What do you do with all the beer?

[bwible]

I’ve written a few times about this. I am the only one in my house who drinks the beer. We’re older, don’t do very much in the way of having parties. We may have people over around Christmas, etc but most of our friends are not beer drinkers. My wife might have one or two of my homebrew once in a while but she counts carbs and mostly likes lighter diet beers like Ultra.

I settled on 3 gallon batches long ago just due to available container sizes. I use a 5 gallon carboy to ferment in. I use a 3 gallon carboy whenever I want to secondary/settle/bulk age. Added bonus, all the containers are smaller, lighter, and easier to handle.

3 gallons ends up being right about 30 bottles. I say its a case plus a 6 pack.

Take a 5 gallon recipe and start by multiplying everything by .7 and use that as a starting point to enter into your recipe software. Tweak from there until you get the numbers you’re looking for. I always figure recipes as 3.5 gallons into primary so that I actually end up with 3 gallons of finished beer.

With a cooler mash tun I would often have issues with re-circulating or clearing due to less grain in the cooler and a shallower grain bed. I bought an Anvil Foundry 6.5 and I use that for 3 gallon batches exclusively. Its perfect for what I want to do. I still have my cooler mash tun for barleywines and big beers or I can supplement with extract out of the Foundry.

My kegerator holds 3 kegs. I have both 3 gallon kegs and 5 gallon kegs. If I want to fill a 5 gallon keg I have to brew twice. I do for lagers. Aside from my kegerator, I do bottle. I have 12 cases of bottles available. Right now, 5 of those are filled with strong beers like my annual barleywine that I brew every year or Russian Imperial stout. I have barleywines every year from 2019-2022 that I mostly like to “sample” and drink in the winter. Bottling can be a pita, but its only 30 bottles each time, not 50.

Just what I do. I like variety and I don’t need 200 bottles of beer after I brew 4 batches.

Lately, I’ve been doing 1 gallon batches of mead also.

 

[IslandLizard]

Invest in some 2.5 to 3 gallon kegs and make smaller batches.

Although that makes sense, I keg 2.5-3 gallon batches in regular 5 gallon kegs. They're 100% Starsan pre-purged then filled through the liquid-out post by means of a semi-closed transfer.

Drawbacks are minimal. You'd use a few gallons more CO2 gas than by using smaller kegs, while they take up more space and are a little heavier when moving around.

 

[bwible]

There are some recipes you can use beer in, like stew or a little Guinness in a pot roast. My dad used to boil hot dogs and sauerkraut in a can of beer whenever he had beer he didn’t especially like or wanted to get rid of.

 

[moreb33rplz]

Because reasons I like brewing five gallon batches, smaller and larger don't work as well for me

I usually brew and consume about one batch a month. If my consumption slows down I sometimes brew something that requires long term aging. That satisfies my brewing itch without me having to drink more

Or the foolproof option of telling my buddies that I have too much beer and having them come over for a bbq

 

[IslandLizard]

I'm a member of a homebrew club, and there are events where we take homebrew to and tap kegs at. At many of those larger, heavily attended events we easily kick kegs or heavily decimate them.

 

[odie]

Ok, this may be a question that is not generally asked here, but here is my problem.

I like brewing and would love to brew much more often, but even though I make single keg batches, it takes me forever to get through the beer. And looking at how often some of you brew you must have a better way to get rid of beer than to just drink it all?

Thanks!

you need friends...just sayin...

 

[Langerz]

you need friends...just sayin...

If OP is in Iowa and needs help with consumption we might have something here

 

[MrClint]

I keep my brews to 1 to 2 gallons a week, sometimes skip a week or two. Smaller batches just seem more manageable all the way around.

 

[Protos]

I brew weekly and I have nowhere to give my beer away to and nobody to share it with.
That's why I switched to 1.5G / 5.5L batches, to be able to drink it up all alone.
I still have a surplus of beers. I have about fourty (40) sorts of it bottled in my cellar. Very rarely I have an opportunity to share it and even rarer I dump a batch I don't care for.

 

[Conehead]

Well, I usually drink it with friends but my last brew I tossed out. Brewing again in a week or so.

 

[Bayou Fatma Brewer]

I'm disabled so each brew is a pretty major task for me. It hones my practice to making large enough batches to serve as muscle-relaxants, while avoiding oxygenation, to last until the next time I can torture myself with a brew-day. 'Disabled' as a worker in Canada also means: "Financially crippled for life" so if I want decent palatable beer that I otherwise can't afford, I need to make it...but hey; I've been using it as a combination of neurolgical and physical therapy that provides an otherwise unattainable Quality of Life. Just brew less and focus on lasting quality until you find what's ideal for you.

Same here. I pay the ”Physical" Price" the next day after brewing 5 gallon batch. But after it’s in the Fermenter 5 hours later, I shower and go to bed. Save the brewpot scrubbing and thorough cleaning 2 days later. But I love to Brew and get my physical therapy while doing so.
Cheers and hang in there.

 

[ronbo1]

Looks like we all do about the same...brew less, brew smaller batches, drink it and give it away...

I'm like a beer missionary...I take beer with me whenever anyone has a party, has me over for dinner, etc. Started playing pool with some buddies at one's house and I supply the beer. I'm in a couple of homebrew clubs, so there's another place to take my beer. I invite the neighbors over, or give the some beer when they've done a favor, give away beer as birthday/Christmas presents. I brew for camping trips and take the keg/gas along....whatever it takes to keep brewing!

I also like 5gal batches, so I gotta get creative. I keep 2 kegs on tap most times, sometimes a third if it's a stronger beer. I also am older and drink less as do all my older friends. Used to brew 26+ times a year (mostly 10 gal batches) but down to 12-13 5gal batches per year. 588 batches (brewing today) and counting!

Oh yeah, I also put away plenty of craft brew, local or otherwise...my poor liver

 

[seatazzz]

Our closest friends that we hang with either don't drink at all, or drink something other than beer. Then again, there's always that stigma that some people have that 'homebrewed beer is not good'. I've changed some minds there with a few of mine, but we just don't socialize that much. So I drink a LOT of my beers. Husband is trying to lose weight so he will maybe have a few pints a week, and that's if I pour them and force them into his hand. I'm working on making smaller batches so I can brew more often, but with a rig that does best with 5-10g batches it's actually going to cost me some money to downscale. Because like many others here, the brewing is almost always more fun than the drinking. So I have turned to other hobbies to keep me busy; knitting, crocheting, sewing, and more recently getting my 25-year-old SUV back up and running for a semi-daily driver. My uncle out in Montana has been nudging me towards woodworking as well.

 

[shoengine]

Our closest friends that we hang with either don't drink at all, or drink something other than beer. Then again, there's always that stigma that some people have that 'homebrewed beer is not good'. I've changed some minds there with a few of mine, but we just don't socialize that much. So I drink a LOT of my beers. Husband is trying to lose weight so he will maybe have a few pints a week, and that's if I pour them and force them into his hand. I'm working on making smaller batches so I can brew more often, but with a rig that does best with 5-10g batches it's actually going to cost me some money to downscale. Because like many others here, the brewing is almost always more fun than the drinking. So I have turned to other hobbies to keep me busy; knitting, crocheting, sewing, and more recently getting my 25-year-old SUV back up and running for a semi-daily driver. My uncle out in Montana has been nudging me towards woodworking as well.

If you're spending time on a 1998 it's gotta be something interesting. Toyota?

 

[seatazzz]

If you're spending time on a 1998 it's gotta be something interesting. Toyota?

Honda Passport. It's in truth an Isuzu Rodeo branded as a Honda. We bought it from a friend of ours whose dad owned it from new, it's sort of a sentimental thing to keep it. Runs great, just needs some minor maintenance. 193500 miles on the current (2nd) engine, the only major things we've had to do for it is replace the tranny and the starter. This weekend I get to dismantle the steering wheel to find out why the horn sticks. First time messing with an air bag assembly, yes I do know what I'm doing before someone gets concerned that I might blow it up.

 

[shoengine]

Honda Passport. It's in truth an Isuzu Rodeo branded as a Honda. We bought it from a friend of ours whose dad owned it from new, it's sort of a sentimental thing to keep it. Runs great, just needs some minor maintenance. 193500 miles on the current (2nd) engine, the only major things we've had to do for it is replace the tranny and the starter. This weekend I get to dismantle the steering wheel to find out why the horn sticks. First time messing with an air bag assembly, yes I do know what I'm doing before someone gets concerned that I might blow it up.

Unplug the battery first. I've taken mine out and it always feels a little iffy.

 

[eliastheodosis]

dismantle the steering wheel to find out why the horn sticks

That brings back fond memories of panicked customers driving in their cars with the horn just blaring. You never saw people so freaked out in your life.

I've taken mine out and it always feels a little iffy

No kidding. It's always just a little like defusing a bomb. Not too bad, but just enough to make you feel alive.

My uncle out in Montana has been nudging me towards woodworking as well.

It's interesting to listen to Noah Bissell talk about life, hobbies, and craftsmanship on his podcast. It's called Graining In, if you're interested. Last I heard he was building a chess set. Cheers to a fulfilling life. Whatever that means

 

[mamajack]

I brew every 2 months for 6 beers a year in 2.5 to 3.75 gallon batches. After transfer losses I end up bottling 2 to 3.5 gallons. I don't drink much but I love to create recipes and brew, so I give bottles away to friends and neighbors. Once they give me my bottles back, I give them the next beer.

I'm planning on a driveway party to share homebrew, too.

 

[seatazzz]

Unplug the battery first. I've taken mine out and it always feels a little iffy.

Yep had planned on that. And disconnecting it at least 30 minutes before I try taking it apart, read some horror stories about cars with capacitors big enough to hold a charge that would detonate the airbag.

 

[DonT]

Yep had planned on that. And disconnecting it at least 30 minutes before I try taking it apart, read some horror stories about cars with capacitors big enough to hold a charge that would detonate the airbag.

I knew a guy back in the day who spent a week in the hospital after an airbag went off in his face...

 

[seatazzz]

I knew a guy back in the day who spent a week in the hospital after an airbag went off in his face...

Very OT, but decided not to mess with it. Raining anyway. Going to go beat the husband's butt at cribbage instead, nice rainy day occupation.

 

[KiwiSander]

If OP is in Iowa and needs help with consumption we might have something here

Sorry, New Zealand may a bit far away...

 

[KiwiSander]

And a few more replies, I have actually distilled a batch of bad beer before, but instead of running in through a pot still for whiskey I ran it through the reflux still and made a vodka that eventually ended up as gin

Of course this I legal in NZ, so if you're furyhe afield, don't say I made you break the law!

Incidentally, I have tried to make whiskey before, but while I will stake my homebrew against commercial brews any day, I don't think my whiskey stacks up. There really is something about aging for many years that is just difficult to replicate in less time.

 

[KiwiSander]

This guy has at least a few videos on distilling beer. Here are a couple links.

Ironically Jesse is fairly close to me, I'll be heading up to his area tomorrow for work, but I have never actually met him...

But he was instrumental in getting me into home distilling.

 

[KiwiSander]

Figure out how much you want to drink and how often you want to brew. For example, if you want to brew every three weeks, and you drink one beer a day on average, you need about three gal packaged per batch.

My original post, although accurate, was somewhat flippant and your reply is much more thought out and professional than I deserve. Thank you.

And yes, you are exactly right, I currently try to have my blond ale and a Porter (now that we're heading for winter) on tap and then potentially have a third, more speciality that changes from time to time.

To really make this work I need more smaller kegs (2 5s) and bottle and share the balance. My kegerator will fit 3 x 2.5s, I still have to fit more taps. So like everything else this is a work in progress.

Thank you!

 

[NSMikeD]

another small batch brewer here. I too brew 2.5 gallon batches using an Anvil Foundry 6.5 and keg in 2.5 gallon Torpedo kegs. That's about 20 pints and that lasts me about a month. Nice to come home and have. pint with dinner and with the small batches and monthly brewing I can mix things up and go back a tweak recipes. With 2.5 batches, I can use beer kits (and gift cards) I sometimes get as gifts from family and friends by simply dividing in half.

While I have a growler, and got rid of my bottling equipment years ago, I will likely get gear to bottle from my kegs to take beer with me, give away to just free up a keg.