[dmtaylor]

There are a ton of advantages to brewing smaller batches.  I only brew 1/3 size batches (1.67 gallons) these days.  This gets me about 13-14 bottles, i.e., a little more than a couple 6-packs.  A 1-gallon batch is way too small to be worth the effort IMHO, because you'll only get about one 6-pack for all your efforts.  But 14 bottles... that I can do.

You really need to just BIAB.  You can easily do all-grain that way and have more control over the beer's destiny.  This way you can knock out a decent batch in 3 hours on brew day, or even less if you make that a goal.  So the time savings is huge.  Plus you can brew as often as you like and run more experiments.  And there will be enough to enjoy more than 6 or 7 of them, but a full 12-pack and then some.

[hopfenundmalz]

The last 3 batches we brewed were 5 gallons each. Down from the usual 10 gallons! These were all something a little different, somimdisn't want to do 10 gallons. Old dog, new tricks. 

[flbrewer]

There are a ton of advantages to brewing smaller batches.  I only brew 1/3 size batches (1.67 gallons) these days.  This gets me about 13-14 bottles, i.e., a little more than a couple 6-packs.  A 1-gallon batch is way too small to be worth the effort IMHO, because you'll only get about one 6-pack for all your efforts.  But 14 bottles... that I can do.

You really need to just BIAB.  You can easily do all-grain that way and have more control over the beer's destiny.  This way you can knock out a decent batch in 3 hours on brew day, or even less if you make that a goal.  So the time savings is huge.  Plus you can brew as often as you like and run more experiments.  And there will be enough to enjoy more than 6 or 7 of them, but a full 12-pack and then some.

Would you kindly share your equipment profile? In particular the brew kettle size(s) and fermenters. Thanks!

[Stevie]

Wally-world sells a 3 gallon enamel canning kettle for about $15. http://mobile.walmart.com/ip/Granite-Wear-12-Qt-Stock-Pot-with-Lid/17193283?type=search

Works great for BIAB on my stove.

I ferment small batches in 2 gallon buckets. I think I paid $6-7 each with lid and stopper. I'm considering ordering some mr beer fermenters. The spigot would make bottling much easier. They are only $10 each plus shipping.

[dmtaylor]

There are a ton of advantages to brewing smaller batches.  I only brew 1/3 size batches (1.67 gallons) these days.  This gets me about 13-14 bottles, i.e., a little more than a couple 6-packs.  A 1-gallon batch is way too small to be worth the effort IMHO, because you'll only get about one 6-pack for all your efforts.  But 14 bottles... that I can do.

You really need to just BIAB.

Would you kindly share your equipment profile? In particular the brew kettle size(s) and fermenters. Thanks!

Oh... but are you sure you really wanted to ask me that?  Well, here goes...

I'm super ultra mega ghetto... even "worse" than Denny.  It is a bragging point for me how simple my equipment and process is.  I've used the same 5-gallon stainless kettle for 15 years, and still do.  I usually BIAB in the kettle.  For sparge water, I have a 2 gallon pot on the side, and I have a big colander and drain and quasi-"fly sparge" all the runnings into an old 6-gallon bucket, then pour it back into the kettle again.  I do not own a turkey fryer burner or equivalent, and I do all my boils in the house on the stovetop.  Always have, always will.  Works great.  I also do not own a chiller.  Don't need to.  I chill in a bucket or the kettle in a tub sink with cold water.  After 15 minutes, drain the cool water bath and fill it up again with fresh cold water.  A few minutes later, you're ready to pitch.  I do not own an aeration stone or O2 or CO2 tanks.  To aerate, I stir or shake the living crap out of the wort for 5 minutes.  Works fine.  I ferment in 3-gallon glass carboys.  I used plastic buckets for many many years but they experienced contamination too often so now I have just a couple buckets for collecting runoff as explained previously but otherwise use solely glass for all fermentations.  Exception is for small 1-gallon batches of cider where I ferment directly in the plastic milk jugs that the juice came in, or in cases where I juice my own apples, I sanitize milk jugs and for the most part keep them fermenting and stored in my refrigerator in the 40s Fahrenheit.  Other than that I do not own a fermentation refrigerator, and I conduct all fermentations in one of several locations in my house, either at 68 F (upstairs closet), 74 F (on top of the computer desk), 62-64 F (basement in summer), or 52-55 F (basement in winter), garage (variable but very cold in fall thru spring).  I also advocate the use of a wet t-shirt and fan to reduce fermentation temperature by approximately 5 degrees in any of the above locations.  In doing so, I am able to perform good fermentations most any time of the year.

I do have a round orange cooler for bigger batches but I only use it once a year for my annual 4.5 to 6 gallon batch for the local brewfest.  In these cases, I either borrow a turkey fryer burner and chiller, or I boil the wort on stovetop in 3 big pots and continue to chill in the tub sink.  Usually I do the latter.  It works fine.  I do own one 5-gallon glass carboy, so rarely I will use that, but I can also just split the annual big batch into two 3-gallon carboys, in which case I have also experimented with different yeasts, different fermentation temperatures, etc.

I don't mean to brag but merely to state a fact: I do make pretty great beer with these methods and equipment.  Homebrewing is just so gosh darn cheap 'n' easy, cavemen can do it.  We don't NEED to turn it into the crazy science and engineering projects, we really truly don't need to.  Anyone with any very basic equipment can win Ninkasi.  I'm positive of this.  It's not something I'm going for personally right now, although it might be the subject of the occasional daydream that makes me smile to think about. 

[flbrewer]

Thanks for the reply...I really don't want to get back into the 5 gallon kettle size for now. I have two enormous 10 gallon kettles and I'm wondering if I could get away with a 3 gallon kettle. I would consider 4 as well.

One concern I have is that the brew bag I bought certainly won't fit around any kettle (14x18). Is there a jury rig technique that I can use to keep this bag off of the bottom of the kettle? Or maybe that's not an issue since it won't be that hot while mashing in.

[Stevie]

One concern I have is that the brew bag I bought certainly won't fit around any kettle (14x18). Is there a jury rig technique that I can use to keep this bag off of the bottom of the kettle? Or maybe that's not an issue since it won't be that hot while mashing in.

It will be fine as long as you are not applying direct heat. This past weekend I did the pre-heated oven trick to hold my mash temp. Worked pretty well. Lost 3* over an hour. Before I was trying to use carry over heat from the stove coil, but it was too much hassle giving me hot spots in the beginning and lots of heat loss by the end.

[dmtaylor]

For small BIAB batches, I try to hit an initial mash temperature about 5 degrees too high, then let it fall to about 5 degrees too low over the course of the mash.  For example, hit 155 F and then 45 minutes later it might fall to about 145 F, with a goal of "150 F" for the average.  Close enough and works pretty well about 70% of the time.  I also keep a little boiling water available on the side so I can add a pint of boiling water or a half cup of cold water to adjust if necessary, rather than adding direct heat which I can also do but prefer not to.  Obviously this works best if done on the stovetop, I'm not sure how you might do it with a turkey fryer but I suppose it could be done, to avoid melting your grain bag.

[erockrph]

Thanks for the reply...I really don't want to get back into the 5 gallon kettle size for now. I have two enormous 10 gallon kettles and I'm wondering if I could get away with a 3 gallon kettle. I would consider 4 as well.

One concern I have is that the brew bag I bought certainly won't fit around any kettle (14x18). Is there a jury rig technique that I can use to keep this bag off of the bottom of the kettle? Or maybe that's not an issue since it won't be that hot while mashing in.

You would only need to keep the bag off the bottom if you plan on adding heat during the mash. You could use a false bottom, a metal steamer basket, a colander, or even a trivet of the appropriate size and shape. Since you're doing small batches, it should be easy enough to just lift the bag by hand while heating as well.