How to brew regularly without having a warehouse of beer on hand?

[bracconiere]

If you cook the ribs really well every time, yeah you'd qualify as a grillmaster. If you worked in a restaurant and cooked good food you'd qualify as a good cook. If you do your own taxes correctly yeah you qualify as decently knowledgable on your taxes(CPA is a certification).

If you work at an advertising firm and are an expert at graphic design software, but don't come up with the ideas, are you experienced at graphic design?

If you brew beer from kits and make consistently good beer yeah you qualify as an experienced brewer. And who says the person who does that for years doesn't understand all the technical aspects, even if they don't sit down with brew software and formulate their own recipes.

lol, i even malt my own grain, and i suck at brewing! But at least it has alcohol....

as far as brewing more, and not drinking it...you could try using baker's yeast, it doesn't flocculate and you'll end up dumping half your beer out cuz it's full of yeast? every other pour goes down the drain! just bow your head and say 'another one for the hommies'!

 

[SanPancho]

If you cook the ribs really well every time, yeah you'd qualify as a grillmaster. If you worked in a restaurant and cooked good food you'd qualify as a good cook. If you do your own taxes correctly yeah you qualify as decently knowledgable on your taxes(CPA is a certification).

If you work at an advertising firm and are an expert at graphic design software, but don't come up with the ideas, are you experienced at graphic design?

If you brew beer from kits and make consistently good beer yeah you qualify as an experienced brewer. And who says the person who does that for years doesn't understand all the technical aspects, even if they don't sit down with brew software and formulate their own recipes.

no, youre not. Not a grillmaster, or a chef, or a tax pro.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

no, youre not. Not a grillmaster, or a chef, or a tax pro.

I never said chef or 'tax pro'. I'd wholly disagree someone who can consistently cook great meat on a grill isn't a grillmaster. Answer my hypothetical on the software, which may be the best analogy of all.

 

[Bobby_M]

I brew 5 gallon batches every 1-2 weeks and I only drink 0-2 pints a day. Being in two homebrew clubs helps since growlers go to the meetings once a month. Beer competitions take up some. Then I end up dumping about a gallon once it ages out and I dont feel bad at all. I would scale down to 2 or 3 gallon batches but then the margin for process error seems to increase. I have been splitting a lot of batches for A/B yeast experiments or different temps, etc. I also try to mix in high gravity beers that age well in bottles to tuck away.

 

[SanPancho]

I never said chef or 'tax pro'. I'd wholly disagree someone who can consistently cook great meat on a grill isn't a grillmaster. Answer my hypothetical on the software, which may be the best analogy of all.

Easy. If the software has a glitch or gets corrupted, would you know how to calculate and file your taxes?

 

[elerten]

Join a hockey team. I bring 2 gallons a week, and those heathens drink it even if it's terrible. Great way to experiment.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

After starting brewing in June I have finally gotten to the point where I have 3-4 homebrews constantly plus a side project or two (1 gallon cider, seltzer, mead, etc.). I do still buy craft beers and Miller Lite but I find I have reach a pretty good balance of having several homebrews around by brewing 5 gallons about every 2-4 weeks. When starting I should have done more often, getting the pipeline up in the beginning I should have been doing every other week consistently.

I find now that I have reached equilibrium where I can brew every 3 weeks-ish and when I drink I can't only drink homebrew but I can have one or two before I get into having 20 Miller Lites or a couple other tasty craft beers. I still have enough bottles where some days I can say F it and have 4 or 6 homebrews. I am ramping up a little because I am going to give 6 packs as presents over the holidays so every other week if I can for a month should be fine.

I think the hardest part is in the beginning you want to start a pipeline but brewdays are mentally taxing when you are just starting out and are taking in the variables you need to control. Once you have a system and are comfortable it is easier to brew more often and have it still be fun for me.

TLDR 5 gallons about every 3 weeks plus 1 gallon side projects works for me.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I just killed off a keg of SNPA in less than a month. I usually don't drink that fast except it was a hot month (work and sweating).

I currently have 9 (tapped) kegs on-hand. Many of them are not full and a couple haven't been tapped (yet). I drink whatever I'm in the mood for.

That means I have 13-14 empty kegs (already cleaned, pressure tested and ready to go). TIP: One thing I do to "remember" which kegs are cleaned and ready is I put a (store) plastic bag over the top of them. Any without a plastic bag have not been cleaned. Too simple.

I also have the grains weighed out for my next 4-5 brews. Now, if I can get this timing issue settled...

 

[VirginiaHops1]

Easy. If the software has a glitch or gets corrupted, would you know how to calculate and file your taxes?

No, the graphic design software analogy. Someone does graphic design and is an expert, although they don't come up with the ideas. Are they an experienced graphic designer? The answer is yes, just like someone who brews great beer with other people's recipes is an experienced brewer.

The tax analogy wasn't good. First you threw out CPA, which is a certification not a skill(I'm a CPA). Anyways, I'm getting tired of this conversation but just know I think you're very wrong.

 

[SanPancho]

just know I think you're very wrong.

WOW. i've been saying the EXACT SAME THING.

cuz you're analogy doesnt work. i'd tell you why, but you're tired of the discussion.... that you re-opened, unbidded, after i dont even know how many weeks since it had been put to rest.

ok bud.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Man up. Get yourself some stretchy pants and drink that sweet nectar yourself. Eventually you will get good at brewing and other people will want to drink it too. I'm not quite there yet myself, but this is how I'm going to get there.

I dunno what all the nonsense OT discussion above about labels has to do with anything, but if you make the beer and drink the beer, you are a brewer. Whether you do it at home, in a brewery, or on uranus makes no difference. You have the knowledge and the experience and more importantly, your efforts result in beer. "Home brewer" seems more like a disclaimer than a label.

 

[gnef]

I'm wondering what the problem with a warehouse of beer is?

Then again, I am most likely an outlier, even on the forums here. Right now I have a total of around 90 kegs (used to be just over 100, but I sold some to upgrade my faucets and lines), and I currently have just under 80 kegs in the walk-in filled with something - mostly beer, but also some wines, meads, ciders, and sodas.

I have 14 taps, all running with something on them.

I also have a 55 gallon oak barrel as a flander's single vessel solera as a project with another brewer, and I started a multi vessel barleywine solera on my own using sanke kegs. I like being able to do projects like these.

I brew when I feel like it, as I never really 'need' to brew at this point, and I have the selection that I enjoy, as well as rotate the beers when I want. I basically keep everything I need on hand (I have over 700# of grain right now, and probably around 30# of hops), just buy yeast when I need it.

I also don't feel bad about dumping beer when it is time, or when I run low on empty kegs. This also lets me age big beers for years - I just finished my oldest barleywine a few months ago that was from 2007! I have meads from 2008, and other big beers that are many years old that I have been able to age as I desired, or as I forgot about them over time. haha. I do find kegs buried in the walk-in due to stacking them three high in the back.

I have taken to bringing in the oldest beer to brewclub for the other members to taste and see what can happen with aging beer beyond what most are able to do.

All this to say, if you end up with a warehouse of beer, just own it. If that really isn't what you want, then brew smaller batches, but you definitely need to get any problematic issues resolved first, and that should be your focus.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I currently have just under 80 kegs in the walk-in filled with something - mostly beer, but also some wines, meads, ciders, and sodas.

I have 14 taps, all running with something on them.

I also have a 55 gallon oak barrel as a flander's single vessel solera as a project with another brewer, and I started a multi vessel barleywine solera on my own using sanke kegs. I like being able to do projects like these.

I brew when I feel like it, as I never really 'need' to brew at this point, and I have the selection that I enjoy, as well as rotate the beers when I want. I basically keep everything I need on hand (I have over 700# of grain right now, and probably around 30# of hops), just buy yeast when I need it.

I also don't feel bad about dumping beer when it is time, or when I run low on empty kegs. This also lets me age big beers for years - I just finished my oldest barleywine a few months ago that was from 2007! I have meads from 2008, and other big beers that are many years old that I have been able to age as I desired, or as I forgot about them over time. haha. I do find kegs buried in the walk-in due to stacking them three high in the back.

All this to say, if you end up with a warehouse of beer, just own it. If that really isn't what you want, then brew smaller batches, but you definitely need to get any problematic issues resolved first, and that should be your focus.

I agree. Can I be your friend?

 

[SanPancho]

Ive been in nanos that have less equipment than this. Holy cow.

 

[gnef]

I agree. Can I be your friend?

Ha! Definitely, and if you ever make it to the Atlanta area, let me know, you are more than welcome to come by to sample some of what I have, even some of my specialty aging beers (I also dabble in charcuterie, and have some prosciutto hanging, one is going on 6 years now!).

Ive been in nanos that have less equipment than this. Holy cow.

I will say that I've been accumulating equipment for over a decade now, and the advent of craigslist was amazing as I started getting into kegging and other equipment (I still remember getting kegs for $10-20, and 20# CO2 tanks and sanke kegs for $20 a piece!)

 

[homebrewer_99]

Ha! Definitely, and if you ever make it to the Atlanta area, let me know, you are more than welcome to come by to sample some of what I have, even some of my specialty aging beers (I also dabble in charcuterie, and have some prosciutto hanging, one is going on 6 years now!).


I will say that I've been accumulating equipment for over a decade now, and the advent of craigslist was amazing as I started getting into kegging and other equipment (I still remember getting kegs for $10-20, and 20# CO2 tanks and sanke kegs for $20 a piece!)

I appreciate the offer, but I don't see travel in that direction anywhere in my future.

I acquired a lot of my equipment while on the road and toting it home for a good price. I got my 25 kegs from a place in Wisconsin for around $12/each.