When did you stop counting?

Last night I brewed batch #50. I am very proud of this fact. Anyways, the first brewing book I read suggested numbering your batches so you could differentiate batches by the number on the cap. I have been kegging for over a year now, but I still find myself numbering each batch. I seem to be in the minority in this and am just curious when everyone else stops or stopped counting brews. Thanks!

When I ran out of fingers.

Bull

I actually think I'm in the minority- I quit counting my batches in mid to late 2006, I believe.

I do have all of my notes, either in a notebook or in my computer, so I guess I could try to recreate them if I had to.

I'm a data freak... so I actually track all the information of every batch I've done in a database. I don't plan on ever stopping because I like to keep a history of it. I'm on batch #10 right now.

bullinachinashop said:

When I ran out of fingers.

Bull

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Heh heh... Me too. Actually I ran outta brain cells and I can't count anymore. Wait... What were we talking about?

Congrats on batch #50.

I don't think I ever really counted...but lemme think...I'm on about batch...*counting*

20 or 25.

Never counted, I keep a journal and recently got Beersmith so soon I'll have a database. I have 'codes' I write on the caps so I know what they are. But as far as counting nope, never started. I could though, every date and batch is journaled.

Every single recipe I have ever brewed is in Beersmith, which I automatically backup when the program is closed to a backup file, then also uploaded to an ftp server I use so that I'll never lose it. I'm on batch 112, I just assumed everyone kept track of their brews..

I take notes on each batch and write down my own observations as to how the beer tastes as I continue to pull growlers from the corny. I also keep detailed notes as to how the brewing process went that day to see if that would account for a negative or positive experience with that particular batch. Being a hop head I normally add more hops than a given recipe will call for and while this normally works out great there have been certain beers/batches where this did not work well. One thing that I have learned is that there is often no telling where a beer will end up. Some start out great but quickly fade. Others are crappy at first but seem to get better with age/more tastings. Montanaandy

yeah, don't stop counting. at least keep it in the a brew journal if you don't know off the top of your head each batch. my next will be my 10th! guess I'll have to crack open some homebrew to celebrate. maybe I'll crack one open right now to celebrate the thought! congrats on 50! I'll be there in a few years hopefully!

I use Beer Smith too. I started counting, because I have been making a similar recipe so I can learn about different hops. I retroactively added my first four bathes to Beer Smith just to have one place to keep all of my recipes. I am brewing #13 tomorrow. Centennial IPA.

My wife has a blast teasing me about my 'scrapbooking' hobby that goes along with brewing. I have binders with the Beertools Print out and notes on each beer. I number each batch so I can replicate if desired. It also helps for when I clean out my storage area and run into a random bottle of beer. Batch 78 is in the fermenter right now.

I never counted my brews. And I have to stop and think every time someone asks how long I have been brewing (13 years)

Bernie Brewer said:

I never counted my brews. And I have to stop and think every time someone asks how long I have been brewing (13 years)

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Same here...never started counting so I have no idea how many batches have been brewed over the last decade plus of homebrew. The first handful of years were pretty sporadic but the last several have made up for it

I am up to #29 and find it useful but keep the main recipies on Beer Smith. I use my hand written notes while I brew.

I some times find single beers with numbers on the caps and it helps me know what I am drinking.

Counter here, but mostly just because it's a byproduct of keeping a log. Over 100 batches and I'm still messing with the process. Without the log to keep track of how each batch was brewed, I'd be lost.

I don't count. I guess if I looked at all my beersmith files, and printed out sheets from before I started using it, I'd know. But I've never really bothered. I brew at least once a month, some months more but the only time I may number a batch if I am trying to perfect a recipe and may have bottles of the previous batches lying around. Like the Chocolate mole Porter I have been trying to perfect, I have some of batch 1 lying around still, and batch two the current batch I have a lot of bottles set aside for contest (just got a bronze for it at the world expo of beer) so those have a #2 on it so I know those are the latest "tweak."

But I figure if I don't know how many batches I've made in a year, the neither does the "gubment." If I go over my 100 gallons or not.

I keep a brew log in Excel that keeps track of all my notes: beer, batch #, date brewed, recipe, primary and secondary lengths, bottle/kegging date, mash temp and time, grist ratio, efficiency, OG, FG, ABV, IBU, SRM, ferment temp and a comments section. I guess I thought everybody did this but it looks like I'm in the minority.

I'm getting close to batch #50 and still log every batch in a spreadsheet also.

I don't even use the notes field in beersmith anymore. I brew, leave it in fermented for a month, keg and drink. I don't like making the same thing twice regardless how great it is.

I'm another one of those folks who takes a lot of notes. I have notebooks for the older brews and the newer ones are in BeerSmith. So they're still numbered. I'll be brewing batch 106 next weekend. I've done kegging and bottling and I've always numbered them, bottled or not. I'd guess I've kegged about 70 of those batches. To me, it's like part of their name and a way that I remember them. It differentiates them when I re-brew a batch so I can say, "Oh yeah, I liked #91, the West Coast Pale, better than #95, also a West Coast Pale".

i stopped counting my last batch ever brewed (no wingman), which was #8. I plan to recycle the odometer at 100.

I took notes for a couple of batches because I read on another forum that it was an important tool to identify problems. But I soon found that my beer was fine and that it didn't appear that I was going to have to scrutinize batch notes to find the source of my troubles. One less thing to worry about.

I'm still numbering my bottles at batch #56 and I keep a record of each in my brewbook.

I've never numbered mine. I have absolutely no idea how many batches I've brewed. I probably lost track after 4. I do keep every one in Beersmith though, so I could figure it out.

YooperBrew said:

I actually think I'm in the minority- I quit counting my batches in mid to late 2006, I believe.

I do have all of my notes, either in a notebook or in my computer, so I guess I could try to recreate them if I had to.

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I just did a quick "looksee" and guestimate that I'm at about batch 260 or so.

It gets fuzzy after like # 3 since I was brewing nearly every week

I still count. I have a log book of every batch i have ever made. when i run out of pages, the next book will start with whatever number I left off on. Currently on 113

Man, I don't know. I only just started a few months ago and I lost count already.

Somewhere in the 30's. I'm guessing up in the 70's range now. That was probably about the same time I stopped taking preboil gravity readings and checking for mash conversion. I guess I got lazy.

Quit counting after about 10 or so. Hell I don't even take notes...shame on me.

I started brewing in college and didn't keep any notes for the first year and a half of brewing. Then I took notes but lost most of them. Then I took notes on my computer... then that died destroying all my info. Now I take notes in a binder and computer back up. I have no clue how many batches I have done.... I kind of wish I did. It would be fun to be able to look back at all I have brewed.

I number my recipes so I can go back later on and pull exactly what the brew sheet was. That helps when you have 2-3 Belgian quads fermenting. Which one is which?! I don't count for the sake of counting... although its somewhere around 72.