Tweaking small batches

[dave althouse]

OK, just throw this one out for any comments. Suppose I brew a 5 gallon extract, and instead of one fermentation vessel I use 5 - 1 gallon bottles and in each gallon jug tweak it with something different. More hops, fruit, spices and the like. Anyone try this. Guess this could be a way to formulate different recipes. What do you think, I am at work and bored.

davea

 

[Smitty27]

Yeah, I've done this but usually not with 5 different vessels. I only do two or three at a time but its a great way to do a bit of experimenting. Right now I've got a split batch fermenting. One is my regular Belgian IPA recipe and the other I tossed in Brett Trois to see how things will develop with the brett compared to regular yeast.

You can definitely see how dry hopping vs not or using different yeast strains will affect the beer, or you could use the same yeast and try different fermenting temperatures. The fun is endless!

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

this is a good idea "but" theirs always one lol. make sure you divide up the yeast evenly, don't pour from one vessel into five containers

 

[The Brew Mentor]

I like to experiment all the time, just in bigger batches :mrgreen:
Brian

 

[Nosybear]

My latest experiment of this type is to brew a Kolsch wort, split it and ferment with different yeasts. Next time I do the Classic American Pilsner, I'll do the same thing. The purpose of this kind of experiment is to decide, broad brush, what is better to do. Remember, at homebrew scale, the difference between 5 grams of anything and 6 grams is likely within measurement error, in short, you don't know if you actually have 5.489 grams or 5.513 grams. That makes this kind of "tweak" meaningless. Likewise, the difference between 152 degrees and 154 degrees is not measurable at our scale.