How to brew regularly without having a warehouse of beer on hand?

[mithril007]

I️ started beer home brew after making some wines and such because my dad had some giant carboys around from when he tried and failed after several frustrations to make his own beer. In the end, I️ have made about 6 batches ranging from 1 gallon to 3.5 gallons, all of which are true enough to style and drinkable. I️ thought that two of them were phenomenal and have some going now to be bottled this weekend.

Ultimately, after that ramble, you can brew more by breaking down the process, simplifying it, and incorporating it into your plans for the day.

My usual brew session: measure grain night before and mill it - I️ have a hand mill, and this beats firewood chopping that warms you twice, this will warm you three times (milling, boiling, hydrating). Pour about a gallon and a half of water into one pot.

Next morning heat, BIAB, make that grain tea, pseudo-sparge, boil, hop additions. I️ book with the kid on as DMS is highly unlikely to rear its head unless you have a LOT of malt and very basic water (I️ have noticed no off flavor yet). Then I️ cool it in the pot either putting it in the porch or leaving it on the stove with the lid on until the evening. Everything is a closed system in there and sterilized front he steam. Also save some energy because that extended time with the heat effectively shortens your boiling schedule with hip addition as it is effectively a whirlpool addition towards the end.

When slightly warmer than my hands to touch, pour into caribou through strainer and pitch some yeast, rehydrated or recycled as I️ haven’t used the liquid yet.

I️ am taking some more notes out of interest and not terribly interested in consistency right now as long as the product is delicious.

In this way, I️ have an Oktoberfest lagering, a session chocolate oatmeal stout, honey pale ale, and chamomile Belgian ale ready to bottle. Plan to make a NEIPA or IPA and a cream ale over the weekend.

Oh, and I️ have to finally bottle that apple wine that turned out awesomely crisp and enjoyable this weekend as well. That frees up the 3 gallon demijohn.

 

[GoCobbers95]

When I get harassed by non brewers about making small batches I laugh. Having 3 beers or 15 gallons of beer ready to serve is plenty. I certainly find reasons to make larger batches on occasion but in general am quite happy rotating varieties frequently.

 

[kh54s10]

The biggest disappointment -- You created a really great recipe. got a great beer and you only have 12 bottles of it.

Brew larger batches!

 

[day_trippr]

Re-read the first post: clearly with that track record brewing larger batches right now would just compound the OP's disappointing quality issues. That needs to get fixed first...

Cheers!

 

[brewbama]

... I did 7 years active and 30 years Civil Service.

21 yr active, 16 yrs civil service here. 1 tour in Germany, 1 in Italy, and 1 in Korea, with a Saudi vacation, a visit to Afghanistan, and a few others thrown in for good measure. I am taking early retirement in ~90 days.

To the point: smaller batches would stress me out. A 5 gal batch is 32 20 oz pints. I drink ~ a beer a night after work (sometimes none, sometimes 2), and 3 maybe 4 on a Sat, 2 maybe 3 on a Sun. My pipeline is two kegs on tap, one in the fermenter. Therefore, a keg lasts ~ 4 weeks so I brew 13 5 gal batches annually. I rarely bring commercial beer into the house.

That allows research into the next style, calculation of grain, hops, minerals, etc, buying ingredients, disassembly, cleaning, reassembly, racking, carbing, conditioning, etc all within a month. Brewing isn’t just creating wort. There’s always a task to perform in the brewery between brewdays that make you a better brewer. Brewing 5 gal every 4 weeks is about right in my world.

As far as efficiency: the hoses, pumps, vessels, and other apparatuses are all thirsty. They reduce the amount of liquor from the HLT into the MLT, sweet wort from the MLT to the BK, bitter wort from the BK to the fermenter, and beer from the fermenter to the keg/bottle. All this loss is necessary to make your best beer by controlling the process and leaving undesirables behind at each step. If an additional pound of grain and gallon of water makes a better end product but reduces BH efficiency into the mid 60(s), so be it. I can get 80+ BH efficiency by dumping every drop of liquor into the MLT (vs underlet), lifting the filter bag to get every drop of sweet wort (along with all the sludgy crap that comes with it), dumping the contents of the BK into the fermenter (trub, break, and all), etc. but ...no thanks. I want pristine sweet wort in the BK, clean bitter wort in the fermenter, and a crystal clear beer in my glass.

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[bernardsmith]

The biggest disappointment -- You created a really great recipe. got a great beer and you only have 12 bottles of it.

Brew larger batches!

Bigger disappointment: you created a great recipe, brewed a huge batch and now your stuck trying to swallow 6 gallons of crap one mouthful at a time...

 

[kh54s10]

Bigger disappointment: you created a great recipe, brewed a huge batch and now your stuck trying to swallow 6 gallons of crap one mouthful at a time...

101 batches and only happened twice. Once was a very high ABV experiment but the other was a 3 gallon highly hopped beer that looked like pea soup after a month - never even tasted that one.

If you are not going to extremes there is no reason to get 6 gallons of crap. Maybe not great but it should be good. And if it is great and you only did a small batch you don't have much of that great beer. So you HAVE to brew it again.

Brew larger batches!

 

[homebrewer_99]

21 yr active, 16 yrs civil service here. 1 tour in Germany, 1 in Italy, and 1 in Korea, with a Saudi vacation, a visit to Afghanistan, and a few others thrown in for good measure. I am taking early retirement in ~90 days

Congrats!

Maybe we crossed paths...

Basic: Ft. Ord, AIT: Ft, Sill, 2 tours XVII ABC, Ft. Bragg, NC (1973-1974, 1979-1980), 1 tour Augsburg, Germany (1975-1979), ETSed. Civil Service: 1 tour Ft. Bragg, NC (1997-1999), Bamberg, Germany (1999-2004), 2 tours of Kosovo, 1999 and 2000.

I was scheduled to go to Iraq, but was reassigned back to Stateside prior to deploying.

I've worked (in some capacity, small arms, artillery, etc.) at 90% of all the Army bases in the US, Germany, Italy and So. Korea (been there 7 times), as well as a Foreign Military Sale to Norway.

With my job (weapons), I was on the road 15-21 weeks a year.

It was a great career, but I wanted to retire at 55. And did, over 8 years ago.

 

[MT2sum]

I don't see the problem here. If you only drink 2 beers a day, those 50+ beers in a 5 gallon batch will last you less than a month. A 10-14 day primary, 2 week secondary, and 2 week bottle conditioning (being very conservative) would take about a month and a half to be ready for drinking - You could go with a 1 week primary, skip the secondary and shorten the bottle conditioning to a week if you wanted to and you'd still have two weeks invested - that's about two weeks and 3 1/2 beers a day - BTW, I don't do short brews, I'm more on the conservative side and I like the longer primaries, secondaries, and many times a month-long bottle condition.

If I could afford it, and could find the time to brew more often, I'd be making a batch at least every 2-3 weeks so's I'd always have some beers in the fridge, and I don't think I've ever put out $30 to $50 on a brew yet! And, ...... the only time I would reduce my batches to a smaller amount is when I'm experimenting - & then they would be 1.5-1.75 gallon batches thanks to Northern Brewer/Midwest's "Little Big-Mouth Bubblers". I bought 4 of them for splitting up a 5 gallon batch for experimenting with different grains, yeasts, adjuncts, flavorings etc. As has already been said, unless a batch is completely/totally unpalatable, I drink my mistakes - one was a Simcoe IPA that at first tasted terrible to me, but by the time I got
to the end of the 50+ bottles, it grew on me so much it is now on my regular recipes-to-brew list. "Drink your mistakes and you may find that it wasn't actually a mistake." - that's been my motto since i first started brewing and, as was said above, it's a great teacher. I don't enter competitions, & don't have any brew-buddies/homebrew clubs where I live, so my beer only has to please me and no one else, so I wouldn't worry if a visitor doesn't like one of my brews becuz I like them! So far anyone I've shared with has been complimentary about my homebrewed beers, (at least to my face!).

 

[brewbama]

Congrats!

Maybe we crossed paths...

Basic: Ft. Ord, AIT: Ft, Sill, 2 tours XVII ABC, Ft. Bragg, NC (1973-1974, 1979-1980), 1 tour Augsburg, Germany (1975-1979), ETSed. Civil Service: 1 tour Ft. Bragg, NC (1997-1999), Bamberg, Germany (1999-2004), 2 tours of Kosovo, 1999 and 2000.

I was scheduled to go to Iraq, but was reassigned back to Stateside prior to deploying.

I've worked (in some capacity, small arms, artillery, etc.) at 90% of all the Army bases in the US, Germany, Italy and So. Korea (been there 7 times), as well as a Foreign Military Sale to Norway.

With my job (weapons), I was on the road 15-21 weeks a year.

It was a great career, but I wanted to retire at 55. And did, over 8 years ago.

I was following your lead. Humphreys ‘83-‘84, Mannheim ‘87-‘90 (wall came down while I was there), Aviano ‘93-‘96. Campbell, Hood, Savannah, DC, and Campbell again thrown in between. Retired in ‘02. All Aviation Maintenance. Civil Service all at Redstone with plenty of scenic excursions. I probably hauled your artillery pieces around.

 

[homebrewer_99]

My M119A1s (destined for Camp Ederle) landed at Aviano in '94. I was heading out the fielding team. That was my first time there. I've been back 4-5 times. The last time was for a month. I inspected every weapon on base. They kept me busy.

Our main LAR office was in Mannheim. I've also been to all the other place you mentioned...including Redstone (3-4 times).

Did you ever get to Ansbach/Katterbach? I did too.

 

[brewbama]

My M119A1s (destined for Camp Ederle) landed at Aviano in '94. I was heading out the fielding team. That was my first time there. I've been back 4-5 times. The last time was for a month. I inspected every weapon on base. They kept me busy.

Our main LAR office was in Mannheim. I've also been to all the other place you mentioned...including Redstone (3-4 times).

Did you ever get to Ansbach/Katterbach? I did too.

Only for a visit. Here’s what I spent 21 yrs doing:

 

[homebrewer_99]

Brings back memories...I flew CH47s many times in my career.

They even flew me from Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo to Skopje, Macedonia just to drive a M109 Shop Van back (I had years of experience driving these when I was a small arms repairer/inspector at Ft. Dix, NJ (1981-1986).

As a Tank-Automotive and Armament Command (TACOM) Logistics Assistance Representative (LAR) I was a GS-12 (equivalent to a Major).

That's an M777. I never worked on them but I touched a lot of them. They were managed by the people across the hall from me. I helped them from time to time by applying GPS modifications to the gun and vehicle.

I was on 155mm's (M114A1/M198 towed, and M109 SPH) for part of my career, and we were air mobile. I spent 4 years on an M110 (8" SPH) in Germany.

I was also the Equipment Specialist (managed/supported) on the M102 (105mm) and the M119/M119A1 for about 10 years.

I started my career on the M109 SPH in 1972 and ended up being the Equipment Specialist for the M109A6 for my last 6 years (2004-2010).

 

[hafmpty]

Not sure if the OP is still reading this or not, but I'll put it up for anyone that's still interested. For me, I started with 10gal batches and then had back surgery. I wanted to brew still, but I couldn't do the heavy lifting I did before. That meant a change in how I brew so I started brewing 2.5gal BIAB batches. But I do two 2.5gal batches each brew day. This takes about the same amount of time as it took me to do one 10gal because there is a lot less time heating water/chilling beer/transferring/etc. when you're only doing that with 3-4gal instead of 12-15gal.

Even without the surgery though, if my 2.5gal brewing self could go back and talk to my 10gal brewing self, I would have done this from the start. I love it because...

1. I get to brew more. It's still the same number of brew DAYS...but I double the number of brew SESSIONS meaning I improve 2x as fast.
2. If one beer is less than stellar, I can dump it and still have another beer to drink. I've dumped more beers as a 2.5gal batch brewer than I ever did as a 10gal brewer.
3. More variety. This is awesome. Yeah...there's less of each beer with only 2.5gal of each beer but I've can have 4-6 different beers on tap at any given time. Great beer is great...but you get tired of even the best beers when it's the only thing to choose from.
4. There are options for experimenting. My system allows me to make pretty repeatable batches so I can literally do two identical batches changing only a variable or two. I've done Pilsners with Brew Tan B and without, tested different types of caramel malts & amounts, water profiles, types of yeast, hops, etc.
5. "Less" cleaning. I clean my equipment one time but I've got two beers.

There are downsides to this method. Don't get me wrong. Rather than cleaning one keg, I clean two. Rather than transferring one beer, I'm transferring two. Rather than making one yeast starter (depending on what I'm brewing) I might be making two. I'm weighing out two grain bills, hop additions, water additions, etc. You get the picture. But to me, these tradeoffs are worth it.

My system is a BIAB brewery that uses two Blichmann 7.5gal pots & two Blichmann burners, a single stainless BIAB basket from ArborFab, a Blichmann Tower of Power stand & a single gas control module and RipTide pump. It's all on a stainless prep table that makes setup pretty easy. I just recently added the second pot & burner. So instead of back-to-back batches, now I can do staggered batches. This shaved about 2 hours off my brew day. Essentially...

Prep Batch 1
Mash Batch 1 & Prep Batch 2
Boil Batch 1 & Mash Batch 2
Boi Batch 2 & Clean Up Batch 1
Clean Up Batch 2

I'll close with an article I read a day or two after finding this thread. Good info:
https://smallspacebrewer.wordpress.com/2018/07/04/small-batch-brewing-and-brewing-in-small-spaces/

 

[MT2sum]

@ hafmpty -
"Prep Batch 1
Mash Batch 1 & Prep Batch 2
Boil Batch 1 & Mash Batch 2
Boi Batch 2 & Clean Up Batch 1
Clean Up Batch 2
"
I like that schedule .... with my 3 pot electric system, I could do that with 5 gallon batches! Pot #1 is Heated/sparge water - 5 gal., Pot #2 is an 8 gal. turkey fryer w/basket for BIAB mashing, Pot #3 is an 8 gal. boil pot. I have 2 - 6.5 gal. Big Mouth Bubblers and 2 - 5 gal. carboys (usually used once in a while by the wife for wines), so I could conceivably have 4 - 5 gal. batches fermenting at once! - - Just GOTTA get my system finished - getting a lot of great ideas and recipes I want to try lately! I've been able to brew on the stove-top so far, but electric brewing is going to be much faster I think!

 

[Staylow]

I brew nearly every weekend, or at least every other week. 5 or 10 gallon batches. I have two fermentation chambers, and a cold storage for back up kegs. 4 tap kegerator.

I drink maybe 20-25% of what I brew. Every Wednesday night, I have anywhere from 3 to 6 friends come over from about 5 to 8, maybe 9. Theres a "tip jar" on the counter that the guys will throw a few bucks in, to contribute to the cause. We shoot pool, drink beer, listen to music and shoot the ****. Before the pool table, we may have played cards sometimes, otherwise just hang out and talk.

If you were to do something similar, a word of advice. If you have a "friend" who always wants to come over and drink, but always seems to be broke, quit inviting them. Yes, they're mostly there to help you get through that beer so you can brew more, but it's also not cheap.

 

[eadavis80]

I was brewing quite a bit and got to the point where I'd have about 250-300 filled beer bottles on hand in my house at any time. Not all of those were fully carbonated, but that amount of beer bottles were filled with beer. It got a little crazy. Since then, I've lowered my brewing to the point where I usually have 50-125 bottles on hand. I only do 5 gallon batches. My brother, however, redid his basement and installed a kegerator so now I get to brew for him. It's cool having my beers on tap as my wife won't let me keg in my house. So, it's neat hearing positive feedback on my own beer from strangers. Plus, my brother pays for the ingredients I use for his brews and I get the reward points from Adventures in Homebrewing. So, he saves money over commercial kegs, I get to a brew more and I save cash when I buy new ingredients for myself!

 

[don_bran321]

Talked to someone at the brewery one day. He gave me a great solution to the same problem.

If you make a batch that you deem undesirable and don't want to drink... distill it! Much easier to gift that as well. cheers!

 

[Home_alone1]

I brew 10 gallons a month , usually give away half and then drink about 1 a day , friends / neighbors always help me finish off my 5 gallons. Drinking 5 gallons is easy if you only drink 1.5 beers a day

 

[Desert_Sky]

I can send my brothers over to your place. ******** will tap an entire keg during during the day while Im at work

 

[Soulshine2]

Hey guys,

Ive been into all grain for about the last 5 or 6 batches I've done, and I think all but 2 have turned out poorly (low efficiency and perhaps some oxidation flavors). For me, repetition and frequency are the ways I am going to get better at this process, however, with 5 gallon batches I'm making more beer than me or my friends can consume to be brewing anything more than every 3-4 months. I got so frustrated the last time that I haven't brewed in about 7 months, but working on doing a batch of NE IPA this weekend. But I feel rusty now and second guessing myself on things.

How do you guys manage to brew so frequently in the early stages? It would be easier to give away a bunch of beer if I loved what I was making, but i'm not ever fully happy and I don't really want to start gifting beer out that I'm not proud of. I know its $30-50 a batch, but do you guys just dump what you don't like? I would love to brew every 6-8 weeks to keep refining my skills but I really don't know the best way to do that without having a warehouse of beer.

If you have a stockpile of beer you can't drink fast enough for your brew schedule , I'd be more than happy to take a case or few off your hands. Taste testing purposes of course.

 

[SFC Rudy]

It's all about dedication.... if you have to drink 6 beers a day to keep your brew schedule, well then you need to suck it up and do it.

Another option is to go to smaller batch sizes. For example, a 2.5 gallon batch is also a convenient batch size and gives you a reasonable number of beers for your efforts. It also has the advantage of being small enough that you don't need to be concerned about things like high power electrical circuits, stronger pumps, or even large propane burners.

My normal batch size is 10G but i am considering a small electrical setup for making test batches and yeast starters.

Well, then I am one dedicated MF'er!

 

[SFC Rudy]

Funny, I think. I have been brewing since 1980 or thereabouts. I will let you do the math, but I have been brewing for a few years. I wonder how many brews.... but I digress. I do brew some nice beers once in a while; not once have I ever measured or even cared about efficiency.

My MOTTO: If it tastes good and gives me a buzz, Mission ACCOMPLISHED!

 

[Rob2010SS]

I have the opposite problem - I can't keep kegs full because I'm not brewing enough. I brew once a month and kegs are always empty. When they come out good, they don't last long because my wife and I both drink beer. Our St. Patty's Pale Ale kicked in 4 days! I know the solution to my problem, I just can't afford it yet...

 

[small_b_brewing]

I've been finding that a 2.5 gallon batch lasts a little less than a month. I try and stagger the brews so that we have 2 on at a time, usually something lighter and something a little darker for variety. Due to lots of fun travel (and sharing beer), I've accidentally drained my pipeline.... oh well, just going to have to brew some more!

 

[VirginiaHops1]

The obvious answer is small batches. I shifted from 5 gal to 2.5 gal, partly because I wanted to brew more and have less to drink on batches I didn't like and also so I could do grain BIAB with my existing setup. And I wasn't really happy with the partial boil extract batches I was doing early on.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

I don't think I could bear all the work I put into a batch for it to only yield 2.5 gallons. There is no less time or work in making a small batch.

So drink more or get more friends who drink beer.
Get some growlers and take a growler with you every time you go somewhere like a friend's house. My group of friend couples get together for dinner at one of our houses at least once a month, often twice - I take a growler or two depending on how many are going to be there. Easy way to go through 1/2 to a gallon in a night.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

The biggest disappointment -- You created a really great recipe. got a great beer and you only have 12 bottles of it.

Brew larger batches!

Why would this be that much of a disappointment? Because you have to brew it again? When you do a batch that turns out really great then you can just do a much bigger batch of it. We all like to brew here, shouldn't be a chore. Small batches are a great way to vet out the mediocre ones from the really good ones, at least for people in the early stages of brewing.

 

[kh54s10]

Why would this be that much of a disappointment? Because you have to brew it again? When you do a batch that turns out really great then you can just do a much bigger batch of it. We all like to brew here, shouldn't be a chore. Small batches are a great way to vet out the mediocre ones from the really good ones, at least for people in the early stages of brewing.

Because then you HAVE to brew it again. This was aimed at people who advocate always brewing small batches. If I am trying something I am not sure will be good I too will do a small batch. But I don't go too far outside the box so I expect my beer will be very good and I will have more than 12 bottles.

 

[SanPancho]

You always HAVE to brew again.