I figured out five gallon batches were too big for my drinking needs when I started brewing so I started scaling down to three gallon batches which is a bit more manageable when you’re the only person drinking it but you want to brew all the time. Eventually I dropped down to one gallon batches which let me brew even more. Now that I have room for a kegerator I’m brewing the odd gallon batch but my normal, pull a pint beer, goes into three gallon kegs which still last surprisingly long.
For smaller batches the two biggest hurdles are accurate measurements and maintaining temperatures during the mash. For measurements this is really easy: as majorvices pointed out above switch to metric. Buy a jeweler’s scale that gets down to tenths of grams. You’ll want to accept life with a refractometer because filling a test flask for a hydrometer is a notable amount of your batch.
For maintaining mash temperatures I tried basically everything. Stovetop direct heating was difficult to control (especially over electric coil). Sticking it in the oven without heat didn’t help enough and unless you have an oven that goes below 170F it’s too hot. Sticking the pot in my cooler mash tun also didn’t help. I also disliked the results of all of these BIAB processes. I ended up with a lot of trub which ate up fermentation vessel headspace. I tried using my ten gallon cooler but the grain bed was too wide and it still lost too much heat and had poor conversation. I didn’t love any of those batches. I ended up buying a two gallon cooler and replaced the spout with a ball valve like other cooler builds. I donated the cheap equipment originally in my ten gallon cooler to the smaller cooler and upgraded that mash tun. I had to fiddle with different washers to get a good seal on the two gallon cooler but now it operates just like the larger one and maintains temperatures within a degree or two of the ten gallon cooler.
That just solved a problem that I didn’t even know I had… I have found this forum to my liking…
James Hoffman (a coffee blogger and YouTuber) did a review of scales but made no mention of a jeweler’s scale. +1 for home brewers. I also seem to remember thinking a chemistry professor from many years ago was way too obsessed with significant digits. Oh the folly of one’s youth.
I brew both 3.5 gallon batches (2.5 gallons final into keg) and 5.5 gallon batches (5 into keg) and prefer the small batches. I use the same system for both, but the small batches allows me to do a full volume mash and ferment in kegs, which is a huge plus. It takes getting used to spending the same amount of time with only half as much beer at the end, especially when you want to share it with people. But the process is much simpler with the full volume mash and lower stress.
Lifting is a lot easier and I can stack 2.5 gallon kegs in my kegerator.
I started brewing 3 gallon batches after I made my first batch from a kit and realized that 5 gallons is just way too much for me. I like to brew, so I’d much rather brew smaller batches more often. The only reason I don’t go smaller than 3 gallons is because the work is the same for me for any size up to a full 2.5 gallon keg. I’m not really worried about ingredient costs, and I don’t mind dumping beer. When I need to free up a keg I don’t really care whether I dump a pint or a gallon.
He’s reviewing scales designed for a particular purpose which is to fit under coffee equipment and measure hot liquid and primarily on a gram basis. I don’t think tenths of grams make or break a coffee or espresso beverage in the same way a tenth or two extra of a brewing salt can throw off your water profile on a gallon batch of beer. Conversely, I don’t think a smart scale built to survive near boiling liquids is a necessary tool for beer brewing–but not sure it’s necessary for coffee or espresso either.
A jeweler’s scale might be needlessly precise for brewing but the more precise I got with the water profile the better my smaller batches tasted. For $10 it’s been a fantastic purchase.