What do you do with your beer?

[f1oored]

Drink it of course, but honestly how much can one person drink? I know that many of you are brewing almost every weekend. What do you do with your beer? I've made only a few batches and have an unholy supply at this point. I would say I have close to 150 bottles and another 8 gallons ready to be bottled.

So if I have this much and many of you brew more often than me, where does your beer go? Do you give it away? Do you throw giant parties all the time? Or do you have a liver that is the size of a catchers mitt?

This forum has already brewed over 2500 gallons in 2010, where does it go?

 

[hopsoda]

uhh D: partys with friends with huge livers

 

[BrianTheBrewer]

Co-Workers, friends, family...anyone who wants to try it

 

[david83]

i brew it and everyone i know wants to drink it!

 

[Grinder12000]

I give single bottles away and sell cases to friends from time to time. Of course you all say that is illegal but . . . it's not like I'm making a living and before you get all anal there are many illegal things people do. For one thing this forum tells you how screw the government and illegally send beer through the mail so . . .

 

[Corkster]

I can't afford to brew all that often so most of mine gets consumed by me. I also always end up giving away a fair amount out of each batch.

 

[Edcculus]

For one thing this forum tells you how screw the government and illegally send beer through the mail so . . .

I REALLY don't want to turn this into a battle, but nobody tells anyone here how to send beer illegally. Its only illegal to send beer via USPS (us postal service). It is completely legal to use UPS, FEDEX etc. It may be against their policy, but its legal.

 

[jaynik]

I drink one or two per week usually. I have a lot conditioning and the rest in my beer fridge. I do use it to cook sometimes too.

 

[sp1365]

I only do small batches (2.5 gallons) so I only get about a case of beer per batch. Most of that is consumed by me, but some goes to my friends, my parents, etc.

 

[tom777]

This forum has already brewed over 2500 gallons in 2010, where does it go?

And that's just counting those who bother to update the thread

 

[hoppymonkey]

I throw a "almost free beer party" everytime my supply gets excessive and set out a pot for donations for my next batch or two.

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

I brew between 10 and 20 gallons a month. That is a lot for one person to drink, but I do try to rise to the challenge.




Really, though, I need to have a party. I am about to run out of kegs to put beer in.

 

[mosquitocontrol]

I have goals of brewing 20gal/month. This will likely be the first month hitting that target in 1.5 years of brewing. Usually its more like 10gal. We are always running out of homebrew and I hate it. Right now we are looking at another 3 week gap in the pipeline. Went thru a keg and a half this week just me and my fiance. Yeah... I think I'm taking a few days off from drinking haha. What do you expect with getting snowed in SuperBowl weekend?

 

[DilvishTheDamned]

I throw parties every once in a while, but the big thing is to build up a pipeline, and do other things once it's established.

You're right who needs to personally drink 5-10 gallons a week? I've heard that healthy consumption is 2 12 oz beers per day for a adult male, and one for the female. I've got a gf who also likes my brew, so between us, we can consume 3 beers a day, which is about a quarter of a gallon. That means that your average batch should last about 20 days, assuming you get all the beer, and drink constantly, which we don't, and that there's no spoilage. Add in friends, and that number comes down to around 15 days for a batch.

This means you're brewing every other weekend, at least in theory, and doesn't really account for bad batches, like the gusher I had the other day, or things that I just don't like the taste of. So it doesn't seem that outrageous. Then there's the fact that it's the middle of winter, which is an excellent time to brew, since the wort chills quickly, there's less stuff in the air, and there's really not much to do outside. So I've been sorta trying to build up some surplus. I suspect you'll see the numbers drop off in the summer.

 

[bubbachunk]

college makes it easier, pretty easy to go through 20-40 depending on the weekend

 

[arturo7]

bartering
.

 

[alcibiades]

i drink all of a 5 gallon batch almost within two weeks of it being ready. I've bumped up to 10 gallon batches but im still drinking it almost as fast as I brew it. I hate it, but i often buy commercial beer to supplement my supply. the problem (or awesomeness), is that i have friends who regularly come over and appreciate good beer...

 

[tom777]

I ... but the big thing is to build up a pipeline, and do other things once it's established.
...

This is true also. I have plenty of beer now, but also have a LOT of empty bottles to fill. I'm trying to brew a lot this winter so I can cut back a little on the brewing this summer when there is so many other things to do..
So, rather than 3 or 4 batches in the fermenters at any given time, this summer I'll probably only have 1 or 2.

 

[Brew-boy]

I enter comps with it, drink it, give it to friends and co-workers. Brew the big ones to age and enjoy later.

 

[TeufelBrew]

According to my Doc., my liver is fine thank you very much.

Yes, I consume almost all of the beer I make. SWMBO has some once in a while, but she prefers wine and doesn't drink much anyway. I brew between 10 and 20 gallons a month, depending on a variety of things.

I do share some of my beer, but the lions share is mine, all mine.... Mmmmmm Good Beer.

 

[COLObrewer]

We drink it all, I have three 20 year old sons, they like booze.

 

[homebrewer_99]

I usually have 2 kegs on tap...different flavors, etc.

The other cornies are waiting in line...who's next?

I share a lot with co-workers also.

 

[kryolla]

I try to drink a few a night but usually I make up for it on the weekends. Give some away to friends, you're not shipping beer it's yeast samples (got it from Sam business book) lol

 

[Grimster]

2 beers a night, 50 beers in a 5 gallon batch = 25 days per batch, and this is a "doctor recommended limit" for grown men (some even say "up to 3 a day is healthy" now).

So if you brew every 3 weeks you're not really "overindulging" even by many medical standards of what's healthy, assuming you let someone else drink a few of the beers. If you share a lot, brewing every 2 weeks isn't out of line with what would be considered "healthy" consumption.

 

[KYB]

I take 2 kegs to each family function/get together, and I'm still in college. So the kegs I do have for myself go pretty quick when you take growlers to parties.

 

[l1ranger]

5 gallons a month by myself wouldn't be an issue. throw in the girlfriend, family and friends and I'm gonna be hard pressed to ever get a pipeline in place.

I think its kinda like makin hay - you do it when you can, so that when i time comes adn you can't get around to brewing for 3 months, you've got plenty in stock

 

[Msbeer]

What Beer?

It's "Illegal" to brew in my State!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Redstar]

Trade/barter.

I also give away bottles to neighbors and friends - In related news, the neighbors and landlord no longer think I'm cooking meth in the basement

 

[electric_beer]

We drink it. I live with 3 adults who all enjoy good beer. Not to mention friends on the weekend. If anything I think I should invest in a second keg.

 

[waldoar15]

I'm one of those that would brew way more than I could drink/share if I didn't limit the amount of kegs and bottles I keep on hand.

 

[JByer323]

I live in a house with four people all in our early to mid twenties.

Just sayin'.

 

[user 30639]

Drink most of it. Give the rest of it away. Now that I have a kegerator I'll probably be drinking more and giving away less.

 

[BSBrewer]

I've been bottling (for my first 3 batches) and I'd say at least 1/2 of it goes to people who want to try a homebrew.

I am in the process of getting my keezer/taps all set up so that way if they want to try it they need to come visit (much less likely) and I get to keep more of my hard work for myself

 

[motobrewer]

so far my kegs are lasting ~3 weeks.

need to keep brewing....

i've discovered lagers really f**k with my pipeline....

 

[mmb]

Friends like free beer. You could try that.

 

[firebird77]

Haven't really established a pipeline, so we still mostly drink commercial. Right now my problem is too little homebrew, not too much.

 

[mordantly]

i can float a keg in 10 days solo...

 

[Grinder12000]

50 beers in a 5 gallon batch

wow - water it down much? LOL

 

[BA_from_GA]

end of 2009 i had over 450 bottles in my "conditioning closet" some of it was long term again, some just waiting to be drunk. I like to keep a rotation of beer that is long term conditioning in advance of it's drinking season (ie: brew stout/porter/etc in early summer for fall/winter consumption, or higher grav ales conditioning for 6+ months), as well as some that is ready to drink more quickly (brown ales, pales, bitters, etc). always nice to have both variety and supply.

I also was prepping for the move to AG. I didn't brew for 2 months while i sought out and purchased equipment.

 

[DavidSteel]

150 bottles? That doesn't seem like very much... Maybe I drink too much, hahaha! I have about 220 bottles right now and have 17 gallons waiting to be bottled... and I'm out of bottles (fuuuuuuuu-)

i brew it and everyone i know wants to drink it!

lol yeah, same here. I usually give a bottle of each of my brews to my friends.