Where does all the beer go?

I have been wondering, for those of you who seem to brew 10 gallon batches every other week, what happens to all that beer? Unless you are a raging alcoholic, that seems like a lot of beer to go through. I kid, but seriously, I brew 5 gal once a month and I certainly haven't let it just sit there.

You assume that people are brewing every two weeks. I brew 10 gallon batches, but with a small child at home, my opportunities to brew are now every two months if I'm lucky.

Yes I'm sure not everyone on here is like that, just seems there are a lot that are. I was just curious. And a bit jealous.

I don't do 10 gallon batches but I have been brewing 5 gallons every other weekend. Most of mine gets drank by my friends and neighbors. It's funny how fast 5 gallons can disappear.

Have about 4 friends over and just drink homebrew.... then you will know where it goes ;P

I can tell you I know who drinks my beer.....All the guys at beer and cigar night:rockin:

I brew as often as my wife and free time allow. I have a four corney keg keezer set up, so I have four on tap at all times, and usually a sour in extended aging while one or two lagers or ales are at various stages of fermentation. I am by no means a "raging alcoholic", but it is amazing how fast a keg can go when you have a few couples over for a dinner party or 9 other guys over for a poker game. We like to entertain regularly, so it goes quickly. Some of my less than steller brews have sat a while, so I bottle fill the last quarter keg or so to make room for something new. The bottles sit in the basement until I go camping or fishing and then they get cleaned out. I will usually bring a case over to a friends house, and leave what ever isnt consumed that night. I love to brew so I activily look for reasons to have people drink it... in fact, I pretend to like spending time with people just so they can kick my kegs and allow me to brew more...

Try to brew once a month, 10 gallon batches. Seems I'm always feast-or-famine on having a lot of beer around the house. I tend to have LOTS of trouble keeping all the taps on my kegerator full.

Outside of my own consumption, I tend to take at least 10 gallons a year to the SoCal Homebrew Festival (15 gallons last year). I host a yearly Oktoberfest party. The first year, my first of 2 kegs of O'fest blew in 2 hours. This last year I had 4 beers on tap and less people, but 5 gallons of O'fest were basically gone by the end of the night. Then add in random parties with the extended family, taking growlers to other events to share with friends, bottling some for competition, etc etc. Then I have some projects that are aging (i.e. 10 gallons of apfelwein, 10 gallons of Belgian Golden strong as part of a club barrel-aging product, 5 gallons of a collaboration imperial milk stout, etc) that slow down the beer pipeline in the short term but will really supplement it later.

It's amazing how fast some of this stuff can disappear.

adam62cb said:

I brew as often as my wife and free time allow. I have a four corney keg keezer set up, so I have four on tap at all times, and usually a sour in extended aging while one or two lagers or ales are at various stages of fermentation. I am by no means a "raging alcoholic", but it is amazing how fast a keg can go when you have a few couples over for a dinner party or 9 other guys over for a poker game. We like to entertain regularly, so it goes quickly. Some of my less than steller brews have sat a while, so I bottle fill the last quarter keg or so to make room for something new. The bottles sit in the basement until I go camping or fishing and then they get cleaned out. I will usually bring a case over to a friends house, and leave what ever isnt consumed that night. I love to brew so I activily look for reasons to have people drink it... in fact, I pretend to like spending time with people just so they can kick my kegs and allow me to brew more...

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That last bit is pretty hilarious. Sounds like I need to start giving away more beer so I can brew more often. Now I just need a 2nd job to pay for it....

If you think about how much beer is in 10 gallons, about 100ish (give or take 5 for trub). One or two (possibly 3 or 4 on weekends) beers per night for one person. Drinking a 6 pack a day is not out of the question for a couple. that is about 35-45 beers per week. i would not concider that raging alcoholic status, but for two people, a 5gal keg could be gassed in a week. add a friend or two to the mix and it goes very quickly. a 10gal batch could be drank in two weeks for two people.

I brew 40-50 gallons a month and don't consider myself a raging alcoholic lol. I have 14 kegs and always have a huge assortment of beers to choose from. My beer goes to friends, I will bottle from the keg and share my beer with friends and family. Not to mention I always give beer to my mentor, as well as bring a gallon to homebrew meeting every time. I have yet to dump a keg due to it being too old or anything like that. I have brought 5 gallons to my weekly poker night and left without a drop. I could not stand only brewing 5 gallons a month, I have too many ideas to stop there

Yeah waiting does suck. And I didn't mean to insinuate anyone was an alcoholic. I was really just wondering what everyone was doing with their beer.

i brew 10 gal a month on average. 120gal last year. i just keep a fresh supply and i only drink from two kegs at a time. when i think i am running low in a keg, i will rack to a third keg and then force carb and finish the other keg. replace as needed. i just keep a steady line of beer in an orderly fashion. some beers will go faster than others depending on tastes but usually have one or two in primary and two in keg.

I know where mine goes.. down the terlet

Keeping Calif green with recyling... :rockin:

I try to brew once a week, but sometimes I'll brew six times in a week, and somtimes I won't brew for two months (just did my first since November on Sunday) if the pipeline is crammed full. Just five gallon batches though. I give a lot of beer away- whenever I go to a dinner or party we'll bring a couple growlers. Beer is for sharing!

My goal for brewing is usually 1 or 2 fermenting or dry hopping, 2 kegged and carbing and 3 on tap. I'm sure I drink more than the average guy, having a beer or two a couple of nights during the week, then quite a few more over the weekend, depending on what I'm doing. I don't drink to intoxication usually, it's just a matter of working around the house, drink a beer, work some more, drink a beer. On the weeknights when I drink, it's usually beer with dinner then that's it. So none the less, I myself put a healthy amount of beer down. When you add it up over a month, a 5 gallon keg really isn't that much beer.

The real strain on the pipeline comes though, when you invite even 3 or 4 more people over for a day of watching sports or a night of playing cards. You start hitting that 6-8 beer/person range, then realize you are pouring at least 16 oz. not 12, depending on the glass, and it's amazing how fast the beer goes.

Basically, since the new year I've only brewed twice, because it got flat out too cold and then having people over for the holidays, the pipeline has shrunk considerably. I've found that not only am I a beer drinker and brewer, but I'm also a beer hoarder. If I don't have a bunch of beer sitting around waiting to go on tap, I get a little uneasy and get the urge to brew again. Then, when I have plenty of beer on hand, I keep sharing it with friends. It's an endless loop that I'm glad I'm caught up in.

I've been asking myself that same question.

Still in the process of setting up my pipeline but finally got the necessary gear to do a brew every weekend or every second. I've caught the brew bug for sure! Having a taste for tasty beer is undoubtedly the catalyst

Sadly I never seem to be able to keep kegs full for more than a few weeks and I have to drink accordingly to when my next batch will be done. If I have a batch coming up then let the weekend drinking begin