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- May 6, 2020
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I started a few years ago with a 5 gallon set up and just didn't brew that often. Then had kids and brewed less! I sold all my brewing kit and then Covid happened and we weren't allowed to buy alcohol in Botswana. So I happened upon some really old grain, hops and yeast I had forgotten about. I managed to botch together a plan to brew 1 gallon batches and its a revelation! Small batches are so much easier. Can brew weekly now and can use my kitchen stove and 2 gallon pot (at a push).
So my advice:
Use a blender on the grain bill, It's all I had but seems to work. Research seems to indicate this is fine. I tried the first time with a rolling pin but my efficiency was 21% so gave that ghost up. The blender will improve efficiency (got 85% second time) and with a fine mesh bag shouldn't cause any issues. Also check your mash conversion at 45 minutes. You may be surprised how quickly it is done and thus saves you time. I also put my 2 gallon pot in the oven on warming at 60C for the mash to keep the temp steady. Because my pot is small I also need to fly sparge about 2 litres because I can't do a full volume mash. This might also help with efficiency. Anyway - I am done and dusted in 3 hours and lots of time to do things in-between. Cooling your wort is also faster and can be done with an ice bath but I am looking at a small immersion wort chiller to ensure a good cold break and cut time even more.
BeerSmith3 is great. Really quite accurate.
Hope that helps and welcome to the small batch gang.
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