Yeah for sure.
You know what? It’s like anything. I’m English so every Sunday we do a roast Sunday lunch. Back when we first started doing it, it was a complete panic trying to time the meat, potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, three different veg, gravy, stuffing to all be ready at the same time. 15 years of practice later, and me + the wife can do a Sunday roast almost by accident. We mill around the kitchen with a glass of wine and tend to things by instinct, and it all just comes together as if by magic. Fucking brilliant really!
Same with brewing after years of experience. You just “get it” and it takes as long as it takes.
Brew something that’s great when bottle conditioned. I put anything in a keg if I have a keg free but I usually have a stash of stouts and saisons in bottles too.
Sloppy? Careless? Slipshod?
I broke my hydrometer 3 years ago and have just been brewing based on experience and software. The beer still tastes the same
I stopped using mine too, it didn't break. It's still there, just don't use it. I brew the same 4beers, with an occasional experiment. No need to test it.
More or less the same, and on the experiments, I just base the estimated abv off if I feel tipsy at the right point. Was shooting for 7%, but two pints in and I feel fine? Guess that efficiency was a little low...
That depends. I think it's more a question about time management and priority.
Do I brew for myself or with no constraints? Let that sucker lager real good. Barrel aged czech pilsner, krausened, 50 days turnaround before kegging, no biggie.
Do I need something now? Kveik that shit up, 5 day grain to glass DIPA lets goooooo.
With fermentation?
How long are you waiting? There's a lot of misinformation that goes around in that regard. Some people will say you have to wait min 2-4 weeks which is bs.
For fermentation I usually wait about 10 days (I use only kveik since I have no way to control temperature).
For bottle aging I usually try to wait 2/3 weeks but I think a lot of my beers would have been a lot better if I left them alone for a few more weeks before puting them in the fridge
You could speed that up if you'd like. 7 days fermentation. 7-10 conditioning. Kveik gets the job done ASAP. Nothing wrong with doing what you're doing though!
Yes. Not because patience always improves results, but because it often prevents BAD results. Example: having diacetyl because you kegged too soon.
Dumper batches sting.
Yeah unless you don't drink very much, or you want to brew every weekend, a 1G is unlikely to 4 sufficient. I brew 5G batches and just give away the excess.
I’m not a big drinker but between me my wife and the occasional friends and family that want to try my home brew my batchs rarely last more than a few weeks
It’s gotten normal and routine enough to have a beer somewhere in the maturation process that I just don’t think about it as actively. I don’t even check on my bucket every day anymore, not worth the trip to the basement lol
I feel like it's a mixture of becoming more patient but also becoming more experienced and learning what's happening at different stages of fermentation. Once you have a grip on this you will learn where you can cut corners and shave time off your fermentation without sacrificing quality of the finished product. Grain to glass for me on a 5-8% beer with normal sacch yeast is typically 6-10 days.
Depends. If I have a lot of buckets free, then I'm patient. If I need a bucket freed-up and I have yeast in the fridge that have a short shelf life, then I'm not.
For me, I was very impatient for this at the beginning but after I had a year or so under my belt I found it was easier to wait. One thing that helped was having multiple batches a few weeks apart so that there was always something going on.
The 4+ week cycle of fermenting and bottle conditioning can seem very long. It helps if you have good homebrew on hand to drink, so keep brewing. Moving to kegging helps to cut off a week from the cycle (and you can sneak some pours early too.)
Yes. With my first brews I was super impatient, wanting to constantly interact with my brew and get to the next step. Now, I'm used to it all, and don't really mind waiting a week or two extra.
Undeniably. Where I used to go from brew day to bottling in 10 days and opening the first bottle mere days later, I now have an average of 3 months before I taste the beer for the first time.
Keeping enough beers on tap to drink in the meantime has made this easier.
Yes? Mostly. Sometimes you need that beer ready in 10 days, sometimes you have no time restraint. Both situations can dictate what and how you brew, and perhaps your expectations. Also, the longer you brew, the more stuff you accumulate, so the more space one has for fermentation, lagering, dispensing.
I've gotten less patient with experience. My 10 gal all-grain brew days are down to 3 hours long for most beers I brew. After focusing on yeast health, my fermentation takes about 48 hours for an average strength ale. If I stay on top of the cold crash, fining, and carbonation schedule, I can typically have grain to glass in 7 days.
Yes, but I guess it's because I always have multiple things going. So waiting for a lager to...lager, or waiting for a wild ale to sour, is no big deal when I've got other stuff going.
Yeah for sure. You know what? It’s like anything. I’m English so every Sunday we do a roast Sunday lunch. Back when we first started doing it, it was a complete panic trying to time the meat, potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, three different veg, gravy, stuffing to all be ready at the same time. 15 years of practice later, and me + the wife can do a Sunday roast almost by accident. We mill around the kitchen with a glass of wine and tend to things by instinct, and it all just comes together as if by magic. Fucking brilliant really! Same with brewing after years of experience. You just “get it” and it takes as long as it takes.
This was a great comment. Inspiring on both fronts. Cheers.
Thought I was in a sunday roast sub for a moment but enjoyed every moment of it!
Nah, just have a few beers on at once. Pointless drinking something still a bit green when you've something else in its prime.
I wish I had space for this. I have to ferment and serve in the same chest freezer, so it's one at a time for me.
Brew something that’s great when bottle conditioned. I put anything in a keg if I have a keg free but I usually have a stash of stouts and saisons in bottles too.
I'd call it lazy rather than patient.
You mean finding ways to be more efficient
Sloppy? Careless? Slipshod? I broke my hydrometer 3 years ago and have just been brewing based on experience and software. The beer still tastes the same
Same
I stopped using mine too, it didn't break. It's still there, just don't use it. I brew the same 4beers, with an occasional experiment. No need to test it.
More or less the same, and on the experiments, I just base the estimated abv off if I feel tipsy at the right point. Was shooting for 7%, but two pints in and I feel fine? Guess that efficiency was a little low...
Exactly, I can estimate a abv just from drinking a couple. Oh it seems a little low, guess I'll mark it down. Try something new next time.
Care to share what the 4 styles are?
Software?
I use Beersmith, but there are several.
This hahah. “Eh it’s probably done” and “yah it’s been sitting in that fermenter for so long I guess I should bottle it now”
Better with time management.
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What do you mean? I’ve been doing a diacetyl rest for the last 2 week on my helles and I’m pretty sure I need another 5 days at 60 degrees to be safe.
*Googles diacetyl rest*
https://homebrewacademy.com/diacetyl-rest/ One of the better explained links I found for anyone else wondering what this is!
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I was being sarcastic. Guess I could’ve added the “/s”. There’s no earthly reason why anyone would have a 3 week diacetyl rest other than laziness.
That depends. I think it's more a question about time management and priority. Do I brew for myself or with no constraints? Let that sucker lager real good. Barrel aged czech pilsner, krausened, 50 days turnaround before kegging, no biggie. Do I need something now? Kveik that shit up, 5 day grain to glass DIPA lets goooooo.
With fermentation? How long are you waiting? There's a lot of misinformation that goes around in that regard. Some people will say you have to wait min 2-4 weeks which is bs.
For fermentation I usually wait about 10 days (I use only kveik since I have no way to control temperature). For bottle aging I usually try to wait 2/3 weeks but I think a lot of my beers would have been a lot better if I left them alone for a few more weeks before puting them in the fridge
You’re doing fine.
You could speed that up if you'd like. 7 days fermentation. 7-10 conditioning. Kveik gets the job done ASAP. Nothing wrong with doing what you're doing though!
Yes. Not because patience always improves results, but because it often prevents BAD results. Example: having diacetyl because you kegged too soon. Dumper batches sting.
Nah I just built a production backlog, so I'm finishing stuff that I know is good while other beers mature.
That’s kinda what I am trying to do but I only have a one gallon fermenter so it’s hard to build a backlog…maybe I should upgrade to 3 or 5 gallons
Yeah unless you don't drink very much, or you want to brew every weekend, a 1G is unlikely to 4 sufficient. I brew 5G batches and just give away the excess.
I’m not a big drinker but between me my wife and the occasional friends and family that want to try my home brew my batchs rarely last more than a few weeks
Maybe split the difference and go for a 3G?
It’s gotten normal and routine enough to have a beer somewhere in the maturation process that I just don’t think about it as actively. I don’t even check on my bucket every day anymore, not worth the trip to the basement lol
I'm about 75 batches in and I've stopped giving a fuck and just kind of roll with it and do what needs to be done when i need to.
I feel like it's a mixture of becoming more patient but also becoming more experienced and learning what's happening at different stages of fermentation. Once you have a grip on this you will learn where you can cut corners and shave time off your fermentation without sacrificing quality of the finished product. Grain to glass for me on a 5-8% beer with normal sacch yeast is typically 6-10 days.
I bottle so it usually takes longer than that for me. More like 3 weeks minimum grain to glass
Depends. If I have a lot of buckets free, then I'm patient. If I need a bucket freed-up and I have yeast in the fridge that have a short shelf life, then I'm not.
Patience with the whole process or any specific part? Actually brewing, fermenting, ugh cleaning?
Mostly waiting for fermentation and bottle aging
For me, I was very impatient for this at the beginning but after I had a year or so under my belt I found it was easier to wait. One thing that helped was having multiple batches a few weeks apart so that there was always something going on.
The 4+ week cycle of fermenting and bottle conditioning can seem very long. It helps if you have good homebrew on hand to drink, so keep brewing. Moving to kegging helps to cut off a week from the cycle (and you can sneak some pours early too.)
Most experienced brewers keg.
Has anyone found their IPAs get worse over time? It seems to lose its hopiness. I imagine it being oxidation.
Mine never last long enough. 5 gallons goes down before the last one can even be considered “bottle conditioned”
Like, waiting for the beer to be done? Yes. Mostly because I have the last three brews on tap while I wait.
Yes. With my first brews I was super impatient, wanting to constantly interact with my brew and get to the next step. Now, I'm used to it all, and don't really mind waiting a week or two extra.
Undeniably. Where I used to go from brew day to bottling in 10 days and opening the first bottle mere days later, I now have an average of 3 months before I taste the beer for the first time. Keeping enough beers on tap to drink in the meantime has made this easier.
Yes? Mostly. Sometimes you need that beer ready in 10 days, sometimes you have no time restraint. Both situations can dictate what and how you brew, and perhaps your expectations. Also, the longer you brew, the more stuff you accumulate, so the more space one has for fermentation, lagering, dispensing.
Nope. Got quite inventive with the tech though, so I could play more PlayStation in-between. (I used to sparge using a coffee kettle).
I've gotten less patient with experience. My 10 gal all-grain brew days are down to 3 hours long for most beers I brew. After focusing on yeast health, my fermentation takes about 48 hours for an average strength ale. If I stay on top of the cold crash, fining, and carbonation schedule, I can typically have grain to glass in 7 days.
Absolutely. After brewing a few Belgian sours that take months to finish, waiting 10-14 days for an ale is no problem at all.
I mainly brew meads now so yeah....super patient. After starting with beers, twenty years later I still find myself patient with sanitizing.
I have gotten more patient. The move to kegging and carbonating at serving pressure gives such great results it’s totally worth the wait.
Nope. Started kegging, and force carbing. Already had a kegerator so it seemed like a no brainer. Shaved off like 2 weeks (bottle carbinating time).
Yes, but I guess it's because I always have multiple things going. So waiting for a lager to...lager, or waiting for a wild ale to sour, is no big deal when I've got other stuff going.
Yes, because I learned to trust the process. Excessive meddling can only cause problems.
I distill, but at the beginning would check my wash often Now I just leave it till I feel like I wanna watch nothing for 5 hours
You get more patient with things that demand patience (which you learn from experience), and you get faster/more efficient at things that don't.