Rdwhahb

[Magnum25]

That's it. First time brewer, have 1 ale in bottles for 5 days, 1 lager that is going to sit in the fridge for 2 months or so, and if I hear RDWHAHB one more time I'm dumping it all and going back to Stroh's.........Are you kidding me? This is torture!

 

[Magnum25]

Ok. Just drank a sip of the Stroh's ......I think I'll be patient and RDWHAHB.

 

[lowtones84]

Patience, grasshopper. I know it's tough, but at least take the "don't worry" part to heart. If you can't have a home brew, Stroh's will do just fine. :rockin:

 

[BOBrob]

Ok. Just drank a sip of the Stroh's ......I think I'll be patient and RDWHAHB.

That was torture

 

[badbrew]

God they still make strohs? Haven't had one in 20 years.

 

[squirrelly]

Sounds like its time for another trip to the brew shop to grab another fermenter. Brewing more beer always took my mind off my last batch.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Sounds like its time for another trip to the brew shop to grab another fermenter. Brewing more beer always took my mind off my last batch.

might as well! we all end up with a few (or many) fermenters anyway, why not start a second batch while you're wiggin' about the first?!

 

[Revvy]

I think stuff like this really is only a concern to those of you who haven't brewed all that long. Because once you have a pipeline (keg or bottle) you will be leaving your beer plenty of time to be ready...just because you'll have more beer that you know what to do with...and if for example you keg you may only have 2 kegs in your setup, and may have four more beers in line, maybe 1 in long primary, one bulk aging with oak in a secondary and two just sitting in kegs....or like me, a bunch of milk crates full of beer in bottles, plus a few full fermenters. (I have nine fermenters, last I counted.)

By the time you finish a batch, the next one will be ready to drink.....

I wrote this awhile ago...It should give you an idea about a typical pipeline.

I think a lot of new brewers stress this out too much.

I mean, I sort of understand, you want to drink your beers, now.

But honestly, the difference between good beer, and great beer, is simply a few more weeks.

When you brew a lot, and start to build a pipeline, you are used to waiting, because you have batches at different stages, fermenting, secondarying, lagering, bottle conditioning and drinking.

And you can't drink everything at once anyway.

For example right now I have a red and an ipa that I am drinking currently. I have a chocolate mole porter that is sort of coming into it's own, that I am entering in a contest the first week of Feb.

I have a few bottles of my year old Belgian Strong Dark, that is still aging, and I pull one out every now and then.

I Have a vienna lager in a secondary lagering for at least another two weeks, if not more.

I am going to probably bottle my Belgian wit this weekend, or I may give it another week to clear, but more than likely I will bottle sooner rather than later since it's coming up on a month in Primary, and I'm on a wit kick right now (in fact I've been buying wits lately rather than drink my red and ipa.)

I also have a 2.5 gallon barelywine that I partigyle brewed on New Years eve which more than likely will get racked to a secondary for a few months, and then bottle conditioned for a few more.

The second runnings, which is sort of a dark amber ale, I will more than likely bottle soon, I'm not sure. I really haven't looked at it and the barelywine since I brewed it.

And I am thinking about brewing something this weekend, maybe another lager.....

As you can see I have beers at all stages or fermentation, so if something needs a few extra weeks to carb, or condition, I'm not going to sweat it. I'm about quality beer anyway. If nothings not to my liking/readiness, then I go buy some.

I've only ever made one mild, most of my beers are 1.060 or higher, so they're going to take longer.

I'm not out to win any races, I'm out to make tasty beer.

Hell I once found a bottle in the back of my fridge that had been there 3 months. It was pretty amazing; crystal clear and the cake in the bottom was so tight that you could upend the bottle over the glass and not one drop of yeast fell in the glass.

Give it time and you'll have the same thing happening.

Sounds like its time for another trip to the brew shop to grab another fermenter. Brewing more beer always took my mind off my last batch.

I have 9...no wait I think I have 11 now. This is pretty much typical for my brew closet.

My Current Pipeline. 12-2011

Drinking- Kentucky Common, Leffe Clone, Ginger Snap Brown Ale, Ipa, Chocolote mole Porter. Assorted bottles of god knows what else I find in my closet. Year old Apfelwein

Bottle Conditioning (because it sucks) Extra Strong Bitter.

Brewed Yesterday- IPA
Brewed Last Thursday- Vienna Lager (Won't be drinking til spring at least)

Needs to be bottles- Mojave Red

Long term Aging- 5 year Barleywine (4 years to go)

Non Beers fermenting/aging.

Heirloom Cider, Banana Wine, Sweet Potato Mead

I think that's it.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

ya got that right, Revvy. once you have a pipeline, you have to actually think about how long your beers have been fermenting. 4 weeks doesn't seem so long when you have enough homebrew to last your family 4 months!

 

[squirrelly]

Very well said revvy. I had 20 glass carboys before I started giving them all away or selling them on eBay. I had to make room for the conicals, and glass carboys don't accommodate the quantities of beer we are brewing. I think that's my only regret with going the stainless conical route, I can typically only brew 2-3 times a week.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

I can typically only brew 2-3 times a week.

dude, i'm jealous!

 

[squirrelly]

Meh, it is not so much a hobby as it is a small business my wife and I adore. She sees me grab one of my big bowled Peterson pipes and a jar of dunhill tobacco, and her eyes light up as she says, "we are brewing today!" the brewery is very automated so brew day consists of turning knobs, plugging the numbers into the digital controllers, and puffing away on my pipe, playing pool, posting on forums, playing Xbox, or just reading. Usually half the brew session is spent bottom cropping yeast for the next batch, kegging beer that is ready, running PH and lab tests on fermenting beer, and checking yeast cell health and bacteria growth in the brewery. I think I enjoy this "hobby" so much because it is the time where my wife and I can kick back and really just hang out while she stirs the mash from time to time and I sanitize some piece of equipment. Most families spend quality time with each other in front of the television, we spend quality time around the mashtun or in a duck blind.

 

[jpar345]

I don't think I can afford a pipeline. I'm only doing extracts, so I can see how it would be cheaper with AG, but still kits run me $35-$50 maybe more depending on variety. If I did a batch of week I'd be broke and have way more beer than I could drink. I think ideally I'd like to brew the week before or after I bottle, that way I'll have two overlapping brews going at once. Any more than that is too much for me.

 

[RJS]

50 lbs of grain sounds cheaper than 1 kit. AG sounds the most affordable.

I think we have...

55 Corny's
50 fermenting buckets
8 carboy's, probably could use more...

Pipelines are awesome, you increase your brewing skill exponentially as well. Cant imagine any other way

 

[ChandlerBrewery]

I like having a pipeline, too. But I'm ashamed to say I have neglected beer in the past because I had too much going at one time. You know, the unlucky beer that you put in the basement closet because there was no room in the normal closet. Then three months later you go down to change the AC filters and you find it...

 

[squirrelly]

A sack of grain is truly cheaper than one extract kit. I just bought a sack of marris otter British 2 row from more beer the other day for 55.00. That's about a buck a pound. American 2 row is even a bit cheaper than that. I think my house beer recipe costs me about 20.00 to brew it. That is 12 pounds of American 2 row, about 5 pounds specialty grains, and 10 oz of hops. The hops I buy in bulk from a distributor so I'm paying about 14.00 per pound. The yeast I harvest myself, so no cost there. Still I think if that were an extract shelf kit with the hops alone it would be upwards of 60.00. My local shop is selling 2 oz of magnums with their kit at 6.99 a piece. I buy 1 pound for 14.00. Go figure.