of grain though, and you end up with too much wort, you can always add water to fermenter and the original gravity will be correct. That's how I understand it at least. It has more to do with the proper amount of grain for a 1 gallon finished product....
 
First let me say thanks to this thread. It inspired me to start brewing and start with all grain too. Seemed much less intimidating to start all grain with small batches. My question: I brewed Edwort's Haus pale ale and will bottle it tomorrow. It's a 1.5 gallon batch in a 2 gallon bucket. Ill be using corn sugar but how much do you guys think I will lose to the yeast cake? Should I calculate for 1.25 gallons when figuring the sugar to add?? Thoughts?
 
So started with 1 gallon recipes (paired down from 5) and now I have my first two batches fermenting! A RIS and a Railside Red clone with more hops at 60 mins ;)

image-133172595.jpg


image-70488656.jpg
 
Keep missing my targets, need to change up my mashing I think since I would guess that's my biggest problem. Was doing warm oven trick but that may be too much, I'm gonna soon be getting a ton of old egg crate things and a comforter which should do the job.,
 
D-Wes said:
As long as the tube is submerged I should be good right?
Click to expand...

Technically yes but it's cheap insurance to have a good enough amount over it so you're assured you don't have an open tube
 

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