Brewing with a bad back

It always seems like anytime I do anything brewing/beer related, I am always cursing at myself the next day because I am so sore.....

Anyone able to relate? Any tips/tricks/suggestions?

Weight lifting belt, wear one at work and it does wonders. I have to herniated discs in my spine so I feel your pain.

I would look into 1 gallon batches. You can brew more often and have a better variety.

How much heavy stuff are you lifting in a brew day?

If I had a bad back, I'd definitely look into making a single-tier brew stand with some pumps to move wort around, and I'd look into some pulleys and rope for over my keezer and fermentation chamber.

jimmarshall said:

It always seems like anytime I do anything brewing/beer related, I am always cursing at myself the next day because I am so sore.....

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Me too! Except it's the back of my head that's always sore …

because that's where my wife smacks me when I do stupid stuff during beer related activities.

I have a very bad back as well (13 fused vertebrae and a 10" steel rod). Wear good shoes, don't stand on hard floors, and sit on a stool or chair whenever possible. I also do smaller batches and use plastic instead of glass fermenters.

Kevin B.

If you are creative you can use pulleys and winches or pumps to move the heavy stuff. I've seen someone rig up a cheap electric winch from Harbor Freight to lift their kettles for dumping, or gravity feed.

Personally I have found my pump does all the heavy lifting for me and it's also nice for recirculating the chill or mash.

I have a bad back as well and have found that the use of a pump alleviates a lot of my issues... Of course going with a pump could mean purchasing new/more equipment.

I can relate. Herniated L3-L4, four more bulging. All the standing up, hands out in front of you, turning to move things from here to there, bending over, usually 5 or 6 hours from start to finish... it's a killer. If you have to move a full pot, even just slide it a little, AARGH!, then moving the full carboy when you're done, then all that clean-up... HOLY CARP! Yeah, just brewed yesterday afternoon, didn't sleep much last night (of course I had to hobble to the garage at 2am to check for activity), still hurting pretty good right now. For me, suck it up, then Naproxen and Norco. Haven't come up with any realistic solutions. Unfortunately it takes some of the fun out of a brew day, and controls which days I can or can't brew. I can relate, but not much help, sorry.

I try to avoid as much lifting as possible or limit the weight of what I have to lift. I fill the MLT with water by filling 2 gallons in a bucket at a time. I transfer wort from the MLT to the kettle by running off 2gal into a bucket and then dumping it into the kettle. I gravity drain from the kettle into a better bottle (no glass carboys due to weight). Buckets are good too (the handle helps). Moving the full fermenter is the only heavy thing I lift. I do a lot of 3gal batches to limit the weight as well.

When I soak a better bottle or keg in Oxyclean, I siphon the liquid into the sink so I don't have to lift it. I only rinse with 1.5gal of water at at time to save water and weight. I use 1.25 gallons of StarSan to sanitize fermenters and shake it around multiple times.

The part where I end up getting back pain is the clean up. I just switched to a bucket vac from Home Depot to suck the grain out the MLT instead of bending over to scoop it out. I only let the bucket get about half full before I dump it. But I still end up bending over to clean the kettle and the MLT.

The big thing is to have a plan on what you can do to limit the strain on your back. Use good posture and lift using your legs. Try to eliminate any positions where you bend over long periods of time. The only time I get into trouble is when I have to react to problems and I don't think about my back before I take action.

pumps to move the beer during brewing, and a c02 tank to move it after fermentation. The only thing I have to pick up during brewday is empty kettles and the grain for my mash.

I think I will have to do some looking and come up with a system to make it so I don't have to lift things.


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Forgot to mention racking and bottling with a bad back. Ugh.

I started brewing 3 gallon batches in the kitchen, now my back is much happier, and I'm doing AG in about 5 hours, instead of 7+ hours outside on the propane burner.

Reviving and old thread to share my solution to save my back. I've switched to an electric BIAB system with pump so that saves some lifting.

The big thing that helps is getting a lift cart. I pump the wort into the fermenter and then use the lift cart to raise the carboy to the level of my mini fridge and just slide it in.

I bought a restaurant prep table because I could shorten the legs to match the height of the lift cart.

Go with a simple BIAB setup with a hoist. Most of my brew day is sitting on the couch. A hoist is key. You can get a hoist to lift the bag from the BK and another to lift in/out of a chest freezer if you use one.
Divide your wort and dump in fermenter after its in the ferm chamber would help too

Use a plastic fermenter, it's quite a bit lighter. If doing AG I tend to scoop out the spent grains from the mash tun rather than try to lift the thing and dump it all into the trash at once. Just a couple small suggestions

I have a very bad back also, and yes the day after brew day sucks. But I have put some stuff on wheels to move it, like moving filled fermenters from the garage to the house I use a garden wagon(11 gallon batches so 2 fermenters). I lift off the wagon, turn around, and set the bucket on a planter roller from Walmart(they have a cheaper one on clearance which is what I have) https://www.walmart.com/ip/Gardeners-Blue-Ribbon-PC16-16-Clear-Rolling-Plant-Caddy/39499182.

Tonight I used it to move a full fermenter to the kitchen, set the fermenter on the counter(my back is hating on me), set the keg on the roller and filled it and rolled it back into the pantry to carbonate. Experimenting, it wasn't quite done fermenting, has 10 points to go so I am hoping as it finishes it will self carbonate in the next 3-4 days. I have a control fermenting normally yet and I will check keg pressures twice a day to be safe.

Soon as my brew shed is finished I will take a filled fermenter and move it 5 feet into the ferm chamber! Put stuff close together! It is long distance carrying that really does me in.

And as mentioned, have a comfy chair! Whatever you are used to sitting in to make your back happy. For me it is a desk chair with lumbar support. And clean as you go! Soon as the wort is in the boil kettle I empty the mash tun, haul spent grain out to fertilize the gravel around the garage(trying to build up some growing medium), wash the mash tun and by then the BK is close to coming to a boil. And as soon as the HLT is empty start the BK burner, that shaves 25-40 minutes off a brew day.

Clean, put stuff away you are done with before the boil is done. All I have left after filling fermenters is scrub the BK, wipe it down to dry it, move fermenters in the house and coil the hose up!

I do BIAB with a hoist and I find that to be a great back saver.

My issue is that I brew in my back yard and I have to carry a fermenter with 5.5 gallons of wort up 8 deck steps and then down into my (finished) basement. That hurts!

I also hate lifting kegs into the keggerator!

I think my solution will be to move!