remysbrew
10-22-2009, 02:46 PM
Hey all. New to the forum and to brewing. Made my first batch not too long ago and was surprised how good it came out so trying another one soon.
I had a question about time. Most recipes I've found are for 5 or 6 gallon batches, but I've decided to brew in smaller batches for now. The first batch I did was 3 liters, mainly because I have a lot of glass 1 liter bottles I can bottle it in. This time I'm gonna put it in regular size bottles, but still want to make small batches so I can try my hand at a few different kinds of beer and have room to store it. How much does cutting down the volume effect times (e.g., for boiling, fermenting, etc.)?
The first batch I cooked up based on a 5 gallon recipe, but made only 3 liters. I cut down all the ingredients appropriately, but lost about 1 liter in boiling. Should I have cooked it less time, or just added more water to begin with assuming I'd lose some?
Also, does the smaller volume effect the time it needs to ferment?
I got good results last time, but maybe I was just lucky :rolleyes:. Cooked it up, put it in a 1gal container ("primary" I guess), added water to bring it back to 3 liters, left for 8 days, then bottled it in the 1 liter bottles and left those a little over 2 weeks.
1 of the liters I opened slowly but lost about half to "fizz", the second exploded all over the kitchen when I opened it, and the 3rd wasn't sealed too well and was mostly flat (still tasted ok though). I think the reasons were 1) used too much priming sugar, and 2) too much air in the top of the bottles (why I'm using normal bottles this time). Any other reason I could have gotten these results?
Sorry for all the newb questions =). I think today or tomorrow I will start two new batches and make some apfelwein too... so any input helps.
I had a question about time. Most recipes I've found are for 5 or 6 gallon batches, but I've decided to brew in smaller batches for now. The first batch I did was 3 liters, mainly because I have a lot of glass 1 liter bottles I can bottle it in. This time I'm gonna put it in regular size bottles, but still want to make small batches so I can try my hand at a few different kinds of beer and have room to store it. How much does cutting down the volume effect times (e.g., for boiling, fermenting, etc.)?
The first batch I cooked up based on a 5 gallon recipe, but made only 3 liters. I cut down all the ingredients appropriately, but lost about 1 liter in boiling. Should I have cooked it less time, or just added more water to begin with assuming I'd lose some?
Also, does the smaller volume effect the time it needs to ferment?
I got good results last time, but maybe I was just lucky :rolleyes:. Cooked it up, put it in a 1gal container ("primary" I guess), added water to bring it back to 3 liters, left for 8 days, then bottled it in the 1 liter bottles and left those a little over 2 weeks.
1 of the liters I opened slowly but lost about half to "fizz", the second exploded all over the kitchen when I opened it, and the 3rd wasn't sealed too well and was mostly flat (still tasted ok though). I think the reasons were 1) used too much priming sugar, and 2) too much air in the top of the bottles (why I'm using normal bottles this time). Any other reason I could have gotten these results?
Sorry for all the newb questions =). I think today or tomorrow I will start two new batches and make some apfelwein too... so any input helps.