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Author Topic: Scaling down recipes...  (Read 1849 times)

Offline quest4watneys

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Scaling down recipes...
« on: August 27, 2013, 04:53:59 pm »
I got a recipe from a local brewery and I'm wondering how to scale it down appropriately. They do 15bbl batches so the amounts I got were for that size. Is there anything funky to consider (without getting too wonky) when scaling down to a 5 gallon batch?
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Offline Iliff Ave

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Re: Scaling down recipes...
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2013, 05:44:09 pm »
I would assume the biggest things would be efficiency and AA% of the hops that were used. If you know their efficiency you should be able to make any gravity adjustments easily. I calculate 15bbl as 465 gallons so if we are talking apples to apples, I believe you could literally divide everything by 93 to get amounts for a 5 gallong batch...I could be wrong.
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Offline djsanta

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Re: Scaling down recipes...
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2013, 06:06:16 pm »
On Tap: nada
Conditioning: nada
Fermenting: Mexican Lager
Planned: Doppelbock or Weizenbock, Oatmeal Stout, DIPA

Offline tcanova

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Re: Scaling down recipes...
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2013, 06:16:05 pm »
Math.  You can calculate all the grains into percentages like say there is 750 pounds 2 row  100 pounds crystal you have total of 850 total pounds of grain so you have 88% 2 row (750/850) * 100 = 88% and 12% crystal. 
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Offline quest4watneys

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Re: Scaling down recipes...
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2013, 07:56:05 pm »
::)  It never occurred to me to use my brewing software to downsize! I did the math and double-checked it with the software and they were very close to the same. Thanks for the insight!
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Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: Scaling down recipes...
« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2013, 08:18:06 am »
Something else to keep in mind is how fast you chill the wort versus how fast they chill the wort because they will affect the result of your late hop additions. For example, if they whirlpool but you don't then you need to let the wort sit for the same amount of time they whirlpool before you chill (or you could add your late hops earlier in the boil). Otherwise, you will end up with less IBUs and a slightly different beer because you don't have that same isomerization timetable.
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Offline quest4watneys

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Re: Scaling down recipes...
« Reply #6 on: August 28, 2013, 04:35:39 pm »
I do remember him saying that they whirlpool but I'm not sure how long. Good advice :0)
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Offline troybinso

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Re: Scaling down recipes...
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2013, 10:07:25 pm »
Hops are definitely your biggest challenge. Use some common sense when you evaluate what the computer program tells you and then adjust the hops so they make sense for your system.