Brewing hiatus

I haven't been able to brew in months and it looks like its going to be a long time before I'll be brewing and kegging again. We put our house up for sale so we can move to Florida and I figured that I couldn't keep 3 taps flowing with this move coming up. I also have 5 kegs I gotta kill in the next month or so We went under contract on our house last week and are waiting on the inspection. I spent all of last weeks vacation packing and getting rid of crap. I spent 1 full day packing my brew stuff and I'm still not done. I have too much stuff (if thats even possible). My wife wants to kill me because I'm bringing several cases of my favorite bottles with me so that I can at least brew a batch and bottle it until I get a tap system up and running again. We are renting a house from a relative until we buy our own so I don't see me brewing again until the middle of next year. It's very depressing, I didn't even get to make a pumpkin ale or holiday ale this year. The good part of the move is we can look for a house with more room so I can have a dedicated brew space. I'm also looking forward to building a real nice tiki bar with a tap system out by the pool. I still have soooo much packing to do and then it looks like 2 separate trips back and forth to get everything there.

Welcome (soon) to Florida! If i were you, I'd sell off the stuff I do not absolutely have to have and repurchase (If ever) if need be down the road.

If you have that much stuff where you have spent a day packing and still are not done, you probably have a lot you haven't used (like me) in months or even years. These are the items to get rid of.

If you cannot brew for almost a year, ditch the bottles causing the strife with your wife. Surely you will purchase a 6 pack here and there between now and next summer and you can save these bottles. Why go through the hassle and stress your wife about bottles? She will be happy you made the "right" decision.

Yambor44 said:

Welcome (soon) to Florida! If i were you, I'd sell off the stuff I do not absolutely have to have and repurchase (If ever) if need be down the road.

If you have that much stuff where you have spent a day packing and still are not done, you probably have a lot you haven't used (like me) in months or even years. These are the items to get rid of.

If you cannot brew for almost a year, ditch the bottles causing the strife with your wife. Surely you will purchase a 6 pack here and there between now and next summer and you can save these bottles. Why go through the hassle and stress your wife about bottles? She will be happy you made the "right" decision.

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These are fliptops, I can deal with a little grief in order to keep them. I got rid of some stuff and sold a carboy to a friend but I still have 4 or 5 carboys I might sell before we go. It took me a long time to pack my stuff because I pack-rat brewing stuff and I had to decide what to throw away.

nyer said:

These are fliptops, I can deal with a little grief in order to keep them. I got rid of some stuff and sold a carboy to a friend but I still have 4 or 5 carboys I might sell before we go. It took me a long time to pack my stuff because I pack-rat brewing stuff and I had to decide what to throw away.

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Good point. I'd keep them as well. I was thinking standard bottles you've saved over the years.

You know, BIAB small batches on the stovetop requires almost zero real equipment. And extract takes even less. Smaller batches chill faster and you could either do an ice bath or no chill.

Surely you could find 3-4 hours every few weeks to brew a 2-3 gallon batch?

Personally, I'd ditch the swingtops. They are "neat", but really not all that big a deal (IMO). They would be taking up unnecessary room in the move. Sometimes it's best to just clean up and take a good look at what you really need, vs what your packrat mind says you want.

Homercidal said:

You know, BIAB small batches on the stovetop requires almost zero real equipment. And extract takes even less. Smaller batches chill faster and you could either do an ice bath or no chill.

Surely you could find 3-4 hours every few weeks to brew a 2-3 gallon batch?

Personally, I'd ditch the swingtops. They are "neat", but really not all that big a deal (IMO). They would be taking up unnecessary room in the move. Sometimes it's best to just clean up and take a good look at what you really need, vs what your packrat mind says you want.

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Once we get settled I might be able to get a batch in once in awhile if I bottle. I don't think my beer fridge is going with us so I won't be able to keg for awhile. I have gotten rid of everything that I can get rid of. My attitude now is if it fits in the truck its going, if it doesn't it goes in the trash on moving day.

I'm in the same boat lately, although my upcoming plans include brewing a couple big, bold beers to get rid of the bulk grains that I still have. After that, I'm going to re-tool my system and start brewing small, BIAB batches on the stovetop hopefully with the aid of an electric heatstick. For me, it's more a matter of my decreased drinking.

Good luck on the moving! I love driving, so even if I had to make a few trips, I'd be looking forward to the back and forth from Florida. Packing though, blech.

Airborneguy said:

I'm in the same boat lately, although my upcoming plans include brewing a couple big, bold beers to get rid of the bulk grains that I still have. After that, I'm going to re-tool my system and start brewing small, BIAB batches on the stovetop hopefully with the aid of an electric heatstick. For me, it's more a matter of my decreased drinking.

Good luck on the moving! I love driving, so even if I had to make a few trips, I'd be looking forward to the back and forth from Florida. Packing though, blech.

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I've been back and forth a bunch of times over the past few years and I've gotten to where I don't mind the drive any more either. The next trip involves towing a 20' boat and thats going to be stressful. The following trip will be in a uhaul truck towing a car. I'm not looking forward to either of them.