Not much interest in >10gal batches?

[Skyforger]

I think Randar kind of nailed it. Greatly increased equipment cost, higher stakes for success/failure and thereby less room for experiment, higher difficulty and more work in dealing with larger/more powerful equipment, less frequent brewdays, less variety in homebrews on hand....above ten gallons, I honestly don't see the point. Unless you're trying to keep the whole damn neighborhood happy.

 

[BrewBeemer]

Well lubed neighbors are less likely to complain about project building grinding and cutting noise. As far as brewing and holding too much of one style of bier it hasn't been a problem at my end with 10 to 15 gallon batches in the past, again it has worked for me maybe not for you we're all different. Now it's payback time from my brewing friends with not having a brewery at the present time.

 

[Mike_A]

I think Randar kind of nailed it. Greatly increased equipment cost, higher stakes for success/failure and thereby less room for experiment, higher difficulty and more work in dealing with larger/more powerful equipment, less frequent brewdays, less variety in homebrews on hand....above ten gallons, I honestly don't see the point. Unless you're trying to keep the whole damn neighborhood happy.

All are very valid points. I'm going to be doing 15's and hopefully the same equipment should be able to do 10's (well, im sure high gravity 10's would work ). My brew days are infrequent enough as it is that I think I'll be able to kill 15 gallons with myself and friends before needing to keg another batch, roughly once a month. And higher stakes for failure is not a concern - as long as it won't get the drinkers sick, I'll find someone to drink it! I plan on finding some other homebrewers in the area to trade beer or kegs with, to keep some variety on hand.

I like the notion of being able to provide enough beer for a larger gathering. As far as cost goes, I don't see a significant difference in cost of a 15 gal setup vs a 10gal (larger kettles, same pumps, larger stand?) and I'm going to keep it simple at least to begin with. No conicals, no electronics, etc. I'm already going to be making a large jump from where I am to where I want to be, so what's a little more to make the jump to 15gal instead of 10? I definitely see the point though, of not going up to & beyond 1 bbl. That seems like a whole different enchilada.

 

[Homercidal]

Teach them friends how to homebrew. I personally have too much beer and not enough friends who like craft type beer. I have found, however, that it doesn't take too many friends to start chipping away at your supply! Giving out a couple of sixers puts a serious dent in your pipeline.

 

[BBBF]

Now that I have more than one beer on tap, I have trouble getting through 5 gallons in a reasonable timeframe. Sometimes I feel like I'm forcing myself to finish a keg so that I can get to the next brew day.

 

[wildwest450]

I'd much rather have 4 different beers on tap, than 15-20 gallons of one kind, boring.


_

 

[GetLooseontheGoose]

The key is buying more corneys. You can label and store them, they only get better with time. Personally I have no problem dusting off 5gals in a little more than a week.

 

[BrewBeemer]

The key is buying more corneys. You can label and store them, they only get better with time. Personally I have no problem dusting off 5gals in a little more than a week.

Exactly as I already have 29 corny's plus your my kind of brewer. In the past 5 gallons have vanished rather quickly just by having a small party or some thirsty friends over, they supply the steaks. I find this much better with spare full corny's on the ready than a future painic brewing session. Again everyones demands are different. Prost.

 

[bruin_ale]

Lately I'm not getting much drinking help from my wife, and I've been trying to limit consumption for the sake of my waistline. I can brew 10 gallon batches, but 5 gallons is lasting pretty long these days - and I have 4 taps in my keezer.

 

[rexbanner]

I'd much rather have 4 different beers on tap, than 15-20 gallons of one kind, boring.


_

Yeah me too. I was going to move to 10-15 gallon batches, but I think I'll stick to 5 gallon.

I don't really give that much beer away. Mostly, I just drink the beer I brew myself. It saves a ton of money, too. Usually by the end of a keg, I'm kind of tired of drinking whatever.

 

[bruin_ale]

Yeah me too. I was going to move to 10-15 gallon batches, but I think I'll stick to 5 gallon.

I don't really give that much beer away. Mostly, I just drink the beer I brew myself. It saves a ton of money, too. Usually by the end of a keg, I'm kind of tired of drinking whatever.

Exactly my situation.. I used to have a weekly poker night at my place and that helped the beer steadily disappear, but we've all sorta gotten busy over the past few years and that stopped.
Oh, and you need more than 1 keg - that way you don't get tired of drinking whatever it is. I always have a pale and/or an IPA on tap plus one or two different other things - so I'm never really tired of them since I can mix it up.

 

[CidahMastah]

I totally agree with more variety. I can do larger batches, but I much rather prefer to do 4 five gallon than 1 20gal. Once you bump up the volume things get to be a pain, unless you really put some money into your set up. Maybe I will get there someday, but I like being a blood sweat and tears brewer hauling and pouring my half full 15 gallon pot. Gotta burn some calories before I drink some!

The whole Dr. Evil style push button automated set up is cool, for a business IMO. For home, gather round the pot and have a home brew with the boys. Point at stuff and pretend you know what you are talking about.

 

[Mike_A]

The way I see it, if I stick a 15 gal batch into 3 corneys one will end up in a keezer, one will be stashed for a reserve for 6-12 months and one will be given/load away or drank in one night at a gathering... on average. I think I'm gonna need a lot of corny's. Can you tell I don't have a SWMBO?

I will probably throw together a 10G cooler MLT eventually if I decide to do a small batch or help a friend get into the habit. That'd be the only piece of equipment that would need to be swapped out to do a 5G batch. Oh, that and the 8G boil kettle I already have. Won't hurt much to use a 25G HLT to heat 10G of water. Versatility is key!

 

[EarthBound]

I'd much rather have 4 different beers on tap, than 15-20 gallons of one kind, boring.

This is exactly why I never brew more than 10 gallons at a time.

 

[wildwest450]

The way I see it, if I stick a 15 gal batch into 3 corneys one will end up in a keezer, one will be stashed for a reserve for 6-12 months and one will be given/load away or drank in one night at a gathering... on average.

That will only work well on certain styles. Who wants to drink a year old wheat or APA/IPA?


_

 

[GetLooseontheGoose]

That will only work well on certain styles. Who wants to drink a year old wheat or APA/IPA?

_

I would drink those. Sure they would be even better, and the apa you could just hookup to a randalizer from the tap to get that aroma.

 

[user 40839]

So about a year ago, I was brewing 5 gallon batches. Morebeer had a CRAZY deal of the day on 15 gallon kettles (I think they were selling them for $70 off or something) so I went out to snag one. On seeing it in person, I thought "Holy crap, that thing's HUGE!"

And the more I thought, the more I came to the conclusion that brewing over five gallons was pointless, because I like variety, and did I REALLY want 10 gallons of the same beer? So I left the 15 gallon, and bought an 8 gallon instead.

Three months later, the pot was collecting dust as I started on 10 gallon batches.

However now, I swap kegs with another local HBTer, since - as I originally thought - I didn't really want 10 gallons of the same beer. (I'm extremely lucky to have 8 taps)

The moral of this story? It's no different to brew 5, 10, 15, or 1bbl batches in terms of time. Maybe a titch longer to get your temps, start your boil, and obviously cleanup. But do you really really really REALLY want to have THAT MUCH of the same beer?

Brewing's not just about the end product for me - although don't get me wrong, it's feckin' awesome! - but the joy of going through the process. Love brew day. LOVE brew day. So I brew smaller batches, more often, meaning tons of variety, and reasons to drink.

(apologies for the drunken rambling contribution to this thread)

 

[BrewBeemer]

Why all the negative replies on how bad it is to brew 15 to 20 gallons on a single brew session? Did I miss something?
What prevents a person downsizing to 5 gallon batches with a 15 to 20 gallon capacity brew system? It sure as hell beats having a small brewery that can not handle larger capacities should the fancy strike to brew large and can't handle it. This is why I sold the old brewery plus time for a change.
Granted added cost of larger equipment, HLT, MLT, BK and fermenter must be included in the build, I still can not find this as a problem from my end vs the rewards.

 

[ScubaSteve]

To each his own. I've often wondered why guys have these huge 40 gallon pots...but then again it's just me drinking my brew with the occasional guest, and sometimes my wife will have a few. So 5 gallons lasts me a while. I do like to do 10 gallons for beers I know I'll like...you can age one less and the other more and it's interesting to taste the difference. Also, my LHBS guy made a good point....if he's spending the time to pull everything out and then clean it, he'd rather make it worth his while. I can agree with that, since it's hard to sneak out to the garage with 2 small kids.

Do whatever you want, bro! Don't listen to people's negativity.

 

[meadowstream]

There are many reasons to want to scale up your batch size:

- You don't have time to brew often so bigger batch sizes let you last longer between brew days
- Bigger batches mean you can share more with family and friends
- Many homebrewers have "the dream" - starting their own brewery and 15 gal is a good pilot size and prepares for the next step
- You find a beer that never seems to bore you (or your wife and friends)
- You can't resist the pull of the equipment vendors who peddle their brilliant wares, often aimed at the 15g+ segment of HBT

 

[Rich_S]

What prevents a person downsizing to 5 gallon batches with a 15 to 20 gallon capacity brew system?

Nothing prevents it. However, try boiling water for a 5 gal batch in a 20 gal pot and you will immediately find the thermometer is probably way over the top of the liquid so you can't get temp readings. Then boil the wort and you will lose more to evaporation than with a properly sized pot and also have a greater risk of scorching. Hopefully you still have some carboys, because you're not going to want to ferment 5 gallons in a 27 gallon conical. Etc.

 

[Randar]

The way I see it, if I stick a 15 gal batch into 3 corneys one will end up in a keezer, one will be stashed for a reserve for 6-12 months and one will be given/load away or drank in one night at a gathering... on average. I think I'm gonna need a lot of corny's. Can you tell I don't have a SWMBO?

Not if you pick the right SWMBO... just saying.

Nothing prevents it. However, try boiling water for a 5 gal batch in a 20 gal pot and you will immediately find the thermometer is probably way over the top of the liquid so you can't get temp readings. Then boil the wort and you will lose more to evaporation than with a properly sized pot and also have a greater risk of scorching. Hopefully you still have some carboys, because you're not going to want to ferment 5 gallons in a 27 gallon conical. Etc.

Why do you need a thermometer for boiling water? It only boils at one temp and it's pretty apparent when it's reached that point, no?

And who said anything about a 27 gallon conical? I could easily do a 25 gallon batch and ferment in 2 Sankes, or do a 10 gallon batch and do it in one Sanke or 2 carboys (every brewer still has carboys...)

Best thing about brewing big is doing experimentation on finishing hops, yeast, oaking, fruiting, etc off a single batch. I recently brewed one large batch of porter and fermented with 2 different yeasts to see which I liked better, then I also did 5 gallons each of vanilla/oak/bourbon and 5 gallons of blueberry porter.

So I got 4 beers out of one brew day.

Honestly, the majority of reasons given here are hyperbole and not REAL reasons to not scale up. The equipment costs and the ability to use/consume vs liking variety are the most viable and common reasons. The rest seem to be mostly excuses.

 

[BrewBeemer]

Not if you pick the right SWMBO... just saying.




Why do you need a thermometer for boiling water? It only boils at one temp and it's pretty apparent when it's reached that point, no?

And who said anything about a 27 gallon conical? I could easily do a 25 gallon batch and ferment in 2 Sankes, or do a 10 gallon batch and do it in one Sanke or 2 carboys (every brewer still has carboys...)

Best thing about brewing big is doing experimentation on finishing hops, yeast, oaking, fruiting, etc off a single batch. I recently brewed one large batch of porter and fermented with 2 different yeasts to see which I liked better, then I also did 5 gallons each of vanilla/oak/bourbon and 5 gallons of blueberry porter.

So I got 4 beers out of one brew day.

Honestly, the majority of reasons given here are hyperbole and not REAL reasons to not scale up. The equipment costs and the ability to use/consume vs liking variety are the most viable and common reasons. The rest seem to be mostly excuses.

Radar, you nailed it perfectly, first I must add using the same 10" diameter opening on the BK be it boiling 5 gallons in a keggle or a 20+ gallon capacity BK how did the evaporation rates increase?
Second scorching is not a problem, electric heating 10KW to 11KW.
Third, seeing boiling in the BK is my thermometer unless the laws of physics changed and I wasn't informed, I live 5' above sea level not on a mountain?
The extra cost of larger equipment was figured in long before start of build, still comes to zero dollars for the brewery, $459 for the custom Brewhemoth 22+ gallon capacity, it's too late I already fermented 5 3/4 gallons in it with no ill effects that we can taste or see.
Radar, I have a great wife she approves of my brewing and build not counting the bike addiction I have, nine motorcycles and holding with two on the wait to add.
Those that make opinions must have "Superman Powers" with replies not knowing what is in another persons brewery build, they have any "hot stockmarket tips?"
Radar, your the man as dark porters and stouts are to my liking as well my daughter 17 plus many German friends, we always keep the fizzy light biers available for the ladies but most are into their wines.