small batch brews <10L

[BrewStew]

have any of you guys tried doing small batches... like under 10L? for experimentation purposes of course

i'm wondering if i could pull off the odd 10L mid week batch (i'm assuming it'll take less time to bring to the boil and thus, less time to brew... and also cheaper) while I try to perfect my Genius recipe.

would this affect efficiency?

thoughts?

 

[Vossy1]

I've thought about mini mashing a lot.
It's a great way to see if you like a recipe before scaling it up....it's not much fun when you have 2 corny's of a beer to drink and you don't like it :?

 

[BrewStew]

indeed.

i thought (as an alternative to mini mashing) about what' i'd like to step up in my brewery to 20gal first and i'm thinking it should be the mash tun.

that way i can mash 4x 5gal batches of grain from the same mash tun, so it'll all be the same, then tinker with the hop addtions. that way i've got consistency.

but that doesn't bring the costs down and does limit me to hop changes.

 

[MEB]

I generally do a 25L batch as an experiment and a 40L batch if i like it. I can't see the point in doing anything smaller than 25L. But thats just me. :|

At least if i don't like it it'll give the other beers i have chance to mature. I'm tapping into my beers after 7 days anyway.

 

[BrewStew]

oh yeah doing a smaller batch means less enjoyment if i hit something special, but then i can just brew more of it later.

I might infact split the batch down to 4 x 5L. that way they can fit in those smaller fermenters i've got from my alcoshots kit. should do the job nicely, then bottle.

I want to do a blind taste test with myself and as many people I can find willing to do it, to try to find the best combination, but for that i want consistency of malt liquor, and the same fermentation temps and times. So i reckon this is the best way :)

the question is, if i'm to split the brew into quarters, do i litterally use a quarter of the hops i would in a normal 23L batch?

 

[MEB]

Why not brew a 25L batch and split it down to small fermenters and use a different yeast on each? That way you haven't got to worry about ratio's of hops or change your standard routine.

I done this with a 40L batch and fermented 4 x 10L with a different yeast in each batch. You really learn what yeasts do to the flavour of your beer and it gives you a great platform from which to experiment further. :
You'd be surprised how much yeast controls the overall taste of the finished beer.

 

[BrewStew]

that's not a bad idea!

i might try that as my first experiment

 

[MEB]

It's quite fun and you get to see how much yeast can influence your beer. Which is huge.

Also because your splitting a batch. The batch itself should be identical, cos you've brewed it at 20L and are splitting it down to 4 x 5L batches. So the results will be the direct influence of the yeast.

The biggest difference between a great recipe or an average one is the yeast in my opinion.
I've tried Thames Valley and 1968 ESB on a lot of my brews. ESB works miracle's on a certain brew of mine-Shelobs Sting. Thames Valley turns an ordinary summer pale ale into a cracker-my Wedding ale. I like big flavours and strong beers so these two yeasts are just right for me. I'm still testing Ringwood. It seems quite neutral and suits best bitters i reckon. It was perfect with my Green bullet Best. Now i'm experimenting with London III.
:grin:
Nottingham tasted of nothing really. Windsor makes me fart like a farting machine. I don't like S04 too much-it tastes too 'ordinary' to me.
I've even tried mixing yeasts. I had a strong 35L batch of ale to ferment and only one available ESB culture and one sachet of S04. Neither was enough to perform the required task so i used both I collected the yeast slurry afterwards and have grown on a batch of yeast from this. I'll give it a try on Shelob soon.

Plus you can keep growing on a yeast for ages and ages. Making your initial yeast purchase seem very cheap indeed. :grin: And growing/ranching yeast is fun in itself. :party:

Yeast is cool

 

[BrewStew]

Nottingham tasted of nothing really.

Ahh that's a bugger because that's what i was going to try hehe.

I've got s04 & Nottingham in stock

what other three dried yeasts would you suggest that i can pick up at my local HBS?

 

[MEB]

Windsor is usefull, as is US-05.
Other than that you are quite limited with dried yeasts. Thats not to say they aren't excellent products.

Have you thought about trying a liquid yeast? All you need is a demijohn and some DME. You'll be hooked straight away. Go on have a try... :twisted: You know you want to... :twisted: :ugeek: :twisted:

I'd be very interested in seeing your results of Nott v S04 v US-05 v Windsor. That would be v cool indeed.

 

[BrewStew]

Liquid yeast is certainly a possibility! the idea of propogating my own yeast cultures is appealing, and it would make me brew more frequently to keep the strains active hehe.

How many generations of yeast can you reach before it mutates? is there any way of avoiding mutation?

i'll be sure to post my findings for all to see

i'd better pick up a couple more 5 litre fermenters while i'm at the HBS. that'll make a total of 11 fermenters under my ownership :shock: (6 5gal and 5 5L)

 

[MEB]

ESB doesn't do too well apparently. About 2 goes and then it starts to lose elements. I'm on the third and it's still well useable.

Thames Valley seems fine after 5 goes so far. Hard as nails this one.

Ringwood is on it's first, after the initial batch. Seems to be better at getting going now though. :?

London III is still my new one so trials are on-going.

I'll probably be quite happy with these four for every brew i can imagine me brewing.

 

[Dunfie]

How many generations of yeast can you reach before it mutates? is there any way of avoiding mutation?

There was a article in Brewers Contact earlier in the year where the author had been using generations of yeast that he originally propogated from a bottle of Guiness in around 1987 (if I could be bothered getting up to find the article I could confirm the actual year).

 

[A T]

1987 wow that's amazing, if MEB wants to post a how to on this it would be great

 

[MEB]

Just keep re-using it.
Either skim the krausen after 24-36 hrs or collect the yeast cake and use that. Or make up an agar slant and it'll last for years and years.

I'm going to 'grow on' some of my Ringwood in the next few days as i only have one bottle left-i'll do pic's and stuff.

 

[BrewStew]

oooh i'm looking forward to seeing the photo how to MEB :)

 

[Vossy1]

Thanks for volunteering MEB...gr8 stuff :clap: :lol:

 

[Phil]

I know this thread has moved on a bit since the initial question but...

I built a 2 gallon pilot brewery for just this purpose. I have used it a few times but ultimately I found that there were too issues with brewing such small quantities. Firstly any inaccuracy in measuring ingredients has a massive influence on the recipe (I'm not know for taking accurate measurements :whistle: ) . Secondly, the amount of time taken to brew 9 litres is almost the same as brewing a full 55l batch on the main brewery.

It's easy to counter the first issue; just buy and use accurate scales. The second one is less easy. You obviously save some time in that it doesn't take too long to boil a small quantity of water or wort but you still have the same mash tim and boil time. I reckon on taking 4.5 hours for 55l and about 3.5 for the small batches.

If you nail the measurements it can be a good way of economically trialling recipes.

/Phil.

 

[BrewStew]

cool, thanks for the tips!

I've just had a nice conversation with the pub landlord next door to where i work, he's very interested in sampling my Stout recipe when i think i've got it cracked.

He's even agreed to let me do blind taste tests with his punters to gather the masses opinions, as long as i sort him out a few pints

 

[A T]

cool, thanks for the tips!

I've just had a nice conversation with the pub landlord next door to where i work, he's very interested in sampling my Stout recipe when i think i've got it cracked.

He's even agreed to let me do blind taste tests with his punters to gather the masses opinions, as long as i sort him out a few pints

Wow that's great Stew, i hop you don't put him out of business :lol: