What do I do with my beer?

Why not 1 gallon batches? I would think the most common batch size would be 5 gallons, why are you doing 10 gallons if you do not want the extra beer?

 

Sounds like your batch size should reflect how often you want to brew and how much you want to drink.

If the alternative is throwing out beer, then batch size should be reduced. Part of the calculus could include beer longevity - some types age better than others - and the types of beers you'd like to make and drink

 

@ThomasJoseph315, are you member of a Homebrewing club (or know of a local(s) club)? I would think that your beer would be appreciated by the Homebrewing club members at their periodic (monthly) meetings.

Cheers!

 

I thought the same thing that 5-10 gallon batches would be too much.. But we always run out of a beer before we are sick of it...

 

This makes me think I drink too much. Not sure I have had a batch last more then 3 weeks yet. Of course I have only done IPA so far.

 

Too much beer? that sounds terrible! ...

My only thought would be to give it away to friends/family. Co-workers as well. I brought a bunch of pumpkin ales into work last year for the fall that was a huge hit. No matter where you work, people will appreciate some good home brews.

 

Give some away to friends and neighbors. Their feedback will be nearly useless, and you'll never see the empty bottles returning, but you'll get it back in karma.

 

Most invented hypothetical problem, ever.

5 gallons of beer is just a bit over 2 cases. If it's good, it will certainly keep long enough for you to drink it all - even if that takes months - as long as you exercise some care with regard to how/where you store it. And if it's REALLY good, it'll be gone all too quickly.

I've had kegs go into hiding in the back of a fridge only to stumble across them a year later and the beer is often just fine (not always, longevity is at least somewhat style-dependent - but more often than not.)

We've all probably brewed a lot more than we can (reasonably) consume. In fact, I've done that for years. Get creative. Find someone to split the cost of ingredients with you, then split the batch between you. Find someone local who's willing to barter with you (farmers' markets are often ripe with people open to such exchanges). I used to trade beer for flowers, hanging baskets, etc. I've packaged 'gift bottles' and traded those with a woman who has a local gourmet foods business around the holidays. She gives the bottles to her son for Christmas, and I come away with jams, jellies, sausage rolls and chicken pies. Wins all around.

FWIW, 5 gal batches were always too small. I scaled up to 10 & 15 gallons just so I'd still have enough to drink.

 

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/community/clubs/find-a-homebrew-club/

 

Seconding the idea to do 1 gallon batches. It's easy to do all grain with a 1 gallon batch, and there's less to drink each batch (which sounds like what you want) sho you can tweak more often. You could brew every weekend if you wanted, once you get the pipeline going, with something new to drink each week.

 

This ^^^^ or check with your LHBS in case there is a club that is not registered with the association.

 

That's exactly what I was thinking!! Ha!

 

Hmm. The brewer that doesn't like to drink is usually in charge of the microbrewery. You don't need to go smaller. You need to go bigger.

 

Dang! 5-10 gallons is still usually too much for me to work through. I usually end up with a 1-1.5 gallons of beer in each keg that sort of just languishes around until I have so many carboys backing up that I have to dump it.
I recently started re-experimenting with fermenting in 5 gallon corny kegs. I ferment 4.25 gallons and end up with about 4 gallons in the finished keg. So far this seems to be enough to limit waste.
I still use a 5.5 gallon batch size because that size recipe seems to be the easiest currency for communicating recipes and ingredient % back and forth with each other. So I have been using the extra to regularly do a forced fermentation test. Not really necessary but at least I don't feel I am wasting wort as much, and its cool to get a read on the FG before the whole batch finishes.

 

Never had the problem of too, much beer.

If you like high abv brews make some barly ones, imperial stouts, extremely beers, etc and bottle them, store,em in the cellar and keep brewing. Keep your lower abv brews in the kegs for regular drinking.

 

I have the opposite problem, I brew as often as possible and it's hard to keep the taps pouring...

Maybe get the salt out of your axewound and drink more Nancy?

In all seriousness a homebrew club is the way to go, you would get good feedback on the brew you are making, hone your skills, get some good karma and make some fellow beer makers happy with free booze.

 

So just multiply your recipe by .8 and you have a 4 gallon batch that will brew nicely in an 8 gallon kettle. It will ferment nicely in a 6.5 gallon fermenter for 3 weeks without worry of oxidation. Rack to keg and be happy.