how do you people stockpile??

[Riddick]

im pretty limited by space for everything(along with juuuuust about every other kind of beer besides ales) so my choices are pretty limited, but many thanks for the suggestions/heads up everyone!

 

[BeerWard]

If space is the issue, how about Corneys as fermenters. I have been thinking of doing that. The footprint of a corney is smaller, but they are taller. I could put 3-4 in my fermentation chamber, but just 2 buckets.

 

[LVBen]

If space is the issue, how about Corneys as fermenters. I have been thinking of doing that. The footprint of a corney is smaller, but they are taller. I could put 3-4 in my fermentation chamber, but just 2 buckets.

I've been thinking about doing this myself, but how do you get an airlock on a corney keg?

 

[Mongrel]

I've been thinking about doing this myself, but how do you get an airlock on a corney keg?

Remove a post, insert airlock with appropriately sized stopper.

If you do this, you're going to want to shorten the dip tube so you're not sucking up trub when you jump the beer into a serving keg.

 

[BonnieJ]

I wish i could figure it out, lost here about this. Between the suggested times i hear for conditioning and whatnot, i cant keep even one 5gal batch around long enough to have different beers around my place.

Haha. I was coming here to post just such a thread. I started my first five gallon batch about a month ago, started opening the bottles up a few days before they were supposed to be done (I opened one up and it wasn't so bad, and there's no other beer here to drink) and we ended up drinking nearly the whole five gallons in less than three weeks. It was just about two weeks, in fact.

I have 4 in the closet to age longer and two six packs to give away to some people who loaned me equipment.

The sad thing is that we are totally out of beer/alcohol/brewing money for this month and I absolutely can't start another batch till next month. I do have two fermenters, though, and I think next time I will get both going at once. I just need to find more bottles.

 

[EdWort]

It also helps to keg and have a big Keezer to keep your stock pile chilled and ready for action.

 

[D-MOTITAN]

Why cant EDWORT be my neighbor ..........

 

[osagedr]

Why cant EDWORT be my neighbor ..........

No kidding...I'm off to Bee Cave TX!

 

[EROK]

Figure how much you go through in 3 weeks. I go through about 1.5 5gal kegs or 7.5 Gal per three week period (friends, SWMBO, and me at 4+ pints a night...never mind.. )

.....it takes 3 weeks to replace 5 gal if doing 5 gal batches. So I need to brew and always have ready (2) 5 gal batches (that are not in the kegs) in other words "backups" to my on tap two beers (10 gal total).

If you have 2 more go to beers ready to be kegged, the first thought for me is which one on tap to drink dry first..... and who's it's replacement ? :rockin:

 

[unionrdr]

I have 1 batch of my whiskely ale bottle conditioning about 3 weeks now,with 2 bottles left in the fridge from my wife's 1st batch. My IPA is dry hopping till Wednesday when it'll get bottled. I have the ingredients for my wife to brew a Sam Adams-ish clone I worked up,& a cooper's English Bitter kit Tom sent me waiting till this heat wave lets up.
If it wouldn't have gotten so bloody hot,We'd have had 3 ales for our anniversary the end of next month. We're gunna toss a double lobster bake in the pit. At least the IPA will be ready. Should go well with the sea food...

 

[kyle6286]

It's not that buckets are cheap,but rather what goes in them is not. Using extracts,it costs $28-$55 a pop to fill those buckets,whether 5 or 6G. so,I don't know how in the world some of you can have newer houses & families & pay cash to keep 4-7 fermenters going. That's a truckload of money per year. And splitting it up to so much per bucket/bottle just sounds better. The actual amount has been spent,like it or no...

With you on this one. I would love to brew a batch every weekend. However, with work, grad school, and a wife and a few pets, it's very difficult (not saying no one on here has any priorities or anything like that). On top of that, I just can't be spending $25-45 bucks a week to brew a batch of beer, YET! I'm looking to move to partial mash my next batch. This should at least save me a couple bucks per batch. I must say though, I'm jealous of those that brew so often. It must be awesome to be able to select from 5 different home brews. I'm going to be kegging next weekend for the first time. I only have one batch going into the kegerator so I need to make another one soon to fill the other tap

 

[kyle6286]

1. Drink less so you have to brew less.
2. Brew more than you can drink.
3. Find cost cutting techniques.

Everybody has hit on #2 so I won't touch on it further. #1 is obvious, but as you may or may not have already discovered, brewing makes you want to enjoy your beer frequently which means you will drink a lot. There may be some health reasons (e.g. weight) why you may want to limit your drinking. Alternatively, you may be comfortable with the amount you drink, in which case you will have to accept that one way or another you are going to expend cash on beer/alcohol.

Ok, so on to #3. Extract is a very expensive way to brew. I know people will point out the equipment costs with all grain but you don't have to constantly upgrade or buy expensive equipment. You can do BIAB techniques for the cost of a paint straining bag and a second kettle (if you don't already have one). Even the igloo cooler route is not very expensive and over time you will recover costs. (I am not hating on extract brewing -- just looking at the cost.)

Lots of brewers (myself included) like to make big beers, special brews, etc. that add expense. While there's nothing wrong with making that 200 IBU RIS with oak, cherries, fifteen yeast strains and then soured for 20 years, you probably don't need to drink something so elaborate all the time. Mixing in session beers into your pipeline will help lower expenses.

Yeast washing will help lower the cost of yeast (if you are using liquid). Once you go all grain you can patch together simple session recipes like SMaSH brews that are inexpensive. You can also buy hops in bulk, which is a huge cost saving. If you are making several similar types of beers, especially not highly-hopped beers, you can use one or two types of hops, bought in bulk, where the recipes may call for ounces of 4-6 different types of hops. I bought a pound of Fuggles a year ago and used it in wheat, porter, saison, tripel, dubbel, belgian golden strong, sour, pale ale, kolsch, and brown ale in different ways over about 30 gallons of beer (and I still have some left). That was about $22 with shipping. If I had bought that much hops from a HBS by the ounce I would have easily spent $32-64 plus tax. You could buy 2-3 types of hops and easily get plenty of variety for low cost.

I already have the equipment for a standard extract batch (I use a 5 gallon SS pot). What else would I need to go BIAB? Just a paint straining bag from HD and a bigger pot)? I think the reason I haven't made the leap yet is because my house has a basic electric stove, so I don't think I can get 5-6 gallons to a rolling boil.

 

[Lucky137]

Im trying to convince the SO that i need another fermenter, she drank the majority of my first beer, and she already said she doesnt want to wait for my chimay to be ready in december/january so it looks like i need more a) space or b) fermenters...

...or c) less SWMBO! Just kidding.

 

[Lucky137]

With you on this one. I would love to brew a batch every weekend. However, with work, grad school, and a wife and a few pets, it's very difficult (not saying no one on here has any priorities or anything like that). On top of that, I just can't be spending $25-45 bucks a week to brew a batch of beer, YET! I'm looking to move to partial mash my next batch. This should at least save me a couple bucks per batch. I must say though, I'm jealous of those that brew so often. It must be awesome to be able to select from 5 different home brews. I'm going to be kegging next weekend for the first time. I only have one batch going into the kegerator so I need to make another one soon to fill the other tap

This is a good point, but I look at it like this: I'm going to drink beer no matter what. That's just the cold hard facts of the situation. SO, I can either spend ~$24 for a 24 pack of so-so beer, or $35-$50 on a batch of beer that will get me around 40-45 beers, that may not be too superior in quality at first, but will be in my mind since it's my own creation. As far as the cost of equipment, I just chalk it up to the cost of a hobby, which many people have brought up before. $200 for a starter kit, and then maybe $10-$15 extra every batch I do, when I upgrade something or other: a new fermenter, blow-off tube, grain bag, etc.

 

[dancness]

I don't stockpile, I pipeline.

All you need to do is estimate how much beer you are consuming. From there you will have an idea of how often or how much you need to brew on a regular basis. Finally, you need the capacity to store that amount of beer. I have 3 fermentation buckets and 2 carboys. Also, if you don't have a kegging system start collecting as many bottles as you can. It's taken me awhile but I now have about 8 cases of empty brown bottles.

My roommate and I consume probably two cases every 2 weeks. So therefore I need to make a 5 gallon batch every 2 weeks to keep up with consumption.

 

[Cosper123]

Then,multiply that by how many buckets you brew & how many times a month,it adds up. Not being a buster,just being realistic about actual,total costs per month/year. We all like a pipeline,& to keep brewing. But it costs money to brew a lot. Families ain't cheap,& I'm retired. so that makes it double tough. Now,if all the kids could get jobs,& move out,...things that make ya go hmmmm.

Plenty of places to get kits fairly cheap...for example morebeer has kits that come with yeast and are under 50 cents a beer. That's around 3 bucks for a six pack...here in my area a six pack runs from 8 to 11 bucks and some up to 13 bucks.

I have gotten three batches out of my last full tank and still gas in the tank...but lets just assume not enough for any more...that's another twenty bucks for refill. So we tack on 7 bucks a batch...not even going to bother doing the math on that, we're still running cheap per beer. This time of year no need for my fermentation chamber so no elec. But even when I do need it, mine uses up 67 bucks worth of elec A YEAR.

Starsan goes so far that it's pennies a batch to sanitize.

Now that all my initial setup costs are out of the way I don't see how I could afford NOT to brew


Sounds like the biggest issue here is that your kids aren't working, it's not the beer's fault

 

[jonmohno]

You dont have to worry about it if you dont constantly drink your beer,I figure im missing out if i dont try one i havent before.Ive gained too many bottles now and have been just taking them back for deposit.I got to the point where i have to drive within 200 miles to find some i havnt tried yet.What an adventure.Now im onto brewpubs driving as far as the weekend allows.

 

[kh54s10]

I try to keep a few extra pounds of grain on hand.

Can I have what spills out on the floor?

 

[tallgirl]

1). Brew twice as much as you drink until you have "as much as you drink" in the amount of time it takes to takes to make more.

2). +1 for getting used bottles.

3). Discipline. Don't drink what you're making as you make it, only drink half. Meaning, if you bottle out two cases, DO NOT DRINK THE SECOND ONE. At least, not until you have 1) taken care of.

4). If you miss a round, don't fall behind. That's how I wound up stuck drinking commercial beer -- I took a vacation for too long and then it was too much grief to get caught back up to 10 gallons in bottles on hand again.

 

[jonmohno]

You dont want to drink them all right away anyway,they get very clear and very conditioned, i almost hate just drinking a few within the first few months because almost every time,im like yep this will get better. I like my pipeline and watching them evolve,its like you make a beer but as you drink them over time its like you drinking a differnet beer every month.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

We have so much beer stocked up (down to 18 gallons from 23 gallons a few months ago) and we only drink on the weekends so it takes a long time to get through beers. I even make a lot of 1 or 3 gallon batches and it still seems to take forever to work through them. I have a long list of beers I want to try making but there's nowhere for the beer to go once it's fermented. I mean, we have more empty bottles than we probably need but we are literally running out of room to store bottles. I've already turned half a full bathroom into a beer warehouse and the other half into a fermentation room. It kind of sucks because I've had to basically stop brewing so I can work through the beer I made last year and January this year. I think since February I've only brewed about 12 gallons. Last year I think I brewed somewhere around 30 gallons. Maybe more.

Ok I guess that's not the world's worst problem.

 

[bottlebomber]

My problem is drinking what I brew. I only have one bomber a day but sometimes only 3 a week, so by pipeline backs up big time. Sometimes this hobby gets away from me and I sincerely wish I had someone who appreciated great beer who would give me my bottles back. My garage currently looks like this;

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

6 cases carbing up plus a 6 pack....some stored upstairs.. a couple of cases of a barleywine in the basement..100+ bottles of wine in the basement..a 5 gallon batch in the ferment room..10 gallons of skeeter pee in the ferment room..3 starters made for this weeks brews plus will probably make another starter for this weekend..... I MIGHT drink a 6 pack a week lol. I just LOVE brewing for some reason, and my wife 100% supports it even though she can't stand beer. Heck I have a SOBE glass front display fridge in my living room full of beer and skeeter pee.

 

[LVBen]

My problem is drinking what I brew. I only have one bomber a day but sometimes only 3 a week, so by pipeline backs up big time. Sometimes this hobby gets away from me and I sincerely wish I had someone who appreciated great beer who would give me my bottles back. My garage currently looks like this;

Does that say "Ben"? Awesome!

 

[bottlebomber]

Does that say "Ben"? Awesome!

Lol... my youngest son. It was a clothes box for his hand-me-downs I repurposed.

 

[natev]

I try to keep a few extra pounds of grain on hand.

Do you run a home brew shop or something?

 

[bottlebomber]

Do you run a home brew shop or something?

Looks like he hosted a group buy...

 

[david_42]

Much less of a problem after ten years. I don't drink as much and Guzzleboy died a while back.

 

[LandoLincoln]

It's not that buckets are cheap,but rather what goes in them is not. Using extracts,it costs $28-$55 a pop to fill those buckets,whether 5 or 6G. so,I don't know how in the world some of you can have newer houses & families & pay cash to keep 4-7 fermenters going. That's a truckload of money per year. And splitting it up to so much per bucket/bottle just sounds better. The actual amount has been spent,like it or no...

My brewing partner and I joined a brewing club and they do group grain buys. We get 2-row pale grain at 50 cents a pound and other specialty malts for about 60-75 cents a pound.

Wash your yeast and use it 3 or 4 times per strain.

Buy hops in bulk - one pound batches of pellet hops. Hops cost us about a buck an ounce, which is a lot better than buying it by the ounce.

Avoid extracts, since they cost more.

However, your propane or electric expenditures will go up over doing extract. And you will be spending more time.

 

[wolverinebrewer]

Like Ohiosteve, I just like to brew or concoct some form of alcoholic beverage. I think I have 350-400 bottles filled with some form of beer, hard lemonade, apfelwein, english cider and a couple 1 gal. batches of Yoopers wine. It accumulates faster than I can consume it because its an addiction. I currently have 5 more gal. each of cider, BIPA, RIS fermenting and rhubarb in the freezer to make more wine.
Being it was a hot summer, I resorted to doing cider and lemonade which I can make for $8-15 per 5 gal. just to be able to "make" something. I just now got back to brewing. I find that after making a beer I like, I refuse to polish it off. I usually like to save a 6 or 12 but its easy to do when you have other stuff to consume. That makes my barley wine I made last New Years Eve easy to leave alone until this New Years when I will consume my first few and then save to drink only on future New Years. At least that's my plan....
So, start using everyone's ideas to save on costs and get making stuff!