Brewing Pipeline

So I've come to a point where I have quite a bit of beer in the pipeline. When I started earlier this year I knew it would take a while before I could build up a stockpile of brewed beer given that I was drinking my product from kegs as soon as I made it.

For months I kept on a schedule, trying to get ahead of consumption. This barely kept me stocked with ready to drink beer, as it was being consumed almost as fast as I made more.

In September my wife and I gave birth to a new baby girl, this had two effects on my brewing stockpile. In the short run it interrupted my brewing schedule for a good month, and I had nothing on tap for a long time. I thought that this would set me back for months in trying to build a stockpile.

Interestingly enough though, in the long run it has increased my stockpile as my consumption has gone way down. While my wife was still off of work I was free to indulge in a pint or two a couple times a week, thus I was still managing a consumption rate that kept up with my brewing rate.

However with my wife having gone back to work now my consumption has dropped to about 4 pints a week at most, and never more than 1 a day during the work week. Most nights I do not even have one. You see, my wife works third shift, and while she is at work I am tasked with being a responsible adult. Such is the sacrifice that we make for our children.

I've had a busy brewing schedule since just before Thanksgiving, even while my consumption has plummeted. This now has me in the position I originally envisioned where I had multiple beers ready for kegging as I empty a prior tapped keg.

As of right now, I have the last of an English Pale Ale, which my wife likes alot, so I've been saving that for her (she has even fewer than myself per week), and the Black IPA on tap (which is freshly tapped). Once the English Pale is gone I will be kegging the Dunkle.

This still leaves me with the Ranger Danger IPA, and the newest Brown Turkey still in fermentors.

All told, discounting the English Pale, I have 20 gallons of beer to cycle through before I run out. At my current rate of consumption this might keep me stocked with beer through February of 2013. I may end up brewing only once more over the coming winter. Brewing outdoors in the winter is a major deterrant.

It was just a haphazard strategy that I used to get to this point, but I think that I will be attempting the same in the future. Brew a lot before winter comes, then enjoy the fruits indoors where it is warm.