Beer Forum

So I want to do a full-boil, but my gas stove sucks apparently, as it can not get 5 gallons in my brew kettle (8 gal) up to boil very easily...or at all for that matter. I can't quite afford the outdoor propane burner just yet (although it is in the near future). However, logically, I should be able to cut the recipe in half so I'm only a brewing 2.5 gallon batch, but still reaping the benefits of a full boil.

Does anyone have experience/recomendations with doing smaller batches like this? Or even better yet, could anyone point me in the direction of some smaller recipes?

Brewing programs like Beersmith will help you scale down recipes. You can try it out free for 21 days.

Since you're doing extract, I suspect you could cover you pot to bring it to boil since DMS wouldn't be a huge issue. Just make sure to keep a close eye on it.

Just as a note, the Bayou Classic burners are about $40 with free shipping fom Amazon. This is what I have an it works great.

Yup, no problem doing a smaller batch. Assuming the recipe you're using was formulated for a full boil, you can just cut everything in half.

It isn't free, but for roughly the same price as a burner you could build a heatstick and not have to worry about propane at all. That would probably let you do a full boil on your stove in a reasonable amount of time.

Are you near Indianapolis? I won't be brewing for 2-3 months, so you could borrow a propane burner while you save your pennies.

Oh geez, I didn't realize burners were so inexpensive. The only ones I could find were $80+ at the sporting goods store. Very cool. And I live in Fort Wayne...so I'm not that close...but seriously, thank you for the offer! Hopefully I'll be getting that burner come next paycheck! As far as Beersmith goes, I actually own it. I just haven't had the time to sit down and figure it out yet.

Thanks for the help. I love this community.

On one of the other podcasts {whisper}Basic Brewing{/whisper}, they routinely do 1 gallon batches. I've thought about doing it, but have never tried it.

Dirk McLargeHuge wrote:On one of the other podcasts {whisper}Basic Brewing{/whisper}, they routinely do 1 gallon batches. I've thought about doing it, but have never tried it.

Yeah, but that's like what...1 night beer supply. Why bother?

TheDarkSide wrote:

Dirk McLargeHuge wrote:On one of the other podcasts {whisper}Basic Brewing{/whisper}, they routinely do 1 gallon batches. I've thought about doing it, but have never tried it.

Yeah, but that's like what...1 night beer supply. Why bother?

Exactly!

I've brewed all 3-gallon batches for years. It's easy to scale down your favorite recipes. 2.5 gallons would be even easier because you can just cut everything in half. But I find that I run out of my favorite beers way too quickly if I'm only getting 20-some bottles versus 30 bottles.