Today I made my 20th all grain batch in 20 weeks. That means I’m going through about a keg a week. Not all drank by me of course, and a couple batches are for a party at the end of the summer and there’s still some in the fridge awaiting consumption but I just realized I’ve made 100 gallons of beer in the past 5 months.
Just curious, how much does the average brewer brew? Doesn’t matter if it’s all-grain or extract, just wondered if I’m keeping up with the rest of you.
I’ve done 14 batches so far this year, but that includes some batches like yours. I split quite a few of my batches with a brew buddy. There’s also a mead in that count, as well as one that was solely for a going away party.
I’d say your a bit ahead of where I am, but nuthin too bad. (or good, depending on how you look at it :))
I’m up to 12 five gallon batches so far this year for a running total of 60+ gallons (the batches are usually more like 5.5 gallons). I’ll probably end up with about 20 batches for a little more than 100 gallons for the year.
Right now I’ve got a pretty good supply on tap but I’ve got a picnic coming up I’m taking a keg to and a couple pretty big gaps in the brewing schedule due to summer weekend trips and activities.
Also 10 of those 60 gallons are 10+ % barleywines and aren’t ready to drink yet and won’t be for awhile.
My brewing mostly keeps up with my demand for myself and what I give to others except for the occasional gap.
I try to always keep my 12 gallon conical full, but since I usually leave beer in there 3 weeks that means at most I can brew about 15 batches. Luckily I also have a bunch of buckets, but temp control is harder for them.
In general I like to have 45-60 gallons on hand, not including cider.
It is only too much if you run out of storage space or fermentation capacity. I brew in binges - generally 30 gallons at a whack. Stocks up the cellar and I only have to brew every 4 or 5 months. That 30 gallons is generally three 10 gallon batches of wort that are treated differently in fermentation and conditioning to have plenty of variety.
I only do about one batch every three or four months, but that’s mostly a budget issue. I also go through beer pretty slowly, so running out hasn’t really been an issue so far.