So in a fit of randomness i just drove down to my LHBS and bought the following
4 1 gallon clear jugs with caps and 3pc airlocks
10 lbs of maris otter
2 oz cascade pellets
2 oz willemetta pellets
3 oz simcoe leaf hops
2 oz citra pellets
1 packet of US-05
Plan: To make 4 1 gallon SMASH beers at a time using the same base malt and yeast, with 4 different hops.
Has anyone ever done anything like this in such a small scale? Im hoping by doing this it will help me shore up my recipes, pallet and brewing science techniques.
I still do this to test out new ingredients. Here are the results of my last single-hop test batches:
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=13485.msg171180#msg171180
I find it easier to use DME instead of all-grain for trialing hops, because you don't need an extended boil. I can get 6 or 7 one-gallon batches done in the amount of time it takes for one all-grain brewday. I highly recommend doing SMaSH or something similar to learn about ingredients.
couple reasons why i didnt choose extract.
1. I wasnt sure which extract i would want to try, or about how much i would need to do what im trying to do, so i just grabbed a few 5lb sacks of grain.
2. I would like to eventaully open my own nanobrewery. Like most of us im sure we all aspire to this, but my current job is just complete crap and im sick of it, so id like to further my brewing education, so grain was the way to go. in the end i will also be doing this with different base malts as well.
gonna try and pick up the gear i need from my brew buddues house so i can do this this weekend.