I think i have a problem...

[knotquiteawake]

I took a 4 year break from brewing and now i started brewing and i can't seem to stop.

I made 10 gallons in the last month (kegged and tapped).

I have 5 gallons fermenting, realized that those 5 gallons need to age longer than those first 10 gallons are going to last.

So I'm going to brew another 5 gallons of a faster fermenting Pale Ale this weekend.

Then also I want to get 5 gallons of mead, 5 gallons of apfelwein, and 5 gallons of graff going too.... By the end of next week i'll have 20 gallons of beer/wine/mead bubbling....

I'm not drinking it all. I keep filling growlers for every gathering to share and have had "the guys" over for a couple of the brew days to work on emptying the kegs.

I think once i get those longer fermenting/aging brews out of the way i'll chill out (the mead and apfelwein)... I think i just really want to get started on the hurry up and wait of these styles that take so much longer to ferment and clear. Once I have a couple carboys or cases or wine bottles bottled I can slow down a bit.

But then again my list of beer styles i want to brew keeps getting longer the more i hang around here...

I know some of you brew 10 gallons or more at a time... but we have a very small house and I am running out climate controlled places to put fermenters...

 

[Kharnynb]

I was the same at the start, wanted everything at once and needed a big pipeline with lots of different beers.

I grabbed a few 1 gallon glass fermenters and made a nice box for them so I could do 4 1 gallon batches at a time inbetween the bigger "main beers"

 

[kh54s10]

I also had a hiccup in my brewing. Decided on a move so 1 year was spent fixing up my house for sale and then the move. Another month and a half to get settled in my new place. I then have been brewing pretty steadily. I like having a good assortment of beers on hand so that if I am in the mood for a session beer, I have one. Or if I am in the mood for something dark and malty, I have that. I do not have enough styles yet.

My un-brewed recipes ready to go is only one right now. Styles that I want to make recipes for is almost endless.

Up soon is a trial SMaSH for a wild yeast (I hope) from dipping a hibiscus flower into a starter wort. It looks and smells good. I will probably use Maris Otter for the malt then pick a hop that doesn't add too much so that I get a good idea what the yeast adds to the flavor.

 

[thehaze]

I almost always have 5 batches ( 5-6 gallons each ) " at hand ". I like this, especially because I have 5 different beers instead for 5 or 10 gallons of the same beer. I already brewed 10 batches this year and I'm actually starting bottling the last 5 batches, which are currently either cold crashing or finishing fermentation. I am therefore very excited for the next 10-20 days: I will soon drink new beer!

 

[knotquiteawake]

I was the same at the start, wanted everything at once and needed a big pipeline with lots of different beers.

I grabbed a few 1 gallon glass fermenters and made a nice box for them so I could do 4 1 gallon batches at a time inbetween the bigger "main beers"

Heck yeah man! I actually just bought 4 one gallon fermentors off Amazon a couple weeks ago for like $8. Then already have one from an apple juice too. So those 5 gallons of mead are actually going into 5 separate 1 gallon fermentors.

 

[knotquiteawake]

My other pipeline limitation is my homemade kegerator (converted mini fridge) only holds two kegs and I only have 3 kegs (plus a "travel" 3 gallon keg) on hand.

I may start to do some more bottling again (even though I swore once I started kegging to never bottle again) .

 

[Kharnynb]

get a decent bottling "system" set up and always have a person helping you to bottle, it makes it so much easier.

Bottle your big, long aging beers and small 1 gallon batches and keg the quick ones.

 

[knotquiteawake]

get a decent bottling "system" set up and always have a person helping you to bottle, it makes it so much easier.

Bottle your big, long aging beers and small 1 gallon batches and keg the quick ones.

That's a good idea. I need to dig out all my old bottles again.

I've also been wanting to try some Belgian styles and am tempted to go cork and cage. Either way I'm going to need a basic corker eventually for the mead and apple wine. Although, I suppose, I can just use clear crown cap bottles for those indefinitely

 

[Kharnynb]

i prefer a bottling bucket with spigot, a few inches of hose and a gravity-style bottling wand attached.

one person fills, the other brings bottles and caps

 

[seatazzz]

I've been making some great beers lately. But I'm finding that the actual brewing is more fun than the drinking. If I want to share I have to bottle, which means I have to CLEAN bottles, and fill, and cap, and remember to bring them where people will enjoy them. Did I mention I'm lazy? Unless brewing is involved, then I'm on it like a stink on poop.

 

[soccerdad]

Piss all those people off and chase them away. More beer for you.

 

[Redpappy]

If you got a problem, I’m screwed. I have 2 5 gal fermenters full, 1 1 gal full, I have 1 1 gal and 1 5 gal fermenters Empty and it’s driving me crazy, I have roughly 182 bottles filled of 6 different styles, and I’m thinking I need more. Granted 50 of those 182 are still conditioning( for another 4 days). I have 2 5 gal and 2 1 gal brews planned... and I’m hoping to get them done between Thursday and Friday. And I need more fermenters. Bad part of it all is I think I enjoy brewing it more than drinking it.... well sorta