Too much homebrew, not enough homebrewing

[bendebono]

I've been brewing for a couple of years now. For a while I was brewing about every other week. I really enjoyed that because I found that brewing that consistently was helping me grow a lot in my craft and get experience with different techniques and styles.

Unfortunately, I've cut down to once a month or less. Why? I'm just not getting through my brews quick enough. I have a four tap kegerator/keezer setup with four 5 gallon kegs. I give away some to friends, but not enough to make it so I can brew more often.

I'm curious what others have done to solve the problem of excess homebrew (I realize that's probably an oxymoron around here). Responses beyond the obvious "just drink more" would be helpful.

 

[Yooper]

Brew smaller batches! 2.5 gallon batches, or even less, would be a great size if you don't drink much but want a variety, plus experience in brewing.

 

[Rcbandl]

Join a local homebrew club.

 

[ong]

No, I often have the same issue. One thing that helps is to dump bad beer. I don't mean beer you're just "not feeling," but I mean, why suffer through crap beer? Having a party is a good way to clear the pipeline, too.

 

[Curtis2010]

Wow, your friends drink less than mine, but I mostly hang out with half-pickled sailors. Maybe get some friends that drink heavier? ;-)

I'm upgrading to 10 gallon batches because 5 only lasts us about a week (my GF and I help out considerably too). Maybe try some brews that require more time (lagers) and/or brews that condition well over time. Meads? Braggots?

 

[maffew222]

Join a local homebrew club.

This is a great idea for a few reasons. One: they're great places to bring beer to share, and you now how a large audience of critics to learn from as well. Two: I can sneak a few gallons of wort from a joint brew day with a club buddy and only have to take home 1-3 gallons but we get an additional 7-10 gallons for my buddy. This is also rad, because we can run off his beer, throw in some specialty malts for my beer and get a second beer all together.

also, Like others have said, it never hurts to brew smaller batches. I've found ways of staggering my larger (3 gallon, woo!) batches. For example, I have 3 gallons of Saison going. When it comes to final gravity, one gallon will be bottled, one will go onto dry hops, and one will have Brett added. So I won't have 3 gallons at one time.

 

[mikescooling]

start kegging and build a jockeybox. That will fix the too much homebrew problem.

 

[FatDragon]

One reason I don't keg (among many) is that I would both drink more and brew less. When I have people over, they drink bottled homebrew, and not that much of it just because of the type of people I hang out with. They wouldn't drink more if it were on tap. They also don't come over that often.

I, on the other hand, would drink more if it were on tap because it's easier and more convenient to serve up. The limited space for chilling bottles in my fridge means I rarely have more than a couple homebrews really ready to drink unless I rearrange the fridge in advance of a party.

Since I bottle, I get to send beers home with my friends when they come over and out to other friends who don't ever come over. I also bring it to my wife's rural hometown when we go there for a holiday. Those things are possible for someone who kegs, but they're standard practice and require no extra work for me because I bottle.

For me, bottling means more beer out, less beer in, and more brewing. It's a hassle and some degree of kegging is almost certainly in my future, but if you want to brew more, bottle more.

 

[1975brewer]

I sold my first kegerator to my neighbor & he loves it when I have an extra keg.

 

[lazarwolf]

Of course no one wants to encourage excessive, dangerous, of life limiting consumption of alcohol. Most of us brew because we love the hobby. We love the experience. And we get beer! If you have too much beer, brew smaller batches. There are some real advantages to small batch brewing. For one it allows you to brew more. But, it also makes otherwise expensive styles affordable. Imagine the cost of an all grain Belgian strong golden, or a double apa. Those get real expensive when they're flowing down the drain. Sounds like you're brewing for the right reasons. A brew mentor, or newbie is a great way to share costs and product. The best idea is probably a brew club. Most of the guys will be helpful and supportive. And, they usually have brew days and events. What ever you decide don't ever feel pressure to drink more or all of your beer. I can tell you I have been brewing since the dark ages, I haven't been intoxicated in probably 5 years. But I do have a great beer, almost daily. So as long as you're having fun, and you're under control brew on brother.

 

[andrewmaixner]

Echoing the "join homebrew club" sentiment.

You could also sour some of your brews (or some portions of them), since that takes a long time and you would have less on tap immediately.

 

[catdaddy66]

I'm still trying to get to where I brew every weekend! This month is finished my third batch. I'm the only one at my house that drinks it regularly so I am limited by my bottles available.

 

[Phunhog]

You could always donate your beer to a non profit event/meeting.......including home brew clubs.

 

[Oginme]

I brew ~2.5 gal (10 liter) batches until I get a recipe down to be just what I want. It's easier to go through a case, drinking some, giving some away, than two cases. This gives me the storage room to brew about 25+ batches a year, improving as I go.

 

[user 30639]

I have the same problem. For a while, I would bottle 10-20 bombers of each batch and keg the rest, but that was still a lot. My goal this year is to start doing 2.5 or 3 gallon batches.

 

[jackwhite]

I also have this issue so would like to do more 2.5 gallon batches. Does a 2.5 gallon batch still need a starter?

 

[stpug]

I also have this issue so would like to do more 2.5 gallon batches. Does a 2.5 gallon batch still need a starter?

A 2.5 gallon batch IS the starter

 

[jackwhite]

Doesn't that make a 5 gal batch?

 

[TBC]

Once a year I have a homebrew party 50+ friends and family to clear it out. I have index cards to get honest feedback about each brew. The party is mid summer then I spend the rest of the year to replinh my stock and to get ready for the party. Seven years going strong!!!!

 

[wardens355]

Give it away. I use my Beer Gun and fill a case of beer bottles every once and a while to bring to work and give to my coworkers. Sometimes I get donations.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

I think @Yooper offers the best solution, which is to brew less beer. Since you have four kegs, you would have less to go to empty them, and could avoid having to bottle, and still work through a wide variety.

I don't keg for many of the same reasons as @FatDragon, and find that I am able to give away plenty since most people like bottles so they can pop them open whenever they want as opposed to needing to drink up a growler. I even made wooden four-pack carriers out of cedar fence boards to make giving them away more convenient, and I get by bottles back with the carrier. I take some to club meetings, have a 5 gallon keg going to a local brewfest next month, and teach a homebrewing class where we drink up quite a bit while discussing the current topics. My neighbors like craft beer, so we get together with them fairly regularly. We have a dinner & movie night once a month with friends and always bring beer/mead/cider/cyser to those. And we have more formal parties twice a year, and many other more impromptu ones, and in the end, there always seems to be just enough beer.

 

[Oginme]

For the majority of the recipes I brew at 10 liters, no starter is needed. I do make starters for lagers and high gravity recipes.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

I share quite a bit of mine. That way I am not tempted to drink to just empty bottles. I still am brewing about every 2 weeks now. This has resulted in longer fermentation times as I have 3 fermenters going at a time. I also have a batch of wine fermenting so that takes up valuable fermentation chamber space slowing me down even more. This has resulted in better beer which helps move it quicker with my friends.

 

[bendebono]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think I'm going to aim for the smaller batches solution. Aging stuff works as a short term solution, but that's part of what got me where I am now. I aged a bunch of stuff last year when I was brewing a lot. Now that it's come time to drink those batches, it's slowed down my pipe line

 

[beersk]

Yes, smaller batches is definitely the way to go. I briefly went up to 6 gallon batches last fall but was unhappy to only be brewing every 2 weeks. I've gone back to my indoor 4 gallon batch setup and am brewing just about every weekend. And LOVING IT!
Besides, if you don't drink much or are cutting back, you don't feel like the keg will last forever with less beer in it. I don't like having the same beer sitting around on tap for more than about a month.

 

[Homercidal]

I tried smaller batches when I started having too much beer on hand. I hated that it was just about the same amount of work and I got less beer for it!

Then I ended up not brewing as often due to other obligations and having too much beer on hand. And I found I lost the feel for brewing. I forgot things, didn't plan well, had to hunt items down..

I ended up brewing smaller batches again and it's fine. I accept that I have less beer for just about the same amount of work.

I also found that giving beer away helps decrease your supply faster.

 

[philipCT]

I like the "big party once a year" thing that @TBC does. In July, I think I'm gonna haul my kegerator out to the barn and throw a taphouse party in the back yard.

Until then though, I usually keg half and bottle half. I share/give away most of the bottles to friends locally either going to local events or community fundraiser auctions or just to friend's parties.

I brew 10g batches, but I only have time to brew about once a month anyway. The 10g electric brewery is new this year so I haven't really had a chance to get into a good pipeline management routine. I've run dry already after an initial fall & pre-holiday brewing frenzy. Now I have two in secondary and one big beer in bulk aging.

 

[Rob_ryan]

I've noticed that i too run into this "problem". it mostly happens when i brew too many, too high ABV beers that i just can't drink fast enough, responsibly that is. With myself being the primary drinker of my homebrew, it does take a while to get through a few kegs of a 1.080 IIPA. i turned my attention away from my usual type of brews and started making many low ABV session beers that i can drink in a fairly high quantity and not regret it. currently i have an english mild, barely over 3% ABV, and a low gravity blonde ale, which both turned out great.
Although this still requires you to "drink more", it's a feasible way to go threw batches of homebrew relatively quickly. this also helped me experiment with styles i have never brewed before and grow as a homebrewer. Anyway, good luck and cheers!

 

[carlk47]

Brew smaller batches! 2.5 gallon batches, or even less, would be a great size if you don't drink much but want a variety, plus experience in brewing.

This is exactly what I have been doing recently. Cut the typical recipes in 1/2 to produce a 2.5 or 2.75 gal batch size. Now I'm able to brew more often and experiment more. Once the warmer weather rolls around I do plan to keep an easy drinking blonde ale on tap(still working on the recipe), so for that I will do a 5 gal batch as I expect it to be the "go to" tap on the keezer. The remaining batches will be 2.5 to keep the experiments flowing.

Good thread!