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Oldfishinglure

Oldfishinglure

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I started brewing in 93 and only did so for 5 years I was kegging and doing malt and partial mash at the time and the went dormant in the brew side but never the love of great beer. I recently (6months ago) was injured due to a tangle with a pit bull some upstanding citizen had it tied to the front door (i was or am a mailman) and have been off work recovering from the first spine surgurey and have alot of reading time on my hands. A neighbor recently got a kit and it sparked that flame again.

I can't believe how much has changed and all the super great things that you have at your fingers now from beer guns to 5.2 to full on rims units to renew simplicity like Biab although the process still remains the same for the most part the amount or resources at your finger tips is amazing. You\We brewers need to be thankful for great things like this board amung the others. I wished we had anything remotely close to this when I started doing it in a small town in upstate ny. I remember having to drive over an hour and half just to get to a home brew store and only had Charlies book and a few trade rags essentially to go by.

Anyhow I would like to get back in in a small gallon or 2 batch all grain format due to my limitations with weight and movement and would welcome and appreciate any links and thoughts to resources for small batch all grain.

I've spent the few months day dreaming as I'm becoming semi mobile and watching you tube videos and surfing and trying to read read read as I heal. Although I may never be able to do what I used to or pick up weight wise maybe I can on a small scale get back into doing something that I enjoyed.

Thanks again happy holidays. And again support and appreciate your resources. Matt
 
Welcome to the group, and back to the hobby, sorry to hear about your injuries- terrible.

I have a big shiny system to do 10 or 15G batches, but recently I have done lots of 2.5G batches on the stove or on the propane burner- dependent on the weather. I like experimenting with small batches- less lost if it's not too good.

I do BIAB, it's so easy- you can hook the bag to a pulley system (I attach mine to my garage door bracket) so there's not much weight to lift. My burner has legs tall enough that I can go through a spigot right into a carboy (or of course a bucket)- a 3G carboy isn't too bad to haul around.

I prefer 2.5G batches to 1G for the reason that you get a case of beer out of it- not lots, but enough that if you like it there's enough to share. Doing BIAB I don't have to do kits, and I can direct pitch a yeast vial.

Best of luck!
 
You might look into doing a small batch Brew in a Bag (BIAB). You can buy kits that have pulleys to assist lifting the bags, and the initial investment for getting into all-grain is pretty low. I don't advocate one way or another (traditional vs. BIAB) but it's a technique that has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. I don't think I've seen it in any of the popular homebrewing books, so I thought it would be worth mentioning to you if you're getting back into brewing.
 
I do partial boil, partial mash biab & it's great. Really easy. But with a bad L2 disc & hips going South, I have my son's carry the heavy BK to the man cave/brewery for me. Where there's a will, there's a way! :mug:
 
Good luck with getting back in. You can buy anything you need from your PC. You have in front of you, in this forum, a living breathing encyclopedia of homebrewing knowledge, updated and peer-reviewed continuously. So, even with a disability you can get started without leaving your house.

There are many brewers here with physical limitations who have found ways to brew. I've seen them in wheelchairs brewing.

Cheers, I'll be watching for you 'round the campus.
 
Sorry to hear of your injuries. Welcome back to the hobby. Homebrewing is adaptable to any need and HBT has truckloads of good info for whatever direction you wish to go.

If you are considering BIAB, it's simple to scale everything down to whatever size batch you want to brew. You can go really small if you want things more manageable--even 1-gallon brewing (Pappers linked the thread for that).

Good luck!
 
Welcome!
Beersmith is a great inexpensive investment that can help you scale down recipes with a click of the mouse. That way if you see something on here that's a 5+ gallon batch you can scale it down to whatever size you want.

Here's to a speedy recovery and welcome back to the hobby!
 
Wow thanks for all the encouragement. Now with the holidays over and priorities taken care of I put a little away to go toward the equipment to get back in. Looking for a few thoughts on a few items. Again I'm probably going to have to stay around 2.5 ish gallon for now. What would you guys recommend for pot size. If you were looking at that size but wanted to be able to have the choice to do Biab or mash with it. Size wise I'm torn. Because the norm I'm going to have to invest in 2 and Biab only one I'm struggling to get one plan and go with it. Also what size primary. Keeping weight in mind im goIng to have to probably stay with plastic. What size primary? 2 - 3.2 gallon spiedel was whAt I was thinking then I thought maybe just a 5 gallon bucket for primary and the spiedel for secondary. I'm a hop fan so I do see dry hopping in my brew sced. Anyhow thanks for all your time and efforts in advance.
 
Plenty of people dry hop in primary, (I do) and use no secondary at all. For fermenters, an Ale Pale is great even for small batches. I have fermented half batches in MrBeer's Little Brown Keg, BrewDemon's Conical, 5 gallon carboy, and 12qt enamel pots. Even a 16qt pot will probably do fine for 2.5 gallon batches. There is a long thread on 1 gallon batches, people post other small batch ideas there too.
 
A 4 gallon (16qt) would do, but a 5 gallon (20qt) would give more space for hot break in my experiences with 2 1/2-3/1/2 gallon boils. A nylon bag for biab will work out fine in either size for 2 1/2 gallon batches. I also agree with the 3 gallon better bottle. And a stainless steel kettle will be easier to keep clean & use imo.
 
Walmart has 5 gallon white buckets that are HDPE so they are the same material as the Ale Pail and are about $3 plus another buck or so for a lid. Most of the time the lids don't seal really well so you probably could get by without any airlock but on the off chance that you got one that did seal, drill a small hole in the lid and tape a piece of saran wrap on two sides to cover the hole. That will keep out the fruit flies and still allow the excess gas to vent.

There isn't much difference in price between a 16 qt pot and a 20 so go with the 20. On your first batch you'll be glad for the extra space as the hot break tries to spill over.

Dry hopping works the same in the primary as it does in a secondary without the chance of infection. Open the lid, dump the hops in, close the lid and wait for the magic to happen. I've heard that 3 to 5 days is all that is needed but I've always gone at least a week and sometimes 2 weeks.
 
I typically dry hop 5-7 days with good results. And yeah, the 5 gallon (20qt) is great for handling all that hot break right before the boil. Especially when partial mashing or steeping a lot of grains.
 
Haven't seen anyone else mention it, but I hope you sued that MFer who had the pit bull out there. What's he hiding that he has to have a waste of oxygen and space dog like that?
Hope you have a full recovery...that's just f*cked.

I'll also throw in for small batch brew in a bag. 2.5 gallons should be manageable, but I don't know what your weight limits are.
 
Oldfishinglure said:
I started brewing in 93 and only did so for 5 years I was kegging and doing malt and partial mash at the time and the went dormant in the brew side but never the love of great beer. I recently (6months ago) was injured due to a tangle with a pit bull some upstanding citizen had it tied to the front door (i was or am a mailman) and have been off work recovering from the first spine surgurey and have alot of reading time on my hands. A neighbor recently got a kit and it sparked that flame again.

I can't believe how much has changed and all the super great things that you have at your fingers now from beer guns to 5.2 to full on rims units to renew simplicity like Biab although the process still remains the same for the most part the amount or resources at your finger tips is amazing. You\We brewers need to be thankful for great things like this board amung the others. I wished we had anything remotely close to this when I started doing it in a small town in upstate ny. I remember having to drive over an hour and half just to get to a home brew store and only had Charlies book and a few trade rags essentially to go by.

Anyhow I would like to get back in in a small gallon or 2 batch all grain format due to my limitations with weight and movement and would welcome and appreciate any links and thoughts to resources for small batch all grain.

I've spent the few months day dreaming as I'm becoming semi mobile and watching you tube videos and surfing and trying to read read read as I heal. Although I may never be able to do what I used to or pick up weight wise maybe I can on a small scale get back into doing something that I enjoyed.

Thanks again happy holidays. And again support and appreciate your resources. Matt
Click to expand...

Welcome back and hope youre ok! I hate seeing when owners of pitbulls treat them like that...I rescued two and they would attack anyone that comes near them...with love and kisses! Cheers to coming back to the hobby!!
 
I don't suppose "Oldfishinglure" is any indication that they are also an interest of yours??

Anyway, you may want to consider getting someone else interested as you become re-interested. Someone who can share in the grunt work/lifting/carrying/bottling/kegging/cleaning, etc.. With the "lure" of free beer, of course!

Welcome!
 
Yeah. I get an extra hand here & there myself on brew or bottling days. I really need to build a cart to roll all my stuff back & forth from the kitchen to the brewery/man cave. Back & hips no longer allow me to work like that anymore.
 

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