Running low (aka how do you get a pipeline?)

This sucks...

Maybe I drink too much...maybe I don't brew enough...whatever it is, I just can NOT seem to keep a good beer pipeline going!

I have tried brewing three beers in one weekend, I have tried brewing every other weekend, I have tried supplimenting my supply with store beer, NOTHING WORKS!

Don't get me wrong, there HAVE been times where I have had abundance on hand, but Ialways seem to end up where I am now...trying to stretch like 9 12oz and a couple or few 22oz bottles out so they will last until the next beer is ready.

I can't be the ONLY person here with this problem!

What do you do during these down times? Are you patient and just wait? Do you drink up what you have left? Do you go buy beer ? ? ?

I found that having 3 fermenters really solves the problem. (Full disclosure: I use liquid kits). Three seems to be the magic number for making sure that I have enough for short, medium and long term. The other thing is to make sure that you make quick-maturing beer like pale ale the backbone of your operation. Pale ale only needs about 2 weeks in the fermenter and 2 days in the keg before it is good to go.

A. To get a pipeline going, you need to brew more than you drink. For at least 2-3 batches. Keep track of the dates you put a batch in bottles/keg, and the date it's empty. That way you'll know how fast you drink it. Then just brew more often than that.

B. The more room in your pipeline the better. My personal bottleneck is kegs: I have 4. Two beers on tap, one cold conditioning and carbing, and one aging. I wish i had room for at least two more kegs in the keezer.

C. When I'm running low, I just drink less, or buy store bought beer. The Total Wine by me has a huge selection, and they let you build your own six-pack.

D. What glockentalk said. I can turn almost any 1.050 or smaller beer around in about 14-21days (grain to glass). Small beers can really help boost your pipeline, and are usually nice session beers.

E. Once you do manage to get a pipeline going, make sure to maintain it at the pace you drink. Always keep track of those dates in step A. if you go through a keg quickly, plan another brew day to replace it.

When I brew I usually do 2 batches at a time, I also tend to do 10 gallon batches, brew every weekend or every other weekend and you will have lots of beer on hand, I also try to brew a quick beer and a beer that takes longer to condition at once, so there is always beer at the ready.

Here are a couple things that help me get a beer from grain to glass quickly...

* Good water
* Fresh ingredients
* Proper pitching volume
* Kegging
* Temp controlled fermentation chamber
* High grav beers or spiced etc. beers take a while to meld/mellow so they take longer.
* If you dont do anything to cause or promote off-flavors, there is nothing to age out of the beer so it is ready for drinkin faster.

I entered a beer in a comp that was judged 11 days after it was brewed and did pretty good considering.

Some feel that even smaller beers needs to sit for a month before being ready to drink, Brew an English mild and try it after 2 weeks, then revisit it after a month or two, it starts to go downhill flavorwise.

I have Milds, Ordinary bitters, and Hefes that are pouring from my taps 2-3 weeks after brewing, with fast beers like that the long lagtime between batches is cut down dramatically.

In addition to what has already been said, I also like to mix it up, brewing low gravity beers intermixed with some big beers that require extended aging. That way its not all ready to drink. I have 3 beers in fermenters right now. One batch that is ready to drink now, one to drink on Halloween/Thanksgiving/christmas, and one to drink next year

It's really as simple as brewing more than you drink/give away...Even when you have a lot on hand, brew something. And in those situations when you have a lot, this just means you have a bit more time before it needs to be ready, thus you can brew a bigger beer.

I don't see how you could brew 3 beers in one weekend and then brew one every other weekend and run out...you must have waited too long to brew the next batches.

Or, if I am wrong, then you sir...just plain drink a lot of beer.

I got three on tap with two fermenting...one keg is about to go, which coincides perfectly with the next one that is to fill it's spot. The other in the fermenter is a stout that I want to sit for a while.

I agree with proper fermentation. If you ferment well, with proper temps and pitching rates your beer will be done much faster. How do you think brew pubs do it with beer ready in a week out two? I know so many people on here say you must do a month primary at least, but I have done one ot two week ferms with good results.

I found that having 3 fermenters really solves the problem.

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+1. I have three fermenters so I can brew every week and keep the beer in a fermenter for 3 weeks.Natural rotation.

I also have a couple of 5 gallon carboys that I brew 4 gallon batches in, mostly beers that need more time, like some of the bigger Belgians. That way I can brew those up without messing up my normal pipeline.

Eventually you will build up extra brews to have in your pipeline. Mine was very good, with a nice selection of beers, but during the summer a couple of trips and some other things that broke my normal cycle caused my pipeline to get much lower than I like, and I did not want to get into some of the beers that I am aging for later consumption I have been back to my normal rotation and it is finally starting to build up again.

BREW MORE!!!

It really really really is that simple!

bottle of rum and a case of coke.

I moved to brewing 12 gallon batchs. I will fill a 1/4bbl and bottle or mini-keg the rest. It takes the same amount of time to make 12 gallons as it does to make 5. (I am even starting to experiment with equipment to reduce fermentation and carbonation times.) Then start brewing more often.

My girlfriend and I go through about 5 gallons a month. I have a big (7.5 gallon) primary and a 5-gallon carboy. I need to add a 6.5 gallon carboy and get to brewing some more.

huge batch of Oktoberfest in my basement waiting to get drunk (er, what?) starting in a week. Batch of a semi-kolsch that I'm drinking right now. Batch of Irish Red that'll be moving to bottles next weekend, and then I'll be washing the yeast and doing another batch of the Red for a Thanksgiving tailgate.

Next up? A porter.

There is no secret. Brew more or drink less. It's simple math.

I'm not going to tell you what kind of beers to brew. You want to drink what you want to drink.

If you are brewing 5 gallon batches, consider brewing 10 gallon batches. It's very close to the same amount of effort and twice the beer.

Or just drink less.

I posted this same dilemma when I started brewing. I still find it impossible to not drink/not share so much that I run out. The best advice is to get several fermenters (I scored 4 on CraigsList for $60). I also did a marathon brew day and got 4 batches in the "pipeline". Right now, we're actually waiting for a keg to kick so we can move some batches around.
Good Luck! IMO it's a "problem" that will never really go away--we're making BEER!!!!
Sarah.

Get a big fermentation chamber / freezer / whatever and FILL IT UP!!!1

I find that brewing every weekend for 3-4 weeks and then leaving the country for a couple months at a time really helps my pipeline... unfortunately most of my Brother Marines drink my beer like its free which kills my pipeline.

Brew more... drink less also works... but isn't as much fun

stubbornman said:

Get a big fermentation chamber / freezer / whatever and FILL IT UP!!!1

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How do you clean the sanke after you ferment? Is it no more pita then a 6 gal carboy to clean?

Yeah, I do understand the basic common sense concept of "brew more/drink less." I was more half ranting than anything and just seeing who all else gets into this position. I guess it was just something to talk about.

It has still been very interesting to read all of your thoughts and ideas!

I think what I am going to start doing is drinking ALL of my beer up rather than trying to stretch it. That rationing is too painful lol

I have the same problem... i try to brew more than i drink but the wife wants to travel and that puts a hamper on my brew days so i miss a few and then im in a hole again. o well just brew some more!

The other option that you can do is increase your batch capability from 5 to 10 gallons. With one brew session, you essentially double your output. Of course, you do need to have enough carboys/fermenters to support this...

Jaz

My biggest problem isn't that I don't have enough homebrew available to drink... it is that I don't have enough homebrew that I WANT to drink. Lol! I need to do fewer experimental batches and stick to known good recipes more often.

I doubled my output and went to 10 gal batches for this reason. So now doing full 10 gal boils I can get over 4 cases of beer out of a brewday. That makes things last a little longer,

beerloaf

It sounds like you just need to be organized and consistent. Do you brew 3 batches every weekend? Every month?

cruckin78 said:

How do you clean the sanke after you ferment? Is it no more pita then a 6 gal carboy to clean?

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Rinse out with water, soak with PBW, rinse, sanitize, done.

Brew more!! Ive been on this 3 gallon and mini keg kick lately. Im relatively new to AG so this gives me room to experiment. I fill the mini kegs and bottle the remaining. Im storing the bottles for the future so I have a wide variety to choose from and have the mini kegs for immediate consumption (after conditioning of course). I would brew more but unfortunately my fermentation chamber only holds 2 buckets. I did just buy a 3 gallon glass carboy and it snuggly fits in the chamber so I'll be able to free up a fermenter. Gonna be brewing a Vienna/Willamette/Nottingham SMaSH today to put in the pipeline.

I find that I need to make it part of my regular schedule. Saturday night is brew night for me. Since I'm ramping up for Winter I will also usually do one during the week as well. If there's a fermenter free then I find something to do with it. Sometimes this interferes with the grand plan I lay out for myself with what resources I've stocked up on, but most times it's usually not an issue.

The real killers are the beers that have to sit for a long time. My Imperial Stout needs a few months to get to where it should be. That takes a fermenter or a keg out of rotation for a long while. In that amount of time I could have turned over another batch entirely.

The other thing is that I have a small freezer I use for lagering and fermenting. I have to be conscious of what's in there, when it's going to need to be turned over and the time frame for it.

I have six fermenters and about nine kegs. It's rare that all are filled but that's the inevitable goal.

I've been home brewing since may and have done beer one month cider/apflewein the next every month. My first 3 months i had a hard time keeping up with my drinking, since then i've supplemented with craft beer and now have more than i can drink. If possible pick up a case of old rasputin, founders breakfast stout or other high gravity beer. These beers go a long way. I brewed a double wheat beer that i'm trying to sour and a ris so i picked up an old rasputin, fbs, and hell or high watermellon and have only drank 4 to 6 of each in the past month. The stouts are for after wotk/dinner and watermellon is my session.

I've have pipeline issues because I just really started getting serious back in May when I was getting ready to switch to kegging. I have a 5 tap system, only had 5 kegs when I first started, and was doing 5 gallon batches. Also, this summer was so f-ing brutal that I pretty much stopped brewing for a few weeks at a time when it was hovering around 100º.

I now have 16 kegs and a 10 gallon system. I still do 5 gallons for first time or experimental batches, but the tried and true recipes (Amber, Brown, IPA, etc.) all are done as 10 gallons. The only reason I have empty taps right now is because the collar on my keezer is a POS and was leaking air which led to condensation which led to a nasty keezer. I'm rebuilding it tomorrow, so hopefully this will be the last time I ever have to have empty taps.