Why I’m downsizing my brew system

Normally you’ll hear people talk about how they want to upgrade their brew system so they can produce more beer. Well, I’ve decided to do the opposite, sort of.

Let me explain. At the moment I have the ability of producing about 10 gallons of beer per brew although I normally produce a 5 gallon batch. I’ve decided to reduce my regular brew size down to 1 gallon batches after checking out GallonBrewing’s site. Most people start all grain brewing using 1 gallon batches but I started with 5 gallon batches, which was fun but for the reasons below, I think this is going to be a good thing for my future brews. Don’t worry, I won’t be throwing out my gear but I will instead be using the 1 gallon system as my pilot system.   

I get to brew more

Currently, I’m brewing once or twice a month. Just like most of you, you’ll be taking over the kitchen and any more than twice is a big ask. By reducing from 5 gallons down to 1 gallon batches, it means that i’m taking up a lot let space and now i have an induction burner, it means I can brew in other places around the house with little stress. This means that I could be brewing maybe 3-4 times a week. This is exciting. 

Increased Experimentation 

When you get to brew once or twice a month, you want to make sure that you end up with good product, right? So, when it comes  to trying a new recipe you have to be sure that the recipe is good or at least drinkable. For a while now i’ve been tempted to brew an imperial stout and a few different Belgium beers but if I brew them in my normal system I would be looking to pay about £30-£35 and if i have to throw the beer, that’d really suck. Now, I’ll be able to try a bunch of different styles that i’ve always been a little worried about trying. 

Improved skills

I’m a huge sports fan and most the sports i follow at the moment are in their pre-season preparations and you’ll hear a lot of coaches talking about how the team are going ‘back to basics’. One of my goals over the next year is to refine a few recipes that i’m really happy with. As I’m now brewing smaller batches, I can easily do that as I will only have a gallon of the beer instead of 5 gallons. I will also be able to brew the same beer on a regular basis and make some minor adjustments, such as hops, yeast etc to see how the change impacts the beer. 

Those are just a few of reasons why i’m downsizing. As I said above, I will still be brewing on my bigger system but by using the 1 gallon system as a pilot system I get to brew more, experiment more, save a bit of money and become a well rounded brewer. 

Is this something you’ve considered doing before? What are you thoughts? Feel free to let us know.