Homebrewing: Can you make 1 gallon in 6 gallon fermenter?

[cyanide]

I wanted to get into homebrewing, but I'd like to start small and work my way up.

I'd like to buy some basic equipment and see if I like doing it. The problem is, I don't want the first time I make beer to be a 5-6 gallon experiment. I'd like to go ahead and get a 5-6 gallon fermenter, but just try a small batch on my first time, like one gallon. However, I'm worried that this will be too much air for my beer.

I've looked all over the internet and have found no advice on this. There does not seem to be any warning about how much air to liquid ratio you should have.

If anyone could give me some advice or point me somewhere that explains it, I'd appreciate it. There's a lot of great info out there, but it all seems to involve making more beer than I want to on my first time.

Thanks!

[paul84043]

The first thing that comes to mind is that it may be difficult if not impossible to find recipe quantities for a 1 gallon batch.
In your primary fermentation, you would have no problem, there is enough C02 being produced to displace a very large quantity of oxygen, but in your secondary, you may run into problems. Though C02 is heavier than air and should settle to a nice blanket over the beer, it could be problematic and end up making a sub standard batch, leaving you with the impression that homebrewing sucks...that would be a really bad thing...

I would just do a 5 gallon batch, it's really not that big of a deal, you'll have the equipment to handle it you might as well....
I'm actually looking to make equipment to do 10 gallon batches because the 5's go so fast.

I guarantee you that if you like beer, and you can boil water and follow basic instructions, you can make fantastic beer that's much better than you could think possible.

Read up on it, get the steps straight in your head, if you have any more specific questions, just ask us and we'll get you going in the right direction.

[rossmarp]

I agree with paul completely.
Additionally, if you've made the investment in equipment needed (not to mention personal 'research' time, etc) then the difference in cost to make 1 gallon or 5 gallons is essentially insignificant.

I'm sure you've seen beer ingredient kits (extract) complete with hops, specialty grains, extract, bottling sugar, etc. for anywhere between $20-$30.

As paul mentioned, the recipe kits are typically for 5 gallon batches and the instructions and brewing processes are very well documented.

I'd estimate that you'd save *maybe* $10-15 at most by going with only 1 gallon.

[paul84043]

I don't think you would save hardly anything at all, and then you'd be kicking yourself in the butt when you run out of your 9 bottles of the best beer you've ever tasted!! That YOU made! And the next batch is still a month away!!! aaauuggghhh!!!

[cyanide]

Originally posted by paul84043 but in your secondary, you may run into problems.

What if I don't plan on having a secondary? I plan on having my first brew to be a rather simple first-timer sort of thing. Take a Pale Ale "kit", boil, ferment and bottle it... that sort of thing.

Thanks.

[paul84043]

Just like my last post said, you would probably be perfectly fine, and kicking yourself for not making a 5 gallon batch.

Go for it, whatever makes you comfortable!
Keep things clean, then clean them again, and you really can't go wrong.

[paul84043]

I keep thinking about your post and wondering "why"...
What in particular is it that you are reluctant about?
I realize there are alot of variables, where you live, apartment or house...wife or G/F not approving, in-laws not approving, temp control/storage issues and the like...
Anything really jump out at you as a particular problem? or are you just unsure wether you want to tackle a new obsession?

[quantum24]

i agree with these guys 100 percent. if you have the equipment than making 5 gallons is no harder than making one. as long as you follow the directions and keep things clean and sanitized youre going to end up with 5 gallons of fantastic beer in about a month. jump in with both feet and have fun, thats what homebrewing is all about

[cyanide]

Originally posted by paul84043
I keep thinking about your post and wondering "why"...
What in particular is it that you are reluctant about?
I realize there are alot of variables, where you live, apartment or house...wife or G/F not approving, in-laws not approving, temp control/storage issues and the like...
Anything really jump out at you as a particular problem? or are you just unsure wether you want to tackle a new obsession?

Yea, storage is somewhat of an issue. That's a lot of beer, 50-60 bottles worth. I really don't want to have more than 12-20 bottles taking up space. I guess I could reuse the bottles several times with each batch perhaps.

It's not a money issue, $15 is pretty cheap really.

All in all, it is really just a personal issue. I've have a habit of starting projects small and going up. I've always enjoyed cooking and this is like an expansion of that. It's a bit like asking someone to cook a dinner or dish for 50 when they've never cooked before. I'd hate to make all that beer just to see it ruined really.
But it's starting to seem like I'm not going to "ruin" it. At worst, it may not be the desired outcome, but it will still be drinkable.

[danno]

well, I guess I'll take the opposite view, just for argument's sake... I say go right ahead and ferment one gallon in a 5 or 6 gallon carboy. My reasoning? Think of your Wyeast smack pack. In less than a day, with a fresh pack, it will swell up to several times it's original volume. That's co2 being produced from a very small amount of reproducing yeast. Multiply that by your gallon of yeast food (wort), and the second fact that the co2 will blanket the wort first, (because it's heavier than air), then push the air out of the headspace as it multiplies, and I see very little downside to extra headspace. People routinely do five gallon batches in 14 gallon conicals, why is this any different?

cyanide, that said, I still agree with everyone else that it's just as easy to make a 5 gallon batch as a 1 gallon batch. However, if you want to start out small, go right ahead. There is, in my humble opinion, no downside, except that you run out of beer quicker...

[Tweek]

This can be done. It is essentially the same amount of work as a 5 gallon batch.

The potential downside for small batches is that there is more chance of off flavors showing up. you will have more of your beer exposed to the things that do cause off flavors due to the smaller volume. So basically because you will have a smaller volume anything that will influence its flavor will be more apparent than in a full 5 gallons. You can fix some of this by buying a couple of 1 gallon jugs with airlocks from your local brew shop, and following the normal route. The rest can be avoided through proper sanitation. I have actually made pilot beers that way.

As far as the storage issue goes you can get a used corny keg, these are not as big as normal kegs or even big bottles all of which take up a smaller footprint the 12oz once the batch has been bottled. There is also options such as the tap a draft, which stores your beer in 2 liter (i believe) soda type bottles, then has a gas apparatus for dispensing. This fits in your fridge and takes up little more room than 2 milk containers. There are other options which I have not tried myself like the party pig and others I am sure if you ask around on this board people will have a ton of ideas on how to limit the impact on your storage space.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

[yonkersbrewer]

Boy, am I glad I read Real Beer today! I am all in favor of smaller batches and less equipment if you care to go that way! I might hold your downsizing to half though.

I started with a Mr. Beer and liked the amount of space that it took up. I moved up to 2.5 gallon recipes in the Mr Beer, got a 2.8 gallon carboy for secondary and recently got a 3 gallon plastic fermenter from Austin Homebrew. I started bottling with plastic cast off soda bottles, stepped up to flip-tops and now have more long necks than I care to think about sitting in a corner (the beer celler) of our apartment. So I am clearly all for starting small and growing the hobby.

The 3 gallon set up lets me brew a case at a time instead of 2 cases. The carboy and the fermenter fits in my kitchen sink with no problem. Using 2.5 gallons allows me to simply split a recipe in half so I have no issues with not being able to use a whole kit. When I buy a kit (instead of bulk ingredients) I weigh the malts accurately on a good kitchen scale and keep the left over liquid extract in the back of the 'fridge till I need it. Since I tend to brew the second half of the batch on the yeast cake of the first it is only sitting in the fridge for a week or so.

I agree that the savings angle has nothing to do with going half sized. It simply works for me. I like the activity of brewing and bottling so I don't at all mind that I have to do twice the work for a two case output. I get to enjoy my hobby twice as often!

So....if starting smaller is what is going to introduce you to our obsession I am all for it. And you have at least one other brewer behind you.

[fuji6100]

Since I tend to brew the second half of the batch on the yeast cake of the first it is only sitting in the fridge for a week or so.

Since you mentioned this, I wanted to ask you a question. I'm trying to stock up some beer for a party, and I'll be brewing 2 batches of the same brew back to back. How exactly do you go about using the previous yeast cake to ferment your next batch?

Do you just pour your cooled wort onto the old yeast cake and adjitate? Do you scoop the yeast cake up and add to a small sample of wort to make a starter?

I'm interested in doing this, especially once I move to the more expensive liquid yeasts as this will save a bundle on back to back brews.

Thanks!

[yonkersbrewer]

I have to say that I am not the most technically oriented brewer. I tend to treat it more like cooking and figure that so long as you don't do any "nasty" that most time most actions will work out just fine.

I have done it both ways. I have scooped out a big kitchen cooking spoon worth, cleaned the fermenter and then added the new wort and pitched the yeast slurry. Great action. This last time I drained the first batch into the secondary and had the next batch cooling in the sink. I poured a couple of gallons of cool water into the bottom to make sure that I didn;t cook the yeast, then poured the rest of the now cooled wort into the fermenter. Lag time? Maybe an hour. I would say that it didn't so much bubble as just emit a constant stream of CO2. The only downside for me is that I was not able to take a hydrometer reading since it was a mixed batch of wort, yeast and cooled water. I did try, but in the half hour I left the tube sitting around the yeast started working and I had a head of krausen on the tube.

I have had good luck pitching the second time for half batches. There is also lots of info on the web about harvesting and yeast washing if you want to save on yeast.

[fuji6100]

Thanks for the info Yonkers! I'll definately give this a try when I make the next batch.

If I get good results I'll definately feel better about spending $4 / pack for liquid yeast.

[Tweek]

Since you mentioned this, I wanted to ask you a question. I'm trying to stock up some beer for a party, and I'll be brewing 2 batches of the same brew back to back. How exactly do you go about using the previous yeast cake to ferment your next batch?

In my opinion the easiest and safest way of doing this is to make a large starter and just split it between the batches. This doesnt even have to be an exact science you can just eyeball it. This willonly cost you one vial of yeast and a little dme.

[fuji6100]

In my opinion the easiest and safest way of doing this is to make a large starter and just split it between the batches. This doesnt even have to be an exact science you can just eyeball it. This willonly cost you one vial of yeast and a little dme

Ahhh, Ok. How long will the extra container keep? Do you reactivate it by letting it come back to room temp? How long would it take to get kicking again?

Oh, by the way. You've responded to many of my questions, Tweek, I just wanted to say thanks for helping a new brewer out!

[Tweek]

Well it will keep for quite some time if it remains clean. You can put it in the fridge to mek the little guys go dormant then when you are ready bring it out and let it come slowly back up to ferment temp. Give it a little swirl and it should start kicking over again in a few hours.

To be honest I figured that you would brew the batches in the same day and you would just pitch a few hours apart. Either way will work.

If you are not doing the batches in the same day I would reccomend that you do it the way that I do it.

What I do is I make a starter for my batch. I clean out the vial that the yeast came in (or a get a clean container if I used a package yeast) and sterilize it. I then pour some of the starter I made into the vial (this is once it is really active) and put the cap back on and then it goes into the fridge to go dormant until I next need it.. I mostly use White labs yeast and that comes with its own vial which I just reuse for this purpose. Once I am ready to use the yeast again I make a new starter from the vial that I made. Works like a charm.

Cheers

[hnrblbrbrn]

A benefit to the smaller set up is experimentation. The various unusual beers like garlic or pumpkin can be tested as a small batch. If it doesn't meet your standards, you have less bad beer.
With the small batches you could possibly make blended beers in a standard secondary. Imagine an IPA Wheat. Go for it.

[Tom C]

While I agree that a 5 gallon batch would be the way to go you could go to your local home brew store and buy a gallon jug and use this as your fermentor. I plan on buying a few myself to take a 5 gallon batch with a base recipe and split it 5 ways then do something unique to each (I.e. dry hop one, different yeast with another, etc) to really notice the difference of varying brewing techniques.

Tom C