1 gallon mash recipes

[Boozy25]

Hi everybody. I was wondering if anyone had any 1 gallon mash recipes I could try? I'm pretty new to distilling so I would like to try small batches first.

[MadMasher]

Just scale down anything to 1 gallon size. If the recipe is for 5 gallons, divide everything by 5, If its for 50 divide by 50.

so 2lbs per gallon on a mash, could go lighter I guess but really with 1 gallon you aren't going to get much.
So grain bill - 80% cracked corn
20% 6 Row Barley
2lbs/gallon

2*.8= 1.6lbs corn
2*.2=.4 lbs of barley
Follow mashing procedures

[BoisBlancBoy]

You could go to the "tried and true recipes" section. Some of them have the formula for ingredients per amount of water. Of a little math on your own you can scale down most of the recipes.

But with that said doing a batch that small creates its own problems. Being its so small and on average when the ferment is finished you end up with an ABV between 8-10%, once distilled you don't have enough product to even work with or make accurate cuts.

I would step up to a 5 gallon batch. It's really not going to cost you hardly anything but will help you in the long run.

[Prairiepiss]

How big is your still? What kind of still? One gallon is very small amount. Do you realize how much you will get from a gallon?

A one gallon ferment will give you maybe .8 gallons after you rack and clear.
So you ferment it to 10%. That's only .08 gal of 100%ABV or .16 50%ABV. After cuts were made. That is if you could even make cuts on such a small amount. You mite get .08 gal of drink. Or roughly 300 ml.

It wouldn't be enough to actually make good cuts on. So using that amount to test recipes. Wouldn't give you an accurately sample. Let alone enough to actually sample good. It's just enough to fill a hydrometer test jar.

There is a reason we normally suggest to have at least a 5 gal still.

[Boozy25]

My still only holds 5.5 l. It's a pot still design using a pressure cooker. I'm trying to make a flavoured spirit. I was actually wondering about buying a still. I've noticed pressure cooker designs don't get the best reviews to say the least

[MadMasher]

5.5 L is way too small, you won't be able to make cuts. There are lots of designs on here to make something good and a decent pot still isn't very difficult or expensive to build even for a novice. I use a 15.15L stock pot and I wouldn't go any smaller, wish i had started bigger but now I've got it figured for the most part.

[NZChris]

You wouldn't want to put any more than 4l in that still.

To make reasonably neutral spirits for flavorings using a pot still, you really need to distill twice, so make enough wash to fill your still at least three or four times. Put it all through, 4l at a time, throwing away the first 50ml each time to get rid of some nasties, then....

Water the whole lot down to 40%ABV and put it back through again, 4l at a time, making your cuts.

Before you start, read, read, read, read, read, read. Maybe start with Birdwatchers, or Wineos sugar wash.

If you build a bigger still, don't throw this one away. You might want to use it for experiments, like gin & absinthe once you have some experience.

[ledyard]

My intention was to start with a pressure cooker design. Then I thought screw that I will go with a 30 qt stock pot. Then I said no. Too much dicking around with a mixing bowl lid, attaching a column, ect.... So I went 15.5 gal keg. Extremely glad I did this. Unless you live in an apartment that is the minimum size I would recommend to anyone. But that's just me. I'm still new to this too and already wishing my keg was 30 gal. It takes enough technique to make cuts when running 10 gallons through a 15.5 gal keg. I personally could not imagine trying to make cuts on a gallon. I don't even think there would be cuts other than a little fores. I imagine it would all taste like gas then turn into tails. If you got anything drinkable out of it you might fill two shot glasses with it,
of course you have to start within your means and cater to the space you have or don't have to do it in. If you have a garage or shed or something go bigger and propane power IMHO. But at the very least to really get a feel for it get a 30 qt (6 gal) stock pot so you can put a 5 gal wash in it with enough room. Then you can use a stove top inside or a turkey fryer burner outside.

[shadylane]

Hi everybody. I was wondering if anyone had any 1 gallon mash recipes I could try? I'm pretty new to distilling so I would like to try small batches first.

1.5lb of dark brown sugar
2 oz of wheat germ.
yeast of your choice.

Bring 1 gallon of water to boil, add the wheat germ.
Turn off the heat, add the sugar and stir.
let cool to below 100f then pour into fermenter and add the yeast.
Ferment at room temp until every thing settles to the bottom and clears.
Either distill or drink. Your choice.
Edited. You said "1 gallon mash recipe" this is a wash recipe. A mash means converting starch to sugar. there is a difference.

[Boozy25]

Ok. Thanks everyone for all the help and advice. Can anyone one recommend a book I could get on distilling? I don't always have access to the Internet.

[NZChris]

Go to your public library and read everything they've got. I started with 'Alexis Lichine's Encyclopedia of Wines and Spirits', but only because that was the only book in my small town library that dealt with the subject. Internet, as we know it now, didn't exist back then.

[shadylane]

Ok. Thanks everyone for all the help and advice. Can anyone one recommend a book I could get on distilling? I don't always have access to the Internet.

Go to the parent site and click on resources. They have a list of recommended books