A List of One Gallon Batches
Here's a list of one gallon experimental/test batches. It gets updated as new ones are made. Some of them have been very useful, and informed future full batches. Others were complete flops. Some of them were flavored secondaries. Some are specially brewed as one gallon yeast starters, to build up a big yeast slurry, leading up to full batches. I invite you to read about brewing one gallon batches. You can also see an updated listing of all my beers at...a brief history of Ted's brews.
1. Honey Toasted Red Ale
2 gallons, repitched Scottish Ale yeast, 7.75%, 1 lb home toasted & honey glazed 2-row malt, Overall it was pretty bad, Sweet and uncarbonated.
2. Sour Corn Ale
Repitched Thames Valley Wyeast, 1lb. frozen corn in secondary, unexpected and very unique, favorable sour taste resulted from what I believe is wild yeast/bacteria on the corn. Hops and ground pepper give it a "mysterious" mild spice. I'll probably do this again sometime. One year later, it was absolutely great, with a pleasant oxidized scent and a "Belgian-like," "aged" quality. Very smooth.
3. Blueberry Ale 1
Repitched Thames Valley Wyeast, 20oz. frozen wild blueberries in secondary, nice purple hue, hops a little assertive, overall it was pretty good. Now I see why fruit ales are mildly hopped. The addition of wheat or malted barley might be good. There was also a strange metallic taste. One year later, it was unbelievably smooth!
4. Buckwheat Honey Mead
Dry Mead Wyeast, came out tasting like candy...not so good. Perhaps age will change its character, so I have a little hope. A full 16oz. of buckwheat honey with 32oz. of clover, juice from 1 lemon and 4oz. of strong earl grey tea...it came out very strange. Too much buckwheat honey.
5. Downer Brown Ale
Safbrew-S33, what I thought would be an interesting brown ale ended up tasting sweet with no character. I blame it on Munton's dry malt extract.
6. Cyser Mead
Sweet Mead Wyeast, made with raw honey, 64 oz. organic "clear" apple juice, and water with a squeeze of lemon juice, a clear & soft honey wine...very simple and tasty.
7. Munich Dunkel's "all-grain" yeast-starter
Though I don't recall tasting this, its my first all-grain tiny batch. The mash was done in my "mini-masher." The gravity came out perfect...1.040. It was brewed just like a regular batch, but the whole thing was pitched into the full batch of Dunkel.
8. Mild Brown Ale
Muntons dry yeast, all grain base with DME added for gravity, everything in this beer is MILD. There's really not a whole lot of flavor or aroma to write about...
9a. Copper Lager
Repitched Bavarian Wyeast, base lager for the following three flavored lagers... This base lager has a moderate bitterness, and is much like a pilsener...just darker and fuller tasting, It was a throw it together beer and ironically resulted as one of my finest.
9b. Ginger Peach Lager
Repitched Bavarian Wyeast, 2 lbs. frozen peaches & 1 ounce gandied ginger. Because of the added fruit sugars, this one wasn't finished fermenting, and resulted in a batch of gushers. The taste is too assertive, with moderate bitterness and a sharpness from the ginger. The peach is very subtle.
9c. Citrus Lager
Repitched Bavarian Wyeast, rind of half organic Navel & half organic Mandarin oranges, rind of eighth of a organic Rio Star grapefruit. Very interesting beer. It has a wonderful citrus aroma, and initial taste. The citrus qualities fade away with every sip and gradually decrease as the beer is consumed. Aside from a hint of "citrus astringency" after-aftertaste, overall it is a unique and refreshing beer. There wasn't an option at boil time, but I get the sense that orange flavors may come out better with boiled rinds.
9d. Dry Hopped Lager
Repitched Bavarian Wyeast, .25 oz. Hallertau pellets. WOW! Thats about it. Nothing is "off" about this flavored beer, but you'd either love it or hate it. It's BOLD. I like it, and that's all that matters. Plus I've gotten good feedback on it.
10. Dandelion Wine
Raw honey, White grape juice, Steeped Dandelions, Lemon and orange juice and rinds, Dry mead yeast, the citrus and other flavors do not allow the delicate dandelion to come through.
11. Cranberry Champagne
Belgian Ardennes yeast, 64 oz. Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice, 32 oz. Organic white grape juice. Nice and dry, cider tartness, bubbly. Yeast flavor was present while young, but faded away as it aged over a couple months. Very nice for something literally tossed together into the fermenter. Great for any celebration throughout the year.
12. Official N.B.A
London Ale yeast, Partial mash with Amber DME and Mini-mash (pale malt, crystal 60, carafoam, chocolate malt), All Northern Brewer hops at 62 IBUs, Very fruity, Full hop flavor and aroma but had significant oxidation.
13a. Cardamom Ginger Beer
British Ale yeast, All-grain malt base, Ginger, cardamom
13b. Fennel Nettle Ale
British Ale yeast, All-grain malt base, Nettle, Fennel
13c. Burdock Beer
British Ale yeast, All-grain malt base, Burdock, Mugwort, Coriander, 16oz. Smoked Wort
13d. Fresh Sage Ale
British Ale yeast, All-grain malt base, Fresh Sage, Licorice Root. 8oz. Smoked Wort
14. Raisin Toast Stout
Whitbread Ale yeast, Pale DME base, steeped specialty grains and oats, assertive hopping with flavor and aroma additions, few bottles spiked with freshly pulled espresso, overall the aroma and flavors (roast, sweetness, hops & espresso) are balanced, full bodied and satisfying
15. Mint Stout
American Ale yeast, Pale DME and Amber all-grain wort base, steeped specialty malts and Carapils, moderate bittering and flavor hops, fresh Spearmint and dried Peppermint at knockout.


6 comments:
Ted, I love your blog and your descriptions of your beers. I am trying out some 3 gallon experimental batches, but nothing as experimental. Great read! Do you do much organic?
Ted,
This is awesome! I'll be sure to hit this list up when workin' on my next recipe. I really should try some one gallon batches...
Do you keep/grown/propagate your own yeast or do you buy a new one each time? I'm trying to reuse yeast cakes by racking fresh wort onto them. Saves money and allows me to tweak recipes the second time around. I'd like to start keeping multiple varieties on hand in thos little White Labs tubes/slants.
bearded brewer,
Thanks a lot. I try to keep things interesting around here. There are still a lot of things I need to try out.
I have been using organic 2-row and Crystal 60L malts lately with great results. I believe it is Briess at my LHBS. It crushes very well, and has a smooth flavor. I like the way the kernels are more round in shape with a big pocket of white starch. We try to buy organic as much as possible, and now that I can with brewing ingredients, its a great thing.
adam,
The topic of gallon batches comes up here and there, and I thought I'd group mine together. It looks to be a nice contribution to my brewing process. It sure has its advantages.
At this point I just reuse yeast several times without any extended storage. I now plan several batches around one yeast strain. Sometimes planning beers around re-pitching on the cakes, and sometimes collecting in mason jars and washing w/water once if necessary.
It's nice to go from a 1 gallon batch to a 3-4 gallon batch, and then to a full 6 gallon.
That is a good idea to seal some washed yeast in the tubes. There is a method of long-term frozen storage, but I believe the yeast need to be diluted in an acidic glycerin substance to keep it from freezing solid. Mike's Homebrewing Page sums it up... http://www.ipass.net/mpdixon/
It would be nice to have a yeast bank of my favorite strains.
Ted,
I try use as much organic as possible. I live in Minneapolis so not far from Northern Brewer. They carry alot of organic grains, some hops and light malt extract which is nice. My blog is: beardedbrewing.blogspot.com if you want to check it out. I've got my recipes on there and including the organic recipies I've done.
Thanks Ted. Off to keg some beer.
Hmmmm...does that mean I'm gonna brew again? I really should...to reuse that yeast. Busy busy...
bearded brewer,
I like your site. Great topics and reviews. I've listed it on the blog links.
I've started using organic pale malt and crystal 60L from my LHBS and find myself buying it more regularly. I'm impressed with the quality. It has a mild/smooth flavor. Also, the kernels are more round in shape and crush extremely well.
I order from NB, and am envious of your local. I buy any specialty grains I can't get locally.
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