Simple 1 Gallon Recipe? <Ale Beginner>

[mcscruff]

Hi all,

I have made a fair amount of cider and a few other brews but i really want to start on ale. I love a nice ale, and would like to try to experiment with my own recipes. The downisde is my equipment and my working space (small flat). The only equipment i currently have are: 2 demijohn's, 2 5l water bottles and a 5 gallon wilkos fermentor (with the airlock lid).
I know making 1 gallon batches isnt great but i would like to just try one and see how it turns out. Once i have a recipe i like i should be able to afford all the correct equipment. I don't really want to buy a kit as i have enjoyed the "making" part of the other drinks i have made.

So if anyone knows what is the minimal things i need to make a nice ale to test then please share :) .

Thanks in advance from an ale homebrew virgin

 

[Will12283]

You might be better off starting with a kit unless you can do extract or BIAB brewing

 

[LeedsBrewer]

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=34314

check out this post of a simple 1 gallon brew day.
I do my 5L batches in a 15L pot. I also mash in the same pot using a voile net curtain thingy that i bought for a couple of quid as a grain bag. :thumb:

 

[LeedsBrewer]

and this for more ideas for 1G batches viewtopic.php?f=21&t=29730&hilit=back+to+basics :thumb:

 

[LeedsBrewer]

got a chimnea? viewtopic.php?f=21&t=28736&p=274448&hilit=back+to+basics#p274448 :lol: as you can see there are many ways of doing it. Get creative and have fun. Find a simple recipe. I'm a big fan of the SMaSH brews. Nice and easy to do and you get to learn what the different hop flavours/aromas are.

Download Brewmate (its free and easy to use) and get creative :thumb:

any questions post them on here and you'll get a speedy reply :)

 

[Will12283]

I stand corrected lol

 

[LeedsBrewer]

I stand corrected lol

:lol: Not at all, as you said kits are definately the best way to start :thumb: You get to learn about sanitation, ferment times and bottling etc... but small AG batches are possible and quite easy once you have a go. It's just doing that first one that is a little daunting.

 

[JKaranka]

For one gallon it is quite easy to mash two pounds of malts and maybe steep some... I've done it a couple of times on the stove and it works ok. E.g., mash anywhere between 0.8 and 1.2 kg of pale malt (strength to taste), steep anywhere between 25 and 150 grams of crystal malt (sweetness and colour to taste). Follow by boiling 60 minutes, with 5 grams of hops added at the beginning of the boil for bittering, and up to 15 grams at any time in the last 15 minutes (keep some for the very end). It will produce drinkable beer pretty much no matter what you use and the next time around you can tweak the recipe.

 

[Swift Pint]

I also do 1 or 2 gallon BIAB brews due to space.
All you need is a big pot ( I have a 3g pot), a mesh bag (mines made out of a wilko viole curtain).

You'll need a thermometer for getting the mash temp right & a hydrometer, but you might have them already from your other brews.

Also, brewing such small batches, its useful to have some small sensitive scales for weighing out the small amounts of hops.

 

[Will12283]

I also do 1 or 2 gallon BIAB brews due to space.
All you need is a big pot ( I have a 3g pot), a mesh bag (mines made out of a wilko viole curtain).

You'll need a thermometer for getting the mash temp right & a hydrometer, but you might have them already from your other brews.

Also, brewing such small batches, its useful to have some small sensitive scales for weighing out the small amounts of hops.

You also need swmbo (if you have one) to be willing for you to brew in the house lol

 

[mcscruff]

Thanks All, i think i will do the brew in a bag, it looks quite straight forward.
i will be going to my (not so) local brew shop on saturday to get the ingrediants... why does wilko's only sell wine yeast...

 

[Ceejay]

Worth checking out The Malt Miller for ingredients. Top notch ingredients, and super fast, cheap delivery. :thumb:

 

[rpt]

A good starting point is an extract brew. Not as cheap as AG but it misses out the mash step and gives you a chance to try out the boil. It's certainly my plan before doing a BIAB.

 

[mcscruff]

Please excuse my poor knowledge (i am still researching) but they both look the same and look like they take the same time

 

[LeedsBrewer]

Extract is using malt extract instead of mashing with grains. You cut your brew day down by a few hours. basically you just skip the mash and head straight for the boil instead. You add malt extract to your water. This makes up your wort (this is basically what you'd have come out with if you'd mashed grains)

You do a boil and add hop additions in the usual way.

It is the next step up from your basic kits and is meant to be a lot better quality.

It is more expensive for ingredients however as a Kg of DME will cost around £4 from here (cheapest place i found) http://www.worcesterhopshop.co.uk/index ... 4ea77b460b and you might need 3kg for a 23L batch.

 

[mcscruff]

I get it now. Looking at the prices it looks alot more amd making a batch this small looks around £1 a pint compared to the 40p. But it looks like it could be a good starting ground for me. Am i right in thinking i will need:
Malt extract 500g
Hops (i will try saaz 1st and buy 100g)
Sugar (will any sugar do and how much)
Ale yeast

Heat the water add the malt and the sugar.
Once boiling add the hops at certain times (beggining middle and end)
Cool down as quick as possible
Pitch yeast, take a reading
Put in demijohn and airlock
Leave to ferment for around 10 days
Prime bottles and bottle

 

[TRXnMe]

I got started with AG through the back to basics 2 competition, all I had was a 13 litre stock pot, a thermometer, a couple of bags and a demi john or ten.

It's well worth having a go, good fun and very tasty beer.

I stilll use the setup now and then If I think a brew might be a bit 'off', but sounds like it could be good, I also brew beer for my wife this way, she doesn't drink much and likes fruit beers, so a small batch of SMaSH with fruit juice added during fermentation keeps her happy for a couple of months.

 

[LeedsBrewer]

pretty much yeah. I'd dissolve the DME in cold water and then bring it to the boil.
For a 1G batch 500g DME will probably be fine

This is what Brewmate gives:

New Recipe (American Pale Ale)

Original Gravity (OG): 1.042 (°P): 10.5
Final Gravity (FG): 1.011 (°P): 2.8
Alcohol (ABV): 4.13 %
Colour (SRM): 5.6 (EBC): 11.0
Bitterness (IBU): 41.2 (Average)

500g (though 600g would probably be better) 100% Dry Malt Extract - Light

15g or 3.3 g/L Saaz (3.6% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
10g or 2.2 g/L Saaz (3.6% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
5g or 1.1 g/L Saaz (3.6% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)


Boil for 60 Minutes

Fermented at 19°C with US-05 yeast

You'll have to adjust according to the AA% of the Saaz hops that you buy. (each years crop is a different percentage)
I wouldn't add any sugar to the brew other than to prime it. Adding sugars make it a higher % but will thin out the beer and make it a bit crappy. For priming you can just use ordinary sugar.

for yeast i would suggest US05. it'll bring out the hop flavours more.

Oh and take an OG reading before pitching yeast.

Leave to ferment for 10 days then take an SG reading. Take another on day 13. if they are the same then prime and bottle.

Download Brewmate (its free and easy to use) have a play around till you find a recipe you like. but its very difficult to go wrong. at the end of the day you'll have beer :thumb:

oh and watch for boil overs if boiling the full amount in a small pan. they'll take forever to clean off the hob!

 

[mcscruff]

Thanks for all your help.

I will try brewmate when i jump on a windows pc (linux user)

I will post back when i have started or get stuck.

Thanks to all again for not putting a new person down...

 

[mcscruff]

Just bought my malt and hops, i also picked up a dark malt (aswell as the light) would this taste ok if i did the same recipe but swapped light for dark?