Happiness is a full pipeline!

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A bit different here.

Kegged one batch last night. Still have two (of three) beer fermenting vessels occupied. One of those can be kegged any time I want. Got two batches in aging vessels that will be carbonated either tonight or tomorrow. Got four batches of mead aging, one of those is going to bottles very soon. Got one new batch of mead about to be transferred for the first time. Making another batch (my insane batch) to be started this week. Got two new fermenting vessels for mead almost ready (that will give me four ready before I start the next batch). Might have scored another beer fermenting vessel (will know early this week) too. I do have a few carboys in the basement, but I don't intend to ferment in those (I use sanke kegs).

At this point, I have five 3 gallon kegs in the basement (plus a partial fill on a 1 gallon) and 4 in the brew fridge (three on tap). With what I have in the plans, my pipeline is FAT. I plan to brew at least one more batch of beer this year, maybe two. I also need to get more batches of mead going, so that I can maintain a good supply there.

So, while not every vessel is full, I have room to maneuver and enough in process that I could go at least another month (or three) without brewing IF I wanted to. Not that I will mind you. :D
 
Nice.

I just started to kegging so I'm stuck with only 2 kegs, but I am close to buy another 2.
Hope it will be enough for some time.. or not.
 
Its truly amazing how people keep so many fat pipelines and still manage to squeak beneath the federal limit on brewing for personal use. :ban: I have been brewing for 2 years, getting ready to bottle batch 20, which totals my household limit for 1 year. Of course, I'm stingy and rarely share...
 
I had a good pipeline built up until Thanksgiving week. People coming over and drinking hit my three kegs on tap pretty hard. I thought I was doing good with 2 extra kegs full and ready to go and was feeling pretty good about myself. Then 2 of the kegs on tap kicked this past week. So now my only pipeline is two batches still in primary.

Definitely going to have to brew this weekend. I start to get stingy with my beer if I don't have at least 1 that's in a keg waiting to be tapped.
 
I build one up for a while, got lazy, drank more, took for granted that kegs were sticking around for a month and a half with me drinking on them, and BAM..

I'm low.

Took 2 mishaps and a planned brew that isn't ready quick. I brewed a Nut Brown that went too high and tasted like fruit with maple syrup. It's okay, but I'm not crazy enough about it to drink it.

Then I brewed a nice big 9% DIPA... Tasted great, but a SS hose clamp fell in from the dry hop bag in the keg. Instant metal taste in the beer by the time I tapped it.

The last was the RIS I brewed.. 11.5% ABV, and it's not something you just keg up and drink. It's aging still with some vanilla beans.. so 2 sub par beers, and an extended aging one, and that left me with no beer.

So I was left with... cider.. and I don't drink that stuff, the wife does.

Lucky for me, I've got my Choc Oat Porter on line now, a couple of days to carb, and I've got a Pale and an IPA fermenting now, so those won't be too long.

Gonna fire up a brown again, or a saison.
 
Its truly amazing how people keep so many fat pipelines and still manage to squeak beneath the federal limit on brewing for personal use. :ban: I have been brewing for 2 years, getting ready to bottle batch 20, which totals my household limit for 1 year. Of course, I'm stingy and rarely share...


I don't keep count. Fixes all those issues.
 
If I time it right (for a change), I will have one keg emptied as I'm ready to fill it with something else. I currently have 2 empty kegs w/it's prospective residents in 2 plastic buckets, and a 5 gallon batch up on deck this weekend.

I would love to keep 4 kegs in the fridge and 3 on the ready at all times, but one bad weekend and my rotation gets all screwy.
 
7 full kegs, 7 full better-bottles

Time to source some more kegs!
I was there, just last month, 8 kegs full, 4 fermetors full. First time I ever had all three of my taps hooked up.

And then the holidays hit, a birthday, a poker game, and now I am 3 kegs full, and worst of all I will be out of IPA and pale ale in 2 weeks and no ale in the pipe line. Just a Dead Guy Ale clone.

Pale Ale is my life's blood!!!

I'm rethinking my pipe line.

Brew a lot of dark beers and and store them, then have a revolving pipe line of pale ales that need to be fresh and hoppy.

Dark beers store well for long periods at a time, basically emergency rations for the Zombie Apocalypse. I'll brew huge amounts at a time, and store them in a closet.
 
Got another fermenting vessel (to be) shipping out tomorrow from NJ. :rockin: That will give me at least two free/empty vessels by this weekend, if no three. :ban: Just need to decide if I brew this Sunday, or just wait for the 15th... If I do this weekend, I will also do on the 15th. :rockin:

Happiness is having enough fermenting vessels to keep your kegs full. :drunk:
 
I have 6 carboys and 10 kegs and absolutely zero chance of keeping them all full while doing 5 gallon stovetop batches. But I'm trying. See my sig below... and note that I have everything I need to do a triple brew day today (though I usually stop after 2).
 
Its truly amazing how people keep so many fat pipelines and still manage to squeak beneath the federal limit on brewing for personal use. :ban: I have been brewing for 2 years, getting ready to bottle batch 20, which totals my household limit for 1 year. Of course, I'm stingy and rarely share...

Funny, and true! Certain other subjects get immediate rebuke that it is "unwise to admit to violation of federal law on a public website"....yet many of those same people regular document violation of the 100/200 gallon home brewing limit.
In my mind it is important not to flaunt violation of that limit...EVEN THOUGH it is not currently enforced.
 
11 kegs, 10 of them with liquid in them, and 4 buckets fermenting in the closet... time to drink up soon!
 
Funny, and true! Certain other subjects get immediate rebuke that it is "unwise to admit to violation of federal law on a public website"....yet many of those same people regular document violation of the 100/200 gallon home brewing limit.
In my mind it is important not to flaunt violation of that limit...EVEN THOUGH it is not currently enforced.

I just read his post again... Sounds like he's done 20 batches over two years. He doesn't list the batch sizes, so assuming it's a "standard" 5 gallon batch size, that's 50 gallons per year over two years.

Bill, correct us if we are mistaken...
 
Is this a federal or a state level law you are referencing? How much is the "legal limit"?
 
that's federal. The states have the option to make it more strict, but can't make it more lenient.

But, it's not a good brew year unless the ABC is knocking down your door searching for homebrew :ban:
 
Actually, no one in this thread has admittted to breaking the brew barrier. Assuming a couple participants have a household of two. Besides, if you drink it faster than you can brew it, what's the point of keeping track?
 
Is this a federal or a state level law you are referencing? How much is the "legal limit"?

Federal limit is 100 gallons per adult in the household, with a limit of 200 gallons no matter how many adults in the household, per year. States can add further restrictions/limits on top of that (bastards)...

It's virtually impossible to enforce due to the very nature of the product.
 
A full pipeline for me would be 40 gallons, and I'm sitting at about 20 now. One thing to note on the legal limit - I was initially under the impression that the 50 gallons (Imperial gallons btw) in my region was an annual production limit, but on closer reading of the Act, it is 50 gallons AT ONCE.
 
Federal limit is 100 gallons per adult in the household, with a limit of 200 gallons no matter how many adults in the household, per year. States can add further restrictions/limits on top of that (bastards)...

It's virtually impossible to enforce due to the very nature of the product.

that is my point... tough to enforce unless you document it on here. Not to mention the fact that most of us keep decent records. I can brew 5 more gallons this year and stay legal.

I don't think homebrewing is on any agenda for enforcement, but why flaunt it. No different than the policy of not discussing distilling or other illegal activity....

Just use caution.
 
My goal is always to get TO the legal limit, each year. The closer I can get to the mark, the happier I tend to be. It's going to be up in the air this year. Not sure if I'll be as close as I wanted to. :D :drunk:

BTW, unless you actually post up your brewing amounts online (there's a thread where people are doing it) and someone counts up what you've posted, and it's an accurate count, it's virtually impossible for them to say you brewed more than you're allowed. Besides, unless you're also trying to sell it (NOT legal unless you're properly licensed) the chances of them coming after you is very remote. But, IMO, there's no point in tempting fate. They could come banging on your door and demand an inventory. Of course, I have things still on hand from previous brewing years. :D Nothing says you HAVE to drink what you make by the end of that year. :drunk:
 
honestly....for those discussing 5 gallon at a time you are talkin 20 or 40 a year....but 10 and 20 gallon batch sizes get you there fast.
 
honestly....for those discussing 5 gallon at a time you are talkin 20 or 40 a year....but 10 and 20 gallon batch sizes get you there fast.

Yeah, but just because you're brewing larger batches doesn't mean you're breaking your limit. I started brewing larger batches becasue of the time involved in keeping a steady pipeline going. I still brew about the same amount as I did before, I just spend a whole lot less time in the basement doing it.
 
Yeah, but just because you're brewing larger batches doesn't mean you're breaking your limit. I started brewing larger batches becasue of the time involved in keeping a steady pipeline going. I still brew about the same amount as I did before, I just spend a whole lot less time in the basement doing it.

the funny thing is I've gone the opposite direction: My supply was building up, and I want to keep variety and fresh pale ales and IPAs....so I've started occasionally brewing 3 gallons at a time. I still get to brew frequently, but the storage isn't overflowing.
 
william_shakes_beer said:
Its truly amazing how people keep so many fat pipelines and still manage to squeak beneath the federal limit on brewing for personal use. :ban: I have been brewing for 2 years, getting ready to bottle batch 20, which totals my household limit for 1 year. Of course, I'm stingy and rarely share...

Don't quite get this one. I'm at 169 for the year and married, and I've got 5 kegs, 5 FV full for only 50 of that.
 
Out of curiosity, how much do some of you guys drink in a day on average? I have 4 beers on tap and it takes me a while to go through everything (some quicker than others). I usually have a pint a day on average.
 
Out of curiosity, how much do some of you guys drink in a day on average? I have 4 beers on tap and it takes me a while to go through everything (some quicker than others). I usually have a pint a day on average.

Depending on the brew, I normally have 1-3 a day. But, that's not every day, since there are more than a few that I've not had any (either away or wasn't feeling like it :eek:). I haven't given much thought to an actual average, since I doubt it would come out to a full pint increment. :D
 
barhoc11 said:
Out of curiosity, how much do some of you guys drink in a day on average? I have 4 beers on tap and it takes me a while to go through everything (some quicker than others). I usually have a pint a day on average.

Probably average 2/day or a little under. I give a lot to friends/brew club members, and have kegerator parties when I need to clear things out. I love to brew, people like my beer, it all works out nicely.
 
I'll have roughly 4 beers a day maybe... sometimes none, sometimes 1.. Generally 2-3.. One when I get home.. one when I cook dinner/eat dinner, and one after dinner when I'm relaxing.
 
I have anywhere from 1-4 / day. When it's on tap, I actually drink less. I just pour half a pint at a time, sometimes less if I know I probably won't finish it. Right now I don't have anythng kegged up and I'm sippin on SNPA. I'm not going to waste it, so if I open a bottle I'm drinking it. Last night I ended up putting half a bottle back in the frige because I didn't want to chug it before I went to bed. It was flat today, but it still tasted good.

Edit

For anyone wondering. Yes, I was too lazy to go downstairs and get the bottle capper.
 
I'm ashamed to admit I have 4 empty buckets and only 110-120 full bottles left.
 
LOOOOOOOOOOOOL

sorry. For a second, I thought you were serious.

:mug:

Its truly amazing how people keep so many fat pipelines and still manage to squeak beneath the federal limit on brewing for personal use. :ban: I have been brewing for 2 years, getting ready to bottle batch 20, which totals my household limit for 1 year. Of course, I'm stingy and rarely share...
 
I'm running lean, only because I've gone from bottling to kegging, and my beer has been disappearing at an accelerated rate. ATM I have "Christmas Beer for Chicks", an Irish Red Ale infused with all kinds of fruit and spices, "Techno Viking", my Double IPA dry-hopped with an ass-ton of Citra hops (it's like angel pee, it's divine), and just kegged up "Centennial Cougar", which is just a twist on Centennial Blonde. My Christmas Beer for Men has another week or so before I tap it (it's a Munich Dunkel with no spices or any crap added) and my Hardwinter Maibock got brewed last weekend. it'll spend the entire winter kegged up in my detached garage. I'm maintaining it pressurized, and at a target ABV of 8%, I'm hoping it won't freeze and just sit REALLY REALLY cold for MONTHS. I'll roll it out in May
 
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