It's so sad when you're first brew is gone.

[PenPen]

R.I.P. first homebrew.

Tonight, I got the first glassfull of foam, signaling the last of a wonderful Irish Red Ale, my first venture into homebrewing. Damn, I'm sad. What will I do without my homebrew? Will I (gasp) have to pay for commercial beer?

I'm brewing a summer ale on Saturday, but I'll be HB-less for the next 6 weeks at least. Why didn't I think ahead and brew more? I'm curious to know if anyone else felt a little sad when their homebrew runs out. I swear, SWMBO be damned, more corney's and bulk supplies coming up. This can't happen again....

 

[Fingers]

It's sad to see someone learn the hard lessons the hard way, but we can take comfort in knowing that the lesson has in fact been learned. I wouldn't wish six weeks of no homebrew on anyone, but I can't help but reflect on the poetic justice of being the victim of your own complacency. If you were here, I'd gently slap you three times on the top of your shoulder and slowly shake my head in sympathy but have the good sense not to verbalize that which you already know. Our thoughts are with you my friend.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

yep....it sucks

I've got the last 12 of mine....6 in the fridge and 6 in my closet (ageing)

kinda sucks there is so few left bc now after like 3mo they are completely clear and taste awesome....guess I drank the bulk of it while it was green

it's alright though bc I've got 4 batches of HB in the closet bottle conditioning and 1 more in secondary....and 4gal of apfelwien going on week 2....and a bunch of commercial.....I think i'm ok..haha

well...maybe not...I just noticed that my pale ale that I bottled just a week or so ago has rings around the necks of the bottles....man that sucks....first infection!

 

[nerdlogic]

I brewed my first in february -- its still aging in a keg. Tasting better and better.

I brewed by second in mid April -- its in secondary fermentation.

I brewed a third batch in late April -- that just got put into a secondary.

Even though I'll have more batches kegged and ready when my first batch runs out... I'll probably also go through withdrawel and regret... because I feel so attached to this first batch I've brewed.

 

[Evan!]

I can't remember the last time I was actually "out" of homebrew. Actually, I can. About mid-july last year, right before I bottled my first batch. Since then, I've brewed 165 gallons.

There's only one thing to do, PenPen: brew more often. In the meantime, a little commercial brew won't hurt you. Now's the time of year when all the great wheat beers come out to play.

 

[jpsloan]

I just drained the last of my first "solo" batch this weekend. And because of SWMBO's hard time during pregnancy, I had a huge five month gap in my brewing schedule between #3 and #4... which means I have, like, 12 beers left, and three weeks before batch #4 is conditioned.

Time to stock up on replacement bottles...:rockin:

 

[ajf]

R.I.P. first homebrew.

Tonight, I got the first glassfull of foam, signaling the last of a wonderful Irish Red Ale, my first venture into homebrewing. Damn, I'm sad. What will I do without my homebrew? Will I (gasp) have to pay for commercial beer?

I'm brewing a summer ale on Saturday, but I'll be HB-less for the next 6 weeks at least. Why didn't I think ahead and brew more? I'm curious to know if anyone else felt a little sad when their homebrew runs out. I swear, SWMBO be damned, more corney's and bulk supplies coming up. This can't happen again....

Just to rub salt in the wound, did you notice as you were drinking your first batch, that each beer tasted slightly better than the previous one?

If you had been patient, you would still have a keg nearly full of much better tasting beer than the ones you drank before it was really ready.

It took me well over a year to realize this, but now I have 6 carboys, 6 kegs, and 12 cases bottles there really shouldn't be any excuse. Even so, I still managed to run out for a few weeks last year.

-a.

 

[kenmc]

Just use it as an excuse to stock up on empty bottles. Of course the fact that they come from the shop full, is no bad thing either...

 

[BierMuncher]

I learned my lesson. Only one weekend since the first of the year that I haven't brewed. And that weekend, I threw together a hard cider.

I just did my third 10-gallon batch in as many weekends.

Brewing is like mowing the lawn...just something I "gotta" do...a real chore it is.

 

[Big Al]

I have 6 bottles of Oatmeal Stout left and I'm going to really miss it when it's gone. That's my go to beer when I can't decide what I want. I brewed it the 2nd week of January so it's lasted me a good while.

I've been taking 2 bottles from each brew and setting them aside for my 1 year brewing anniversary. That's going to be one helluva weekend!

 

[Cable Guy]

At least you guys know what its like to drink your own brew. I started brewing a month ago and am closing in on my first batch being ready. I don't think I will have a problem of running out once I get started, I've got 4 batches in secondary and one in the primary. I'm getting ready to start racking to keg this next weekend.

 

[PenPen]

Just to rub salt in the wound, did you notice as you were drinking your first batch, that each beer tasted slightly better than the previous one?

If you had been patient, you would still have a keg nearly full of much better tasting beer than the ones you drank before it was really ready.

It took me well over a year to realize this, but now I have 6 carboys, 6 kegs, and 12 cases bottles there really shouldn't be any excuse. Even so, I still managed to run out for a few weeks last year.

-a.

Yeah, drinking most of it green was really the bummer part. My brothers and and I kind of had at it once it had some carbonation. During the last week it was fantastic. The bitterness the had been hanging around all but dissapeared. I think the trick from here forward will be to not put on the tap until I'm at least 6 weeks out, because it it's tapped, I just have to try it.

 

[rcdirtbuggy]

My first batch was a german hefeweizen, and when i reached into the fridge to crack open that last bottle it was kinda depressing cause i guess you get kinda attached to it in a way. i actually framed the info sheet that came with the kit and hung it in my brewing area, just as a reminder of my start in this wonderful hobbie. some people don't understand how a person can be so involved in this hobbie, but when you get the satisfaction of reaching into the fridge and crackin' open your first bottle of homebrew it's oine of the most rewarding feelings you'll ever feel, knowing that you created it.

 

[98EXL]

well, I've had a total of 1 12 ounce bottle of HB. I'm only 5 weeks into this very ADDICTIVE hobby, and I keep on brewing so I hopefully don't have to run out. My buddies think I am crazy, but what else is new

 

[jar]

If you want to keep using your kegging setup, I'm told that most brewpubs will fill cornies for a reasonable price.

 

[BierMuncher]

I started making a habit of stashing a six pack of my new brews away where I couldn't look at them every day. That way, I built up a nice inventory of some variety. Even now that I'm kegging, about half way through the keg, I'll bottle a six or twelve pack and stowe it.

It's nice to reach in and pull out a beer that has 5-6 months of conditioning.

 

[paranode]

Yeah I am down to less than two sixers of my first hefe. I am going to miss it! Luckily I brewed in parallel so I have other beers in line until I can make another hefe.