Small Batch Extract Recipes

[Est.91]

Hi guys,

I'm not a huge drinker but love to try new things. So I am wanting to start doing small batch extract brews so I can experiment and not be left with heaps of beer that will take me forever to drink. I understand that a lot of people don't see the point in this as there can be just as much work involved - but it's what I want to do.

My question is, does anyone know where I can find a decent bunch of small batch recipes? They seem to be pretty scarce and all over the place. Ideally I'd love a good Scotch ale recipe to make around 4L of beer (a 1 Gallon recipe).

 

[bum]

All the brewing softwares I've used have recipe scaling functions. Just put in the full-size recipe and you should be able to quickly scale it down to whatever size you like. World is your oyster.

 

[lukiferj]

Brewmate is the brewing/recipe software I use and it's free. There are others depending on your requirements but Brewmate is certainly one of the easiest I have tried.

 

[Est.91]

Brewmate is the brewing/recipe software I use and it's free. There are others depending on your requirements but Brewmate is certainly one of the easiest I have tried.

Unfortunately I can't use Brewmate because my computer is a mac Are there any others?

 

[lukiferj]

Sorry mate. Can't help there. A quick search on the forums brings up a few results for Mac software so you might want to have a read through those.

 

[Pickaxe]

Tell you what, make full batches, take what you need and send the rest to:

Andrew Pickaxe
2/20 ........

 

[Pickaxe]

You can get an application to run windows programs on Mac. It creates a windows window to run whatever you need. You could Google that and find it I'm sure.
Beer smith2 is mac compatible. They offer a free 21 day trial, and I dont think its very expensive anyway. $30 or something.

Far out, you can get it for your phone or tablet! HA!

 

[pk.sax]

For simpler recipes, just halve/quarter - you know, recipe X 4/20... whatever, everything for a start. See how that goes!

 

[Glengine]

You're not alone. I've started small batch brewing so I can brew more often and have more variety, as well as improving my brewing technique!

As practicalfool mentioned, I've had success just dividing full recipes. So if a recipe makes 21L and I want 7L, I just 3rd all the ingredients. Method (boil times and such) should be pretty much the same. Also make sure you don't pitch the whole packet of yeast if you are doing ales. My first small batch ended up extremely yeasty but I managed to save it by patience and cold crashing.

As for software on a Mac, there are a few online recipe builders but none I have found are as extensive as the desktop software.
Here is one I have used before and still managed to make a decent brew though:

http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe#