My HB supply line is finally healthy! How about yours??

I completed a 3 tap keezer build in March and was determined to build up my supply line. As of today, all 3 taps are flowing, I have a 4th keg on deck (on the hump) and a 5th keg in the hole chilling in a separate frig. Plus, I have a batch in the chamber fermenting as we speak! I can finally report, my HB supply line is healthy!

Not sure how my consumption stacks up to others but on average, I go through a keg about every 2-1/2 weeks. Having a healthy supply does a couple of things; For one, I don't have to worry about a break in supply anytime soon. And two, I can actually let my beer keg condition before tapping it which should help improve the quality instead of burst carbing and tapping right away. I'm right where I want to be.

How about you? Is your supply; healthy, dwindling or dried up at the moment?

What is your average rate of consumption and what is your goal for your supply?

Cheers!

Heresy -> Weird thing is that i like brewing and making brew gear than the actual consumption.

I have 6 faucets (3 IIPAs, 2 RIS, and a porter) with only a 2nd keg of IIPA in inventory (a mead and a cider are aging for xmas).

I only drink maybe a beer per week? But every once in a while i get some buddies over or my brother needs a few gallons to loosen up a BBQ so they help me clear out the kegerator. But i am a bit short on inventory so another brew day is needed!

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I recall before getting into brewing seeing a rig that would brew 10 gallon batches and thought that this guy must be semipro or just crazy.

After my first bunch of 5 gallon batches I soon realized how quickly a keg can disappear (I would tell everything that I must have a serious leak, because I was not drinking that much)

I have now jumped to 12 gallon batches, with the idea of bottling the 2 gallons and then having 2 kegs left. Now I might need a "bright" fridge to hold the second kegs that don't fit in the kegerator.

Have a 6 head coke dispenser I use beside the kegerator. It is now being used for soda water, Skeeter Pee, raspberry cider and some peach Chardonnay. This I only have room for two beers! I will have to reclaim one shortly as I would like to have at least three beers available.

Tom

My line is sitting well. I brewed up 30 gal for my party this past weekend, and I still have plenty left over. Plan on brewing next weekend, then 2 weeks after that, etc, to keep all three taps flowing.

outside92129 said:

Heresy -> Weird thing is that i like brewing and making brew gear than the actual consumption.

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I'm not much on drinking alone, so look at my sig. With my boys, though

I brew a couple of 11.5 gallon batches every two weeks most of the years so I am good on the supply

all the best

S_M

Tot great, down to my last dozen of lawnmower lager, a batch of cider which is carbed but could do with sitting for 4-6 weeks, a kit lager bottled last night (time constraints led to extract brewing and probably regret) and an arrogant bastard clone about ready to go into the keg.

Half a doz bottles of various other beers sitting round waiting to be drunk

Mine fluctuates a lot. I'll get a few solid weekends where I can brew twice in a row, and build up the pipeline.

Then with family and work commitments, I end up not brewing for ~2 months, and dry up that pipeline.

Mine is healthy... But only because I did a lot of brewing over the winter. All four of my kegs are on tap. I have a fifth one carbing. I have three batches in secondary. I haven't brewed in about four months though now. I've been busy with finishing school, getting married, and now I'm moving next month, so brewing is on hold for awhile, so fortunately I've got a decent pipeline going, and I haven't been drinking much lately.

outside92129 said:

Heresy -> Weird thing is that i like brewing and making brew gear than the actual consumption.

I only drink maybe a beer per week? But every once in a while i get some buddies over or my brother needs a few gallons to loosen up a BBQ so they help me clear out the kegerator. But i am a bit short on inventory so another brew day is needed!

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I can dig it on the DIY stuff that can come with this hobby. I like building stuff with my own little twist added in that solves a problem or makes something more convenient.

For me, the love of the DIY stuff and brewing process AND the consumption all go hand in hand...

But we all have our own reasons and motivations.

Cheers!

I am currently pretty stocked up, 4 on tap, 2 extra sitting in the back of the kegerator and 4 full kegs in the wing, with another 11g of Saison that's drying out in the fermentor.

I also have a friend coming next week that can drink like a parched fish so I'm expecting to blow through a lot of it...good thing I like him

Mine has almost completely dried up. Just kicked my keg of IPA this morning, filling a growler for an office party... Now I have 3 empty kegs in my keezer, and the only tap still pouring is a cider. I have an orange wheat that's been cold-crashing for over a week (haven't had time to keg it yet), and I have the ingredients for an oatmeal stout, that I hope to brew this weekend.

With a full-time job and a toddler, it's been hard to carve out the time to brew. I think I need to step up to 10 gallon batches so I can brew my favorite recipes less often (they go really fast, especially since I've started sharing with the neighbors, and BBQ season is in full swing). Now I just need more kegs/cold storage to hold those extra 5 gallons/batch!

Jcruse said:

Mine has almost completely dried up. Just kicked my keg of IPA this morning, filling a growler for an office party... Now I have 3 empty kegs in my keezer, and the only tap still pouring is a cider. I have an orange wheat that's been cold-crashing for over a week (haven't had time to keg it yet), and I have the ingredients for an oatmeal stout, that I hope to brew this weekend.

With a full-time job and a toddler, it's been hard to carve out the time to brew. I think I need to step up to 10 gallon batches so I can brew my favorite recipes less often (they go really fast, especially since I've started sharing with the neighbors, and BBQ season is in full swing). Now I just need more kegs/cold storage to hold those extra 5 gallons/batch!

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Life happens. Toddlers certainly add another dimension. My wife and I have three. Two of which were in diapers at the same time!

Enjoy the time with your toddler. Before you know it, they'll be helping you drink the beer you make, like mine do now...

I tend to stagger between big beers, sours, and session beers depending on the needs of my pipeline. I'll brew a big beer or two, or a sour, and then brew some session beers in the mean time with quick turnaround.

I currently have about 16 cases full of bottles (I don't keg), which is a reduction from the normal supply. At peak I'll have 20+ cases full plus another 10 gallons on cask. And then I have as much as 12 fermenters full of sours aging for a year + (10 full right now, soon to be 8 as I'll be bottling two in a few days), and then usually 1-2 clean beers going at once, but I have space for 5 clean beers in addition to sours. That doesn't include the 1 gallon jugs that I sometimes use for small batches of mead/cider/hootch. At absolute capacity, I can have 25 fermenters full at once, with about 10-15 full on average.

So, I'd say my pipeline is pretty healthy.

Qhrumphf said:

I tend to stagger between big beers, sours, and session beers depending on the needs of my pipeline. I'll brew a big beer or two, or a sour, and then brew some session beers in the mean time with quick turnaround.

I currently have about 16 cases full of bottles (I don't keg), which is a reduction from the normal supply. At peak I'll have 20+ cases full plus another 10 gallons on cask. And then I have as much as 12 fermenters full of sours aging for a year + (10 full right now, soon to be 8 as I'll be bottling two in a few days), and then usually 1-2 clean beers going at once, but I have space for 5 clean beers in addition to sours. That doesn't include the 1 gallon jugs that I sometimes use for small batches of mead/cider/hootch. At absolute capacity, I can have 25 fermenters full at once, with about 10-15 full on average.

So, I'd say my pipeline is pretty healthy.

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Man... It's a good thing you have that automated bottler! I would be crazy to bottle that much beer manually!!

I am running on empty as I brewed some for the fall and a IPA for a friend so the keg is empty and a lot of bottles likewise . I need to start considering 10 batches.

jbb3 said:

Man... It's a good thing you have that automated bottler! I would be crazy to bottle that much beer manually!!

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I wouldn't mind having a bottling line. You offering?

Nothing here as well, think I have a sixpack of ready beer. I've got 2 batches ready for bottling and a new batch almost ready to chill, so I guess it could be worse

Qhrumphf said:

I wouldn't mind having a bottling line. You offering?

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Will work for beer!!

I have a freshly kegged batch of Yooper's Stone Ruination IPA dry hopping with whole leaf hops (tastes amazing, btw!), a keg of local craft brew that is half empty, and a nearly empty keg of Dogfish 60 IPA. I have an all Cascade IPA dry hopping in the secondary and a Citra IPA in the fermentor from this weekend, so I should be generally OK for a while

My supply is bloated to the point of obesity. I have 6 kegs carbed and waiting for their turn in the kegerator and....around 800 bottles last time I counted. Probably a bit under 700 now though. I gave away a ton of beer at an arts festival. I need to make more friends.

Just bottled up 5.5 gallons of tripel. Probably around 6-7 cases in stock currently (a few beers not listed in sig). That's a lot for me. I give some away of course but since I don't seem to get my bottles back I've cut back on that. Time to relax and work down the supply. It's tough though because almost every day I think of a recipe or style I'd like to delve into. Missed having an American Pale Ale for this past 4th

I remember, it was not that long ago that I had a very healthy supply line going. I had 5 kegs full with one in the fermenter!

Now, here I am with 1 keg of cream ale. And there's probably a gallon gone from that....

WOE IS ME!!!...

And why doesn't HBT have emoticons that are crying????

WHY????????

outside92129 said:

Heresy -> Weird thing is that i like brewing and making brew gear than the actual consumption.

I have 6 faucets (3 IIPAs, 2 RIS, and a porter) with only a 2nd keg of IIPA in inventory (a mead and a cider are aging for xmas).

I only drink maybe a beer per week? But every once in a while i get some buddies over or my brother needs a few gallons to loosen up a BBQ so they help me clear out the kegerator. But i am a bit short on inventory so another brew day is needed!

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Can I get a moment of silence for outside92129 please?

I have a spare fridge packed with several cases of bottled homebrew and homemade wine but currently I don't have a drop of beer on tap which is very rare. I do have some homemade pinot grigio on tap but my wife doesn't care for it and I have maybe a class a week so it will probably still be on tap next year.

I blended 12 G of base bitter with parts of two other batches in order to fill up a 15.5G sankey last night. And, I have 3G of third runnings lawn milker braggot, which has a fair chance at bing better than "drinkable". This is the largest my supply has been so far, but I don't expect it to last much more than a week as the sankey is going to my friend's wedding.

Qhrumphf said:

I tend to stagger between big beers, sours, and session beers depending on the needs of my pipeline. I'll brew a big beer or two, or a sour, and then brew some session beers in the mean time with quick turnaround.

I currently have about 16 cases full of bottles (I don't keg), which is a reduction from the normal supply. At peak I'll have 20+ cases full plus another 10 gallons on cask. And then I have as much as 12 fermenters full of sours aging for a year + (10 full right now, soon to be 8 as I'll be bottling two in a few days), and then usually 1-2 clean beers going at once, but I have space for 5 clean beers in addition to sours. That doesn't include the 1 gallon jugs that I sometimes use for small batches of mead/cider/hootch. At absolute capacity, I can have 25 fermenters full at once, with about 10-15 full on average.

So, I'd say my pipeline is pretty healthy.

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You sound a lot like me. I mostly bottle because I like variety. I do always have a stout or an Irish red on my nitro tap and a sessionable beer on the other tap.I normally have around 20 cases of beer around. I brew a lot of brett beers and sours so I have about 8 of this going right now and then fill in quicker brews like IPA,s . I also brew a lot of Belgians that need more than a quick turn around.

I love going down to me beer fridge and having the choice of about 10 different beers.

So pipeline is good.

beergolf said:

...I love going down to me beer fridge and having the choice of about 10 different beers.

So pipeline is good.

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I can appreciate that! Can I come over??

But since I started kegging (6 months), I can't stand the thought of bottling again... Maybe I'll get over it one day??

But since I started kegging (6 months), I can't stand the thought of bottling again... Maybe I'll get over it one day??

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It really is not that difficult. I usually bottle when I brew. I rack to the bottling bucket while my strike water is heating. Once I start the mash, I start bottling. A quick squirt with some starsan and then bottle. It usually only takes less than 30 minutes to sanitize and bottle a batch. The key is to always have clean bottles on hand. Easy.

beergolf said:

It really is not that difficult. I usually bottle when I brew. I rack to the bottling bucket while my strike water is heating. Once I start the mash, I start bottling. A quick squirt with some starsan and then bottle. It usually only takes less than 30 minutes to sanitize and bottle a batch. The key is to always have clean bottles on hand. Easy.

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Not a bad idea. I'm considering a pumpkin stout for my pre-fall brew schedule and I don't particularly want to tie up a tap with what will be a occasionally consumed specialty beer. So I may actually pull out a few cases of bottles for this batch...