Whats your typical batch size?

[swenocha]

Because I am the only one drinking mine, and I have a lot of commercial beer on hand as well, I have almost always stuck to 3 gallons, though I do an occasional 5 gallon. The 2.4 gallon Mr. B size works pretty well for me as well, but since I mainly switched to 3 gallon Better Bottles, I generally stick to that size. I also do the occasional 1 gallon, but that's mostly ciders.

I would agree that a natural progression is Mr. B/Brewdemon to DME/hop boils to grain steeps to partial or full mashes. But that's totally on your preference and your timeline. Nothing says you ever have to do anything but Mr. B extracts, and if you're happy with the beer, then that's what matters. I personally like the flexibility that all-grain brings, but I certainly miss the speed/convenience of the extracts.

[HerbMeowing]

The LBK's high aspect ratio is one thing I like b/c it fits so nicely into a 48-QT ice chest doubling as a fermentation chamber.

[FedoraDave]

I do 2.5 and 5 gallon batches. I have two 3g carboys, and one 5g carboy, and I ferment my beer for 3 weeks. I brew every week (I'm kind of obsessive about this hobby), so I'm turning over a carboy every 3 weeks.

My brewing software of choice is BrewToad, but there are plenty of good ones out there. So I'm wondering if you're ready to pull the trigger and start formulating recipes on your own. You don't need to depend on kits, and I find it fun to research a style, determine how I'm going to create a recipe for that style, and then plug the ingredients into BrewToad and tinker with it. Starting with some recipes for a basic IPA or blonde ale would produce good beer and give you some confidence in branching out.

I don't want to pressure you. If you're not ready to jump the broom, that's okay, too. But if you do want to dip a toe into recipe formulation, this is the place to ask questions and get good solid advice. We're all Borg here, and we're all about the beer.

Thats actually a really good idea. I don't think I'm ready to formulate my own recipe yet but I could take a recipe from one of you guys or online and just get ingredients. I would assume that buying individual ingredients is probably cheaper than buying a kit anyway.

We've all pretty much been in your shoes, Scope, and we're here to help and encourage you, as others did for us. The comments that follow the one I've quoted are full of good advice, such as starting with a grain steep (if you can make a cup of tea, you can do a grain steep), and using some DME or LME. As for formulating recipes, ask away; I, for one, am glad to share recipes I've made and enjoy.

And, as others have pointed out, there are extract kits, so everything is measured and packaged for you, and the recipes have been verified to be good and to style. Your choice. Proceed at your pace, and rely on The Borg to help, advise, and encourage.

It's what we do.

[docpd]

I also stick to 2.5 gallon batches. My wife doesn't drink much beer, so for me, 5 gallons is too much.

[TonyKZ1]

I like the 1G & the 2G sizes, however when I've got help drinking my beer the 5G is about right. Plus I can usually buy the 5G recipes cheaper than the 5 of the 1G or 2-3 of the 2G recipes. So that works out too.

[mashani]

I like the 1G & the 2G sizes, however when I've got help drinking my beer the 5G is about right. Plus I can usually buy the 5G recipes cheaper than the 5 of the 1G or 2-3 of the 2G recipes. So that works out too.

You can buy a 5 gallon recipe and split it up you know. I do that all the time. If the specialty grains are all mixed together then just steep them all, and then divide up between however many containers you want, and freeze what you aren't using right away. Same with the extract, just divvy it up and put what you aren't using right away it in the fridge or freezer.

[TonyKZ1]

Yep, I've done that too. I basically brewed the 5G batch and split it between two BrewDemon fermenters. I hadn't thought about steeping the grains, then freezing half of the wert for later.