Small Scale Brewing

Davin · Post by **Davin** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 6:32 pm

Anyone tried any small scale brewing as mentioned in brew magazine this month? Thinking about giving it a try because I can do several reciies at once before committing to a large batch of the best one. I've currently got 2 4L glass jugs to use and am going to get a couple more. Need to knwo if anyone has a good local supplier on rubber stoppers though.

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:06 pm

You can get stoppers at the Coop at St. Joe and Mill Rd. I've made several batches of various styles in gallon fermenters. That way, you find out if you really want a 5 gallon batch. Typical yield is about 8 bottles. Have fun!!

Davin · Post by **Davin** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:09 pm

Cool, i need to head out that way this weekend anyway.

Davin · Post by **Davin** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 3:08 pm

My first small batch is in the fermenter now. Its a wheat ale based on a Blue Moon recipe I found on the net, hopefully it will turn out pretty well. Only problem I'm seeing so far is it has a high SG which has me a little worried. I plan to move it to a secondary fermenter on Saturday (7 days) and then bottle about 9-10 days after that.

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 4:58 pm

Looks like 2 choices: add a little water to lower the gravity or just drink it like you brewed it. How much water did you start with and how much wort is there in the fermenter?? Solution to the problem...... have a homebrew.

Davin · Post by **Davin** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:56 pm

Yeah those were pretty much the options I thought of too. I ended up just leaving it as is. I started with a little less than a gallon and ended up with what I figure is about 3/4 gallon.

Who knows maybe it will rock.

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:00 am

I found out that I had to start off with about 5 quarts of liquid in the brewpot in order to do a 1 hour boil and end up with about 3 quarts of wort in the fermenter. Boiled off a lot due to large surface area for that small amount of liquid. With only that much volume, the pot reaches boiling temperature pretty fast too, unlike waiting for 5 gallons to boil.