What to do with all this beer?

[Piston_Pounder]

It's been a busy last six years. Therefore, my brewing equipment has been locked away in storage. I have recently gained some spare time back into my agenda and the equipment has come out of hiding. It feels wonderful to be brewing again.

One problem.

I've gotten all excited about brewing beer and I've had so many ideas that I want to try. I've filled all four of my primaries with fermenting goodness and I haven't come close to scratching the surface on what I want to do.

Aside from just being patient, what should I do with all this beer to free up space? I know a lot of you will say to send it your way, but I don't really want to be losing all the money I put into these brews. I guess at the moment I'm enjoying making it more than I am drinking it.

How can I go about giving some away without losing all my bottles? I don't have a kegging system so any beer I give away that's not bottled will be flat... Oh the dilemma...

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Have a party?

 

[VagueSkunk]

You send me some beers...I send you a couple $$ for your trouble

 

[Piston_Pounder]

Have a party?

This is a plausible idea. Not at my house as I have a snooty room mate who will have none of that. My employer likes to throw parties so maybe I can convince him to invest in a kegging system that I can utilize...

 

[brewcat]

Buy more fermenters and/or bottles. Or drink it.

 

[Sillybilly]

If your concern is running out of bottles and not wanting to buy more, setup a system with your buddies that they can exchange empty bottles for your filled ones.

 

[Piston_Pounder]

If your concern is running out of bottles and not wanting to buy more, setup a system with your buddies that they can exchange empty bottles for your filled ones.

Ya I guess there's not much other way without having to lay down the law.

 

[kristiismean]

If your concern is running out of bottles and not wanting to buy more, setup a system with your buddies that they can exchange Rinsedempty bottles for your filled ones.

--Fixed

 

[schatzke]

Yes, rinsed! I had a friend that I gave an 18 pack to return the bottles to me, complete with mold and bugs and everything else nasty stuck in them.

 

[chickypad]

Works pretty well for me when I just tell people they're shut off until they return me some bottles. And they know better than to hand me back sticky moldy ones! You can even have folks save their craft beer bottles at home and give them to you for fill.

 

[z-bob]

I agree with everything that's been mentioned. Also you can brew smaller batches. Drop back to 3 or 4 gallons at a time and you can work thru all your recipe ideas faster

 

[normonster]

Set up a 1 gallon BIAB. You'll get two growlers out of it. That is what I did for experiments and small batches. Works great.

Also, get to drinkin' man!!! God's not just going to insert that stuff into your blood stream!! lol

 

[Stillraining]

--Fixed

LOL..Ya good luck with that..took me forever to even train my brew partners how to rinse properly...they always ended up stealing my bottles due to their sloppy rinse habits...and they are the OCD ones too...go figure.

 

[apl_seed]

Time for a vacation!!

 

[MaryB]

I told my friends they needed to buy a growler with a CO2 charger https://www.williamsbrewing.com/COMPLETE-ULTIMATE-GROWLER-P4040.aspx 3 have, the 4th was to cheap but is begging me to bottle and said NOPE. Tired of nasty moldy bottles you bring back.

 

[Sadu]

I have the same problem. Are trying to lose weight and had to cut back consumption, but still enjoy brewing.

2 things that worked for me.

Firstly smaller batch sizes so you can try out as much crazy stuff as you like and not feel that all your resources are being tied up in experimental beers that aren't always stellar. Also great for hop monsters and really big beers where you don't want to spend a fortune to get a taster of something special.

Secondly, give everyone who comes by your door a couple of bottles and wait for karma to find it's way back. I have a few hunter friends and after being generous with the homebrew I now have a freezer full of wild pork, wild salami, venison, duck, goose, wallaby, chamois - all amazing stuff that I would never get to try normally.

For everything else, cash + homebrew gets you a better deal than just cash.

 

[glugglug]

Join a home brew club and take some beer there, and also get feedback.

 

[ShareBrewing]

Bartering is TOO EASY to do with homebrew. I find that many people I hardly know are willing to trade some good or service for a few bottles. I feel like it's the appeal of something homemade, not just the promise of a good beer that people enjoy about it. Trust me, the beer doesn't have to be great but friends will still want to try it.

And it really does help to just give beer away for karma-sake. It'll come back around in interesting ways!

 

[Stillraining]

Karma?.. Oooh! that's what it is....I gave this chick a home brew and she follows me everywhere now...