Recieved a 5 gal brewing kit as a gift and rookie to brewing....

[Doliss]

I've spent a good bit of time looking around online and doing reading where I can since this is something new to me. I have found some small batch (1 gal) recipies that look like more my style for now until I have a few runs under my belt.

Currently the kit I recieved contains:
5 gal glass carboy
2 6.5 gal buckets (one for bottleing with a spigot)
5 gal stainless steel kettle
other smaller supplies (brushes, thermometers, hydrometer, siphon hose, etc)

I have to wonder if I plan to work with some 1 gal sized recipes should I invest in a smaller carboy or bucket for the fermentation or does the larger container not matter? If I'm good with the larger buckets and carboy I think I'm ready to give it a go and see what I can come up with!

 

[Pratzie]

Yeah it wouldn't hurt to pick up one or two one gallon carboys... at my LHBS they are $2.50 and stoppers are $0.50. If you can find something local it'll be worth it.

Plus when u decide to go to 5-gal batches, u can always use the one gallon carboys as a vessel for a yeast starter.

 

[KeystoneHomebrew]

It honestly takes the same amount of time and skill to brew 5 gallons as it does 1 gallon. And you get 5 times the beer for your effort.

If you want a home run right off the bat, go with a boxed recipe kit, and invest in some good sanitizer, like Iodophor or Star San. The best advice anyone can give in homebrewing is keep everything clean and sanitary!

 

[Doliss]

Thanks for the tips y'all, I'm looking for some local suppliers right now!

 

[woozy]

OP: I have found some small batch (1 gal) recipies that look like more my style
Pratzie: Plus when u decide to go to 5-gal batches,
Keystone: It honestly takes the same amount of time and skill to brew 5 gallons as it does 1 gallon. And you get 5 times the beer for your effort.

Okay... time out... There's no difference in style and ease between 1 and 5 gallon batches. You can simply multiply a 1 gallon recipe by five or conversely divide a 5 gallon recipe by 5. So there's really no such thing as something being more to your style.

You don't need to be afraid that a five gallon batch is overwhelming and a 1 gallon batch is better to "start with". So you you don't start with 1-gallon batches and "work your way up" to 5-gallon batches. You decide on what size is best for you for whatever reasons and go from there.

Nor is it fair to say that you might as well do five gallon batches as it's the same amount of effort. Not if you don't *want* to do five gallon batches. (And there are *lots* of valid reasons why one might not.) But if you *do* want to do five gallon batches (and you've got the equipment) you might as well.

But then again, I guess it *could* be intimidating (what if it isn't any *good*???) to commit yourself to a full five-gallons of god-knows-what you have to deal with and get rid of. (Then again if you wait six weeks and it *is* good you might kick yourself for taking the time and only one gallon.)

And physically a one gallon batch in the cupboard *is* pretty friendly looking compared to a five-gallon factory sized carboy sitting smack in you kitchen floor.

So I guess if I were in the OPs shoes I'd pick up a jug of apple juice or so (my LHBS sells 1-gallon carboys for $4.95 which seems kind of expensive as it's just a glass jug...) and make a gallon batch or two but then I'd get curious and impatient and almost immediately make a five gallon batch as well. But... geez ... he or she is pretty golden with a sweet little set-up...

Anyway, the point is ... the size of the batch has nothing to do with the effort or intricacies involved. Don't do a small batch simply because a big batch seems somehow scarier. They are both exactly equal in scariness.

(Actually, 5 gallons seems *less* intimidating as you have more wiggle room in the quantity of the ingredients. And there are so many 5-gallon ingredient kits where the ingredients are pre-measured for you. That'd have been a lot easier for my first beer rather than doing what I did which was buying a kit and measuring everything into 2/5 for a two-gallon batch. Don't get me wrong; it was *easy* but 5-gallons would have bee even easier. .... but then I'd still be drinking my first batch rather than being into my fourth or fifth by now...)

 

[25518]

I started doing 5 gal. Batches off the get go. But, like a cocky moron that I am, I wasted a good bit of money trying to do my own thing. Hence the cocky moron. I decided to brew 1 gal. batches instead. Yeah, I know it takes the same effort, time blah, blah. But, I can't afford to waste $30.00, $40.00, $50.00 bucks, if I screw up. But, $10 -$20.00. Giving me more finacial freedom to maybe brew 2 different, 2 gal batches at a time. And still being a newbie myself. That's me. But, my chemistry teacher brother told me he really wants to start brewing. He has 3 years experience to the table. bring it baby.

 

[unionrdr]

Since you have everything todo 5 gallon batches,I say just get a simple beer kit of a style you like & brew it up. follow advice given on here & you should be fine. And make sure everything that touches the beer is clean & sanitized.
I like PBW for cleaning & starsan for sanitizing. Starsan is a no rinse,wet contact sanitizer that breaks down into yeast food.

 

[kingogames]

Yeah it wouldn't hurt to pick up one or two one gallon carboys... at my LHBS they are $2.50 and stoppers are $0.50. If you can find something local it'll be worth it.

Plus when u decide to go to 5-gal batches, u can always use the one gallon carboys as a vessel for a yeast starter.

I agree with this. I have a couple and I am surprised how often I use them for test batches, starters, storing sanitizer, etc.

 

[JuiceyJay]

I did the 2 gallon batch to start and made an amazing IPA! But only having a few bottles made me sad because it was so good.

Went and bought myself a 5gal kit and am much happier now.

I just however started 1.75 gallon batch of blackberry/strawberry cider.

Moral of the story is do what you want, I'm just glad I have the extra equipment now.

 

[Pratzie]

I agree with this. I have a couple and I am surprised how often I use them for test batches, starters, storing sanitizer, etc.

Thats why i bought mine, for some test batches of Mead and now for some SMaSH batches and other tests. They are good to have around, i even use them to catch the runoff from my CFC to use for cleanup and rinsing. Thats a good idea too for using it for storing sanitizer, im gonna try that now, thanks. I can fit two in a one gallon crate and still have room for one small container of stoppers and bungs and the like.

 

[Doliss]

Thanks for the suggestions, part of it is that my wife and I (moreso my wife) don't drink that much beer. I like to have a variety of beer in my fridge so having 5 gal of something to drink would probably take me a while to get through. That being said the kit I have came with the supplies for an Irish stout recipe. My plans right now are to make a few small batch 1 or 2 gal recipes and then in the early fall get the stout going so it will be ready for the late fall and winter.

We shall see how it goes, I picked up an IPA and a honey ale recipie sets along with 2 1 gal glass carboys. One of those will be started as soon as UPS drops em off, just not sure which one yet

 

[Doliss]

As I am looking through recipes my wife walks by and gives me the look and says "can you make anything you want?" to which my response was "I can try like hell". I get a smile as she walks out and says "Well, you know what type of beer I like...."

I think this could be the start of something really fun! At the very least I have a prepared excuse for wanting to upgrade on equipment later down the line

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Brewing 5 gallons of beer vs. 1 gallon is 4 more gallons to find room for, 4 more gallons to bottle, 4 more gallons of pot to find a place to store in your kitchen, etc.. And if you're new to brewing, it is 4 more gallons of a maybe so-so batch of beer to consume/dispose of. Many folks have plenty of space in their living areas for big batches, but many folks are in apartments and have to make do with galley kitchens and limited pots. There are many perfectly legit reasons to brew small batches.

Having said that Doliss, you'll see that if (when?) you really get into the hobby, many folks default to the 5-gallon brew size, especially for beers. It seems to be a happy medium between quantity and effort and most equipment and recipes assume 5 gallon batches. It is a bittersweet experience to brew a fabulous beer, then realize that you only have 10 bottles of it. However, 1-gallon kits are great for getting acquainted with the brewing process, and having a small clear carboy on your counter is a great way to sense the progress of the yeast. I started with 1-gallons and quickly migrated to 5 gallon batches, but I use that equipment for 1-gallon batches for wines and meads now too. 1 gallon equipment is great for crazy recipe experiments as you're not necessarily stuck with 5 gallons of that asparagus-bacon stout that seemed like such a good idea that Saturday night after a couple of homebrews

Most 5 gallon recipes scale directly, so 1 gallon recipes uses 1/5th of the ingredient quantities. Scaling the yeast is a bit trickier - most dry yeast packets are sized to serve 5 gallon batches so you might have to waste some dry yeast (either by overpitching or tossing half the pack). If you get multiple (n < 5) 1-gallon batches going you can divide 1 pack of yeast among them, no problem.

There is an active 1-gallon brewer thread which has some neat information, but make sure that you ask questions anywhere appropriate in the HBT forums. Most folks here are great at helping anyone doing any size batch, brewing pretty much anything. A few will think you're crazy for brewing small, but don't let them get you down. Welcome to the forums!

 

[unkyjack]

We shall see how it goes, I picked up an IPA and a honey ale recipie sets along with 2 1 gal glass carboys. One of those will be started as soon as UPS drops em off, just not sure which one yet

If you're going to be making some small batches you might want to check out this thread. It has more than 300 pages of small-batch brewing info from HBT members!

 

[Pratzie]

I like me some beer. But i like all different kinds so i'd have to say that I think we are similar in the fact that we'd rather a bunch of different kinds of beer instead of say 10 gallons of one beer. That was the main reason i chose to upgrade my equipment to keggles and go with a 10 gallon MLT and also purchase a dual tap kegerator...I can brew any five gallon brew i could imagine with ease with the equipment i have. I never settle for just one kind of beer, even when im out at the bar, im always looking for something new. If i buy a sixer at my beer store, its usually a mix and match. most times when I do wanna try something that comes in a sixer, i will usually end up only trying 1-2 and giving 2-4 of the bottles away to co-workers to get their opinions on it. So i think ur heads in the right place to make smaller batches and maybe brew two at once instead of just 5 gallons of one that might take u awhile to drink.

Ironically my first two batches sucked because i brewed in June/July and didn't keep the temps down. My third was a Dubbel that came out pretty good and my fourth was a bavarian Hefe. I HATE commercial hefe's just because of the clove/banana flavor but it was a cheap kit and I knew i could keep it somewhat warmer and not worry about ruining it. It is, by far the best batch of beer i've made to date with regards to keeping with the style... but I still have a little more then a case of it left that i continue to give to friends because I just don't drink it even though its very tasty and has gotten rave reviews from other homebrewers I know. So i know exactly what ur thinking especially if ur not a big beer drinker.

So i say stick with what works for you, i don't think ur on the wrong path thinking small right now. If u get into this hardcore, u def have the equipment to go with larger 5 gallon batches and for now u can get experience with cheaper kits that won't leave you with alot of beer lying around if it turns out u dont like one. One final recommendation... invest in some sort of brewing software where u can scale the batches up or down. I use BeerSmith and ive taken a few 10 gallon recipes here and downscaled to five. U could do the same and downscale to those one gallon batches with relative ease. U may have to adjust a few other variables but it will do most of the work for ya.

Happy Brewing!

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

As I am looking through recipes my wife walks by and gives me the look and says "can you make anything you want?" to which my response was "I can try like hell". I get a smile as she walks out and says "Well, you know what type of beer I like...."

I think this could be the start of something really fun! At the very least I have a prepared excuse for wanting to upgrade on equipment later down the line

Keeping SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) happy is a key part of the enjoyment of homebrewing. If she gets what she wants, you get what you want.