How to Stop Feeding the Monster

[RCBIV]

I've been out of the home brewing game for about nine months. The last batch I brewed came out pretty good. No complaints with the beer. My only complaint came with the process.

It's all gotten too big. I remember when I started on my kitchen stove and made a Brew in a Bag recipe. It was fantastic. I loved it. But it wasn't perfect. I wanted to go bigger and better.

So, as most of us do, I bought more equipment and upped the size of my batches. It was great ... at first. Now, after X number of batches later, I am exhausted. It's all too much. It's all too big. I don't have the time to lug around a kettle from A to B, then back to A. And do all the steps in between. It's become more work than fun.

So here's what I need help with: How do I go BACK to what I was doing before, but better? I am fine with making 3 gallon batches. That's all I need. And that's what I really want to do, so I can make more recipes and not clog up so much space. How do I keep my process small and confined without taking away the quality? Can I do that in a kitchen or even inside?

I want to brew, but I want to simplify it and cut out some of the big, bulky items (kettle, mainly, but bigger fermenters, too) that I have acquired over the past couple of years. I understand it will still likely take the same amount of brew time (if I keep doing all grain), but it will be easier.

So ... has anyone stopped feeding the monster and made it work on a smaller scale?

 

[Falcon3]

I can't say I've scaled down, but I've found that streamlining my process and spending a little money sometimes on gear that will be easy to clean and easy to use has made my whole process much more enjoyable and more like fun. I don't see why you couldn't make great beer with a single kettle, a Better Bottle, and a dorm fridge in the garage. If you don't like brewing big batches, go for smaller batches.

 

[sumbrewindude]

I'm completely content (right now) at 3gal batches. Love the fact I can have variety, and still have more than a 12pk but don't have to suffer through 5gal something weird or huge. If I want to make a 5gal batch, I can just partial mash and add DME.

I'm still adjusting my equipment, but for the most part I'm locked in and happy.

Boil pot is a 26qt Stainless Concord turkey pot, heat is a 1800W induction plate, Mashtun's a 5gal cooler with a paintstrainer bag in it, and I ferment in 4-5gal PET Watercooler bottles. I either keg in 3gal cornies, or put long term in bombers.

Eventually I want to change the plastic fermenters out with 5gal cornies (double up as more kegs!), but as it sits I'm very happy with the system. It's easy to clean, easy to move fluids around, easy to store, and easy to brew on.

 

[RonPopeil]

Yeah, my monster is still hungry actually. I need to go to 10 gal batches or switch to a pump setup. I haven't had a full keezer in months because working full time and lugging all my crap around is just too much work. Need something to take the physical load off.

 

[RCBIV]

I'm completely content (right now) at 3gal batches. Love the fact I can have variety, and still have more than a 12pk but don't have to suffer through 5gal something weird or huge. If I want to make a 5gal batch, I can just partial mash and add DME.

I'm still adjusting my equipment, but for the most part I'm locked in and happy.

Boil pot is a 26qt Stainless Concord turkey pot, heat is a 1800W induction plate, Mashtun's a 5gal cooler with a paintstrainer bag in it, and I ferment in 4-5gal PET Watercooler bottles. I either keg in 3gal cornies, or put long term in bombers.

Eventually I want to change the plastic fermenters out with 5gal cornies (double up as more kegs!), but as it sits I'm very happy with the system. It's easy to clean, easy to move fluids around, easy to store, and easy to brew on.

This is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. What exactly do you use for the induction plate? I already have my mashtun (5 gallon Igloo cooler) that works well. And I think my old stainless steel pot would work. My biggest concern, though, was heat. I never could get a good boil on a propane stove top...

 

[sumbrewindude]

Induction is for strike/sparge/boil.

I use this plate - Avantco 1800W, it can boil 4gal without too much trouble, though it's not an extremely vigorous one - it rolls the surface well without having wort leap out everywhere. I like it because it works on any 120VAC outlet you've got, so I'm not trapped to one spot. I can also take it to a buddy's house and brew there if I want.

If you want to go from zero to a hundred and boil the crap out of the wort they also make a 3500W unit, but it needs 15A 208VAC to run. Lots of folks on here use that unit for 5-10gal batches.

So far I really like the plate, it's very sturdy and can support the weight with no issues. The temp control on it isn't the best, but I'm not using it for mashing - that's what the cooler's for. If you're interested in times to strike/boil/etc check out the Electric forum on here, there's a few posts regarding induction and boil/strike times for various amounts of water/wort.

Keeping the system simple and efficient is easier that controlling my gear lust for cool things like a hopback, pumps, RIMS, etc...

 

[unionrdr]

With a bad back & hips, I NEED to take the load off. So I'm going to get or build a cart of some kind to haul the BK around with my paddle, Grain bag, Starsan bottle & all the other pile of stuff between the kitchen & brewery/man cave. No more lifting, save for the bottling bucket off the floor & such after racking. It's getting to be too much to try & carry in one hand & barely walk with a cane. so we'll just have to adapt to the new paradigm. As we used to say at the plant, work smarter, not harder!

 

[Genuine]

I currently have 2 brew kettles, a mash tun and stand-alone herms system. I purchased a pump about 6 months ago and I'm so glad that I did. The more I brew, the more I want to move away from propane and go with some sort of eKettle so that I can do more brewing indoors. I would love to have a brewing rig in the garage when the right time arrives. Anything that will help make it a bit simpler, organized and relativley easy to clean.


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[Twinkeelfool]

I recently switched to BIAB after 10 years with a 3v setup. Good god how much better, and way less steps on brewday. It all gets done in the one vessel. One to clean up, and I can still step mash and brew all the beers I like, with half the effort, and way less space taken up. I'm loving it.


What made me switch was a club brew day. I watched one guy with a full on brew stand, herms setup fuss over his setup for hours, while another guy did a BIAB. He spent most of the drinking beer and chatting, with the occasional check of the mash temp, while the 3v herms guy spent most of the time stuffing around with the pump, then the herms, then checking the flow etc.

 

[Malticulous]

I've had my current setup over five years now. I guess I'm not feeding the monster all that well. I would like some things to make brewday more easy though. Now I just want eHLT so I don't have to watch a thermometer, a pump so I don't have to lift so much, and a CFC so cooling will go quicker.

 

[j1n]

im trying to go bigger and smaller at the same time. I may go with the breweasy system from blichman and go with an electric 10 gallon setup. smaller foot print but more beer.

When i first started i thought 5 gallons was plenty and would take me a while to kick a 5 gal keg. i just didnt anticipate the many other mouths that want to consume my beer. longest a 5 gallon keg has lasted me was maybe a month. im trying to go to a 10 gallon setup so i can always have something on tap. right now im tapped out.

 

[MindenMan]

I'm with uniondr, I have had surgeries on both my back and neck, and with no pumps, and no valve on my kettle, I need to lessen the load. I currently brew AG, and am trying out a modified BIAB method I came up with to see if I can save weight during the brew by not having to lift a "full" BK more than once.

 

[Braufessor]

I have not scaled down..... but I did contemplate on scaling up only to come back to realizing I wanted to stay with 5 gallon batches.

If you are looking to brew 3 gallon batches, a couple things that I have been really happy with are fermenting in corny kegs and using 3 gallon kegs for serving. I brew some 3 gallon batches from time to time, and have converted two 5 gallon corny kegs into fermenters. Slick as hell. Can transfer into a 3 gallon keg via closed system/pressure. Really handy. The 3 gallon kegs are really nice to work with too - so much more room in the fridge or freezer.

I am really glad I never made the switch to bigger batches. I am really happy with 5 gallons batch sizes.

 

[MindenMan]

uniondr, at least one of the regular posters on this site uses one of these carts:
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=lift+cart

I won't say her name in case I'm wrong, but don'tcha know, she may like ice fishing, or making wine, or making a lot of "fizzy yellow" crap.

If I can get one of these carts myself, I'll be, as they say down South, "I'll be sh!tting in tall cotton". I don't know, ask my 91 year old Okie Mother, she used to say it all the time. Damn, I love her.

 

[jtratcliff]

My biggest concern, though, was heat. I never could get a good boil on a propane stove top...

You can supplement your stove with a heat stick and stay in the kitchen. Buy or build.

 

[JPrather]

I started out with a couple of extract batches, and then went to partial mash process where I mash up to 5lbs of grain in a 2 gallon cooler. Adding extract I can do 5 gallon batches easily.

Since I don't enjoy drinking beer (or bottling it) nearly as much as I like brewing it, lately I've scaled back to ~3 gallon batches. Which means I'm almost doing all grain but generally need to add a small amount (1lb) of DME to finish it out.

It's basically this: https://byo.com/stories/item/507-countertop-partial-mashing

I can do all of it in my kitchen no problem.

I'm almost 10 batches in and have zero desire to expand to more equipment or a larger process. I find it to be the right middle ground between complexity of process and quality of beer.

It's all BIAB and the amount of equipment is minimal. Something similar might be the way to go for you; just a thought.

 

[youngdh]

I've been out of the home brewing game for about nine months. The last batch I brewed came out pretty good. No complaints with the beer. My only complaint came with the process.



It's all gotten too big. I remember when I started on my kitchen stove and made a Brew in a Bag recipe. It was fantastic. I loved it. But it wasn't perfect. I wanted to go bigger and better.



So, as most of us do, I bought more equipment and upped the size of my batches. It was great ... at first. Now, after X number of batches later, I am exhausted. It's all too much. It's all too big. I don't have the time to lug around a kettle from A to B, then back to A. And do all the steps in between. It's become more work than fun.



So here's what I need help with: How do I go BACK to what I was doing before, but better? I am fine with making 3 gallon batches. That's all I need. And that's what I really want to do, so I can make more recipes and not clog up so much space. How do I keep my process small and confined without taking away the quality? Can I do that in a kitchen or even inside?



I want to brew, but I want to simplify it and cut out some of the big, bulky items (kettle, mainly, but bigger fermenters, too) that I have acquired over the past couple of years. I understand it will still likely take the same amount of brew time (if I keep doing all grain), but it will be easier.



So ... has anyone stopped feeding the monster and made it work on a smaller scale?

I was in a similar situation. I started homebrewing some 17 years ago doing 5 gal batch extract and partial mash. It was a lot of work, took up a lot of space and as you pointed out you have a lot of one kind of beer. When local craft brews appeared in the DC area I found a source of good beer minus the cleanup so took a 15 year break during which time I got rid of all my 5g equipment. Within the past year I decided to get back in the hobby but on a smaller scale. I discovered 3G BIAB and haven't been happier. Sure, it's still the same amount of work but I'm able to do all grain/full volume batches with an 8G kettle with room to spare. For fermenters I discovered Brewdemon.com 3G conical fermenters. I've got 3 of them so I can have 2 batches in process with the 3rd conical serving as my "bottling bucket" . Each batch makes approx a case of beer. I was doing my boils on the kitchen stove but recently acquired an Edelmetall propane burner and new SS 8g Tall Boy brew kettle from Northernbrewer. I couldn't be happier and my wife couldn't be happier as I'm now brewing outside and not smelling up the house. Instead of 45min bringing water up to temp I can bring 5g from room temp to full boil in under 15 min . I didn't realize how much time I was spending heating up water/wort. I've also incorporated building up my water profiles from distiller water. This has made a huge difference in mash efficiencies (minding mash pH) and over all flavor of finished product is so much smoother with out any astringency.


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[FiddlersGreen87]

Sell me your "big" equipment you're looking to scale away from.

 

[unionrdr]

uniondr, at least one of the regular posters on this site uses one of these carts:
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=lift+cart

I won't say her name in case I'm wrong, but don'tcha know, she may like ice fishing, or making wine, or making a lot of "fizzy yellow" crap.

If I can get one of these carts myself, I'll be, as they say down South, "I'll be sh!tting in tall cotton". I don't know, ask my 91 year old Okie Mother, she used to say it all the time. Damn, I love her.

I went to their store in North Olmstead the other day. They had the tool box carts, but that was it. Probably have to order it.