Brewing on the Road

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hialtitude

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Anybody brew while traveling? I'm not talking about driving to a buddy's house for a session but how about road tripping? Extra equipment? Techniques? Large water tanks? Vehicle of choice?
 
Well I don't like the idea of having a full carboy splashing around while driving. Not to mention that it would have to be a 6 week road trip to get finished beer.

Now taking a couple kegs of finished beer with you is a different story



*edit
I guess this would change the definition of road head If you did figure out how to do it
 
I guess that I should elaborate. I would love to attend the Hop Madness festival this year and brew a harvest ale with green hops. http://www.hopmadness.com/ :mug: This would require a road trip and traveling brew rig. Looks like a great time. Also I have no intention of altering the definition of road head.:D
 
How long of a road trip? As Chimone mentioned, my big concern would be splashing the wort (aerating) after fermentation had begun. I've done 2.5 hour road trips with my Element, no problems whatsoever with propane tanks, burners, keggle, MLT, etc. How big of a car do you have?
 
I have a small car (civic) but have access to a suby outback. The driving time would be 8+ hours but the trip would be much longer (couple weeks) and include other activities. Space is my primary issue as I would be hauling kayak, bike, brew equipment and gear for all of the above. Mabye a small U-haul would be the way to go?
 
Well the original IPA's were sloshed around on the open seas in barrels hehe...they do claim that was one of the reasons behind the higher-than-usual attenuation. :ban:
 
I managed to stuff enough brew equipment into a duffel bag on a recent overseas trip. However, I was able to let that brew ferment in place. I think transporting your wort is going to be the hardest part. If you're careful, I'm sure it can be done!
 
Last year there were probably 15 people brewing and 100 yakking and swilling. Many of the brewers wouldn't mind some help. No need to bring water, we have lots. The hopyard tour is always great. Then there's the Hoppy ale contest, why not bring an entry?
 
I can think of a couple reasons why this would be difficult.

- Wild heat variations between night and day.
- Splashing beer will never clear
- in true days of thunder fashion..."transportation of alcoholic beverages across state lines with intent of distribution"

Distribution? I call this Consumption!!!!

(possibly open container violations if stopped)

IMHO, the heat and sloshing will be the biggest problems. You'll have beer but it may have off flavors from the heat cycling and it'll be mud beer. I would simply brew the beer before hand, keg it, and transport the kegs with fermented beer. Keep them cool and full of CO2. Then all you need is a jockey box, CO2 bottle, ice, and glasses :)
 
Brewing on the road? hahahahah
I guess it could be done, just don't slam the breaks on.
 
When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought that someone else in the HBT universe had the same weird way of passing time on road-trips--I look at the temperature of my oil go up (or down, I guess) as I drive and think, "Okay, add the specialty grains...now rinse, now the LME...". That looks really, really nutty as I write it down, but I've always done bizarre little things like that to pass the time on long trips. As for the actual topic--yeah, sloshing would be a big issue, as would heat. But hey, what's homebrewing for if not to experiment? :mug:
 
Ok, old topic, but new question. I know many people have brewed away from home and then transported the beer back. I am thinking about brewing at a buddy's house (1.5hours away) and then heading home. When in the process should I leave? After pitching yeast, or before? any other things i need to be aware of?
 
as long as you sanitize your fermentor really well, you should be great to go home before pitching the yeast. that 1.5 hour car ride will aerate the wort pretty well!

B
 

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