New Problem: Drinking Kegs Faster than I can Fill Them

[johnwpowell]

I'm having a supply/demand problem. It usually takes about 6 weeks from grain to glass and I seem to be getting through a keg in 2 weeks. I have 2 fermenters (1 SS Brewtech Chronical and 1 SS Brewtech bucket) and 4 kegs. I would brew every weekend if I could and stockpile some kegs. Many brews just taste better with time.

Any suggestions on how I can speed up my production time...like doing conditioning/dry hopping my kegs so I can free my fermenter up?

 

[allanmorgan]

I just picked up keg 2 and 3. I hope to have your problem soon. Although I do have 4 fermenters, so I'm hoping to not have an issue with doing brews every couple of weeks.

 

[trav77]

I'm having a supply/demand problem. It usually takes about 6 weeks from grain to glass and I seem to be getting through a keg in 2 weeks. I have 2 fermenters (1 SS Brewtech Chronical and 1 SS Brewtech bucket) and 4 kegs. I would brew every weekend if I could and stockpile some kegs. Many brews just taste better with time.

Any suggestions on how I can speed up my production time...like doing conditioning/dry hopping my kegs so I can free my fermenter up?

I go grain to glass for most ales in 2-3 weeks.

- Pitch adequate starters
- If you're dry hopping, toss them in at the tail end of fermentation.
- Ramp up temp control slightly at the end of fermentation to encourage attenuation
- No secondary
- Cold crash 24 h
- Fine with gelatin 24 h
- Keg, force carb @ 40 psi for 24 h
- Drop to serving pressure.

I have a British bitter finishing up primary right now that I'll be drinking in <2 weeks.

Some styles I prefer as fresh as possible. Others improve I would say for 2-3 weeks after kegging and hold there. Even my lagers I find are good sooner rather than later and don't require a lot of extensive lagering. I also suspect I just have a preference for extremely fresh beer which is why homebrew is so great!

 

[seabrew8]

I too drink "fresh" beer. 2-3 weeks is plenty of time for most average gravity beer if you can cold crash IME.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

I dry hop in my keg with a 1g paint strainer bag, tied with unflavored dental floss to the handle. Toss a few stainless washers in there to keep the bag down. 3 days at room temp while carbing, then drop it down to my desired temp to finish carbing up. As long as you keep the keg cold, you won't get any grassy flavors from the hops remaining in the keg. Or at least that's always worked for me.

That should buy you a few more days. Doing "double batch days" helps too!

I'm not a fan of fast carbing (shakeshakeshakeshake)...

 

[Yooper]

I generally go from grain to glass in about 17-20 days, depending on the beer. As was already mentioned, pitching the proper amount of yeast at the proper temperature means a healthy fermentation.

Generally, fermentation will last about 5 days for most medium strength ales. Give it another day or two to make sure, and then dryhop (if doing so) at about day 12. Then keg in 3-5 days.

Using a yeast strain that clears the beer well is a big help- a strain like S05 never clears for me, or at least in my time line, and I don't like it anyway so I use a similar but more flocculant WLP001 in many American style beers. I also like Wyeast 1272 for IPAs and APAs, and it clears fast.

Brewing techniques like getting a great hotbreak and cold break and taking care of fermentation means that the beer is ready to go pretty quickly.

Beers that have complex flavors or really high ABV (like a Belgian triple) take longer so I have those in the mix and allow them to age while I'm drinking the others.

To carb up the keg, I place the keg in the kegerator and put it on the gas at 30 psi for 36 hours then purge and keep it at 12 psi for the rest of the time. It's pretty nice in two days, and highly drinkable in four days. So I'm usually drinking my APAs/IPAs/milds/ambers/Irish red/etc at between day 17-20.

I don't cold crash (except in the keg), and I never use gelatin or other finings. They aren't needed in my case I guess.

Most well made beers don't need time to age except for a few exceptions- barleywine, tripel, lagers, big stouts, etc.

If you are trying to age out off-flavors, the secret there is to not create them in the first place.

 

[ba-brewer]

I think with 2 fermentor and 4 kegs that should be able to fill your pipeline,
1 keg to drink, 1 keg conditioning 2 weeks, 1 keg carbing 2 week, 1 keg empty ready to fill.

If your conditioning time is longer than 2 weeks you need another keg or two, or need to plan your batches accurately to keep your kegs filled.


52 weeks per year/2 weeks per keg = 26 batches needed per year
At 2 weeks per batch fermentation time that is 26 batches per year per fermentor. With 2 fermentor you can do up to 4 weeks per batch ferment time and still meet your needs.

 

[Paps]

I have 2 fermenters

Any suggestions?

Not to be `that guy` but........
maybe buy a few of these.

 

[johnwpowell]

I go grain to glass for most ales in 2-3 weeks.

- Pitch adequate starters
- If you're dry hopping, toss them in at the tail end of fermentation.
- Ramp up temp control slightly at the end of fermentation to encourage attenuation
- No secondary
- Cold crash 24 h
- Fine with gelatin 24 h
- Keg, force carb @ 40 psi for 24 h
- Drop to serving pressure.

I have a British bitter finishing up primary right now that I'll be drinking in <2 weeks.

Some styles I prefer as fresh as possible. Others improve I would say for 2-3 weeks after kegging and hold there. Even my lagers I find are good sooner rather than later and don't require a lot of extensive lagering. I also suspect I just have a preference for extremely fresh beer which is why homebrew is so great!

Can you give me more specifics on how you cold crash and your gelatin techniques.

 

[brick_haus]

Brew bigger batches.

 

[ChelisHubby]

Brick Haus X2!

 

[Dfitz]

Brew bigger batches.

I agree 100%. I couldn't keep up with my summer thirst using my keggles. I jumped up to a single barrel system now I brew a large house brew (maybe a tripple or a lager) and several 10 gal batches over the course of a year.

 

[MaryB]

I brew 10 gallon batches, same work as 5, twice the beer!

Brew bigger batches.

 

[brewcat]

I also go grain to glass in about 20 days. Ferment 10-17 days, then keg. Any conditioning is done in the keg. Usually can be drinking in 4 days or so. Carbonation is perfect in a couple weeks.

Bigger batches would be the easiest way to get ahead. You could always buy some American lager while the pipeline is filling.

 

[bobeer]

I'll be the buzz-kill nerd of the bunch and suggest to maybe drink less? Haha. Even 1 less pint per day would make the keg last longer.
I do feel as if im chasing my own tail some times with timing new ready to enjoy beer with kegs that are about to blow. I find that dry hopping in the keg works great for the hoppy beers.

 

[trav77]

Can you give me more specifics on how you cold crash and your gelatin techniques.

I have a small freezer plugged into an stc-1000 to control fermentation temperature. Freezer is plugged into the "cooling" outlet, brew belt is plugged into the "heating" outlet. The temp sensor runs inside a thermowell that is inserted in the carboy cap and stays in the beer during fermentation.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1492054829.261061.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1492054842.151643.jpg

Once FG is reached, drop to 2 C for 24 h then fine with 1/2 tsp gelatin dissolved in 1/2 C water. To prep that: sprinkle gelatin in cold water, let stand 15 mins or so. Microwave in 15 s bursts until dissolved and pour directly into the fermenter. Let sit 24 h.

Keg and burst carb at 40 psi for 24 h. No shaking. Then drop to standard carb psi. I usually wait a few days to a week before tapping and by then most low to mid gravity brews are good to go and brilliantly clear.

 

[Stillraining]

Nothing to really add here that hasn't been said except I dont like being on some sort of brewing scheduel. Schedules take the fun out of any of my hobby's. I want to enjoy my time brewing not feel that I have to brew to maintain some need.
I have 8 kegs, all are full at the moment but seldom are their less then 3 or 4 full, so my next brew day is not really planed so much as determined by it being something I want to do.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Nothing to really add here that hasn't been said except I dont like being on some sort of brewing scheduel. Schedules take the fun out of any of my hobby's. I want to enjoy my time brewing not feel that I have to brew to maintain some need.
I have 8 kegs, all are full at the moment but seldom are their less then 3 or 4 full, so my next brew day is not really planed so much as determined by it being something I want to do.

This is how I feel. For a few months, I would schedule brew days during the week before I went into work (I work 2nd shift). I always felt rushed and couldn't even enjoy a beer, it made the hobby a lot less fun because I felt I only brewed because I had to.

I definitely vote for brew bigger batches.

 

[johnwpowell]

Thanks for the details. I have yet to try gelatin and I don't have a way to cold crash yet. Im invested in the SS Brewtech fermenter with FTSS but would need to add the glycol chiller to hit 2C. Maybe that's the next addition to the home brewery.

 

[johnwpowell]

So to summarize, the options are:

• Cut back on drinking
• Don't sweat the schedule
• Buy some beer while waiting on your home brew
• Brew 10 gallon batches
• Speed up conditioning with cold crashing and finings

Does that about cover it?

 

[ZmannR2]

Switch to 10 gal batches

 

[John Eberly]

I have a 100 liter brew kettle, half barrel keggles for MT and HLT, and a 40 gallon conical with 6 corny kegs. I brew 10 to 15 gallon batches because as others say, it's the same effort for 10 or 15 gallons as for 5.

I could go larger, maybe up to 30 gallons (concentrated wort boil) using my Igloo MT along with the keggle MT, but that means too much of one kind of beer - I have three taps and try to keep a pilsner/cream ale, a stout, and an IPA available.

My bottlenecks are cold storage - only 3 cornys fit in my kegerator - and only 6 kegs. I can probably get by brewing once a month, but twice is better with summer coming up.

I think I'd recommend upsizing your batches with more kegs and cold storage, then you can brew when it's convenient and keep beer flowing when you want it.

 

[Nico93]

I have the opposite "problem" I fill bottle faster that I can drink

 

[Stillraining]

So to summarize, the options are:

• Cut back on drinking
• Don't sweat the schedule
• Buy some beer while waiting on your home brew
• Brew 10 gallon batches
• Speed up conditioning with cold crashing and finings
• Increase storage capacity

Does that about cover it?

--

 

[treacheroustexan]

So to summarize, the options are:

• Cut back on drinking
• Don't sweat the schedule
• Buy some beer while waiting on your home brew
• Brew 10 gallon batches
• Speed up conditioning with cold crashing and finings

Does that about cover it?

Pretty much. If you go grain to glass in 6 weeks, you can cut that number significantly. I usually only have beers in a fermenter for 2 weeks before racking to the keg, cold crash in keg, turn on gas, add gelatin when cold. Start serving after ~4 days in the keg.

 

[MaryB]

I go grain to glass in 2 weeks and I bottle condition. Granted it is a simple English Ale recipe that is only around 5.5%abv... 5 days ferment usually, OG of 1.056 to an FG of 1.011, bottle, give it 7 days to carb up(being an English ale lower carbonation...) then start drinking.If I am low on beer I push it to that schedule, if I have plenty on hand I give it 14 days in the fermenter then bottle.

 

[Pkrd]

DIPAs and Imperial Stouts should slow your drinking down a bit.

Here's the gelatine process, I usually leave the gelatine to "bloom" for 15 minutes in the cold water before heating though.
http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/06/how-to-clear-your-beer-with-gelatin.html

 

[Anon111]

So to summarize, the options are:

• Cut back on drinking
• Don't sweat the schedule
• Buy some beer while waiting on your home brew
• Brew 10 gallon batches
• Speed up conditioning with cold crashing and finings

Does that about cover it?

Buy swing top beers, for the bottles to keep. Kill two beers in one throw.

 

[jschein]

So to summarize, the options are:

• 
  [*]Cut back on drinking
• Don't sweat the schedule
• Buy some beer while waiting on your home brew
• Brew 10 gallon batches
• Speed up conditioning with cold crashing and finings

Does that about cover it?

Drop the first one, its overrated

 

[helterscelter]

Nothing to really add here that hasn't been said except I dont like being on some sort of brewing scheduel. Schedules take the fun out of any of my hobby's. I want to enjoy my time brewing not feel that I have to brew to maintain some need.
I have 8 kegs, all are full at the moment but seldom are their less then 3 or 4 full, so my next brew day is not really planed so much as determined by it being something I want to do.

+1

Words to live by

 

[eric19312]

10 gallon batches + more kegs is the answer

It is fine to be able to turn around beer quickly when you are out and I have gone as low as 2 weeks grain to glass. But some of these beers have improved so much from first glass to last glass that I seriously regret rushing them along. I now see having to tap a keg early as a fault in production scheduling and best to be avoided.

I produce 10 gallon batches because that is my fermentation temperature control capacity. During late spring through early fall I can get away with 20 gallon brew days if half the beer is a Belgian style or something else that I am willing to ferment at ambient. Wit is a good choice for that.

10 gallons goes primary to keg in 2 weeks. This works just fine for all the APAs, Stouts and IPAs I normally brew. Even bigish beer like 8% DIPA doesn't have difficulty on this schedule with a big healthy yeast pitch.

Once kegged I choose either to force carb or naturally carb. I force carb in my keezer next to my serving kegs. Right into the keezer I hook it up to serving pressure CO2. Once it gets cold if I am in a hurry on that particular keg I will give it extra pressure when I have my last beer of the day (I have a manifold so will turn off pressure on all the serving kegs and crank the regulator up to 30 PSI overnight). Next day I set everything back to serving pressure and I could be tapping this keg within 3-4 days if needed.

The naturally carbed kegs get dosed with priming sugar (I use table sugar and prime at about 2 volumes CO2 per a bottling priming sugar calculator) and held at room temperature at least 2 weeks. I've kept these kegs untapped for 6 months and imagine they could go much longer. Like bottle conditioned beer the naturally carbed keg beer is protected from oxygen by the yeast. I don't tend to do this with IPAs but it is great for a Belgian, Stout or English/American pale ale.

I used to worry about losing hop aroma in these longer held beers but find that adding a tea ball with 1oz hop pellets a day before serving does wonders. Make sure you get the keg cold and purge the head space before opening to drop in the tea ball...

Having a full keezer and a few room temperature naturally carbed/carbing kegs on hand gives me the ability to brew when I want to and not just because I don't want to run out of beer.

 

[bajaedition]

brew more, buy more kegs
get a double door sliding glass door refer to store beer in
Give up drinking beer

thats 3 options

 

[Stillraining]

10 gallon batches + more kegs is the answer

It is fine to be able to turn around beer quickly when you are out and I have gone as low as 2 weeks grain to glass. But some of these beers have improved so much from first glass to last glass that I seriously regret rushing them along. I now see having to tap a keg early as a fault in production scheduling and best to be avoided.

I produce 10 gallon batches because that is my fermentation temperature control capacity. During late spring through early fall I can get away with 20 gallon brew days if half the beer is a Belgian style or something else that I am willing to ferment at ambient. Wit is a good choice for that.

10 gallons goes primary to keg in 2 weeks. This works just fine for all the APAs, Stouts and IPAs I normally brew. Even bigish beer like 8% DIPA doesn't have difficulty on this schedule with a big healthy yeast pitch.

Once kegged I choose either to force carb or naturally carb. I force carb in my keezer next to my serving kegs. Right into the keezer I hook it up to serving pressure CO2. Once it gets cold if I am in a hurry on that particular keg I will give it extra pressure when I have my last beer of the day (I have a manifold so will turn off pressure on all the serving kegs and crank the regulator up to 30 PSI overnight). Next day I set everything back to serving pressure and I could be tapping this keg within 3-4 days if needed.

The naturally carbed kegs get dosed with priming sugar (I use table sugar and prime at about 2 volumes CO2 per a bottling priming sugar calculator) and held at room temperature at least 2 weeks. I've kept these kegs untapped for 6 months and imagine they could go much longer. Like bottle conditioned beer the naturally carbed keg beer is protected from oxygen by the yeast. I don't tend to do this with IPAs but it is great for a Belgian, Stout or English/American pale ale.

I used to worry about losing hop aroma in these longer held beers but find that adding a tea ball with 1oz hop pellets a day before serving does wonders. Make sure you get the keg cold and purge the head space before opening to drop in the tea ball...

Having a full keezer and a few room temperature naturally carbed/carbing kegs on hand gives me the ability to brew when I want to and not just because I don't want to run out of beer.

You have almost outlined my methods to a T as well...

 

[MaryB]

I have 5 kegs I will use for beer and 1 that I am dedicating to cleaning because it is really beat up and I don't trust it to hold pressure long term. I need to get at least 5-6 more kegs so I can have extras filled and carbing naturally. Winter my pantry runs 65 degrees and summer it rarely gets over 75 so good environment to store beer in.