Time to destroy the stash

[damienair]

All that bottling must be time consuming, and storage space to keep the bottles at a premium. I barrel mine in 40 pint top tap barrels, it’s easy to rack the fermented beer into a barrel, gravity does that, then when the barrel is set in position just a time lapse for clearing. It’s own secondary fermentation builds up a nice pressure to force the lovely clear headed beer into your pint glass. Simple.

I have a garage and the previous owners put some of their old kitchen units out there so luckily I have loads of storage space. Personally I like bottles and enjoy the whole process. It’s nice to have a choice of beers and be able to put a few into the fridge. I only really have a few beers at the weekends. I’m on a few days off now so enjoying a couple this evening. I mowed the lawn. I deserve it.

 

[damienair]

What time do you want me round?

Drop in anytime. You’ll be very welcome.

 

[damienair]

My "stash" is not too dissimilar to that though I have 6 kegs that I try to keep in various states of fill so not all bottles. Most of my bottled beer comes from dealing with the mismatch between the size of a Corny keg (19L) and a kit's brew length (22-23L) so I usually end up putting the first 3-4L into bottles and then sticking them away for longer aging.

Currently running at 72 bottles + 122 pints in kegs when my IPA finishes so also somewhere around 190 pints. Good level to maintain I think in case of emergencies

As the previous poster mentioned though not sure I'd want to ever have the overhead of bottling all my beer or finding somewhere to keep it!

I’m lucky. My garage has loads of storage thanks to the previous owners putting old kitchen cabinets out there. So loads of storage. I’ve been collecting bottles for 6 months and I’ve enough for almost 6 full 23 litre brews. I don’t honestly mind bottling, in fact weirdly I enjoy it. I enjoy the full process. I like grabbing a few beers and popping them in the fridge.
I agree, I will try and protect a stash so as to get a steady supply of beers and various styles. At least I’ll not get sick of the collection and always have something for visitors and most importantly myself.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

Don't always assume that the beer gets better. I built up an archive of my beers and thought better test them and realised they'd gone over the hill.
Ambient temp not great for beer. I'm now going to bottle the spare from the ferment to drink or pass on and enjoy it fresh. Now have far too many bottles.

 

[damienair]

I ended up making a good dent in the beer collection over the past 2-3 weeks. The cooler box arrived but weather is still awful. Must be the coldest and wettest May on record. A couple of my Neighbours and my brother in law gave me some assistance. I just did a stock check earlier. So the stock is now the following;

1.Richies Simply Lager - 4 x 500ml bottles left
2. Coopers Hefe Wheat - All gone
3. Mangrove Jacks Pink Grapefruit IPA - 27 x 500ml bottles left
4. Festival Oaked Apple Cider- 35 x 500ml bottles left
5. Bruphoria James Blonde Ale - 40 x 330ml bottles left
6. Mangrove Jacks Bavarian Wheat Beer - 24 x 500ml bottles left
7. Mangrove Jacks Juicy Session IPA - 22 x 500ml bottles left
8. Australian Blend Pinot Grigio - 12 bottles left.

Mangrove Jacks Irish Red Ale will be bottled next weekend and then another Pink Grapefruit IPA will go on. Very impressed with the quality of the Mangrove Jacks Kits. But all are lovely and very drinkable.

 

[Pavalijo]

ive been brewing hard over the last few months as I share most output with my son and wanted to get ahead to make sure all is conditioned before I drink most of it!
However my latest batch was the first all grain attempt and it is so much better that I’m now thinking I wish I had less stock so I could go hard at building up all grain stocks!
20 bottles Youngs AIPA - came out harshly bitter so am leaving that a while.
6 bottles Juicy IPA - have been enjoying this one.
3 bottles Presidents Sierra - ditto although slightly sweet malt.
20 bottles of Festival Razorback IPA. The tester bottle was very promising and now a month later should be really good. This is the only kit I have repeated. The first batch was mostly very good - but the last bottle at a good few months old was excellent. Hoping this will turn out as good now I have the chance to resist.
36 bottles of Tiny Rebel Cwtch - delighted to say that my son didn’t like the sound of it. The tester bottle was superb and I hear it gets better after a few months
18 bottles of Festival Golden Stag. The first Festival kit with a pronounced HB twang. Can’t fathom what went wrong. Drinkable but I think I’ll give it to the son to whittle down the stocks quicker!
20 bottles of my first all grain - Clibit’s Citra Pale Ale. My pride and joy. Not a perfect first attempt at AG but the test bottle after 2 weeks carbonating and no conditioning was amazing. My wife and daughter loved it and they’re not regular beer drinkers!

My wine cellar has dipped under 300 bottles during lockdown for the first time in a few years and my liver is feeling the strain, so perhaps it’s not a bad thing that I’m about to go on a long holiday away from all this temptation so I can have a rest before hitting the stocks.

But the best thing will as always be sharing the good stuff with mates!

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@Pavalijo
The change from kit to all grain was the biggest change to my beer for sure. Every other bit of kit / expense has led to incremental and learning gains.

I keg most of my beer now and that's been a sea change as well. But I do enjoy bottling the " spare " testing it a while later or passing it on for criticism or accolade.

Trying to build up my wine stocks as I know that does have durability.

 

[Pavalijo]

@Pavalijo
Trying to build up my wine stocks as I know that does have durability.

I have been “collecting” wine as a hobby for over 20 years now. Buying a case (or just a few bottles) and following its development over years has been fascinating - the same as seeing how beer changes as it conditions but over many years.

The trouble is that you have to have a much better memory as some of the wines I have will be drunk over a 10 year period. My oldest is a 1985 that I started drinking (case of 12) in 2000 when it was nicely aged and at its peak. The last bottle I drank 5 years ago was faded but elegant (and would have been overpowered with food). I have one bottle left that I cant bring myself to open.

I have a 1990 sweet Vouvray - the last of 30 bottles that I bought from a lovely old couple after spending an hour with them in their vaulted cellar sampling different vintages. I may never open that one as it has such great memories for me, but I enjoyed seeing those change character over the years.

I highly recommend the hobby - the Lille wine fair each November (COVID permitting) is a good place to start. A ticket (I think about 20€ but I get mine sent FOC by vineyards that I have bought from) gets you a glass and the chance to sample the wares of around 600 producers for free with no obligation to buy. We visited around 20 vineyards in the Loire Valley in a week several years ago - great holiday!

A word of warning - you have to be prepared for big disappointment after that wine you expected to be great is poor (or corked).

Anyway, sorry for the thread drift!

 

[RoomWithABrew]

@Pavalijo
Time to invest in that wine thief that allows you to sample from a bottle and refill with argon so no deterioration.
Would love to get back to France to see the relatives and their culture again. Can get out of New Zealand ok but getting back in is tricky at the moment.
Plus pitiful vaccine rate down here possibly slowest in the world. Talk about cautious.
Again gone off topic.
All my good wine is stored in the UK as importing it when we moved out here was ridiculous duty, some of it even came from here! So my old friends wait for me at home. Especially the vintage champagnes, but even they go over the hill.

 

[damienair]

I have just had a bottle of my first beer, a Richies Simply Lager. It was just a simple kit and kilo. When first ready it was nice and I was delighted with myself that it was drinkable. 6 months later it has I think deteriorated, no head and it has a twang. Still drinkable but just not good. I’ve just 2 bottles left which I’ll finish off on Friday evening. I just had 1 earlier and decided to wash the twang away with a James Blonde Ale. The James Blonde Ale is such a jump up in taste and quality. No more off license purchases for a while. I’ll keep drinking my stash so as it does not get too old.

 

[RoomWithABrew]

I think my new adage is going to be
" if it's strong it will keep long,
if it's weak then it doesn't keep,
if it's hoppy in no time goes grotty "

You heard it first here folks.

 

[damienair]

I think my new adage is going to be
" if it's strong it will keep long,
if it's weak then it doesn't keep,
if it's hoppy in no time goes grotty "

You heard it first here folks.

Love it. Very wise. I’ll drink up.

 

[damienair]

Well I am shocked and amazed at how quickly the stock had been consumed over the past few weeks. Family, Neighbours and friends have been enjoying the stash, as of course have I. I’ll be taking it easy now for a few weeks. No more BBQ’s or gatherings planned.
the stash is now down to the following:


1. Mangrove Jacks Pink Grapefruit IPA - 11 x 500ml bottles left
2. Festival Oaked Apple Cider- 31 x 500ml bottles left
3. Bruphoria James Blonde Ale - 21 x 330ml bottles left
4. Mangrove Jacks Bavarian Wheat Beer - 6 x 500ml bottles left
5. Mangrove Jacks Juicy Session IPA - 7 x 500ml bottles left
6. Australian Blend Pinot Grigio - 8 bottles left.
7. Mangrove Jacks Irish Red Ale- 40 x 500ml bottles (Conditioning)

A new batch of Pink Grapefruit IPA is on since yesterday evening. The beers are all great. I had placed them all in different order of personal choice a few times now. It is great to have a few different styles. All are very good, the Bruphoria James Blonde Ale was in last position a few weeks ago. But time has been very good to this beer, it has aged very well and improves, it has climbed slowly into the No.1 spot.

 

[dad_of_jon]

my stash is...

so I have a few winter warmers sorted, just need a SAISON for autumn and a KVEIK if we get a heatwave.

p.s. you may notice my sig is a little out of date. I do update it sometimes - honest

 

[damienair]

my stash is...

View attachment 49053

so I have a few winter warmers sorted, just need a SAISON for autumn and a KVEIK if we get a heatwave.

p.s. you may notice my sig is a little out of date. I do update it sometimes - honest

Great Stash. Liquid TNT , that sounds interesting.