How To NOT Drink My Beer

Hello all,

My first batch since returning to the hobby was a Copper Ale from MWHB. It was in the primary fermenter for 3 weeks, followed by 3 weeks of priming in bottles.

I had my first bottle last week and it was great! I was actually super surprised when I took my first sip and realized this was much better than the beer I used to make. A week later, I tried another bottle and it was better than the first. A few days later, the third was better than the second.

My problem is that I'm afraid I'm going to drink all the beer (can't resist) before it reaches its optimum goodness.

How do people resist the urge to drink their homebrew before it's aged to perfection? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I seem to lack willpower.

brewmate76 said:

Hello all,

My first batch since returning to the hobby was a Copper Ale from MWHB. It was in the primary fermenter for 3 weeks, followed by 3 weeks of priming in bottles.

I had my first bottle last week and it was great! I was actually super surprised when I took my first sip and realized this was much better than the beer I used to make. A week later, I tried another bottle and it was better than the first. A few days later, the third was better than the second.

My problem is that I'm afraid I'm going to drink all the beer (can't resist) before it reaches its optimum goodness.

How do people resist the urge to drink their homebrew before it's aged to perfection? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I seem to lack willpower.

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Brew more. So you have beer stockpiled. Oh, you'll still drink it too early, but it'll take you much longer!

it's called building a pipeline......can't keep your mind/hands of your young beer? brew another batch. repeat every week or so until that first batch is fermented, conditioned, aged and primed....then repeat some more....that's why you see people with whole liquor stores worth of brews listed in their sig-lines.

yep, you gotta knock out a bunch of quick beers to build pipeline, then you can do some that require aging without worrying about drinking them. I have a problem making a keg last over 2 weeks. Be thankful you're bottling. It goes faster when there is no empties to count

IrregularPulse said:

Be thankful you're bottling. It goes faster when there is no empties to count

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Amen brother! I'm the only one drinking my brew, SWMBO has maybe a pint a week. Space for 3 kegs tapped and I end up with an empty at least every two weeks if not sooner.

I switched to doing 10G batches or two 5G in one day. Then I have two kegs ready after the requisite aging period.

Consesus for OP, BREW MORE! Now, next weekend and the one after that.

As for staying away from your current conditioning batch, go to the store and buy some calibration samples. At least for different varieties of what you have on hand should do the trick. Drink those until they are all gone, then you may begin sampling your stash. Also, hold back a sixer or more if you can. You will enjoy sampling them much later and tasting a little history of your brewing development.

TeufelBrew said:

Also, hold back a sixer or more if you can. You will enjoy sampling them much later and tasting a little history of your brewing development.

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Yeah always put a 6-pack away, with the date created and bottled and what kind of beer it is. THEN FORGET ABOUT IT! Yeah and try to make beer more often.

But damn if it is not hard to want to have a session with some sweet homebrew that no one else in the world is drinking (except maybe some close pals and gals)

I've been brewing for years and I have the same issue. The normal rule is, the best bottle from any batch is always the last one. If I figure this one out, I will advise!

Fill the pipeline. I counted this weekend. I have 57 full cases of godly nector waiting to be de-flowered. I didnt count, but I'd say 20 more in varying stages of being consumed (cases) I have 7 beers on tap, and 7 more ready to be tapped, already chilled, and 4 more conditioning. If I bottle, it stays in the bottle for a month before I even test it. If I keg it, it sits in the keg at room temp for a month before it even becomes eligable to go into cold storage, and only then when there is space available.

Lifes too short to worry about such trivial things. Drink the beer now and make more. Each brew will be better than the last. Word.

since i have moved into a new house, i have been doing a 5g batch every 2 weeks to get my stock back up..( after not brewing for 2 months) its still hard to keep it.. but drinking it is the reason i brew it.

I just had the following happening to me.

First week, hmmmm, second week, aaaaah, third weeek aaaaaaaah, sixth week, wwoooooow!

Now I have a self imposed home brew drinking ban the next 2 months. Fortunatly I will be out of the country for 1 of the 2 months. But I am going to make all my homebrew age at least until middle of June. Appfelwein is going to sit until August.

I think I'll even use the time to loose a couple of pounds in the prohabition time

Build up a huge pipeline of beer and get an additional fridge to store it all in the garage!

I also alternate my brews. I will brew up a stout or porter then a lighter beer that will be ready sooner. My stouts and porters are in the winter coat closet for further aging (and I don't get into it) and the blonde ales, amber ales and brown ales are in the guest bathroom for further testing until they go into the beer fridge...

My first batch lasted all of 2 weeks. Which was just enough time for my 3rd and 4th batches to be ready to drink... Now that the pipeline has been built up, I don't worry about trying beers too early or bottling them too early. I just looked into the closet today and found (to my pleasant surprise) that my EdWort Apfelwein is also ready to bottle. Oh NOM!