how far in advance do you plan your brews?

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bluehouse

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I have seriously messed up my planning. I hardly brewed or vinted anything for the last 6-8 months. I have a seriously depleted wine cellar, my current stock on hand is:
9 quarts of red wine
6 quarts of hard lemonade
3 quarts of hard ice tea
Drinkable now
0 homebrew completely out

We have 2-1/2 cases bottled last week so some in the pipe line
I have 5 gal apfelwien in primary * needs at least 6 months ageing
5 gallons red wine in primary * needs at least 6 months ageing really more
5 gal pale ale in primary
5 gal orange kissed wheat in primary

So how far in advance do you plan. I am going to seriously have to buy wine because no way 9 quarts are going to last me 6 months. I want to avoid this in the future. so far I know that in June or July we will have our grape crop in and I will put up at least 10 gallons of wine from this.
Any other suggestions?
 
I am a light brewer compared with other people here, but I like to have at least one homebrew on tap at all times. I had a bit of a dry period where my last homebrew was finished on New Year's Eve and I just kegged a new one last weekend. On Saturday I told SWMBO that my CO2 tank needed to be refilled at the LHBS and she said, "Why don't you buy some ingredients too and brew another batch tomorrow." I didn't argue with that.
 
My list of planned batches is quite long now, about a dozen. I have nowhere near enough equipment to brew it all at once. If I time it right, I can do 2 in primary and secondary and one in bottle aging, and one in the fridge for drinking. New to the hobby though, so I'm still working on building up the brewery and pipeline.
 
Brewing some summer beers now (belgian wit, amber ale, and a cider), in the summer i'm gonna brew a punkin/autumn style ale, a scotch ale, and a dark, rich, heavy stout to have aged by winter.
 
When I have money, I buy ingredients or kits and brew like mad. I usually brew way more than I can drink, so everything else just bottle conditions (see also: waits to be drank) until I free up room in the fridge. I don't keg yet, but once I start, I'll try to keep at least 3 different brews on tap.
 
I only have two brews that I do on a predictable basis. I do a bock every new-years-ish. I do a Marzen every Feb-March-ish. Other than that, it's whatever the mood hits me..........
 
sometimes I wake up and think "do I have enough to brew?" if I do, and can get a decent recipe, I brew.

Other times, if there's a recipe i really want to try, I'll order the stuff and brew when i have time.

I have 10 kegs, and they're mostly full. A party here on Saturday kicked 3, and I'm bottling another 2 for gifts. That will leave me 5 kegs to fill and nothing fermenting.

B
 
I think pretty far in advance because I have been getting all my grains via group buys.
Bought a sack of Wheat in September knowing full well I would only use some for the Dunkelweizen this Winter and then only a little here and there to help with head retention until Spring.

Bulk buying keeps me from having to run to the LHBS for 1/2lb of this or 5lbs of that too.
 
Now that I am finally settled into the new house, I try to brew about every three weeks. That way i can steadily build up the stock then adjust it later (by consumption). I also just brew whatever style sounds good at the moment.
 
Thanks all for sharing info. I think I like the idea of brewing every three weeks even if you are not running low. That way when people stop buy & depleat your supply you are not degrading your stock. Regular shopping is about 10 miles from my home or work and the local convienance store stock leaves allot to be desired so I am going to put a brew day into my calendar every three weeks & try to plan and buy accordingly.
 
I get thinking about a brew when one of my kegs nears empty. Figure two weeks to think about it, order the stuff, and wait for a good brew day. Only way to avoid running out is to stock more. If you get in a pinch you can still brew and have it ready in time.
 
I think Janet is asking how far in advance of needing the stuff to be available for drinking do we plan.

For me it depends on the style. If it is a standard beer I plan on 2 months until drinking. If I need a faster timeline I will go with a faster beer like a hefe.

On the other side of the spectrum I have a beer that will be ready for my Birthday party next weekend. Yay!!!!! I planned for this and brewed it last September. It has been sitting in bottles since November 1. (I did cheat and try one in December and it was terrible.) But 4 1/2 months should be enough for it to be drinkable.

As far as wines I don't know. I don't have the patience or knowledge for those so I don't make them.
 
I brew as recipes/styles pop on my radar. How far in advance I plan depends on what ingredients I need to get versus what I have on hand. My LHBS has been out of a lot of the odds and ends I've been needing lately so I have been planning a week+ in advance just in-case something has to be special ordered or I have to order online.

Beers that I want around on a specific time frame I plan for counting back from that date, taking into consideration brewing time.
 
How far in advance do I plan? lol I usually make the guy at the LHBS make me up a recipe when I walk in the door. I usually at least have an idea what I want to brew though on my way there.

Really though, I kinda start planning my brew a few days before brew day. But again, its normally just an idea of what I would like to try to brew.

I think up next I want to do an IPA or an IIPA.
 
I plan out a month in advance, and make an online order about once a month. If I need something else, or a special brew urge hits, I go to the LHBS.

I try to brew every other weekend, sometimes more, sometimes less.

:mug:
 
I generally have my next two or three planned. Right now I want to make another massive chocolate coffee stout, as I really enjoyed the complexity of the last one. Also, I want to try and clone a beer I tasted at a beer festival last week that was a pale ale spiced with ginger, that was absolutely beautiful.
 
I plan less than a month in advance. In January I planned on making a stout, then the next week I figured that a blackberry beer would taste good, then in February I was offered some Trappist yeast and made a brew up the next week, a stout the week prior and an IPA that I found out I would make on Saturday the wednesday before. So all in I have four kegs that I am working on drinking, 10 gallons of the Belgian Barleywine and then 10 gallons of IPA fermenting.

It doesn't take time, it does however take supplies. If I have the supplies, then I brew! That IPA though cost me a small fortune in time and money. Not too many of those will be gracing my taps soon.
 
I have a "brew to do" list of at least 20 various beers, meads, and cider/wines :p A good amount of that list are simply styles that I want to try brewing, not a specific brew or recepie (yet.) Currently, I have the supplies for the two pale ales in my sig, and the raspberry mead- most of which I hope to start this weekend or soon thereafter.

The list would be longer if I had a good way to lager- I'll probably be getting a cheap fridge to convert later this year. I could probably use some more carboys too :D
 
Most of my brews take 4-6 mouths to peak, so that's the timeline. Meads, I just make whenever I feel like it. If I run out, it doesn't matter. Ciders I only do in the Fall.
 
I just decided what I wanted to brew this weekend two days ago. Did the recipes last night and I'll be going to the LHBS today to pick everything up. Very little long range planning for me right now.
 
Most of my brews take 4-6 mouths to peak, so that's the timeline. Meads, I just make whenever I feel like it. If I run out, it doesn't matter. Ciders I only do in the Fall.

I'm with you on this. I have a year's worth of supplies in stock to brew pretty much any style beer I want.

But I definitely have to plan far ahead so that I have a particular style hitting perfection right when it is neeeded.

Example, I need some beers ready for a party in mid April. I have brewed one and will brew the other tomorrow. But I would be out of luck if I wanted a lager or a big beer for that party. I would have had to brew those a month or two ago at least.
 
I like to keep 3 fermentors (prim or sec) full - so as soon as I drop below that level a plan a brew for the upcoming weekend. I keep bulk grains and hops at hand, and resuse my yeast. So really all I need to do is plan a starter from my yeast bank a couple days beforehand in order to brew.

Specific target dates (like parties and events) that NEED beer, I will plan a special brewing session 6-8 weeks in advance.
 
everyone is giving me great view points on this issue. thanks for all the tips.
 
I have an up next folder in Beersmith. In there are recipes I hope to make in the near future. The range from something I plan to make this weekend to something I hope to make at some point. I don't brew to fill a pipeline but to my mood and tastes. This usually keeps me with a good supply.
However I am not a heavy consumer and I like a lot of variety so having at least some bottles of a number of batches available is ideal for me. Also I keep a supply of brewing ingredients on hand, so i can usually make what I want from ingredients on hand.

So some batches I may have planned for weeks to months in advance, others may be planned the day I brew. Depends on my mood.

Craig
 
I am new to all of this, but I am starting to plan pretty far ahead. I stocked up on specialty grains the other week, I have a good selection of hops, I have 2 beers fermenting, one is for next winter and the other will be a lager for summer. I also have everything I need for my next 3 brews.

I will try to space things out so that I always have what the season calls for such as my RIS for next winter that is fermenting now and a light lager for summer.

I will do some very light 4-5% beers that will be drinkable quickly in the next week so I have something a little lighter than my current stock too.

I plan to try a porter or 2 recipes each winter, starting next winter until I find the best clone of Bert Grants Perfect Porter. Then when spring rolls around it is time to brew up the more refreshing beers.
 
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