Not much interest in >10gal batches?

I have done a bit of reading around on this forum and see that most people with really nice setups choose to stick to 5 or 10 gal batches.

Is there a reason for going to the trouble of setting up these great, intricate setups but not upping the ante to, say, 15 gallon batches? I've found with my 5 gallon batches, I'm always left wanting more beer for myself and I love to give beer to friends & family who appreciate the effort put into it.

Mike_A said:

I have done a bit of reading around on this forum and see that most people with really nice setups choose to stick to 5 or 10 gal batches.

Is there a reason for going to the trouble of setting up these great, intricate setups but not upping the ante to, say, 15 gallon batches? I've found with my 5 gallon batches, I'm always left wanting more beer for myself and I love to give beer to friends & family who appreciate the effort put into it.

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I say go for it. With the software for upscaling recipes it should not be too difficult. I stick with 5g batches though 10 would not be a problem just what I am into for now.

Well to each their own. I think for some it just comes down to equipment capacity. I switch back and forth between 6 and 10 gallon batches. I brew frequently and like to have a variety of beers on hand. If there is a beer that my friends and I like quite a bit I will brew larger batches. If your equipment will handle a 10 gallon batch then I say go for it. In the end it is really the same amount of work unless you bottle.

Count me in on wanting to brew over 20 gallon batches, the Brewhemoth ferm has over 22 gallons capacity. I'll be happy netting three corny's filled with stout. Smaller 5 gal batches no problem should I brew a small batch.
Undersized brew system to begin with your flat screwed, to buy again stepping up in size is wasting more money instead of going big from the start.
Too many friends not enough bier.

Makes sense. I'm currently only set up for 5gal extract batches but I know between my friends & I we could go through all of those tasty brews in a couple of sittings. That's excluding anyone else I want to share with! I definitely want to upgrade to larger batches, but if it's essentially the same process/equipment for a 10 vs 15 gal batch (scaled up, of course) then why not go for the 15 I wonder? Conventional homebrew heating systems too slow or hard to control >10G? I don't imagine any huge additional hurdles in fermentation or kegging...

Is there a legal limit to how much one can brew? Guess that would be a consideration for some...

Limits will differ from state to state. I know mine is 200 gallons a year. But I really don't think anyone cares unless you were trying to sell your brew. I say go for it, if you have the right equipment you will have no problem brewing 15 gallon batches.

BrewBeemer said:

Count me in on wanting to brew over 20 gallon batches, the Brewhemoth ferm has over 22 gallons capacity. I'll be happy netting three corny's filled with stout. Smaller 5 gal batches no problem should I brew a small batch.
Undersized brew system to begin with your flat screwed, to buy again stepping up in size is wasting more money instead of going big from the start.
Too many friends not enough bier.

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Hell ya! I am ordering my brewhemoth on Friday!!

Mpez said:

Limits will differ from state to state. I know mine is 200 gallons a year. But I really don't think anyone cares unless you were trying to sell your brew. I say go for it, if you have the right equipment you will have no problem brewing 15 gallon batches.

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Note that is 200 gallons per person of drinking age. Two adults = 400 gallons.:rockin:

gunner65 said:

Note that is 200 gallons per person of drinking age. Two adults = 400 gallons.:rockin:

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No, sorry to burst your bubble. It's 200 per household if there are more than one adult living in the house, regardless of how many people in the house.

Sec. 25.205
Production


(a) Any adult may produce beer, without payment of tax, for personal or family use and not for sale. An adult is any individual who is 18 years of age or older. If the locality in which the household is located requires a greater minimum age for the sale of beer to individuals, the adult shall be that age before commencing the production of beer. This exemption does not authorize the production of beer for use contrary to state or local law.

(b) The production of beer per household, without payment of tax, for personal or family use may not exceed:

(1) 200 gallons per calendar year if there are two or more adults residing in the household, or (2) 100 gallons per calendar year if there is only one adult residing in the household.
(c) Partnerships except as provided in Sec. 25.207, corporations or associations may not produce beer, without payment of tax, for personal or family use.


(Sec. 201, Pub. L. 85-859, 72 Stat. 1334, as amended (26 U.S.C. 5053))

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Revvy said:

No, sorry to burst your bubble. It's 200 per household if there are more than one adult living in the house, regardless of how many people in the house.

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Oh well guess I will stick to 200 this year.

Crap, I live alone... were those laws just for MI? If so, any resource for other states (particularly IL)?

Besides, who is counting and how are they counting as long as you're not trying to sell the stuff?

Mike_A said:

Crap, I live alone... were those laws just for MI? If so, any resource for other states (particularly IL)?


Besides, who is counting and how are they counting as long as you're not trying to sell the stuff?

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Federal Law is all states.

I think the ATF has bigger fish but they may have to start raiding the evil homebrewers. I would think one would be safe so long as supply was not greater than 100 at time of said raid.

Laws schwas... who's checking.

I did my first 20gal batch this weekend. I am hooked. only took 6.5hrs from start to finish including cleaning. Now I defiantly want to upgrade my equipment

If you live alone, the limit is 100 gallons per annum. If you don't go crazy distributing the stuff, probably no-one will notice.

Generally homebrewers cap batch size at 10 gallons (more commonly 5) because 1) equipment to make larger batches costs more money, and past 10 gallons it really adds up; and 2) you need a really good recipe, and/or some really good drinkers, to consume more than that in a reasonable timeframe.

I think you'd be OK brewing whatever amount unless you did something stupid like posting your record on an online forum.

So obvious, I feel a bit foolish typing it.

Unless your brewing every other weekend plus the neighbors noticing large batches of grain and bier activity being transported to and from who would know?
At the ranch one time we had a group for a week brewing with 55 gallon SS drums, seven full batches were brewed that week with spring water plus the tunneled hillside fermenting room with diverted spring water for temp control.
One would be a dummy with books and records laying around of 300 to 500 gallons to date batches recorded year round or a big mouth to everyone.
If I filled 29 corny's plus the Brewhemoth holding 20 gallons i'm maxed out at only 165 gallons. Filling the spare eleven 15.5 plus three 7.75 kegs I can then hold 353 gallons. Splitting it up stored at two houses i'll still be below the legal limit per household.

There is no way they would know if you had less than 200 already made. And then who's to say some of it wasn't given or bought? Not stopping fully at signs isn't legal either.

You won't be able to make 20G batches with the standard equipment that morebeer/nbrewer/etc sell - 20G is pretty tough in a 25G boil pot. And at that, a 14.5G fermenter is too small for 15G batch, and 27 way too big. My plan is to do 15G batches in my 25G pots, and ferment in a brewhemoth (!!!). When I do weirder beer, say quads, etc., I just do carboys. I used to do 10G batches in keggles and 14.5 fermenters, but when I make a really good dortmunder, it's a shame not to have more!

With building in a larger scale the MLT, BK and HLT plus a Brewhemoth it shouldn't be a problem brewing 20 gallon batches. Just scale up the system as not much more space is required for storage vs using keggles. Brew bier they will come, a donation box would help.

I brew 35 gallon batches but split the beer with my son and two friends. I have my wife trained to say that we brew 200 gallons per year. That is the first question people ask when they find out you brew at home.

It just depends on how much you and your friends drink....and how much variety you like. The hobby was legalized for personal enjoyment...once you start making really large amounts and/or selling it, then you're going to raise eyebrows. Legal stuff aside, it just costs alot to brew big batches...hopefully you've got someone chipping in!

The purpose to setting up the "intricate" systems is to create a more repeatable process and better beer. Not sure that it is necessarily better, but it is easier to repeat. I have been doing 11 gallon batches but honestly I prefer smaller and eventually am head back to doing 6 gallon batches so I can brew more and have less things to clean up after brewing.

I have a large basement, but I really don't have a good place for big fermenters for temperature control so I usually do 5 or 10 gallon batches. A 7.9 gallon ale pail fits in whatever I'm using for temperature control- a cooler, the basement room, the fridge for a lager, etc. I don't have a walk in cooler set up for temperature control for bigger fermenters, and I hate carrying heavy things up and down the basement stairs, so I'm happy with my set up.

stevehaun said:

I brew 35 gallon batches but split the beer with my son and two friends. I have my wife trained to say that we brew 200 gallons per year. That is the first question people ask when they find out you brew at home.

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If you don't mind my asking, how are you brewing 35 gallon batches?

2 - 55 gallon Boilermakers (for MT and BK) and a 42 gallon conical? I also imagine you're using something more than a turkey fryer banjo burner for heat?

And some of us just don't go through that much beer. I end up pouring out the last of my 5 gallon batches to reclaim a keg for the next brew. 10 wouldn't make any sense for me.

Jawbox0 said:

I end up pouring out the last of my 5 gallon batches to reclaim a keg for the next brew.

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Man, those are the best of the best pours. You need another keg.

Jawbox0 said:

I end up pouring out the last of my 5 gallon batches to reclaim a keg for the next brew. 10 wouldn't make any sense for me.

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Dumping bier sounds totally insane and a waste in my book, I used to give bier away to thankful friends.

Mike_A said:

I have done a bit of reading around on this forum and see that most people with really nice setups choose to stick to 5 or 10 gal batches.

Is there a reason for going to the trouble of setting up these great, intricate setups but not upping the ante to, say, 15 gallon batches? I've found with my 5 gallon batches, I'm always left wanting more beer for myself and I love to give beer to friends & family who appreciate the effort put into it.

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I brew 14-15 gal batches, but really, I think for most people using keggles limits you to roughly 10-12 gallon batches. With some bigger pots and using Sankes to ferment I can go as high as 25 gallons (although I never have and could only do a moderate to low gravity in that size due to my MT size)...

So, in summary, I think most limit to the Keggle vessels and sanke fermenter sizes and people wishing to go larger have a significant upgrade in cost to get there. Once you go over 15 gallons or so I am guessing you might as well go right to 1-2 BBL. Also, it gets awfully tough to deal with that amount of water, heat, mash volume, temp control of fermentation for volumes that large, etc. So I think there is a sweet spot for the majority of brewers before the PITA of all of these issues takes over and makes the process less of a hobby and more of a job.

i brew 5 or 10, but no more, so i can have different varieties. if i brewed 20 gallons at 1 time, i'd be seriously tired of that 1 before it was gone. i have 9 kegs, and like to have at least 4 different varieties at any 1 time

Jawbox0 said:

And some of us just don't go through that much beer. I end up pouring out the last of my 5 gallon batches to reclaim a keg for the next brew. 10 wouldn't make any sense for me.

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Jeeze, maybe you should do some calculations so you dump the first part of the batch so you can drink the last.

Revvy said:

No, sorry to burst your bubble. It's 200 per household if there are more than one adult living in the house, regardless of how many people in the house.

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I think Randar kind of nailed it. Greatly increased equipment cost, higher stakes for success/failure and thereby less room for experiment, higher difficulty and more work in dealing with larger/more powerful equipment, less frequent brewdays, less variety in homebrews on hand....above ten gallons, I honestly don't see the point. Unless you're trying to keep the whole damn neighborhood happy.

Well lubed neighbors are less likely to complain about project building grinding and cutting noise. As far as brewing and holding too much of one style of bier it hasn't been a problem at my end with 10 to 15 gallon batches in the past, again it has worked for me maybe not for you we're all different. Now it's payback time from my brewing friends with not having a brewery at the present time.

Skyforger said:

I think Randar kind of nailed it. Greatly increased equipment cost, higher stakes for success/failure and thereby less room for experiment, higher difficulty and more work in dealing with larger/more powerful equipment, less frequent brewdays, less variety in homebrews on hand....above ten gallons, I honestly don't see the point. Unless you're trying to keep the whole damn neighborhood happy.

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All are very valid points. I'm going to be doing 15's and hopefully the same equipment should be able to do 10's (well, im sure high gravity 10's would work ). My brew days are infrequent enough as it is that I think I'll be able to kill 15 gallons with myself and friends before needing to keg another batch, roughly once a month. And higher stakes for failure is not a concern - as long as it won't get the drinkers sick, I'll find someone to drink it! I plan on finding some other homebrewers in the area to trade beer or kegs with, to keep some variety on hand.

I like the notion of being able to provide enough beer for a larger gathering. As far as cost goes, I don't see a significant difference in cost of a 15 gal setup vs a 10gal (larger kettles, same pumps, larger stand?) and I'm going to keep it simple at least to begin with. No conicals, no electronics, etc. I'm already going to be making a large jump from where I am to where I want to be, so what's a little more to make the jump to 15gal instead of 10? I definitely see the point though, of not going up to & beyond 1 bbl. That seems like a whole different enchilada.

Teach them friends how to homebrew. I personally have too much beer and not enough friends who like craft type beer. I have found, however, that it doesn't take too many friends to start chipping away at your supply! Giving out a couple of sixers puts a serious dent in your pipeline.

Now that I have more than one beer on tap, I have trouble getting through 5 gallons in a reasonable timeframe. Sometimes I feel like I'm forcing myself to finish a keg so that I can get to the next brew day.

I'd much rather have 4 different beers on tap, than 15-20 gallons of one kind, boring.


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The key is buying more corneys. You can label and store them, they only get better with time. Personally I have no problem dusting off 5gals in a little more than a week.

GetLooseontheGoose said:

The key is buying more corneys. You can label and store them, they only get better with time. Personally I have no problem dusting off 5gals in a little more than a week.

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Exactly as I already have 29 corny's plus your my kind of brewer. In the past 5 gallons have vanished rather quickly just by having a small party or some thirsty friends over, they supply the steaks. I find this much better with spare full corny's on the ready than a future painic brewing session. Again everyones demands are different. Prost.

Lately I'm not getting much drinking help from my wife, and I've been trying to limit consumption for the sake of my waistline. I can brew 10 gallon batches, but 5 gallons is lasting pretty long these days - and I have 4 taps in my keezer.

wildwest450 said:

I'd much rather have 4 different beers on tap, than 15-20 gallons of one kind, boring.


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Yeah me too. I was going to move to 10-15 gallon batches, but I think I'll stick to 5 gallon.

I don't really give that much beer away. Mostly, I just drink the beer I brew myself. It saves a ton of money, too. Usually by the end of a keg, I'm kind of tired of drinking whatever.