Constant beer cycle, equipment?

[Mike-H]

I am a long time kegger, I have a 3 keg setup. The last 2 month's i've been doing homebrew and I think I want to go all homebrew. I go through probably 10 (2 corny's) every 3 weeks, maybe longer. Just curious who else brews exclusively and how many carboy's/kegs you have. Here is my thinking:

Every two weeks I will brew 1 batch and do the following:

Move #4 Brewing -> Primary
Move #3 Primary -> Secondary
Move #2 Secondary -> Keg conditioning & carbonating for 3 weeks
#1 has 1 week remaining in conditioning...

This should provide me with a new beer every two weeks, and assuming I can manage not to go through it all I can get a little ahead and have 2, beers on tap. So I would guess the minimum equipment would be:

3 Carboy's for rotating every 2 weeks, one in primary, 2 in secondary
4 Corny Kegs, 1 on tap, 2 Aging, 1 extra and hopefully 2 on tap, 2 aging

bah, now i'm confused Would like to hear all of your brew schedules!!

 

[Truble]

so far I only bottle, and I have not been able to get a consistent schedule laid down so that I have a predictable supply. I am attempting that now, but I am also building up my all grain equipment in preparation for the jump.
I want to get to the point where I am brewing once every other week. This will help me build up supply to hold me when I am unable to brew. Right now, it is tough for me to hold inventory, as I am averaging ~once a month.

 

[dougjones31]

I keep 2 on tap and 2 aging and I brew 2 batches every month. I usually go 1 week primary and 1 week secondary...then keg and age for 2 weeks before I have an empty keg and need to tap one.

I have 4 carboys, but I only usually use 2 at a time. I usually brew one batch one weeks then brew another batch the next weekend when I transfer to the secondary and have an empty primary.

Of course I do brew some special beers and bottle them in 1 liter and 2 liter glass bottles. I also often empty kegs into 2 liter glass bottles if I do not empty the keg in a timely manner. I have a few friends and family that get beer donations when this happens.

 

[Blender]

Sounds as though you should go to 10 gallon brews for sure. It doesn't add much time to your brew day. I brew every 3 weeks but don't go through nearly the amount you do.

 

[nightstrm]

I follow the same general rule... brew 2 weekends a month. I have 3 carboys (1 6gal, 2 5gal) and 4 cornys. Following this schedule, I always have 2 on tap, and 2 conditioning.

 

[Pumbaa]

I guess I do about a batch a month, sometimes more sometimes none. My biggest problem is I dont drink enuff to keep up with the amount I brew SO about every 6 months I have a party to knock my supply down.

I have 3 carboys and usually have something long term in one of them at all times. My braggot has been in a carboy now for close to 9 months. I'll be bottling that this week, and now have a cider going that will sit in a carboy for atleast another 2 months.

 

[dougjones31]

Sounds as though you should go to 10 gallon brews for sure. It doesn't add much time to your brew day. I brew every 3 weeks but don't go through nearly the amount you do.

Not if you want to have 4 different brews every month. I like brewing ddifferent recipes so smaller batches give me more diversity.

 

[david_42]

I have way more equipment than drinking capacity, three fermenters & 15 cornies. The kegger holds 4 kegs and the locker 16. Right now I have four empties. It was different when guzzleboy was around.

But, like you, I prefer to do 5 gallon batches and rarely repeat an ale in any year.

 

[TheJadedDog]

I just started so I'm trying to build up some stock as I continue sampling different comercial brews. Right now I brew every two weeks with the 1-2-3 method.

I am contemplating adding another 5 gal. secondary and brewing every week but that might just be the purchase that pushed SWMBO over the edge (maybe in a few months it'll be a safe buy).

 

[disaffected]

I have two primaries and two secondaries and I brewed three times in September. I don't know if I can keep up that pace since I'm bottling and have limited storage space for the bottles to age. Also, it's hard to collect enough bottles by drinking commercial brews to bottle three batches a month. I guess that implies that I couldn't drink three batches of homebrew a month either. Probably I don't need to continue at the three batch per month rate. Twice per month would likely do.

I don't have a keg, but I have to say that I really like having bottled beer in my fridge. It's hard to share your beer with folks if you only have kegs. On the other hand, I'm sure I'd really dig having four kegs on tap, too. Even six taps. I like to have a variety.

I like the idea of 5 gallon batches for a new beer never tried before. Or when, like me, you're a novice and you don't really know what you're doing. But if I find a recipe I really like, I'm going to want to have more than 5 gallons on hand. So in that case, I'll want to go for a 10 gallon brew the second time I brew it and split the wort between two carboys. It seems a shame to spend all that effort to end up with a mere 50 or so bottles of a really good beer that you like a lot.

 

[EugeneStyles]

Yesterday was the 4th day that my partner and I have brewed. I am off every Tuesday and he works part-time and has a new baby at home. So, every Tuesday, we brew and take care of the baby. It slows down the brewing process ever so slightly, but she's cute, so I don't mind.

The original plan, at least until it becomes too cold to go outside for sanitizing and wort-chilling (with the cooler coil hooked up to the garden hose), was:

2 Carboys, a Bottling Bucket, and a plastic bucket with cover and airlock - in case we need a 3rd vessel.

every week:
(Beer #1 is in secondary, Beer #2 is in primary)
1) Wash and sanitize bottles, while preparing a priming solution.
2) Begin mash for Beer #3.
2) Beer #1 from secondary to bottling bucket along with primer.
3) Beer #2 from primary to seconday.
4) Bottle Beer #1.
5) Brew Beer #3 to primary.

This week, however, we didn't have time to brew, since we didn't get started until 2pm, and certain beers are going to have to spend more than a week in primary or secondary (I figure lighter beers will have to spend 2 weeks in secondary, and high-alcohol beers may have to spend 2 weeks in primary). Obviously, this means we need another carboy.

Luckily, we've got an AG set-up, 2 carboys, and a bigger brew-pot coming. Unluckily, we don't know when that'll be, because it's being sent to us from Oregon by a guy who's no longer into brewing, and I don't know when he'll decide to send it.

 

[Monster Mash]

I go through a lot of beer due to club functions, parties and giving beer away. I went with a 25 gallon system so I am able to keep 6 - 8 different styles on tap without spending every weekend brewing beer. I only have to brew once a month to keep up with demand.

Keg storage....

Brewery...

Taps...

Bar...

 

[Engelramm]

Monster Mash:
That is truly impressive.

I have 3 batches bottled and one in the primary. It feels pretty good to have that much ready or near ready to drink.