How much do you keep in the pipeline?

Just curious, how much does the average home brewer keep on hand?

I just bottled my third batch and now have 3 cases fully carbonated and this final 2 cases of cream ale carbonating for the next three weeks. I'm going to brew a 5 gallon milk stout tomorrow because empty carboys and buckets are depressing!

I was thinking maybe six cases fully conditioned is a good reserve?

I am a much better brewer than drinker so my pipe line is bigger than yours. Say 20 cases in the summer and 12 to 14 in the winter

I am glad I got friends to help drink all the beer I brew

I try to have as much as I can drink before the next batch is ready. Usually a case of 22 oz bombers in the closet at all times.

Varmintman said:

I am a much better brewer than drinker so my pipe line is bigger than yours. Say 20 cases in the summer and 12 to 14 in the winter

I am glad I got friends to help drink all the beer I brew

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Where do you keep it all?

Varmintman said:

I am a much better brewer than drinker so my pipe line is bigger than yours. Say 20 cases in the summer and 12 to 14 in the winter

I am glad I got friends to help drink all the beer I brew

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Sadly, I am in Florida.

Mark_ said:

Where do you keep it all?

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Well about everywhere while it is carbing but then I put it all in a large cellar under my house. Stays nice and cool all summer long that way

not nearly enough, as I am a semiprofessional Trunkenbldt with absolutely awesome taste.

If you are anything like me your pipeline will grow and grow and GROW!
I have brewed and bottled 158 batches to date. Currently I have one batch (5 gals) that is ready to bottle plus one batch that is fermenting plus one batch that is warm conditioning (carbonating), one batch that is cold conditioning and remnants of three to seven batches that are aging in the fridge. Life is good. Enjoy your beer hobby!

Never enough. I'm set up, I could ferment 17 gal. But can't afford it right now. Hoping to make it bigger. My pipeline is but 1 Gal. Right now. The aggrevation.

Hahaha good thread. I maintain at least 3 - 5 batches. You never know who will stop by.

I never learn. I had an IPA and Dark Mild on tap, both ran out suddenly the same week when my friends and family learned how good they were, and like an idiot I didn't have anything in the pipeline. ALWAYS KEEP SOMETHING IN THE PIPELINE.

Right now I have an RIS aging for winter, an IPA that will be ready in about 3 weeks, and a porter in a month. And I'm buying common drinking beer like a fool. From now on I'm going to always have something fermenting/conditioning. At least that's what I tell myself.

As much as I can without the wife stabbing me in my sleep! Right now I have almost a dozen currently drinking, two cases in bottles ready in a week, two cases bottled last week, ready in six weeks, and 5.5 gallons in a carboy a week in, going on vacation week after next, so will brew again in three to four weeks

20-25 gallons on tap currently and 25-30 gallons in various fermentation and aging stages.

meltroha said:

As much as I can without the wife stabbing me in my sleep! Right now I have almost a dozen currently drinking, two cases in bottles ready in a week, two cases bottled last week, ready in six weeks, and 5.5 gallons in a carboy a week in, going on vacation week after next, so will brew again in three to four weeks

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+1 lol. Same here

I always feel guilty drinking my beer and only break it out for a BBQ or some sort of gathering. I will only drink one here and there otherwise. I pipeline about 1 1/2 to 2 batches normally, but want to get more going.

I always feel guilty drinking my beer???????????????????

5 corneys full in various states, damn i need to do some brewing!

I do mostly lagers, so I need to have a good pipeline. I have 4 or 5 kegs ready to go at any given time. It's probably not the most, but it works for me.

my signature says it. what it tells me is "nothing kegged and ready for the tap? boy, ain't you slacking?!?"

well, I just started brewing in january and as such I have only been doing one batch at a time. well, I got greedy today and brewed 2 batches; going to brew 2 more batches in a couple of weeks to get my pipeline built up

brewcephus said:

well, I just started brewing in january and as such I have only been doing one batch at a time. well, I got greedy today and brewed 2 batches; going to brew 2 more batches in a couple of weeks to get my pipeline built up

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bruva, after 14 years I've never hit a point where I'm satisfied with my line. there's always something needs a brewin'. build that line. get your experience. each one will get better than the last.:rockin:

Right now all I have is six kegs set aside for NHC, one keg of barleywine bulk conditioning, an imperial stout aging on oak, and a keg full of water... so I essentially have no homebrew to drink.

I built an all grain HRiMS keggle system last year and have been brewing every other week. I've got 20 gal on tap, 25 in the fridge, and another 10 to rack this weekend, time to have a party!

Billy-Klubb said:

bruva, after 14 years I've never hit a point where I'm satisfied with my line. there's always something needs a brewin'. build that line. get your experience. each one will get better than the last.:rockin:

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Yeah, I know I will never be satisfied lol. Just trying to get a nice supply built up to where I don't have it all drank up before I get my next batch to bottles

I have been saving a 6 pack from each brew that I've done so far. Want to go back and try them later once they've aged a little bit and see what happens when I give my beer a chance to mature.

I have some beers a year or two old,I always save some at least to age. I would say I have at least a few hundred beers right now maybe about 30 + different batches.With my more recent batches having more bottles of. Thats how they go they taper off over the course of a year or two. I got to the point where I got un-impatient for my new beers to carb,because I have so many other ones that are ready to go that I havent had for a while.

Got about 300 bottles of beer, 4 cases of wine, and 1 case of apfelwein going. Brewed 5G today of BBQ that won't be ready until winter. Thinking of a RIS for winter next.

I have 4 kegs on tap and 6 backup kegs. Since last fall I've kept all available kegs full.

Lots. Between bulk aging, bottle aging, and all the beer I drink, there is quite a bit of beer at my house.

I mainly brew Ipa and similar, not much to age. Although lately I have been brewing more and built a kegerator so usually 2-5 gallon at times.

Whats on tap



Read from bar side right to left



Crowded but works 14 five gal 2 three gal on the hump

Keeping in mind that I brew seasonally, Spring and Fall only, I have quite a bit, given the amount consumed on a daily basis.

Last beer on Spring schedule was brewed this past Monday.

In bottles: Orfy's Mild-Mannered Ale, Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat Clone, Amarillo Ale, King Brian's Common Room ESB, Walker's Gruagach Scottish 80/-, Ed Wort's Bee Cave Brewery Rye IPA, MidTNJasonF's Black Shadow Cascadian IPA. And one batch in fermenter, Yooper's Undead Guy, to be bottled later this month.

Right now I've got a shade north of 40 gallons in the house. Plus 8-9 gallons of a belgian golden strong that's barrel-aging as part of a homebrew club project. So all told, I'd say 50 gallons.

Need to brew more, though, as I've only got 4 of 6 taps populated right now (luckily there's 35 gallons on or backing up those taps, so they won't run out soon). The 10 gallons of IPA fermenting will cover one of those, but I'll need to do another quick-turn beer for tap #6 before starting on a few lagers.

I just try to keep my one keg filled, but I'm not always successful. I've always just brewed as an occasional rainy day activity, and I've only done successive brews once. That left me with plenty of beer that time, and I was still bottling. I've completely stopped bottling as I just found it to be a PITA, and I was always having trouble with carb levels.

I don't have the equipment to keep large amounts of finished beer, nor do I really want or need it. It would be nice though to have the next batch ready as the keg empties.

Right now I have about 7 gallons ready and vanishing in kegs and 15 gallons waiting to finish fermenting/clearing to package. That's way more than average, but I'm trying to stock up for summer to avoid brewing in the heat.

about 1/2 case each: oatmeal stout, brown ale, rye IPA, IIPA, saison, centennial blonde, and wheat. So that makes about 3.5 cases, with another case of Irish Red on the way. The blonde and the wheat have really stuck around. I just would rather drink the other styles more.

And here I thought six cases of beer in reserve was pushing it! It seems that is about 10% of what most of you keep on-hand. OUCH!

Ok, I really need to ramp up production over here. The Milk Stout went well. That will top me at 6 cases/3 gallons. More, more, more!

I have 10 gallons legged,1 case bottled,5 gallons fermenting. Gonna brew a 10 gallon bat h this weekend.

I like to have 3 batches at least in reserve. I only have 2 extra kegs right now, so the goal is to always have those 2 full, kind of carbing up and waiting to go on. then, I usually have another 1 or 2 batches in various stages of fermentation/secondary, etc.

I'd like to get a couple more kegs, but still haven't found the need. It seems every time I get 3 batches in reserve, something comes up in life and I don't get a day to brew for a few weeks, so the pipeline ends up going down a batch or so, then it's a matter of building it back up again.

lately i have been getting my stock built up nicely..i have a three tap system..so 3 serving kegs at one time and i usually have 2 batches fermenting on the backburner..

one just has to put in the time to consistently brew..every weekend or every other weekend works for me..

dubprocess said:

lately i have been getting my stock built up nicely..i have a three tap system..so 3 serving kegs at one time and i usually have 2 batches fermenting on the backburner..

one just has to put in the time to consistently brew..every weekend or every other weekend works for me..

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I can't wait to get back to that pace. Coaching softball for my kids right now, so Saturday is usually a wash. That means Sunday is my project day. This time of year, that usually means doing stuff other than brewing. I have to squeeze in one a month though, or I start to get itchy. Plus, I focus on getting the mowing and car cleaning done on evenings during the week to leave a brew day open. Some weeknights are filled with softball though, so it won't be until mid July that I can really get back in full force.

In March I went and did a survey of all my Malt and compared it against what I normally brew...

I measured out ten (10) batches.. which for me is usually 11 gallons. which has come out to about 70 gallons which I then keg...

BUT I usually bring 20-25 Gallons to 3 or 4 parties a year so I have to brew a bunch in the Spring to have it be ready for the Summer....

So far this year I have brewed:

1. English Summer Ale
2. "American" Summer Ale
3. Fat Tire Clone
4. Amber Ale
5. An IPA
6. Centennial Blond/Golden (so often referenced on Homebrewtalk)

I have the grain poured out for a

1. Hefeweisen
2. Berliner Weise
3. Triple
4. English Mild

If all goes well they will be brewed by the end of June.

But to answer you question... this year I have had a lot in the pipeline...