Hi from Illinois

[Brewer393052]

Hello

New-ish brewer here
I've starting brewing beer a few months ago, starting with 1-gallon batches, experimenting different styles of beer (IPA, Pilsner, Stout, ...).
I will move up to 5-gallon batches soon! Excited by the wider range of recipe kits, but a little bit afraid by the larger quantity of work to put in (especially at bottling)

Thanks!

 

[D.B.Moody]

Welcome to the hobby and HBT from an old brewer across the river in Missouri.

 

[Skeeter686]

Welcome from another flatlands!

Small batches are great for experimenting and let you brew more (unless you have a lot of parties for going through those 5 gallon batches!). Are you doing extract kits? LME kits would be a pain to divide, but DME or all-grain kits could probably be split into smaller batch sizes.

 

[SwampFoxBrewer]

Welcome from South Carolina!

I pretty much do exclusively 1 gallon batches. Got started with a Craft-a-brew kit, then began buying recipe books to begin learning more. Most of those have 5 gallon batches, so I just divide by 5. You might have to experiment a bit to get the measurements dialed in, but that’s part of the fun of homebrewing!

 

[bellhp]

Welcome, from the swamp.

 

[wallyLOZ]

Welcome from Missouri, neighbor!

I also started with one gallon batches, quickly moved up to five gallon.
Lugging around five gallons of beer and fermenter gets tougher every year.
Experimented with 2.5 gallon batches and I think I've found my niche. Easier brew day, clean-up, and bottling day.
Let us know where your brewing leads you. Cheers!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Welcome to the group!

Brewing a one gallon batch seems like not enough beer for the effort but I can appreciate brewing more often. I brew ten gallon all grain batches now, down from 15, but I brew recipes I love that have done many times before. It took some time to dial in what I wanted to brew so now I have a dozen solid recipes. The beginning of each year I put together a list of beers I want to brew then thinking of one or two new ones to try. I can bulk buy the grain I need and look for deals. It's my way and it works fine for my drinking needs.

Good luck on the path you take and with some time/experience you shouldn't be disappointed.

 

[Brewer393052]

Small batches are great for experimenting and let you brew more (unless you have a lot of parties for going through those 5 gallon batches!). Are you doing extract kits? LME kits would be a pain to divide, but DME or all-grain kits could probably be split into smaller batch sizes.

Yes, I'm using extract kits. But with one gallon, I can only make 5 22-oz bottles, and it goes way too fast

Oh and also the reason to move to 5-gallon is the wider range of recipes available I'd like to try

 

[Brewer393052]

Experimented with 2.5 gallon batches and I think I've found my niche

Are you using a fermenter for 5 gallons? Are you buying kits that you split in half or are you buying ingredients in bulk and measure half of what the recipe calls for?

 

[Brewer393052]

Brewing a one gallon batch seems like not enough beer for the effort but I can appreciate brewing more often.

Yes, exactly! I enjoy being able to brew often to try different recipes, but with only 5 22-oz bottles, it goes too fast

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

Yeah, that's like a couple days worth of beer. That wouldn't work for me

 

[T Murph]

Welcome to the madness we call a hobby from Alabama. I brew 5 gal all grain batches but occasionally I make a second one gal run off the grains when there are sufficient sugars coming out of the MT. Those one gal batches are always tasty and fun to make as usually that beer don't necessarily fit a true style. I recently made a lite brown ale off the grains of a porter that was a delicious beer. Enjoy your journey its both fun and rewarding to make great brews to enjoy with friends.

 

[TheCache]

Welcome to the pub. I did 5G for a while then switched to 2.5G. I get a little over a case out of 2.5G batch and bottling goes quick. Since I'm the primary, and often only, beer drinker in the house, a case every 2-3 weeks is plenty for me. I found with 5G batches, I would end up with so many bottles of a particular style that I would tire of it before I drank the whole batch. For me, brewing and tasting different styles and different recipes is what makes homebrewing so fun.

What ever you end up doing, Enjoy!

 

[Brewer393052]

Yeah, that's like a couple days worth of beer. That wouldn't work for me

And if you want to share with friends, that's even less

 

[wallyLOZ]

Are you using a fermenter for 5 gallons? Are you buying kits that you split in half or are you buying ingredients in bulk and measure half of what the recipe calls for?

No, I use a 3.2 gallon fermenter for the half batches of beer.
I've never split a kit before, but I would make sure the kit has DME and not LME as the base. I would think that LME would be pretty messy to split.
I do buy ingredients in bulk.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.