mini brewery for trial brews.

[46.philh]

I have the 70ltr shiny brewery setup but want to get more into doing my own recipes and understanding the different tastes of hops, what go together etc. I cannot afford to risk the time or cost of a full day of AG brewing.

I need to do this via a trial size brew of 10ltr or even 5 ltr brew and it needs to be a nice and simple quick brewday as not going to the get permission to do these and the normal big brews very easily.

I have two Oxfam food safe buckets so thinking I could stick a kettle element in one of those for a boiler and then use the other as the mashtun maybe ?

I guess I would still need to boil for at least 60 minutes though ?

Does anyone else do small trail brews and what setup do you use ?







PS. Only had 1 day off from work or DIY this year, :cry: Used that day to brew 46 ltr of Black sheep style ale.

 

[Darcey]

I think it would be difficult to reproduce a beer from a 5l batch as you will have to accurately calculate your boil off and weigh your hops and grains very accurately. If your usualy weighing hops @1g acuracy for 50l you'll need to be weighing @.1g acuracy as you'll be doing 10th of the size. You are still taking about the same amount of time to make the beer as you will still need the same mash and boil times.

I have a 70L boiler but often only make 20l of beer as I would rather make different beers more often. If I get one I really like then I'll do a 50-60l brew and enjoy! 20l for me is a trail batch :shock:

I know some people have 2 or even 3 brewery's for different size batches. This is just my opinion.

 

[puravida]

Get a mesh bag and use the BIAB method in a large stock-pot in the kitchen.
Not going to replicate it precisely but will give a damn good idea osf the flavours.

 

[46.philh]

I think it would be difficult to reproduce a beer from a 5l batch as you will have to accurately calculate your boil off and weigh your hops and grains very accurately.

Yes was thinking this after I posted, 5ltr would not work but 10ltr might work out ok ?

The other idea I thought about is do 20ltr brew length in my MT and then split into two oxfam boilers.

BIAB method could be a possibility but would never be allowed to do it in the kitchen.

 

[Swift Pint]

I'd also recommend going for the BIAB method. I 2 gallon (9 litre) batches in a big pot in the kitchen. I've done a few 1 gallon batches too :thumb:

Darceys got a good point about scaling recipes, I've never tried to scale recipes up from my BIAB to my 5gallon system or visa verca so cant really comment.

I did have to get some super accurate small scales for weighing out hops though. My normal ones only have 2g accuracy, which isnt really enough when you're weighing out amounts out as small as 5g!! As Jamil says, if you've got scales that are good enough for measuring cocaine....

 

[dennisdk2000]

I'm in the process of constructing a 1gallon set-up. Will post the results. Scaling will require accuracy, but scaling up isn't as big a deal as scaling down, and as you're experimenting with the small batches with a view to possibly brew on a bigger scale, you should be fine - at least I hope so, as this is what I'm intending!

Dennis

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

I wouldn't **** about with 5ltr, whatever happens with your recipe you'll drink it and learn from your mistakes.

 

[Darcey]

I brew enough for 1 x Cornie Keg so usually 20l batches by the time its chilled and dry hopped I get a full keg. Honestly even a bad beer will be drunk and 19l of beer isnt that much. I think id be more gutted if I brewed 1g of AMAZING beer that ran out! :drink:

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

I think id be more gutted if I brewed 1g of AMAZING beer that ran out! :drink:

My thoughts entirely. :thumb:

BB

 

[jamesb]

A brewery for trail brews eh?

I'd strap it on securely otherwise it might fall off the bike.

 

[Vossy1]

:lol: ...I resisted that temptation JB :grin:
I'm a fan of mini brews personally, I used to do d-jon sized ones, I think they give you a good idea of the beer once scaled up and they avoid you making lots of beer you won't like :shock: ....yes it is possible :lol:

 

[dennisdk2000]

I still think that if you're a fairly accurate in taking notes when experimenting and fairly accurate in measuring out grains etc, scaling a brew up from 1gallon to several gallons shouldn't be a problem. It should at least be fairly similar and sure would mean that you avaoid some of the biggest mistakes. I mean, why else would breweries do trial brews?

Dennis

 

[Darcey]

I mean, why else would breweries do trial brews?

All the micro brewerys I know only do trial brews but at 36g per batch. There is a lot to be said for recipe calculators.

 

[dennisdk2000]

All the micro brewerys I know only do trial brews but at 36g per batch. There is a lot to be said for recipe calculators.

Even in the context of a micro brewery, I'd say a 36g batch is still a small batch and would need some scaling up, and as such is no different from doing a 1g trial batch to be scaled up to 5g...

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

As Barnsley Brewer says....Don't pinkle about with small brews, It takes just as much time to do 30 litres as it does to do a couple of gallons.

When doing your own recipies, the fun is getting it right. Use software and trial and error, the results are more satisfying

 

[dennisdk2000]

Surely a trial brew falls under "trial and error"?!? I don't understand the aversion to trial/small batch brewing? Yes, it pretty much takes as long to brew a small batch than a big batch as mash times and fermentation times are the same, but at least you'll gain experience without wasting a lot of ingredients?

Dennis

 

[pittsy]

PS. Only had 1 day off from work or DIY this year, :cry: Used that day to brew 46 ltr of Black sheep style ale.

You need to cut down your working days/hours a bit mate , you'll end up in your grave at that rate , most important to have ''you time'' not good for you if all work :shock:

 

[46.philh]

As Barnsley Brewer says....Don't pinkle about with small brews, It takes just as much time to do 30 litres as it does to do a couple of gallons.

When doing your own recipies, the fun is getting it right. Use software and trial and error, the results are more satisfying

This is true rob and BB. It was peeing me off not having the time to brew and could not really risk a
**** brew.

'Mum wants a bungalow' project it nearly finished after gutting the place and fitting new kitchen, bathroom, new radiators, doing it weekend and nights myself etc. etc.

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

Nice to hear from you, Phil. How's it going....

 

[dennisdk2000]

So, to back up my case for Nano-brews, here's my experience so far:

Two first brews, a chocolate-maple porter and a trippel, are almost all gone now and they were very tasty, not just according to me! Third brew is conditioning, fourth brew is fermenting.

I have several more brews planned and loving the experience!

If anyone fancies a go a nano-brewing, here's my mash tun build:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=28322

Feel free to ask questions, but please do so under the build description, so as to not hi-jack this thread!

Dennis