How often do you brew?

[billybushcook]

Following on from the january Lotto thread.

This may be incriminating.....but...

How often do you brew & how much/how old is your stock?

One of the advantages I find using bottles as apposed to kegs is that there is almost no limit to the amount or age of my stock.
I keep 1/2 doz bottles from each batch & they go on the top shelf, some may stay there for 7 or 8 Months if they are any good & then brought out for special occasions & this year I gave some to my Father & Father in-law for chrissy.

To achieve this I have three fermenters which I constantly keep full, two in the brew box & one in the fridge cold conditioning.

With Ales this means I can brew every weekend, two weeks in primary, rack & cold condition for a week.

In reallity I brew three weeks out of every four.
The trick is to build up plenty of stock & then keep up with consumption & hand outs (sounds simple I know but is not always easy to keep it up)
This keeps plenty of stock (around 130 bottles) & my beers can mature for up to 8 weeks before I open one.

What is your brewing schedule / straturgy?

mick.

[rotten]

I try to brew once a week, in reality like you billy it's probably 3 out of 4 weeks. I have 2 fermentors and a no chill cube, I am finding this is not enough. My shedule is usually primary for at least a week, then secondary ccing for at least one more week. Bottling normally happens because I need to brew

My oldest (drinkable) stock is a kit lager which is 10 months old, then a partial stout from the start of may I think, so 6ish months old. Next is my first partial APA which is just a bit younger. My AG brews which started not long after those don't last very long, I have 3 brews maturing with one more ready to bottle. I do have other bits and pieces which I drink inbetween AG brews to try to let them mature, but they're nearly gone too.

Mine as a general rule don't get past 1-2 month old
I have about 140 bottled at the moment, a few months ago it was over 200

Cheers

[earle]

My brewing is sporadic depending on time available and whether I have bottles free. Since I finished studying I have been brewing 2-3 batches per month which has resulted in me having about 350 stubbies on hand. If you don't count the 13yo bottles of ginger beer that I have my oldest stock is probably the choc porter that I sent to Mick in the lotto. 15 months old and I still have about half a dozen for myself. No problems finding something for a lotto but as I mentioned in the lotto thread I'm a bit precious about the bottles as they don't make them anymore and I bottling is enough of a chore without having to stuff around with a mix of different bottles. May seem silly but ..... From now on I'll do a few longnecks from each batch and put aside for lottos, if I don't need to send them I'll have a stash of aged brews.

Since I've built up my stock I am now just dabbling with some different brews like a bock and a belgian. Am expecting our second child in a few weeks so brewing may be curtailed for a while hence the build up of stock. If I can knock out one a month for the first few months with a new baby I'll be happy.

[Bum]

In general I will start thinking about a new batch when I am about halfway through the previous batch. SWMBO doesn't drink beer and my mates have either moved in to the city or punched out babies and have become invisible so my batches do last me a while. Since pretty much two out of three beers is American in style there's not much point in me having them sitting around for extensive aging. Exceptions to this pattern are GBs (I try to get these down as soon a a beer batch is done to give them a bit more bottle time) and a RIS I did a few months back (here I went right from an AIPA to RIS to GB - only time my fermenting fridge has ever been going for 3 consecutive brews).

[billybushcook]

My brewing is sporadic depending on time available and whether I have bottles free. Since I finished studying I have been brewing 2-3 batches per month which has resulted in me having about 350 stubbies on hand. If you don't count the 13yo bottles of ginger beer that I have my oldest stock is probably the choc porter that I sent to Mick in the lotto. 15 months old and I still have about half a dozen for myself. No problems finding something for a lotto but as I mentioned in the lotto thread I'm a bit precious about the bottles as they don't make them anymore and I bottling is enough of a chore without having to stuff around with a mix of different bottles. May seem silly but ..... From now on I'll do a few longnecks from each batch and put aside for lottos, if I don't need to send them I'll have a stash of aged brews.

Since I've built up my stock I am now just dabbling with some different brews like a bock and a belgian. Am expecting our second child in a few weeks so brewing may be curtailed for a while hence the build up of stock. If I can knock out one a month for the first few months with a new baby I'll be happy.

Congrats on the expected Bub Mate,
On the Limited supply of your bottles,
I will be looking forward to re-loading the two you sent & returning them to their rightfull home!!!!!!!
(You can call it, wetting the babies head )

Are your feet still dry up there at the moment?
I spent a few Months working out of Townsville a few years back, lovely part of the world.......would like to get back up there some day.

Cheers, mick.

[earle]

Thanks Mick

Its been raining here since about September, we had 500mm in November and probably even more in December. They had to stop the sugar cane harvest about a month early as the fields are way too sodden to get into. Fortunately we've only been cut off from town a couple of times by flooded roads but that was for less than a day each time. We've been much more fortunate than those to the north and south of us, I think its because our rivers don't extend very far inland so don't provide the same catchment as the rivers that run through Rocky, Bundy and Townsville. I feel like I should have webbed feet but when you look at all the poor buggers in Rocky I've got nothing to complain about.

Cheers
Earle

[Trizza]

This’ll probably sound a little insane however:

April to October is my heavy ale season where I brew strong & speciality ales constantly, most with a 2 week ferment & 2-4 week condition prior to bottling. Each of these brews goes into the 640ml bottles (280no). These beers get aged from 6-24 months prior to consumption.

November to March is my regular season where I brew my everyday beers that are less temperature dependent on creating the desired flavours (Bonnies LCPA for example). Simpler, quicker batches 2-3 weeks total brewing time. These batches go into the 500ml bottles (550no). Aged 2-6 months prior to consumption. BTW – I’ve got a source of literally unlimited 500ml bottles from a trendy bottle only bar in Melbourne city, filling all 500 will take forever.

Throughout the year I’ll also do 4-8 batches of Ginger Beer, Cider & other random stuff that just happens. These batches end up in the 740ml Coopers PET’s (320no).

In summary 2010 saw me do about 20 batches. Projections for 2011 will be between 25-30. I’ve always got 3 fermenters full and have a spare for racking / bottling.

And I’m not even a big drinker!

[warra48]

About 13 brews a year.
In other words, about one every 4 weeks.

[Tipsy]

Not very often last year, but I did spend 6mths living in a 6 x 12m shed with a wife and 3 kids which made it pretty difficult.

I hope to brew about once a fortnight this year.

[rotten]

You guys give creedence to the mrs view that I'm a borderline alcho then
Although the docs assure me I'm not
Cheers

[argon]

I'll only brew maybe 1 a month to every 6 weeks. Last year my totals amounted to about 450L. Double batches help out nicely keeping stocks up. Tend to always have a fermenter going and a few cubes waiting. Right now have 3 fermenters in the fridge, 4 cubes waiting and 5 out of six kegs mostly full. Don't really need to brew more than this really.

[Tipsy]

You guys give creedence to the mrs view that I'm a borderline alcho then
Although the docs assure me I'm not
Cheers

I just threw up over the borderline, a new record

[drsmurto]

I've brewed 97 AGs since September 07.

I brewed 25 batches last year and 26 the year before so once a fortnight is about average. I do take some camping and cater for mates over xmas/NYE and am asked to brew for a few occasions a year.

With my first rugrat due in May i suspect that will all go to pot quickly........

[Tipsy]

I've brewed 97 AGs since September 07.

I brewed 25 batches last year and 26 the year before so once a fortnight is about average. I do take some camping and cater for mates over xmas/NYE and am asked to brew for a few occasions a year.

With my first rugrat due in May i suspect that will all go to pot quickly........

OT, I thought you weren't going to breed Dr. Congrats

[Planner]

About 20 batches per year, mostly during the cooler months. Now the hot weathers here I'll do more drinking than brewing.

With my first rugrat due in May i suspect that will all go to pot quickly........

Congrats DrS, I thought I read that somewhere before xmas (maybe AHB), but then couldn't find it again to congratulate you and your partner.
I suspect that your need for time in the "Man Sanctuary" may increase later this year, so brewing volume may not be affected. Unless heaven forbid, sanctuary gets compulsary aquired by the minister for domestic affairs and converted to playroom

[drsmurto]

I wasn't going to breed but after driving through Elizabeth* to and from work every day for the past 2 and a bit years i decided i needed to to try and create some sort of balance in this crazy world.

That and the fact my cunning plan to buy my partner cats to silence her ticking biological clock worked but the effect wore off after 2 years.... Damn those tricky kittens that turn into cats.

So I am looking forward to a daughter sometime in May.

*For those not in Adelaide and not sure what Elizabeth is think Frankston in Melbourne. Full of kids with names like Jaxson, Breeyanah, Izack or any other of the horrendous names found here - A bogue by any other name

[Bum]

think Frankston

You wound me deeply, sir!

[Planner]

For those not in Adelaide and not sure what Elizabeth is think Frankston in Melbourne.

Caught the end of a news story earlier this week, that listed Frankston as the best place in Vic to live for all age groups. Not sure whether this is due to an improvement in Frankston or is a indication of the decline of the rest of our state over the past few years.

[Bum]

Nah, it'll just be one of those things where they do a bit of accounting rather than social theorising. Lots of access to services/amenities here, some affordable housing and some of the most expensive in the state, lots of schools, decent beaches. That's all it'll be - lots of boxes ticked and no thought given to the heroin dealers out front of the station/the mobs of useless pricks hanging out all day near the methadone clinic/etc.

[Planner]

heroin dealers out front of the station/the mobs of useless pricks hanging out all day near the methadone clinic/etc.

Maybe country living's not that bad after all.
Shepp version : heroin pot dealers out front of the station lake/the mobs of useless pricks hanging out all day near the methadone clinic bingo centre