Brewing multiple batches...

[snakesandstuff]

I was curious about what people here do while fermenting multiple batches of beer.

I want to have several batches at any given time fermenting, so here is my question.

I have a 6.5 gallon glass carboy primary and a 5 gallon secondary. I was thinking about just getting additional secondaries.

I figured I could leave everything in the primary, transfer to one secondary, brew another batch, put into the cleaned and sanitized primary and repeat etc....

So at what stage does one want to get additional primaries?? I figure if on average the beer is sitting in the secondary contitioning for 2 weeks, then with 1 primary and 2 secondaries, one could brew more often.

So what would be a good idea for what setup to have to say brew every weekend (yes, I'm capable of doing the math, I'm just curious what kind of setups people actually have that brew every weekend).

Thanks a ton for all the help that I've already gotten from this board.... There is no turning back now :)

[Beerconnoisseur]

Others may have other insights, but here is my experience:

Typically, you only will need primaries/secondaries for lagers, and any ales where you want to do extended aging, but don't want the beer to sit on a layer of dead yeast for too long.

If you mostly brew quick consumption ales, you can get away with using just 1 6.5 gallon carboy for primary and secondary fermentation. Buy more 6.5 gallon carboys, and you can have as many batches going as you like or can afford. The real catch hits during bottling; at some point, it is MUCH easier, both cleaning and spacewise, to keep 3-4 Cornelius kegs, instead of having 60-80 24 oz. bottles to wash all the time...

The real questions to ask are: how much beer do you and your friends/family drink in a typical week? And how much lager beer do you plan on brewing? If you are brewing for yourself, 5 gallons will probably last a while. If you are brewing for more people, have them chip in a few bucks (strictly on a voluntary basis; don't break any laws by selling your brew!). Another carboy is only $35, so it can be a very worthy investment even if you're not a lager fanatic, until you save enough for a stainless steel conical fermenter....

[snakesandstuff]

Well, my friends and I go through quite a few beers in a weeks time, not just strictly brewing for myself. I'm lucky enough to have some roommates that are also interested in home brewing and pitching in (no pun intended) on the batches and cooking (not just the consuming) :)

We can go through 40 or so beers a week here, and our friends would be more than happy to recieve some leftovers if/when we had any.

I don't want to invest a whole lot more $ into a kegging system etc right now, so I'm not sure how practical a kegging system would be at the moment.....

[Beerconnoisseur]

A basic kegging setup will only run you $200; perhaps even less if you shop around some. Or you can go with a Tap-A-Draft setup for $60, which others on the board have spoken highly of in the past.

[Erik Speir]

The expensive part of the keg systom is the regulator and gas botle. You might be able to get them cheaper at a welding supply store.

[toneyc]

I brew mostly for my own consumption. I have two 6.5 gallon carboys and two 5 gallon carboys. One of them is ageing mead at all times and I generally have two batches of beer going at a time, sometimes three. I also use a chest freezer that has room for the co2 tank, 6-7 cornie kegs, and several 6-packs. The kegging system ($170 at Austin Homebrew for the basic system) has been worth its weight in gold. I'm not a very graceful person so having 50 bottles full of liquid gold sitting open while capping was a nightmare. Bottle management was also stressful, especially as wifey didn't like a bunch of beer bottles out on the counter top waiting to be washed. And it is *so* hard to train people not to throw bottles away! Anyway, to answer your question, I get by with three carboys for making beer in.

:)
Toney.

[brewmonkey]

You can differ some of the cost of CO2/Regulator if you dont have the money to plunm down all at once.

Check with your local home health supplier or welder. A lot of them will rent it to you for about $5-10 a month. While this is more exoensive in the long run for cash strapped brewers it is a good solution while you save to buy.

Dont forget with CO2 you have to have the bottle tested EVERY 5 years. So if you are buying used ask to see the stamp on the bottle (it is actually stamped into the metal) telling when it was last tested.

[YamahaXS]

ahh, you have a pretty high demand there. 40 beers/week means you go through 1 batch (5 gallons) every week. So... counting backwards, You need 3-6 concurrent batches of beer in the making. (the way I brew, I would want 5-6 batches b/c i tend to let my beer sit in the secondary and bottles longer than most.)

This would on average break down to 1 in the primary, 2-3 in secondary, and 2-3 conditioning in bottles. If you KNOW you are going to brew that much beer then you will need a couple more carboys.

Try to get your buddies to pitch in some start up money. Say 10-20 bucks each. You go buy 1 more primary (so you can brew 2 batches on saturday), and 1 more secondary. Look at a plastic bucket for your primary and another 5 gal carboy for your secondary. This way you can have 2 in primary, 2 in secondary and 2-3 in bottles.

Consider applying left over money to bulk malt extract. 30-50 pounds or so. After your next 6 batches (a bulk container of Malt Extract should get you through 5 or 6 batches) you will be brewing very efficiently, with the costs of the equipment covered by the savings on the bulk extract.

Also, try to get a surplus of beers built up. This might mean *not* drinking any homebrew until you get 4-6 cases of conditioned and ready to drink beer in reserve. And whatever you do, once you dip below 4 cases of bottled beer then you better be brewing your ass off.

Now, my other tidbit of advice is to make sure you give your beer plenty of time. There is no sense in drinking beer before its ready, IMO.