A amateur in need of advice.

[adamballa]

Hey guys,
Let me first start off by saying that I had a great time at the brew-in, and really absorbed a lot about homebrewing. So now for my silly question. I've been doing a little research into brewing some 1 gallon batches just to experiment with. I'm kind of confused on how to adjust the recipes. Would I be able to simply cut down the recipe to 1/5th the ingredients needed for a 5 gallon recipe? Also would I need to make any major adjustments to boil time, fermentation time, and conditioning time? Thanks in advance for any responses.

P.S.
If anyone is interested in making a trip to Ira's shop to pick up some supplies just let me know.

Thanks,
Adam Balla

[mungai]

Adam,

In my limited experience, scaling up a recipe for a larger batch does not always follow a simple ratio. I would assume the same thing would happen with scaling one down. There are many factors at play such as hop utilization and carmelization of the wort. That said, if it is an experiment, try it out and see if you like the outcome. If not, adjust some of the variables when you experiment again. If you don't like really hoppy beers, I would watch the amount of hops on a small batch.

As far as boil time goes, if you are making an extract beer, I've heard both boiling a shorter time is fine and boiling 60 min is good. If you really wanted to experiment, you could make 2 identical 1 gallon batches and only vary the boil time.

I do mostly partial mash beers and I've always boiled at least 60 min no matter what the batch size. I don't recall making a batch smaller than 3 gallons though.

I always let the yeast tell me when fermentation is complete. I wait for hydrometer readings to level out for several days before bottling. If you pitch a decent amount of yeast into a smaller batch, it should ferment out sooner.

I let my brews condition for as long as I can stand. After a few brew days, you start to get a good idea of when a beer is "done" and when it is "ready" to drink.

If you do end up making 1 gallons batches, remember you will not to start with more water as you will boil some off (could be a lot during a rolling boil) and loose some during racking and fermentation.

Hope it works out.

[Bob McGill]

Adam: Come to Mark's on Sunday and get expert advise.

[bbushmaster]

wow Bill you have actually absorbed a few things between beers lmao,,and I dont see any reason you couldnt just scale down the recipe to fit your requirements as far as when the beer is done just watch the air lock when it bubbles about every 30 secs or less (2-3 days) transfer two a secondary and wait about 1-2 weeks or for clarity, but no I see no reason to adjust boil or ferm or conditioning unless you use a really big starter for the small batch and thats only going to affect ferm length or the vigor of the firmentation and the clarification time. but I agree Bob these things are easier explained face to face by an expert or just by research and experience but you have all the knowledge that you need with the club, not to say im experienced yet I will allways be learning the fine art of brewing but I have learned a thing or two

[bbushmaster]

P.S. I have learned a thing or two thanks to the club

[adamballa]

Hey guys thanks for the great advice. I will be at Mark's on Sunday for sure. I'm just anxious to brew again. I figured the best way to brew for me would be in smaller batches. I can't really afford to go out and buy a lot of equipment so I figured if i was to scale down I might be able to have 3-4 batches going at any given time. Thanks again for the great advice guys. I'll see you all Sunday.

P.S. Can someone post Mark's address so I can get directions?

[Duveldiver]

Our address is: 5865 Bicentennial, Beaumont. See you Sunday.

-Mark

[Duveldiver]

Adam and Bill;

I have a 5-6 page brief guide to all grain brewing that John and I put together last year. I'll make a couple of copies and have them ready on Sunday.

As for the party on Sunday, we'll start at 1-2 PM. Bring some beverages and your swim suit. I'll have food on the pit.