Golddiggie
Well-Known Member
Of course you could do that with homebrew as well, but I know I'm not at the level of consistency yet where I could guarantee that one batch didn't just come out better than the other.
That's where having a good brew log comes into play. Taking good notes during each part, where you need to, helps to repeat a recipe later... Even going so far as to note the actual final temp when you're done mashing, and how long you sparged for. This way, X months, or even years, down the road, you have a solid shot at making the brew again, pretty damned close to how it was the last time. Or, correcting what went wonky the first time.
For lagering, I believe that's where having real tight temperature control comes into play. You could do a few weeks from grain to bottle/keg (not saying glass since that depends on if your bottling or kegging it up)...
Different brew styles lend themselves to different methods/processes for fermenting and any aging... Some will be best with more brief fermentation times, and ready to drink as soon as they are carbonated (~2-3 weeks from bottling/kegging)... While others will benefit from longer primary fermentation times, with aging after that, before being bottled up... There are those that are really not best for several months from when they are actually started.
It really is a case of the brew being ready when it's going to be ready. Us wishing for them to be ready sooner/faster won't make it happen. So depending on what you're brewing, it will be done when it's done.
Hence the importance of having a decent pipeline... I figure that I can have one large brew going at any given time, and still keep my pipeline going (brewing every two weeks, something that is grain to glass in ~6-8 weeks). I have two batches in bottles, one was bottled almost a month ago, with the other just over two weeks ago now. I'll be bottling another batch (or two) this weekend, with one of them being ready in 2-3 weeks. Not sure about the other, since it might need more time to carbonate (1-3 months from what I read/hear)... I'm brewing again in two weeks (2/26) which should be ready for bottles in 2-3 weeks (a cream ale)...
Now that it's also been mentioned by others, I'm probably going to start hunting for the different brews in stores. Things that I've not had before, but are in line with what I'm brewing (or the style is from the same region)... I am starting to make a list of brews I want to try, so that I can then see if I want to clone them or not...