How Many Bottles of Home Brew do you have on hand?

[ryanmcl]

My new brew stand is almost ready and it sports 20gal kettles! I plan to start doing 10 gal batches where i keg 5gals and bottle 5gals. I would like to start building a stock of bottles in my basement.

How many bottles do you have and is there such thing as too much or too long to store?

I can blast through a 5gal keg quickly and it seems like it is gone forever. I want to build STOCK! And share previous and current batches with the unwashed masses.

 

[jaycount]

Like 10.
But I've got about 7 gallons in kegs too

Hops will fade over time, beers will also stale over time (depending how bad it was oxygenated at all the wrong times). So yes, there is such a thing as "too long", but it takes awhile.

 

[TomSD]

I fell behind last year and had big gaps in my production line so I am totally out. I am just now getting it back up to speed though so 2 5 gal batches in the fermentor and another one going in tomorrow. I should have the keezer filled back up with a pipeline to keep it that way by the end of Feb.

 

[urbanmyth]

I have my first 100 or so bottles conditioning right now, with 15 more gallons worth waiting in primary to be put up. I need about 20 more bottles before I can bottle my centennial blonde. Really looking forward to that brew.

 

[ryanmcl]

Nice, the primary reason i upgraded my system to 10gal is because i was always running out of beer. If i brew 1-2 times a month i am lucky, 5-10gal a month does not cut it. I need to stock up.

 

[jiggs_casey]

20. and another 2 gallons of readily accessible drinkable apfelwein.

But! I have 10 gallons lagering away. Another 10 gallons of cream ale in the primary and another 5 gallons of brown ale that I'm botting tomorrow.

 

[BigRob]

3 dozen bottles, 8 kegs full, 4 fermenters full. Of course my CO2 tank is empty :\

 

[arkowa]

600 another 400 or so empty, waiting for God Juice. Thank god for nice friendly family members and coworkers for donating their empties for my wonderful cause.

Drink/give away your stock smartly. High melanoidin and/or abv beers store great. Heff and other wheat beers typically get drunk fast as they are better young.

 

[MrManifesto]

sadly, only a couple of cases. i didn't get a chance to brew much over the holidays so i fell behind. i have a strong golden ale in the fermenter and just need the right day off to brew again...

 

[lumpher]

none. i don't bottle after a bottle-bomb incident a few years ago

 

[ryanmcl]

600 another 400 or so empty, waiting for God Juice. Thank god for nice friendly family members and coworkers for donating their empties for my wonderful cause.

Drink/give away your stock smartly. High melanoidin and/or abv beers store great. Heff and other wheat beers typically get drunk fast as they are better young.

I like your style.

 

[cdubbaya]

A few bombers left of a chocolate cherry stout, 1 keg of an imperial ipa, 1 keg of edworts apfelwein, and 1 keg of a cider beer from last Christmas.

Going to brew again tomorrow, so the cider beer will have to go soon!

 

[Wig]

600 another 400 or so empty, waiting for God Juice. Thank god for nice friendly family members and coworkers for donating their empties for my wonderful cause.

Drink/give away your stock smartly. High melanoidin and/or abv beers store great. Heff and other wheat beers typically get drunk fast as they are better young.

600 :rockin:

 

[ahoffman565]

At the beginning of the year I had nearly 100 bottles on had (2 batches), however, that's been widdles down to about 25 or so. BUT, I have one batch within weeks of bottling and 2 more batches planned (ingredients on site). I'm hoping to keep my pipeline up this year!

 

[rico567]

I'm just starting to seriously work my way through my Fall brewing* stocks, so....most of 7 assorted batches, plus some sixes of a barleywine that's a year and a half old, and an imperial stout of about a year's vintage.

Back when I was extract brewing, I discovered the importance of having a brewing "pipeline," so that I always had an adequate supply (as well as a variety) of conditioned beer on hand. So, I bought extra fermenters, collected more bottles, put up shelves in the basement, etc.

So- there are about 350-400 bottles of beer down there (and a better bottle full of apfelwein that I'll probably bottle sometime late this Winter). I will go through these by May, which will be about the time that my Spring beer schedule starts to become well conditioned. They are stored on shelves in our basement, which runs about 60-62F at this time of year, & will all be just fine until they are consumed.

 

[RM-MN]

I have about 300 or so full bottles and about 15 gallons ready to bottle. Some beers age beautifully while others should be drunk much sooner. I made a pale ale that the aroma is already changing and disappearing on in only a little over 2 months but the stout that I made a year and a half ago is getting really smooth.

 

[A4J]

I have 3 cases and another 2 cases of bombers plus 20 or so bottles in the fridge. Then there's 4 cornies on tap and another 2 sitting waiting to be tapped. I have another 3 batches fermenting. For a guy who doesn't drink much, I have a lot of beer on hand.

 

[ArcaneXor]

What is this bottle thing you speak of?

 

[funkstrman]

41 bombers
39 12 oz.

 

[ronclark]

I have around 100 full 750 ml bottles.

I have another 20 or so empty 750 ml bottles and about 40 empty 500 ml bottles. I'm starting another brew this weekend so should probably drink a little faster so I can get more batches underway.

 

[Homebrewtastic]

.... a lot. At a guess 500 full.... I better start drinking.

 

[jmprdood]

About 100L or 200 .5L bottles - trying to put a dent in it today.

 

[spaceweaseal]

I am very green but I just bottled seven 1lL bottles and have 12gal's fermenting right now.

 

[Goblism]

I am going to guess around 130 bottles, 18-25 gallons in kegs, and 5 gallons that I plan to bottle on Monday or tuesday. Might do a batch or two on Monday to fill up the pipeline some.

 

[Pilgarlic]

About 11 cases.

 

[shelly_belly]

7 12oz bottles and 3 640oz bottles

 

[Whut]

I have 14 cases of bottles of which only 5 have something in them. All of my kegs are empty as well.

 

[nrock74]

I have close to 400 12oz bottles and 30 22oz filled, another 10 gal to do tomorrow (100 bottles), a 5gal batch in the secondary & a 5 gal batch boiling now. Gotta keep the pipeline strong....oh, & 5 gal hard cider.

 

[Satisfaction]

Not too many, my supply and demand chain is quite balanced.

Have about 40 bottles left.

 

[iparks81]

I have close to 400 12oz bottles and 30 22oz filled, another 10 gal to do tomorrow (100 bottles), a 5gal batch in the secondary & a 5 gal batch boiling now. Gotta keep the pipeline strong....oh, & 5 gal hard cider.

thats alot of damned beer. good on ya!

As for me...ive got 4 cases ...i think thats about 96 beers if my trusty calc is correct.
Ive also got 6 gal of wine, 5 gal of belgian dubbel, 5 gal of amber and 5 gal of skeeter pee in the fermenters now.

plus 3 kegs full of various.

 

[Mermaid]

I am deliberately fairly low on stock. I have 1 case of nut brown ale left, a 6 or so in the fridge, and about a half case of my Belgian "bitter" blond (it was an attempt at a Bink blond clone). I'm also sitting on 3 gallons of cider that's going to be bottled at the end of the month, and 3 gallons of cyser that will be bottled in March or April.

I'll be moving in May, so I'm trying not to have too much beer I have to move - especially if I end up moving across the country. (not to mention, I'm trying to lose weight, so cutting back on my beer consumption)

 

[wonderbread23]

I have about 65 gallons of finished beer in kegs. Gearing up for NHC.

 

[ryanmcl]

Those who keep large stock in the basement what is your temp? My basement is about 63 degrees on average.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

I've got about 12 cases or so handy, plus 1 or 2 5 gallon batches kegged.

 

[ryanmcl]

at a minimum I have to get to the 200 bottle mark and keep it steady
.

 

[Nossal]

What bottles is everybody using? Gonna bottle first time brew next sat. Got 5 gals, was gonna attempt 2 growlers.

 

[Piratwolf]

What bottles is everybody using? Gonna bottle first time brew next sat. Got 5 gals, was gonna attempt 2 growlers.

IME, growlers tend to be about 1/2 gallon each. You'll need another 35-40 12oz bottles on hand as well.

I use a combo of growlers, 22s, and 12s. Right now I'm down to about 3.5 cases of home brew, but I have 15gal in my fermenters.

 

[Brew_Force]

I have a meager six bottles on hand right now, ESB. Bottling up another six next week, though.

 

[Euphist]

5½ cases now...7½ once the cream ale goes in the bottles later today.

 

[stratslinger]

I have somewhere between 18 and 24 bottles on hand.

However, I've also got 3 cornies' full, one batch still in the fermenter, and a 5 or 6 gallon share aging in my club's oak barrel.