I have brewed several of the 1 gallon kits and they have come out decently. I like doing the smaller kits, since I do not drink that much – nor do I entertain at home. The 1 gallon kit makes about 8 bottles. Figuring math would say that a 5 gallon kit would make about 40 bottles. Could I purchase a 5 gallon kit and say only use half the ingredients and make about 20 bottles? I would guess that the yeast would not be able to be opened and kept until the next brew day.
Thanks in advance!
I see no problem splitting a kit, except that if it contains any liquid extract you’ll want to use the remainder fairly soon. I would also consider just buying two packs of yeast and pitching one and saving the other for the second half of your kit. Any remaining hops can be either vacuum sealed or double bagged with small ziplocks (with as much air as possible squeezed out) and stored in the freezer until needed.
By the way, a five gallon kit will generally yield between 48 and 52 bottles of beer, depending on how good your racking technique is and how many gravity (or tasting) :mrgreen: samples you draw.
I’m in the opposite situation. I’ve been doing 5-gallon kits for a couple years, and have down-scaled the last two to smaller 2.5 and 3 gallon batches.
You may want to look into the 3-gallon BIAB kits.
I love the fact that I can do all-grain indoors.
Thanks for the info guys! With the price increase of the 1 gallon kits, it seems like it would make more sense to buy the 5 gallon and just increase my batch size a little.
If it were me, I would divide the recipe in half and order the ingredients ala carte but only one order of yeast. You could order two different recipes for the same or less money. Pitch all the yeast on your first batch and save the slurry for your next batch.
+1
It’s especially easy if you can time your brew days such that you’re transferring the first batch on the same day you’re brewing the second.
Brew Cat and JMcK: Great ideas! By slurry, I am guessing that is the yeast bed after fermentation? Any ideas on how long would that be viable for?
Yes that is correct. What I would do is if you plan to pitch on top is swirl it a bit to get it mixed and dump half out. If you want to save it pour it in a sanitized quart mason jar and keep it in the fridge. It will last quite awhile.
Again thanks for the info!
