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

[mongoose33]

I feel I need to address this $30 - $50 a batch comment. My average batch cost runs $10 - $20. This includes grains, hops, yeast, and any adjuncts. Even with a low price point, you never throw a batch out (unless it's just plain unhealthy), you drink your mistakes. It'll be a long reminder not to do whatever you did to mess it up again.

Can't bring myself to agree with the second part. I've tossed a couple batches simply because they were recipes that didn't work out. They were experimental batches that simply didn't turn out. Not my fault, unless I should have been prescient and wasn't.

Beer drinking should be about enjoyment, not penance!

 

[kh54s10]

I have brewed a couple of small batches and when they are good it is really disappointing to run out so fast!!
I never have enough variety. 5 gallons or small batches.
The shorter brewday for me does not make up for not getting enough beer.
I have my rig set up for 5 gallon batches. I brew with a 3 vessel system and never do a full wort mash.
As I said earlier I have only dumped 2 1/2 batches and one of those was a 3 gallon batch, another was neglected.

I get panicky if I only have 7 cases of beer on hand!!

 

[madscientist451]

I brew 2.5 gallon to 4 gallon batches, depending what I'm making. I use both 5 gallon and 2.5 gallon kegs, but sometimes I still bottle. Kegging will solve some of your oxidation issues compared to bottling. Between my house and my g/f basement fridge I usually have 5-6 kegs tapped, but I don't really drink all that much, I've cut back to 4-5 pints a week, So my beer lasts a long time. (OK, 4-5 pints a week is my target, but I go over that more than I should)
I brew a lot in the cool springtime and save up kegs of lager and lighter ale in the summer, when my consumption increases. I usually don't brew at all in the summer, unless I run out of something. So I guess I do have a "warehouse of beer" like the OP was trying to avoid, but I like having lots of variety and I like my lagers to age a while anyway. I usually have 30-40 gallons of cider/wine plus various meads and a big collection of commercial beer and cider, so a casual observer might think a total alcoholic lives in this old house.
Brewing 1 gallon batches seems like a waste of time to me, but to each his own, some brewers do 20 gallon batches and think my 2.5 to 4 gallon brews are a waste of time.
Get a grain mill and a scale and buy base malt by the bag and hops in bulk and you'll cut those $40 brew prices down pretty fast.

 

[Rhaop]

If you’re not happy with your batches so far I would second the advice to avoid trying an NEIPA

Stick to simple recipes and smaller batches until you learn your equipment and set up, so many new brewers fall into “my first homebrew is going to be a 15% stout barrel aged for a year” or some crazy idea of adding weird ingredients

I’ve been brewing almost 7 years and just recently i brewed my first ever lager, followed the myburger recipe(simple recipe other then lager temp control) in brewing classic styles, i shared a growler with my buddy at work and now he no longer buys commercial pilsners because i “ruined” him

TLR Stick to a very simple recipe and smaller batch size

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Ive tried 4-5 different things and im constantly getting 62% efficiency, which ive been correcting for but its too low to say "this is my life now" and keep correcting for it.

62% isn't the end of the world - let's face it, it's just a dollar of extra grain in the mash. From a personal point of view, I would feel niggled until I'd got it consistently up to 70%. But from a end-beer point of view, it's something that's easy to correct for, just add a bit of malt extract or even kitchen sugar to the final wort in order to hit the target OG - there's calculators out there to help you with that. So in that regard, poor efficiency shouldn't affect your enjoyment of the beer other than the niggle-ness.

I will admit ive struggling trying to brew things too complicated in the past. But they are beers I like, so moving forward I think ill be refining some of the basic styles until I get it.

The first thing I would do is calibrate your hygrometer/refractometer - it could be that you're hitting your numbers, and just not measuring them properly.

The second thing I would point out is to make sure you have the most important equipment in any brewery - a pen and paper. Write down everything, so that you know what you did if things go right or wrong. You said two batches went well - what was different about them?

FWIW, I think the best way forward for you is not to compromise too much on the hop side of things, so hopefully you will still be making beers that are as hoppy as you want them to be, but just simplify the grain bill as that's what affects your efficiency. I'd definitely go all-barley for a bit, and even go down to just a single malt - basic 2-row, Otter or whatever - and keep it below 1.060. You should have no excuse to not get decent efficiency off 100% pale barley malt, then you can start to add speciality barley malts like dextrin malts, and in subsequent batches you can really screw up your mash by adding in stuff like wheat and oats. But you should be happy drinking a 100% pale malt beer with your usual hop bill even if it's not quite as "perfect" as you are ultimately hoping for. At this stage, you just want to get a base recipe that works, it's then a lot easier to troubleshoot.

 

[Anyhowe]

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.

 

[PADave]

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.

Then how do you formulate a recipe for a brew? Brewing with the exact same ingredients on a system that gets 62% vs 80% are going to result in two different beers. I'm not one to get hung up on how high of an efficiency, rather how consistent can your system be? I know my system gets me 75% every time for a normal strength brew. Too low efficiency and you are probably doing something wrong. High efficiency, then you can cut back on ingredient amounts. It's not something to obsess over, but if you want consistency and the ability to brew the beer you set out to brew, you have to know the efficiency of your system. If you are taking gravity readings, then efficiency is just a calculation.

 

[Upthewazzu]

Buy a few 2.5- or 3-gallon kegs and do smaller batches. That's what I do on all my non-IPA batches since they don't go nearly as fast.

 

[Anyhowe]

Then how do you formulate a recipe for a brew? Brewing with the exact same ingredients on a system that gets 62% vs 80% are going to result in two different beers. I'm not one to get hung up on how high of an efficiency, rather how consistent can your system be? I know my system gets me 75% every time for a normal strength brew. Too low efficiency and you are probably doing something wrong. High efficiency, then you can cut back on ingredient amounts. It's not something to obsess over, but if you want consistency and the ability to brew the beer you set out to brew, you have to know the efficiency of your system. If you are taking gravity readings, then efficiency is just a calculation.

Back in the day the word efficiency did not even exist in the homebrew world. And today, with the better malting and control processs, beer is pretty simple: Mash for 90 min at around 152 degrees and boil for an hour. Hop as you like for style and taste and the beer will be great.

For my 2.5 gallon batches 6-8 # of grain and 30# of water gets me in the 5-7% abv range. So yes I suppose very indirectly efficiency is built in. I have no idea what it is or isn’t. I adjust from there. Hmmm, maybe add a # of sugar for a double...

I adjust recipes for taste. I give no direct thought to what ever my efficiency is or isn’t. Never taken a ph readng in my life. I worry about sanitization, yeast health, fermentation QC and Ibu’s. Focus on these things and the beer, of what ever style, with what ever method you use, and your beer will be excellent, every time.

 

[r4dyce]

I've been in the same boat. As much as I enjoy beer and brewing I really don't drink that much lol. I rarely ever have a beer during the week and probably average less than 4 on a weekend. It's been said plenty, but I think you could look in to smaller batches. One gallon all grain brews are super easy to do on the stove top. They heat and cool so fast. I really like doing those and it allows me to experiment or make small batches of specialty things I know my wife won't enjoy. I do 3 gallon biab for my normal batches, with the occasional 5 gallon if I know it's going to be a frequent request (i.e. a pumpkin ale that I'll have all autumn, a watermelon wheat I'll have all summer)

 

[PADave]

Back in the day the word efficiency did not even exist in the homebrew world. And today, with the better malting and control processs, beer is pretty simple: Mash for 90 min at around 152 degrees and boil for an hour. Hop as you like for style and taste and the beer will be great.

For my 2.5 gallon batches 6-8 # of grain and 30# of water gets me in the 5-7% abv range. So yes I suppose very indirectly efficiency is built in. I have no idea what it is or isn’t. I adjust from there. Hmmm, maybe add a # of sugar for a double...

I adjust recipes for taste. I give no direct thought to what ever my efficiency is or isn’t. Never taken a ph readng in my life. I worry about sanitization, yeast health, fermentation QC and Ibu’s. Focus on these things and the beer, of what ever style, with what ever method you use, and your beer will be excellent, every time.

If that works for you, great. I'd personally consider a 5% beer and a 7% beer two totally different beers. For those of us that use a program to formulate our brews, an accurate efficiency number is necessary. I just got done brewing, and I ended up with the exact OG as predicted, which will make the beer I intended to make. That's the great thing about making your own, you can do what you wish and what works for you.

 

[Anyhowe]

If that works for you, great. I'd personally consider a 5% beer and a 7% beer two totally different beers. For those of us that use a program to formulate our brews, an accurate efficiency number is necessary. I just got done brewing, and I ended up with the exact OG as predicted, which will make the beer I intended to make. That's the great thing about making your own, you can do what you wish and what works for you.

5 vs 7% well duh, lol. I too get the exact SG as I plan for as well most every time. Why? Because I make my beer the same way every time. My efficiency is what it is I don’t fret over it, I don’t measure it, and again I don’t really care if it is high or low. It is what it is. I could be at 95% or 65%. I could give someone my exact grain bills and SG and they could figure it out. But the actual number doesn't matter; it is all relative.

For newer brewers this should be down the list of important things when looking to make good beer. Case and point are the posts where people are worried about their efficiency and are making average beer or beer they don’t like. You can have the greatest efficiency in the world, or really crappy efficiency and within reason it will not translate into your beer quality. Your system is your system. I focus on:
1) predictable results (follow a consistent procedure),
2)sanitization ( for obvious reasons), and
3) fermentation QC. ( this is where 95% of ‘off’ beer flavors and disappointing results come from)

YMMV

 

[PADave]

5 vs 7% well duh, lol. I too get the exact SG as I plan for as well most every time. Why? Because I make my beer the same way every time. My efficiency is what it is I don’t fret over it, I don’t measure it, and again I don’t really care if it is high or low. It is what it is. I could be at 95% or 65%. I could give someone my exact grain bills and SG and they could figure it out. But the actual number doesn't matter; it is all relative.

For newer brewers this should be down the list of important things when looking to make good beer. Case and point are the posts where people are worried about their efficiency and are making average beer or beer they don’t like. You can have the greatest efficiency in the world, or really crappy efficiency and within reason it will not translate into your beer quality. Your system is your system. I focus on:
1) predictable results (follow a consistent procedure),
2)sanitization ( for obvious reasons), and
3) fermentation QC. ( this is where 95% of ‘off’ beer flavors and disappointing results come from)

YMMV

I agree with you. Efficiency is just a calculation of potential gravity vs. attained gravity. If you are taking gravity readings, then you are checking efficiency indirectly. If you gave two people a grain bill and one got 95% and another got 65%, you would have two totally different beers. No, it's not something to fret over, yes it is what is is. But knowing what it is helps a lot. Without knowing your systems efficiency, you can't get predictable results. My original point was, if someone is getting an extremely low efficiency, then something is wrong with their process.

Kind of like MPG. My truck gets 12 MPG, my car gets 40. Both will get me there, and I don't really care how much gas it takes as long as I get there. But if I didn't have a gas gauge (the trucks does not work), how far can I drive before I run out? Knowing one piece of info, which is just a calculation, helps a lot.

So if I want an OG of 1.060 how much malt do I need? Can't answer that unless you know my systems efficiency. Yes it's just a number, but you need to know the number for things to work as planned.

 

[whiskeyjack]

Here are a few things that have made my beer better.

-take meticulous notes. From brewing to tasting. Missed your mash temp by 4 degrees, fix it next time. Notes on how long it took your beer to be in its prime after packaging.

-This one goes with notes and smaller batches, but if you have an overabundance of beer, you may be missing your beers prime drinking time. When I first started I did the "leave it in fermenter for 30 days", I also had way to much beer. So by the time it got drank or partially drank, it was past its prime and I was left with barely hoppy, carmaly apa. I no longer follow the 30 day fermenter recommendation. Usually 7-10 days then keg. Style dictates this but most of my beers are around 1.050. Smaller batches have allowed me to drink beers like pale ales and hefe's when they are supposed to be drank, soon. So if you have that beer that you feel after so long has lost its edge, take note on how long it took to get to that point and brew recipe size to get you near that point, but not over

-Water chemistry is another big key for me that has made my beers better. I feel this is the #1 thing that has made my beer pop. I had everything else down. Mash/fermenter temps, healthy yeast and I felt something was missing. It's so simple I kicking myself for not doing it sooner.

 

[elreplica]

Oh to have such issues...I cannot keep up as I'm my own best customer...end up fermenting Festa brews and buying kegs from microbreweries to augment my cooking. Drinking more couldn't work for me...

 

[Miraculix]

I think forcing down beer, one does not even like, is the worst idea ever. If you don't like it, dump it and find out what went wrong. It is not going to be wasted, it is going to be part of the learning process.

We have also to remember that we are talking about alcohol. People die because of developing an addiction to this stuff. So less is definitely more in this case. Stick to high quality, don't drink every day and dump the stuff that went wrong.

I really like the idea of actually celebrating a dumper. It puts the whole thing into the right light.

 

[kh54s10]

I think forcing down beer one does not even like is the worst idea ever. If you don't like it, dump it and find out what went wrong. It is not going to be wasted, it is going to be part of the learning process.

We have also to remember that we are talking about alcohol. People die because of developing an addiction to this stuff. So less is definitely more in this case. Stick to high quality, don't drink every day and dump the stuff that went wrong.

I really like the idea of actually celebrating a dumper. It puts the whole thing into the right light.

This sentence makes me think you should have dumped the beer you drank.

 

[Miraculix]

This sentence makes me think you should have dumped the beer you drank.

I don't get it. Is there maybe a language issue? English is not my native language, maybe I wrote something in a wrong way? Please explain what you mean.

 

[kh54s10]

I don't get it. Is there maybe a language issue? English is not my native language, maybe I wrote something in a wrong way? Please explain what you mean.

It is sentence structure. In English the words are not in the right order....

 

[shoengine]

Yes, they are in the correct order but word choice makes the point unclear.

Something like "Forcing yourself to drink bad beer is a terrible idea" is more clear, but who cares?

 

[Miraculix]

Yes, they are in the correct order but word choice makes the point unclear.

Something like "Forcing yourself to drink bad beer is a terrible idea" is more clear, but who cares?

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[Kent88]

Looks like you have plenty of feedback/advice, but I'll throw mine in.

• Smaller batches. I make 3-gallon partial-extract batches. I used to make 1-gallon batches. I still occasionally make 1 or 2 gallon batches of lagers (small lagering fridge). When you convert from 5-gallons to 3-gallons (or 3.25 gallons, which is what I typically do so I can leave back the trub and hop sludge) pay attention to the percentage of fermentables in your recipe and the OG.
• I have no experience with this, but I'd recommend you keg. I hear that people who keg go through their beer faster.
• Brew beers that other people like so you can share it. Sure, you might like the imperial apricot-and-maple porter that you added some cascade bacon candi sugar to in secondary (which I'm sure will appeal to someone around here), but your friends might like plain porter, or a cream ale, or a light lager.
• Brew strong beers that you don't mind having a warehouse full of. Not exactly what you were going for, I'm guessing. If you brew smaller batches of strong beer (excluding IPAs and American Barleywines for a minute) and you package a *few* bottles intending to age it (label it clearly), maybe you wont mind having a small reserve of beer in the warehouse. Barleywines and doppelbocks are supposed to be really good after a year. I've got some Belgian Strong Ale aging right now that I've had going for over a year since brew day.
• Brew sour beer. Not something you should probably do weekly, but every 6 months or a year brew a sour beer. If you're a sour beer lover (which you might not be) then you probably wont mind having 3-4 carboys of them getting all funky and sour. Its kind of along the lines of my previous recommendation in that it doesn't really solve the problem of going through your pipeline quickly to save on space, it (arguably) just fills your homebrew pipeline with beer so valuable to you that you don't mind allocating some space for it.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

It is sentence structure. In English the words are not in the right order....

But they are in the right order - it makes perfect sense, in British English at least, although a comma afterwards and optionally a "that" before would clarify "one does not even like" is a subclause.

 

[Miraculix]

But they are in the right order - it makes perfect sense, in British English at least, although a comma afterwards and optionally a "that" before would clarify "one does not even like" is a subclause.

Thanks mate! Comma positioning is a pain when having a German background. Germans are obsessed with commas and commas are used way more often than in English. On top of that, the rules change all 5 years so even most of the Germans don't know how to use them properly. That's why my comma "guesstimation-work", writing in English, is not as good as it probably should be. I might have a look into a book or two covering this topic.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I'm still trying to figure out how 5 gallons lasts 3-4 months with friends helping?

Mine don't last that long, my wife doesn't drink and I have no friends.

 

[kh54s10]

Right, I read "beer one" as "beer #1" so that makes it seem the words were it the wrong order where in actuality a comma would have made it clear.

Maybe I needed a beer to make me read it right!

 

[knotquiteawake]

Start kegging, then each night have a half a beer, then another half,.....

That was one of my selling points about the kegerator to my wife. "see? I can just have a half a beer"... before dinner, during dinner, after dinner, after the kids are in bed... Before I know it I kicked the keg.

 

[Br3w4u]

I know some people that will drink anything with alcohol in it so it usually isn’t a problem to get rid of some of my lower quality batches. I hate going through the process of cleaning bottles and filling them to give to someone just so they can get drunk and then most likely they never return my bottles or they bring them back a month later full of mold so it doesn’t bother me to dump some beer. I don’t think the cost of a 5 gallon batch costs much more than a 2.5 gallon batch and it’s about the same amount of work so I just do 5 gallons every time.

 

[mj1angier]

Mine don't last that long, my wife doesn't drink and I have no friends.

Hey now, don't be so hard on yourself! Beer is a great friend to have!

 

[homebrewer_99]

Hey now, don't be so hard on yourself! Beer is a great friend to have!

OK, 1 friend... Actually, I do have friends I was only kidding.

I have some bottled beers that are 8+ years old and 20 year old meads.