Recently I have been experimenting with smaller batch brewing, I am now doing 5 litre brewing I have so far done 4 brews and have 6 more on the go..... (3 Ciders)
Out of the four I have bottled three are really nice and the chocolate chilli brew was not so good.....
But I feel a lot easier ditching four and a half litres of beer than 23 litres of beer I have been breaking down LME from kits I had in my store and think now I am starting to see some good results in my current batches on the go I am using Briess Extracts at the moment and really think they are a very good product, I currently have a Cherry Beer on the go and its started out with a very high OG along with a very active airlock also a dark ale which again was very active and is now settling down I added a Ancho Chilli to this beer and its beginning to take on a gentle flavour to the beer so in another week I will aim at bottling this one.....
I have to say this method of brewing has renewed my excitement in brewing and its a lot easier for me to brew at this level and also to drink the beers I brew......
If your limited on space you can deffo brew 5 litres of beer without needing lots of room.
Will give an update when I have finished this current batch of brews.....
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That sounds very interesting, it's something I've thought about doing before but never done it. I've got a couple of questions if you don't mind?
You said "I have been breaking down LME from kits I had in my store" - what is "LME"?
For a 5 litre brew what sort of quantities of malt extract and sugar are you using?
Cheers, Mike...
I normally steer clear of "seasonal ales" as they're usually terrible, but a few years ago I remember I had a bottle of Christmas ale which, if memory serves, was from Shepherd Neame. It was really good, was like drinking marzipan beer! Which gave me an idea... I'm thinking to do a small batch and chuck a lump of marzipan in it to see if I can make something similar.
Thanks again for the info.
Cheers, Mike....
One other question, should I hop for bitterness at the start of the fermentation process and then hop again, for aroma, at the end of primary fermentation? If so should I use two different varieteys of hops or the same one twice?
Cheers, Mike...