What does your rotation look like (repeat brews)?

[Murphys_Law]

I have a 5 tap keezer and usually keep 2, maybe three “go to” beers on tap and rotate the other taps.

My standards are an English IPA with lots of rye, a house ale using citra and mosaic and a Pilsner. I’ve pretty much dialed these in and don’t change the recipe now.

I rotate the other taps with another lager (liking a new Vienna recipe which may become a standard), a Fresh Squeezed Clone, a stout (still playing with recipes), a hefe, and sometimes a beer that I just throw together to play around. Basically the other taps are seasonal and/or used to dial in recipes.

What does your brew schedule look like? Do you change it up, brew the same thing, or a mix?

 

[JimRausch]

I bottle (Yeah I'm weird, I like it) and might have 12-18 varieties on hand at any one time. But, over the years I have worked out a seasonal brewing schedule:
Early Fall= kolsch, altbiers, graf and cider
Late Fall/early winter= Vienna, Marzen, Bock and Dopplebock lagers
mid-late winter= ambers, Irish Reds, Porters
Spring= Wheats, esp. with fruit additions, pale ales
At any time during this schedule I might mix it up by adding an additional PA or anything else that might strike my fancy. I'm still working on perfecting a Tropical Stout, but only do it once every 12-18 months. Recently did a small batch of Tsar's Kvass from AHA forum, and plan on doing a larger batch of that at some point.
Part of the fun of this obsession, I mean hobby, is trying out new things.

 

[Pappers_]

I'm not consistent about it, but brew quite a few pale ales, IPAs and stouts. The last two years, I've been brewing the dry Irish stout version - the small stout - and have enjoyed it. In the past year, I've brewed a Dortmunder lager three times (it took a silver medal at a competition this summer). We have a Golden Strong recipe that we like and repeat brew. But I wouldn't say there's a beer that I always have ready to drink.

 

[Zimm9]

I haven't been brewing long enough to really claim a "rotation" but I've known from the start that I'd have a brown ale of some kind on hand as often as possible. Still nailing down which recipe I prefer then I'll definitely repeat it. Otherwise, I'm experimenting to find other recipes that I like and that my family/friends like. I'd love to get into kegging eventually but, as Jim points out, you can have a lot more variety by bottling.

 

[jlinz]

Working on getting a rotation going after a hiatus. I'm confident it will include a pale ale, a stout, and a saison. It used to include a pale ale, stout, and a Belgian wheat.

 

[Murphys_Law]

I bottle (Yeah I'm weird, I like it) and might have 12-18 varieties on hand at any one time. But, over the years I have worked out a seasonal brewing schedule:
Early Fall= kolsch, altbiers, graf and cider
Late Fall/early winter= Vienna, Marzen, Bock and Dopplebock lagers
mid-late winter= ambers, Irish Reds, Porters
Spring= Wheats, esp. with fruit additions, pale ales
At any time during this schedule I might mix it up by adding an additional PA or anything else that might strike my fancy. I'm still working on perfecting a Tropical Stout, but only do it once every 12-18 months. Recently did a small batch of Tsar's Kvass from AHA forum, and plan on doing a larger batch of that at some point.
Part of the fun of this obsession, I mean hobby, is trying out new things.

I’ll bottle an occasional batch. I have a pumpernickel stout in bottles now and brewed a Christmas Ale a few weeks ago which will be bottled. I’m also doing a RIS next week which I’ll bottle.

I use bottles and at least two taps to try different things!

 

[GPP33]

I have a Saison, Kolsch and American Hefe that are pretty much locked down and at least one is always on tap. I usually keep at least one dark beer on tap but don't reach for it as often and change up the recepies/styles a lot. I like to mess around with my pale ales and IPAs. I have a Rye IPA that's ever evolving and like to play with SMASH (or close to it) recepies. Just picked up 2lbs of Cascade so for a while I'll have at least one Cascade hoped Pale Ale/IPA. The other one I'm having fun with right now is doing the same recipe with all the varieties of cryo hops.

Current tap line up is Mosaic SMASH, Saison, Scotch and Coffee Stout. Next brew day will probably be a Pale Ale and an IPA, or maybe a Hefe, or a Kolsch. Tough decisions.....

 

[Sadu]

I try to keep something dark, something light and something hoppy on tap. Seems to be a good mix. Then always have a great range of the more interesting stuff in bottles as well.

 

[applescrap]

Awesome question, I guess mix for me. I change it up and brew some constants. Founders breakfast stout I brew at least once a year for sure. This time of year and soon I brew a pumpkin beer. I also like to brew a belgian of some kind here and there. Then I also change things up. I brewed a julius clone and constantly seek to experiment with warm lagers. I hope to start brewing light type lagers soon with rice and or corn adjuncts and small grain bills for calorie sake. Without a doubt though, I imagine my next to beers will be pumpkin and breakfast stout. I am enjoying reading about what others brew.

 

[thehaze]

I do not brew the same beers more than once, as this will quickly become boring.

I always brew new recipes and try to better the final product.

 

[AzOr]

Orfy’s mild ale at least twice per winter and a couple of batches of pilsners. Those are my base beers. There’s a few others but I don’t brew them as regularly.

 

[PADave]

I always keep an IPA, a black IPA, a lighter session IPA, and a stout on hand. For the winter I do a red IPA. Yes, I like hops, lol. That's what I like to drink, so that's what I brew. I've done other styles, but they usually end up sitting in the back of the fridge.

 

[radwizard]

I have three taps:

1) Hoppy Beers
2) Clean Farmhouse Styles, Kettle Soured Ales
3) Funky Tap (Sours, Brett Beers)

Sometimes I brew up a Cream Ale or Kolsh and throw it in there (Football Season) but for the most part I am just kegging these styles. I have some Sours, and Bigger Clean beers that I bottle.

My Home Brewery has kinda endied up having a Rustic Theme to it.

 

[tellyho]

Still in bottles after 11 years, but rotation is pretty consistent. Always have an IPA of some sort around, always a saison, fall: black IPA, wee heavy, winter: RIS, imperial IPA, spring: British pale ale, kolsch, wit, or the like, summer: fruity IPA.

 

[madscientist451]

Cider, Kentucky Bourbon/Oak aged ale that I'll sometimes blend with the cider, a lager usually a Czech/Bavarian or a Maibock, a session IPA or pale ale and then a dark beer, but lately I've been brewing some brown ales/English milds/Cask ales for that spot. I'll throw in a Saison/Sour fruit beer. I'm actually thinking of doing some bottling for more variety. So many beers...so little time.

 

[Pkrd]

Something light, something dark, a pale ale and an IPA or DIPA.

 

[Jtk78]

I also bottle, and have been brewing about a year. I've only done the same recipe a second time once (pale ale with Mosaic and El Dorado) and I've brewed 2 NEIPAS (different recipe and hop bill). I have a pretty good variety going right now, about 150 bottles ready to drink. However, I'm winding down on a few batches (less than 6 on 3 beers). I have a saison I bottled this week, and a foreign extra stout in the ferm chamber. Belgian blond and a Irish dry stout on deck in 2 weeks.

 

[Brownalemikie]

Every Friday is bottling day, every Saturday is brew day. I do 3 gallon batches and rotate Stout and Brown Ale. Have tried 5 or 6 styles but decided to brew my 2 faves. The Brown is about 5.6% the stout is about 6.2%. Works for me 😎

 

[Clef051]

I usually brew a ipa about every other beer, although the recipe usually changes. In the summer more saison style beers. In the winter porters/stouts. I only have a few permanent recipes a porter, imperial stout and 80 shilling scottish ale. They even some times change a little if I can't get the right ingredients.

 

[corkybstewart]

In the middle years of my brewing I rarely repeated beers, I always had some oddball idea I wanted to try. They usually came out OK but not something I would want to repeat. But now that I'm old and don't brew nearly as much I like to have mostly a consistent selection with just one or two oddball beers on tap. I have 12 taps available, but usually I only have 6-8 different beers. There's almost always a stout or porter(sometimes both), a light pale ale, an IPA or 2 and a sour. Right now my oddball is my crabapple sour or my vanilla porter.

 

[TheAleRunner]

I've got 3 taps, and generally keep my coffee porter on one of them at all times because that's what my wife likes to drink. I use the same base beer, but change up the coffee every batch.

The other two taps are pretty much filled with hoppy beers. I order hops in bulk, so I'll do different IPAs or pale ales to try single hop beer or how hop blends work together.

Every so often I'll do something different. One of my taps has an Oktoberfest Marzen on right now. That one took the place of a grisette. And I do enjoy having a gose or Berliner Weisse on tap too.

Come to think about it, I need to get a bigger chest freezer so I can have more taps.

 

[schematix]

1. Yellow Beer - Pilsner, Helles or experimental SMaSH Lager
2. Amber Beer - Marzen / Ofest / Bock
3. Hoppy Beer - Pale Ale / IPA
4. Black Beer - Stout (about half the year)

 

[magno]

I have a 3-tap keggerator. I usually keep something hoppy, something malty, and something else on hand.

For a while now, I've been making a smaller pale ale as a starter for the bigger batches that follow - basically a 4-5 gallon yeast starter. Sometimes that is on the third tap.

As far as repeat brews, I like to make a variation of Poor Richard's Ale to be ready in January (for Ben Franklin's birthday), what I call Color Blind Green Beer (a red ale made with potatoes in the mash) for St. Patrick's Day, a honey-rye ale for my birthday in July (the recipe this came from was the HBT 06.06.06 beer), and often a chocolate cherry stout for the holidays at the end of the year.

 

[jalc6927]

I'll keep one with my Blue Moon clone, the rotate the other 2 with a seasonal beer, and an amber, bock, or light ale ( in summer months)

I have 4 taps but can't seem to fit the 4th keg in there?

 

[passedpawn]

I've got 4 taps. I always have german pils on tap, and a pale ale. Both light session beers. Other taps could be anything.

 

[ong]

4 taps, and generally I aim to have an IPA, a bitter or mild, and a stout on tap, and then a wildcard for the last one (cider, sour, fruit beer, etc.). But I’ve never brewed the same recipe twice.

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

5 taps here, will be adding a 6th sometime.

1 tap is has never been anything but club soda for wife. With a bit of citrus juice it's pretty good. Homemade syrups are always on hand.

Time is limited from January-April so that time of year not much gets done. After that I'll usually brew a blonde to have for the summer time.

Late summer/fall is when my repeats get brewed. I almost always do an Oatmeal Stout, ESB, Pilsner, and Oktoberfest. I've got a pale ale recipe that I really like that gets put on tap whenever I get time. There's also a 2% "Rye Wit" (recipe from basicbrewingradio) that I keep on hand a lot, but it tends to stick around for longer than I like when it gets brewed, especially during the winter months.

 

[REPO]

How long does beer last when put into a keg? How do you guys go through this much beer?! lol

 

[jalc6927]

How long does beer last when put into a keg? How do you guys go through this much beer?! lol

Not long enough, and drink too fast...

 

[jakeasaur]

I have a 3-tap keggerator. I usually keep something hoppy, something malty, and something else on hand.

For a while now, I've been making a smaller pale ale as a starter for the bigger batches that follow - basically a 4-5 gallon yeast starter. Sometimes that is on the third tap.

As far as repeat brews, I like to make a variation of Poor Richard's Ale to be ready in January (for Ben Franklin's birthday), what I call Color Blind Green Beer (a red ale made with potatoes in the mash) for St. Patrick's Day, a honey-rye ale for my birthday in July (the recipe this came from was the HBT 06.06.06 beer), and often a chocolate cherry stout for the holidays at the end of the year.

I'd love your honey-rye recipe if you are willing to share

 

[GPP33]

How long does beer last when put into a keg? How do you guys go through this much beer?! lol

I'll let you know when one goes bad from sitting around. If you do a good job keeping bugs and Oxygen out and you keep it cold it should pretty much last forever. Some styles don't age well so those my become less desirable, on the other hand some styles do age well and only get better with time. The fact that it's in a keg shouldn't affect how a beer ages though. Mist of mine are sadly empty within 3-6 weeks, I do have a Scotch that has been chilling for 6 months that I brewed for Christmas.

 

[brewbama]

I have two taps. I keep one lighter colored beer and one darker colored beer. Right now that’s an Innkeeper Strong Pale Ale clone and a Ayinger Altbairisch Dunkel clone. My next brew will be a Newcastle Brown Ale clone and the following will be a 7 SRM Christmas Beer.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

6 taps, but having trouble keeping them filled. Not because I drink it so quickly (heck, I make 10 gallon batches), but because I don't brew frequently enough.

I've got a couple of nailed in recipes:
Hoppy Blonde Ale (try to keep on tap most of the time for my girlfriend)
IPA (I change things up a little here and there, but the concepts are always the same)
Rye Pale Ale
Milk Stout (I don't do this nearly as often though)
Oktoberfest (brewed once a year)

I then try to brew a 2nd lager with the o'fest yeast. Done a few things, like schwarzbier and I have my first pilsner on right now.

 

[pigroaster]

GPP33...Any chance of posting or sending me your saison keeper recipe? Thanks

 

[nobadays]

3 taps... Always a hoppy IPA and an APA. The 3rd tap changes but usually a session APA in the summer the some kind of dark ale - has been 80 Shilling Scottish, Red Rye IPA, Porter, right now a nut brown ale with a hint of hazelnut.

I always have bottles around as well, mostly from emptying kegs for the next batch.

Cheers! Don

 

[MrPowers]

I've got a 4 tap kegerator. I tend to change up recipes a lot, so it varies every time someone comes over. But I usually have at least one tap dedicated to my Wit/Hefeweizen/American Lager for my dad. Those recipes don't change much. I've also got a Rye Porter/Stout (not sure what to call it yet) that I've been keeping around lately. It's been a crowd favorite.

The other two taps tend to rotate back and forth between german and british beer (with the occasional APA/IPA thrown in) based on whatever bulk grain I've got in stock at the time.

 

[ircbrewing]

How long does beer last when put into a keg? How do you guys go through this much beer?! lol

Lol its football season so not long!

Think about it, if you have a beer a day possibly more on Friday/Saturday it doesnt take long to drink 50 12 oz pours.

 

[corkybstewart]

How long does beer last when put into a keg? How do you guys go through this much beer?! lol

I sipped on a keg of imperial stout for almost 3 years, it tasted fine until the end. But I've also had kegs that started to taste stale after just a couple of months so it depends on the beer

 

[DromJohn]

I bottle.
Every other beer is SWMBO Choice. SWMBO has chosen my only repeats, Redhook Double Black Stout and Innis & Gunn Original.
My choices run four in rotation: Bitter, Not a Bitter/IPA, IPA and Experiment.
The Bitter choice alternates between leftover and an one ingredient change of Redhook ESB.
My IPA alternates between a clone and leftover.

So my next 16:
Old Rasputin; Leftover Bitter; Redhook Double Black Stout V; Wells Bombardier (will slide back four waiting for WLP006 to get 120 more Vault orders); SWMBO choice; Bell's Two Hearted; SWMBO choice; Sweetwater Magnum IP (will slide forward four); SWMBO choice; Redhook ESB IV; SWMBO choice; Non Bitter/IPA; SWMBO choice; Leftover IPA; SWMBO choice; Experiment

 

[brewcat]

I usually go for a mix.

I have recipes I brew multiple times a year (e.g. Bitter, Irish Red). While others might be brewed every other year (e.g. Christmas Stout, Pumpkin Ale). Then there are new recipes I'm trying to finish. Then if NB or other brew shop has a sale on kits for cheap...

I run out of time to keep one variety always on one tap. I've had a new sack of 2-row for 2 months and still haven't opened it. I need a week of vacation alone just to brew.