Why not more interest in 10 gallon batches?

Yakima 728
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Yesterday I found a reason to do a larger than 5 gallon batch: the mash volume on a Scottish 70/- wasn't large enough to cover the end of the thermometer probe in the wall of my mash tun! I didn't even thing about how much volume I'd need to make sure I could monitor the temp without taking the lid off! Next time I'll pay closer attention, and either make a bigger batch or up the ratio of water to grist.
 
I like sticking to 5 gallon batches just because I'm actually a pretty light drinker, so it'd take me waaay to long to go through that much, even giving away as much as I do

I know, shame on me...
 
I did 5 gallon batches my first decade of brewing but when I finally stepped up to 10 gallon batches I never looked back and I haven't brewed a 5 gallon batch in more than a decade.

Ten gallon batches don't cause me to drink more, they just give me more flexibility on when I'm going to brew. Even when I kept one or at most two beers on tap I rarely got tired of what I was drinking and now that I have a four tap keezer it is like nirvana around here.

As to the weight gain, I make an effort to workout regularly so that doesn't become an issue. If you are a potential alcoholic, then perhaps homebrewing isn't the hobby for you, although compared to running down to the liquor store and grabbing a case or two of beer homebrewing is a hella lot more difficult and life consuming.
 
beernutz said:
If you are a potential alcoholic, then perhaps homebrewing isn't the hobby for you, although compared to running down to the liquor store and grabbing a case or two of beer homebrewing is a hella lot more difficult and life consuming.
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It really is quite easy to over consume though. Especially when you've got a couple beers on tap that are killer. Most nights, I seriously have to stop myself from having more than 2 or 3 pints, especially if I have one when I get home.
 
beersk said:
Most nights, I seriously have to stop myself from having more than 2 or 3 pints, especially if I have one when I get home.
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I hear you there :) , I do 11.5 gallon batches so I can fill two kegs to the brim

I go from grain to kegs in 12 to 14 days (Ales) so I drink one and the other one sits it a good way to see how different there are with time

it not like it goes bad in the keg, I have 10 kegs so I have the room

I like my APA/IPAs young as they taste the best fresh

all the best

S_M
 
Most of my friends in my circle are 30 minutes away in the next town north. More often then not I am visiting them. While I can bring them SOME beer more often then not consuming my supply is a duty that is left up to me and me alone. I generally brew once a week and even for me, 5 gallons a week is a hefty challenge to consume. Couple that with the fact that I normally like styles that lend themselves to being better fresher, 5 gallon batches make more sense to me.

I have three 15.5 gallon kegs just waiting to be modified into keggles and/or a mash ton, but until I find someone willing to at the very least split the batches with me, your standard 5 gallon batch works out good for me.
 
dschoemaker said:
I like variety, and can only drink so much beer. 5 gallons is about 40 pints, so is a nice compromise in that regard.

Dave
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Maybe I just drink too much, but 40 (80) pints is roughly 3 pints a night X 13 days X 2 batches (ten gallons) for me (ten gallons lasts me generally a month.). I'm only able to brew about once a month. The math works. I only do ten gallon batches....anything else seems to be a waste of time.
 
outrunu said:
Maybe I just drink too much, but 40 (80) pints is roughly 3 pints a night X 13 days X 2 batches (ten gallons) for me (ten gallons lasts me generally a month.). I'm only able to brew about once a month. The math works. I only do ten gallon batches....anything else seems to be a waste of time.
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I've got three beer drinkers in the house, plus beer-loving friends and co-workers. Kegs go pretty decently fast.

We went through 148 gal in my first 6 months of brewing all-grain. That works out to an average of 6.5 pints per day. This included several parties, holiday gifts and bottles given away at work.

Brewing 5 gal batches, I'd have to brew 29.6 times in that period (26 weeks). With 10 gal batches brewed as a double-header, I satisfied it brewing only one day every 3-4 weeks.
 
I look at it as an investment, in my keggle eherms I can make ten gallon batches in the same time it takes to make a five gallon batch, so I do that. I'm going to start doing back to back ten gallon batches since I can now mash and boil at the same time.
 
I brew 10 gallon batches. I also like some variety. My friends really put a hurt on my supply, but there are a few that help me on brew day. I usually have 5-7 different beers on 7 taps.
 
I do 10 gallon and 3 gallon batches which is perfect for our pipeline. 5 gallons of the house favorites always seemed to go too fast. 3 gallons is nice for trying new recipes, for beers we don't want too much of, or just when the weather is crappy for brewing outside. And that size is good for the small stackable kegs that fit in the keezer in place of one regular corny.
 
kombat said:
I've done about 40 all-grain 5 gallon batches so far. Recently, I've done a couple 10 gallon batches, and I have to say, I'm strongly considering moving to 10 gallon batches exclusively. It seems to me that for a slightly increased time investment (the additional heating/cooling adds a total of about an hour for me), I end up with twice as much beer.

Why don't more people do 10 gallon batches? Is it the issue of moving that much hot wort around? I confess I have a Chugger pump that I use for chilling, and for transferring the wort to the first carboy (I use gravity and an autosiphon to fill the second carboy). But my boil kettle (15g), mash tun (70 qt), mill (Barley Crusher w/ power drill), and all my other equipment can easily handle 10 gallon batches, so it seems like a no-brainer.

Is there an army of dedicated 10 gallon brewers out there I'm just not aware of, or is there some other reason people stick with 5 gallon batches?
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I just did my first 11 gallon batch a few weeks ago. Put 5.5 gallons in two separate buckets. I then dry hopped one with pellets and the other with fresh grown hops from my backyard this summer.

I kegged one, and bottled the other. I will do this from now on, for any of my staple beers. Now when I go to do a new beer, for example, I have not done a black IPA yet. For that I will do a 6 gallon batch to see how much I enjoy it. If I love it, then the next time would be a 11 gallon batch.
 
In addition to the 5 gal cornys I have (2) 3 gallon corny's. Once in awhile I brew 8 gallon batches, to fill a five and a three gal keg. I currently have a 11 gal batch carbonating. One 5 gal and two 3 gal. The 5 is a Brown/Porter, one of the 3's is with a vanilla addition, and the other 3 is carbing with charred bourbon barrel oak pieces. I don't think you have to limit yourself to either 5 or 10 gallons. Make a 4, 5, 6, 7 , etc....
 
I'm doing 10 gallon batches, just upgraded from 5 gallon. It was a tough call for me, because I bought a new temp regulated conical. You have to brew 10 gallons in the one I chose, or the cooling does not work. Brewing once a month is about my schedule.

It's all good tho, because 10 gallons will last me one month, and I average about 3 beers a night. A one month old IPA is still plenty fresh for my tastebuds!
 
I'm in the process of regressing - I love making beer but I just don't drink it or give it away fast enough. So count me as the odd ball who's going from 10 gallon back to 5.

As an aside, the money I get from selling my 10g equipment is going into savings for upgrading later.
 
I've not brewed at a 10 gallon size yet. I'll consider it if I decide to upgrade my brew pot.

There are a lot of great arguments for the 10 gallon size but for me it still involves more messing around, though admittedly not a whole lot on the front end of the brewing. (To me that means grinding, mashing, boiling, cooling and settling your wort.) However the back side of for me bottling adds a lot of time in to things.

I don't mind taking a swing at 5 gallons but drinking 10 gallons of something that I don't really enjoy is not my ideal result. I'm also the only one that really drinks things so its a consideration for me.

Now I do think at some point I'll go to 10 gallon batches when I get a bigger brew pot to save time by testing hops/yeast/additives vs just plain malt bill tinkering. Then again I may start doing 3 gallon batches to do the same thing which may be more efficient.

My observation for some folks is its about volume and both measured and empirical observations as to what is more efficient for their time. An example is there are times that I don't have the four to six hours required as it is to do a 5 gallon batch, or I feel I'm squeezing a brew day in to allocated time. Ten gallons start to finish of brew day or other days would be too much.
I tend to try to do this on weekends or in a day where I don't have to rush myself.

However I can see the argument that it may be better to take a day off of work and other distractions and brew a 10 gallon batch and tinker from there being a better use of time.

I would suspect that time invested and involved has a higher reading on this than most would initially think, particularly for those that may bottle or have other time consuming additions beyond pitching yeast.
 
I can do 5, 10, or 15 gallon batches on my system depending on gravity. Mash tun and 15 gallon boil kettle are the limitations. I always make as much of a recipe as I can squeeze out of my equipment. Bigger batches save time and money and result in more delicious beers. If you don't think you want 15 gallons of the same beer then pitch different yeast into each carboy. It's a great way to try new yeast and get different results.
 
Right now i am doing 5 gallon batches of everyday/session beers, and 10 gallons of higher gravity beers. The longer they need to age, the more I brew at once. I don't drink it all. I enjoy sharing the beer with others just as much as I enjoy drinking it myself. Especially when people come to help me brew.
 
kombat said:
I've done about 40 all-grain 5 gallon batches so far. Recently, I've done a couple 10 gallon batches, and I have to say, I'm strongly considering moving to 10 gallon batches exclusively. It seems to me that for a slightly increased time investment (the additional heating/cooling adds a total of about an hour for me), I end up with twice as much beer.

Why don't more people do 10 gallon batches? Is it the issue of moving that much hot wort around? I confess I have a Chugger pump that I use for chilling, and for transferring the wort to the first carboy (I use gravity and an autosiphon to fill the second carboy). But my boil kettle (15g), mash tun (70 qt), mill (Barley Crusher w/ power drill), and all my other equipment can easily handle 10 gallon batches, so it seems like a no-brainer.

Is there an army of dedicated 10 gallon brewers out there I'm just not aware of, or is there some other reason people stick with 5 gallon batches?
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the only problem I can see with a 10 gallon batch is could take a very long time to chill with a Emerson chiller if you have a counter flow or plate chiller than its all about how much you drink ( in am a 15 gallon brewer)
 
kombat said:
I've done about 40 all-grain 5 gallon batches so far. Recently, I've done a couple 10 gallon batches, and I have to say, I'm strongly considering moving to 10 gallon batches exclusively. It seems to me that for a slightly increased time investment (the additional heating/cooling adds a total of about an hour for me), I end up with twice as much beer.

Why don't more people do 10 gallon batches? Is it the issue of moving that much hot wort around? I confess I have a Chugger pump that I use for chilling, and for transferring the wort to the first carboy (I use gravity and an autosiphon to fill the second carboy). But my boil kettle (15g), mash tun (70 qt), mill (Barley Crusher w/ power drill), and all my other equipment can easily handle 10 gallon batches, so it seems like a no-brainer.

Is there an army of dedicated 10 gallon brewers out there I'm just not aware of, or is there some other reason people stick with 5 gallon batches?
Click to expand...
t
T heonly problem I can see with a 10 gallon batch is could take a very long time to chill with a Emerson chiller if you have a counter flow or plate chiller than its all about how much you drink ( in am a 15 gallon brewer)
 
chrisonye1 said:
the only problem I can see with a 10 gallon batch is could take a very long time to chill with a Emerson chiller if you have a counter flow or plate chiller than its all about how much you drink ( in am a 15 gallon brewer)
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Don't stress over chilling time.

Plenty of people here don't even chill. Check out "no chill brewing" if you're interested in a read.
 
I plan on going to 10 gallons this spring, reason why I have yet to is I need more buckets/lids and a better chiller. I currently use a 3/8 x 25' to do 5 gallons and I attach my plate chiller (kind you serve with) to it submerged in a bucket of ice water. It does the job pretty well in 15 mins, but I can imagine the waste with a 10 gallon batch. I do love the idea of filling a keg with one bucket and letting the other sit in the basement for another month or more. Plus cost wise it's a little better on the wallet.
 
BTW, I have a 42 QT cooler to mash is that large enough for 10 gallon batches?
 
I've actually started doing smaller batches. I've done a 2.5, 3.5 and will do a 4 gallon batch soon. I'm trying to improve my beers, so I've been trying to brew every 3 or 4 weeks to get more practice. And for us, part of the problem is we still go out at least a few nights a week to bars and beer events and we still buy some commercial beer. So I might drink 1-3 pints/bottles a night, but almost a half of those are not home brew. So for me, smaller batches make sense.
 
Well, 10 gallons is 1,280 fluid ounces. If you assume 32 ounces (two pints) per day, that's 40 days of beer. I think you'd have to be really fond of that particular beer or into sipping beers to regularly brew that much.
 
thadius856 said:
Don't stress over chilling time.

Plenty of people here don't even chill. Check out "no chill brewing" if you're interested in a read.[/
Chill times are very important minimize the possibility for infection. Wort will obsorbe oxygen better and your cold break will help to make a clear beer
Click to expand...
 

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