Small batch brewing is one of my favorite things.
Some days I can’t believe I put off brewing my own beer for as long as I did. My LOVE for good beer always had me wanting to try brewing my own. I understood the basics of how beer was made and had done the research to see what I needed. I even found recipes I was interested in. Still, it seemed so daunting! There were kits, but most were geared toward a five gallon batch. That meant large brew kettles, large fermentation vessels, not to mention all of the bottles! Then there was the cost of everything. Worse still, what if it wasn’t any good? The last thing I wanted was nearly 50 bottles of bad beer. It just didn’t seem reasonable, or even possible, in my situation at that time. I was a poor college student living in a tiny apartment. There was just no way…
Until one day I stumbled across something I had never before seen, small batch brewing. Why was it necessary to brew five gallons at a time? Why did I need space for large equipment just to experiment with brewing my own beer? I quickly realized I didn’t! A little time and research and I was off to the races with my very first one gallon brewing kit with minimal investment. Since then I’ve continued to brew these one gallon batches and moved on to buying my own ingredients for recipes I find or design myself. I love the freedom these small batches of beer provide! I truly believe, with all of the benefits listed below, this is where most homebrewers should start their own brewing experience.
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Small Batch Brewing Requires Less Space
Small batch brewing works great for those with space limitations. The unfortunate fact is that many people simply don’t have space in their homes to use and store a five gallon brewery and all of the equipment that comes with it. I began my brewing adventure in a small apartment, less than 800 square feet. It would not have been feasible for me to brew my own beer in a larger batch. Luckily, one gallon batches take up very little space, and are perfect for apartment dwellers!
It May Cost Less
Home brewing, like any decent hobby, can get expensive quick. A typical five gallon brewing system requires some equipment that the average kitchen simply does not have. You need a large brew kettle with an effective way to heat it, large fermentation vessels, and more ingredients for every batch. All of these things add up! For someone who just wants to try out brewing their own beer, this can be a seriously prohibitive investment. Small batch brewing can be successful with minimal equipment, including some things you may have in your kitchen already!
It Takes Less Time
Small batch brewing saves you time on your brew day. How much time depends on several factors. Small one gallon batches heat and cool much quicker than the traditional five gallon batch. There is less set up, transfer, and clean up time required on your brew day.
All Grain Is Easy With Small Batch Brewing
Brewing one gallon at a time also provides a key advantage over the five gallon batch for the new brewer. You are able to easily go all grain with your brews from day one. Many brewers start out with five gallon extract brewing. Most who keep up the hobby often find themselves going to an all grain brewing technique to improve the quality of their beer. As a one gallon brewer you can and should start brewing all grain straight away. The smaller size of these batches means you don’t need any special equipment or significant costs to go all grain. A simple brew in a bag method is all that is required.
Easy To Brew More Often
“10,000 hours is the magic number of greatness.” This is the conclusion Malcom Gladwell came to in his popular book Outliers. It takes a lot of practice to become great at anything. Home brewing is no exception! The problem is, a typical home brewer can find it difficult to brew very often due to the cost, time, or space needed for larger batches. These factors are all mitigated with small batch brewing. By brewing a single gallon or two at a time, you’re able to brew very often at a cost, time, and space commitment that is totally manageable!
Easy To Experiment
One advantage of brewing smaller batches more often is that it provides plenty of opportunity to experiment with your beer. When you are brewing in larger batches, it’s harder to experiment. Nobody wants to waste all of that beer and its required ingredients to test some new crazy idea you had! Small batch brewing also allows you to experiment with more expensive ingredients in your beer you might not try otherwise since they require much less of these ingredients than a traditional five gallon brew.
Full Wort Boils Are No Problem
With small batch brewing, a full wort boil is easy. A full wort boil in a traditional five gallon batch requires you to boil 6+ gallons of water. This typically requires some special equipment and extra time due to the large pre-boil volume. To overcome this, many brewers will use a partial boil and then top off with clean water to get the final volume in the fermenter. A full wort boil provides a few benefits over this partial method. First, it allows you to better predict hop volumes to reach target IBUs. It also allows you to better predict the color of your beer. The biggest advantage is a reduced risk of contamination. Since you are boiling the full volume that goes into the fermenter, the entire volume is pasteurized and you don’t have to worry about potential contamination in your top off water.
No Special Heat Source Required
In the last point I mentioned how a full wort boil for a five gallon batch may require special equipment, and a heat source that can bring 6+ gallons of water to a boil is one such requirement. Remember, by brewing small we save space, time, and money. The pre-boil volume needed to boil for a gallon batch can be heated on nearly any stove you may find in a kitchen. There are even small portable electric burners that will serve this purpose well. To achieve the same in a larger batch typically requires special heating elements in the kettle or an outdoor propane burner, which adds extra cost and space while potentially limiting your ability to brew if outdoor conditions prevent you from using such a burner part of the year.
Clean Up Is Easier With Small Batch Brewing
One final advantage of brewing in small batches is that it makes clean up on brew days so much easier. Not only is there less equipment to clean, most of the time it is all small enough to clean in the kitchen sink. On one gallon brew days, I could go from start to finish without ever leaving my kitchen if I wanted. The amount of clean up required with a one gallon brew really makes the end of your brew day quick and easy. Larger brew set ups typically have more to clean, as well as larger items that you can’t easily wash in the kitchen sink, complicating the clean up more than a small batch brew.