Making your brew last

[AGadvocate]

I myself, will buy a 6 pak or 2 of some good micro brew to keep my homebrew flow going. I would like to get a good stock of homebrew so I don't have to buy beer. I average 1 brewday every 3 weeks. I like to share my brew which doesn't help me keep the keg/ bottles full. Does anyone else go thru this? I hate buying commercial beer, but I can't keep up with the homebrew.

 

[mulhaircorey]

Make more time to make more beer!
Brew more.
Your grammar sorta blew my mind.

 

[bkl63]

What I found was to not Brew two Lagers in a row. They tie up equipment and then take 6 to 8 weeks before you can drink. I had two kegs ready, then brewed two lagers and now one keg is empty and the other is almost (maybe a mug or two at most). And the two Lagers are not ready to drink, one is in fermenter and one lagering. I'm doing a Pale Ale using Ringwood Ale yeast which is known for getting good beer from Brew to Glass in 7 days to fill in the gap. I have three fermenters and 2 are full and my next beer needs a Primary and a Secondary. I have 7 corny's, goal is to have 4 tapped, 1 aging (can fit 5 in main kegerator, can fit 4 in other kegerator which will double as fermentation chamber at times as well).

 

[AGadvocate]

Lol I love your dedication and schedule. I have a honey Weizen tapped ( probably 1/2 left ), a barely wine ( 9% abv ) which probably needs another 5-6 weeks in bottle conditioning, and a simple cream ale session beer in the fermenter now. The barley wine is the kink right now. I will try to fill the gap!

 

[AGadvocate]

Make more time to make more beer!
Brew more.
Your grammar sorta blew my mind.

Sorry for the grammar? I use my iPhone and am not submitting these forums to a college professor. CHEERS!

 

[Stauffbier]

I have 4 batches that are being consumed right now, and yet I still like to buy me a little something special every weekend. I just buy a 4 pack or two, and usually it's an Imperial of some kind. I don't think that will change, unless I just get insanely good at making beer and have a pipeline from hell!

 

[Polboy]

I haven't buy beer for over a year I brew every 2-3 weeks but 10 gal batches I guess this helps

 

[phenry]

Brew more. Simple as that. It's always good to have a mix of beers that are best drunk young (IPAs, wheats, etc), ones that can take a lot of aging (big Belgians, Imperial stouts, etc), and ones in between so you aren't always clearing out batch after batch. I haven't bought beer out of necessity (because we all know beer is necessary for survival) for months now, but I still do just because I always love trying something new. I currently have bottles from 8 batches in my basement, soon to be 7 once I finish up the last few bottles of an American IPA that I started drinking 6 weeks ago.

 

[AGadvocate]

I actually once or two times a week will buy myself a 22oz bottle of guinness extra stout. Not just for a good 7.5% stout, but they are great bottles to save!

 

[crackhead7]

10 gal batches is the way I go about this and still have problems keeping up with demand. I have fermenters to have 5 10 gal batches fermenting, I also have 12 kegs and a 4 tap keezer. I always keg half and bottle the other half. Those bottles are key in making sure I always have beer. I try to brew every other week but I have exceeded that goal so far this year.

 

[BlainD]

Throw a session batch in there. I brew an IPA regularly based off the Austin home brew session pale ale. Generally 6-8 days in the fermenter then about 7 days in the bottle and it's ok to drink..... A little rushed but not bad at all.

 

[AGadvocate]

I haven't buy beer for over a year I brew every 2-3 weeks but 10 gal batches I guess this helps

Yeah, I only do 5 gallon batches only because I only have a 10 gallon boil pot for now :-(

 

[duboman]

I am always well stocked because I love to brew and don't buy nearly as much beer as I used to but I still buy, after all most craft beers started as home brews and I think it's important to support that aspect of the community. It's also a great research tool to try what's out there and bring what you learn back to your own recipes. There are a lot of amazing beers being produced out there, don't sell yourself short by missing out on them!

 

[gtlaw10]

amen to the call for throwing a few session recipes in your pipeline, it's easy and frankly will seriously help span the gap between 'currently consumable' and 'needs lengthy conditioning time' brews.

 

[thetragichero]

just starting to get a pipeline going (two in bottles, two weeks apart; one in primary that could be bottled next week; one big beer that's gonna tie up a fermenter for the next several weeks), so i've been working on adding to my bottle collection. fortunately they tend to come with beer already in them!

 

[BlainD]

just starting to get a pipeline going (two in bottles, two weeks apart; one in primary that could be bottled next week; one big beer that's gonna tie up a fermenter for the next several weeks), so i've been working on adding to my bottle collection. fortunately they tend to come with beer already in them!

Dumpster dive in recycling bins. I swear by it.

 

[Canada2012]

hahaha I just did a raspberry mead which I hope will be ready for Christmas.

 

[rjwhite41]

I brew beer because I like to taste beer therefore I will never quit buying commercial beer. I tell my wife it's "research."

 

[osagedr]

Gotta brew more, or give away less, or both. Brews that I really like tend to go fast. Most homebrewers start off wanting everyone to like their beer so they give lots away. At this point I really don't do much of that--there simply isn't enough to go around.

 

[Skagdog]

I do double 5 gal brew days. Last one was a Dunkel and an Irish red. Time before that it was 2 hefes. Next week its an IPA and a SMaSH. Once I have capacity for 10 gallon batches I'll stop that.

It only adds an hour or so to the brew day, maybe less if you have a giant mash tun so you can mash once, boil twice.