Mini brews - Possible?

[coldlager]

Thanks for all the responses guys, very helpful indeed.

Great tip to use a net curtain to boil and strain the malt.

The main thing i've learnt is that the bottled beer should last plenty of time to be consumed :)

The extract tip is a great one but I like the idea of the all grain style, now that i've got the idea in my head I will need to give it a shot. I'm not fussed if it takes a long time and will yield only a few litres, i think it will be fun and a good learning experience.

I'd like to give some of my beer away (if its drinkable lol) however, i'll have to ask for the bottles back which seems a bit cheeky to me lol. I will have to get some glass empties from a local pub or something, bottle capper and some caps and use those as gifts as opposed to the plastic screw top bottles i bought.

I'll also give the extract option a try at some point, afterall brewing small 5lt batches means I can realistically have a handful brewing/bottled at the same time.

Thanks again. woah, im excited about these mini-brews now :)

 

[JKaranka]

Hiya!

I'm running a 15-22l batch and two 4.5l batches at any one time. The 4.5l batches are for strong or experimental beers (I've done barleywines, 7% rye IPAs, etc.) and currently hold a single hop light brewer's gold (4% abv) and a DRY and VERY BITTER oatmeal stout (3.5% ABV). I wouldn't particularly want to brew 20l of one of those unless I know they work. It's very easy to knock an extract brew in two hours at that size and a mash with tricky grains such as oats is easier to handle as well.

Things seem to have taken an odd twist this month as the big fermenter is holding some Russian imperial stout :rofl:

 

[LeedsBrewer]

oh and read this if you haven't already http://www.brewstock.co.uk/?p=54 :thumb:

Many thanks to Puravida :)

 

[Abiruth]

oh and read this if you haven't already http://www.brewstock.co.uk/?p=54 :thumb:

Many thanks to Puravida :)

Great how to, many thanks for the link.

:drink:

 

[oz11]

I'd like to give some of my beer away (if its drinkable lol) however, i'll have to ask for the bottles back which seems a bit cheeky to me lol. I will have to get some glass empties from a local pub or something, bottle capper and some caps and use those as gifts as opposed to the plastic screw top bottles i bought.

Always ask for the bottles back (and rinsed), the beer is the gift, not the bottle! I make sure if anybody doesn't return the bottle or they come back with crud in the bottom they do not get another one to try. :evil:

 

[oldbloke]

I had a Gone With The Wheat kit and there were 2 of everything in the box, except yeast, so I only did half of it, brewed short in two demijohns.

Also my millet experiments have so far not been bigger than 1 gallon

 

[Abiruth]

I had a Gone With The Wheat kit and there were 2 of everything in the box, except yeast, so I only did half of it, brewed short in two demijohns.

Also my millet experiments have so far not been bigger than 1 gallon

I never thought of 2 can kits. I wonder if all of them have the same stuff in both cans i.e. not hops etc in one and malt extract in the other.

:drink:

 

[oldbloke]

I had a Gone With The Wheat kit and there were 2 of everything in the box, except yeast, so I only did half of it, brewed short in two demijohns.

Also my millet experiments have so far not been bigger than 1 gallon

I never thought of 2 can kits. I wonder if all of them have the same stuff in both cans i.e. not hops etc in one and malt extract in the other.

:drink:

dunno, it's the only kit I've done. It had 2 cans of sorghum syrup, 2 bottles of hop extract, and some yeast.

 

[rpt]

I never thought of 2 can kits. I wonder if all of them have the same stuff in both cans i.e. not hops etc in one and malt extract in the other.

I'm pretty certain that the two cans are identical. It's going to be much easier for the manufacturer to boil up one batch of hopped, malt extract and split it into two cans, than to make two different ingredients.

 

[rpt]

Hi...

Is the 1-2 month lifespan i've read of homebrew beer accurate?

No..it depends on the beer, pale ale a few months through to a Russian imperial stout say a year (or more)

Most recipes I've seen for imperial stout say to mature for 18 months before tasting, so I think you can be sure they will last for quite a while.

 

[coldlager]

Always ask for the bottles back (and rinsed), the beer is the gift, not the bottle! I make sure if anybody doesn't return the bottle or they come back with crud in the bottom they do not get another one to try. :evil:

LOL, this made me laugh.

I've received most of the bits and bobs to start a mini-brew. I do however have another question for you guys after watching an old episode of home brew video where they explored the effect on colour & flavour of beer from plastic versus glass fermenters.

On the small scale of 1 gallon brewing, do you think this difference in fermenter materials could be even more apparent than the larger brews tested? I was planning to use a plastic fermenter...

I heard about this topic on homebrew radio and video.

Radio: http://llnw.libsyn.com/p/2/7/2/27241a4b ... a4ec65a5b2

Video: http://ec.libsyn.com/p/e/6/3/e630abde75 ... id=4028224


Should I avoid the plastci 1 gallon fermenter? Perhaps it's more to do with the shape than the material, if so plastic should be OK as both the plastic and glass fermenters are a similar shape.


Cheers

 

[Abiruth]

On the small scale of 1 gallon brewing, do you think this difference in fermenter materials could be even more apparent than the larger brews tested? I was planning to use a plastic fermenter...

I heard about this topic on homebrew radio and video.

Radio: http://llnw.libsyn.com/p/2/7/2/27241a4b ... a4ec65a5b2

Video: http://ec.libsyn.com/p/e/6/3/e630abde75 ... id=4028224

Should I avoid the plastci 1 gallon fermenter? Perhaps it's more to do with the shape than the material, if so plastic should be OK as both the plastic and glass fermenters are a similar shape.
Cheers

Interesting video. Like you say our mini batches are in containers that are a similar shape to glass demijohns. If the improvement is due to reduced oxidation then looks like one up for smaller fermenters. Certainly from what I've read it can be tricky to get a decent lock on large fermenting buckets. But as it took an experienced chap a while to notice the difference I guess it's not too much to worry about. If you want more info I'd post a new post, might get some other views.

:drink:

 

[coldlager]

On the small scale of 1 gallon brewing, do you think this difference in fermenter materials could be even more apparent than the larger brews tested? I was planning to use a plastic fermenter...

I heard about this topic on homebrew radio and video.

Radio: http://llnw.libsyn.com/p/2/7/2/27241a4b ... a4ec65a5b2

Video: http://ec.libsyn.com/p/e/6/3/e630abde75 ... id=4028224

Should I avoid the plastci 1 gallon fermenter? Perhaps it's more to do with the shape than the material, if so plastic should be OK as both the plastic and glass fermenters are a similar shape.
Cheers

Interesting video. Like you say our mini batches are in containers that are a similar shape to glass demijohns. If the improvement is due to reduced oxidation then looks like one up for smaller fermenters. Certainly from what I've read it can be tricky to get a decent lock on large fermenting buckets. But as it took an experienced chap a while to notice the difference I guess it's not too much to worry about. If you want more info I'd post a new post, might get some other views.

:drink:

Cool, thanks man. I think you are right, i'd probably never knwo the detect the difference!

 

[Abiruth]

Cool, thanks man. I think you are right, i'd probably never knwo the detect the difference!

No worries. Only thing I'd say is that most folks seem to only use the plastic fermenters for a limited number of brew (5ish). I think this is cos if the plastic gets scratched inside it can hang on to germs etc. I chucked one the other day cos I couldn't be bothered to wash all the hops out...I told myself it was really to prevent infection

:drink: