What do you do with 40 pints of beer??!

[thebaron1974]

Here's a question! I am looking to possibly move from 1 gallon kit brewing to the standard 40 pint kits...but...I have no idea what I am going to do with the 45 bottles of beer I will produce every time! Don't get me wrong I do love a beer, but I only really drink at the weekends and then its generally a couple of bottles a night! At that rate it will take me nearly 3 months to finish a batch!

How often do you brew? Do you not get bored with drinking the same beer? Maybe I am over thinking it!

Some ideas of what to do with excess beer would be appreciated!

PS. I guess I could give it to friends and store a few for Xmas etc but it still seems like a lot of ale for one man!!

 

[MmmmCitra]

Why brew so much, do like I do and brew smaller batches, 10 lts gives about 15 bottles, that way you can try different recipes and if you don't like one too much you've only got to wade through a few bottles...........you can also brew more often.

 

[Galena]

Why not stick with smaller batches, more chance to experiment with different recipes and styles and more variety to drink? Less worry about how you will drink it as well.

 

[thebaron1974]

Why brew so much, do like I do and brew smaller batches, 10 lts gives about 15 bottles, that way you can try different recipes and if you don't like one too much you've only got to wade through a few bottles...........you can also brew more often.

I guess i am fixated on the kits which seem to be 40 pints! Maybe I should be looking at recipes and doing it properly :)

 

[thebaron1974]

Why not stick with smaller batches, more chance to experiment with different recipes and styles and more variety to drink? Less worry about how you will drink it as well.

I'm very new to this having only brewed a couple of kits so far! My problem is I keep looking at the 40 pint kits and thinking how on earth will i get through that!

 

[MmmmCitra]

Do BiaB, much better quality beer and you can make your own recipes :)

 

[Galena]

I'm very new to this having only brewed a couple of kits so far! My problem is I keep looking at the 40 pint kits and thinking how on earth will i get through that!

I am very new as well, I did one extract kit and my second will be AG recipe, probably brewing this weekend. I only say that because after this second 21 litre batch I am going to start doing smaller 10 litre batches and doing AG seems to make getting the right quantities of ingredients simpler

 

[stan.distortion]

40 pints... but not quite all of it comes out of the fermenter and you need to be sure it's done fermenting so the sample jar might drink a pint all by its self so that's about 37 pints... and maybe it's done carbonating after 4 days... nope, how about 5? Nope. 6?... Ok, 2 weeks and it's supposed to be ready now... oh, there's only 28 bottles left... ooh, that's pretty tashtyishishy, thish ish da besht beeer evvah!... damn, there are only 20 bottles left now and my mouth tastes like the catbox, better put another brew on to give that a month or 2 to condition, I'll give another bottle a try while I'm brewing...

 

[kelper]

You can use half a kit! I brew a kit every two weeks so I have three FVs and two PBs. My wife helps out.

 

[thebaron1974]

I am very new as well, I did one extract kit and my second will be AG recipe, probably brewing this weekend. I only say that because after this second 21 litre batch I am going to start doing smaller 10 litre batches and doing AG seems to make getting the right quantities of ingredients simpler

I have only done AG kits (alesmithing) where it is all pre-measure etc. This might be a stupid question but where are you getting your recipes from? I assume if its a 21 litre recipe you can just half everything for 10 litres? Sorry if these are daft questions!

 

[thebaron1974]

You can use half a kit! I brew a kit every two weeks so I have three FVs and two PBs. My wife helps out.

This didn't even occur to me!

 

[pms67]

This is not one of the many problems I have.

 

[MmmmCitra]

I assume if its a 21 litre recipe you can just half everything for 10 litres? Sorry if these are daft questions!

Yes, that's what I do, works well and you don't need to be too accurate either.

 

[Galena]

I have only done AG kits (alesmithing) where it is all pre-measure etc. This might be a stupid question but where are you getting your recipes from? I assume if its a 21 litre recipe you can just half everything for 10 litres? Sorry if these are daft questions!

Not a daft question at all, the recipes can be scaled and software like Brewfather, or Brewers Friend will do this for you, as far as buying product is concerned you can just buy what you need or buy in bulk

 

[obscure]

I have only done AG kits (alesmithing) where it is all pre-measure etc. This might be a stupid question but where are you getting your recipes from? I assume if its a 21 litre recipe you can just half everything for 10 litres? Sorry if these are daft questions!

I’m in a similar position too you where a full 23L would take far too long to drink.

A few options I quite often get kits from Worcester Hop Shop, who have being happy to scale the kits down to 11L and charge accordingl.

I also quite often use brewers friend to scale a recipie down, then order everything using Geterbrewed custom grain kit system.

Also it’s worth asking if suppliers can scale an all grain kit down, to say 10L, smaller Suppliers can often be quite accommodating. I haven’t used ale smithing before but if you like them it may be worth asking if they can scale up a kit.

 

[Galena]

If you go All Grain, Brew in a Bag (BIAB) is the easiest and you choose a recipe from say a book or website then Geterbrewed have a custom recipe builder where you can select exactly the ingredients you want without having to but stuff you wont use.
I would say if you are the kind of person who likes to experiment and enjoys the process of learning about brewing and improving your knowledge and skill then go with AG but be warned it is very addictive and whilst it doesn't have to be costly there is a tendency to want to keep buying more equipment in my experience at least.
If you just want to make the odd brew on the cheap and enjoy the odd drink (nothing wrong with that we all brew for many different motives) then stick with kits and scale them down.

 

[MickDundee]

I do 20L batches and only drink at the weekends. 3-4 on a Friday and the same on a Saturday. It takes me 6-8 weeks to get through a batch and generally brew every 4-6 weeks so that I always have 3 or 4 beers to choose from.

 

[terrym]

Staying with small volume extract brewing or AG is probably the way to go. You can pretty much brew what you want to the volume you want, and make up your own recipes or copy them. Extract brewing is quicker but you cant brew that way with any ingredient that has no diastatic power like torrified wheat or oats. But is you want to stay with kits there are a few small volume kits about, or you could split a two can like a Wherry to make up an 11.5 litre batch.

 

[Cwrw666]

I only really drink at the weekends and then its generally a couple of bottles a night! At that rate it will take me nearly 3 months to finish a batch!

Well if you include fridays that's 6 bottles per weekend and you imply you occasionally have the odd one extra so say 7 bottles per weekend. Your 40 pints will only last you 6 weeks.
Then of course you might have a BBQ with a few friends round - and then you'll be wondering where all your beer went!
Then your Mrs will suddenly decide she fancies a beer instead of her usual red wine and your beer supplies will vanish completely.

 

[Graz]

This is not one of the many problems I have.

Likewise, though I now dispense from Corny kegs so only 34 pints in the actual keg so I am building up a nice healthy backlog of bottles but a keg lasts 3 weeks at best.