I brewed today... man am I bushed!

[MrBJones]

Does anyone else - after a successful all-grain brew day - feel exhausted all over, with sore arms and legs? Don't get me wrong... the results and the feeling of satisfaction are worth it. But what tips, hacks, and tricks do you have to minimize the physical workout?

 

[Transamguy77]

When I first started brewing I had a bunch of walking and carrying water and wort all over outside and up and down several flights of steps.

I built a 3 tier gravity system and it was less lifting and carrying water and only carrying wort up a couple of steps to ferment.

I didn’t have a faucet hookup outside so I bought long safe for drinking water hose and plumbed it in in my basement so I didn’t have to carry water anymore, only downside was before I was using hot tap water to cut down on my heating time and propane usage.

 

[eric19312]

Does anyone else - after a successful all-grain brew day - feel exhausted all over, with sore arms and legs? Don't get me wrong... the results and the feeling of satisfaction are worth it. But what tips, hacks, and tricks do you have to minimize the physical workout?

Me

I'm usually beat by end of a brew day. Some of it is carrying water. Some lifting---sacks of grain, mash tun to dump, fermentor into fridge... Lot of cleaning. Fair amount of up and down stairs. And mental focus paying attention to timers for steps and additions, making sure to collect measurements at correct times and record it all. It is a good tired but yep I'm tired after a brew day successful or otherwise.

 

[Griffin495]

Not me. I've cut my batches to 1 to 3 G, BIAB all on my stove. The longest walk is carrying the fermenter into the other room to put in the fermentation chamber. Open concept house, so I can watch tv from the kitchen, or walk a few steps and sit down on the couch.

Yesterday I got up with my 3 year old son while the wife slept and brewed a one gallon milk stout. He helped me crush the grains and watched me mash in. Put it in the oven for an hour and we played and colored. About time for the boil, the wife was up and could help out. At 11, I threw it in an ice bath and ran to the grocery store for our weekly grocery trip. By the time I got home, it was time to pitch the yeast, wash a few things and I was done by 12:30.

Not sore at all today except for a small headache from one too many last night.

Too me, 5 gallons is just way too much for me to drink for the most part and I've got some back issues and don't want to push it by carrying 5 gallons around.

 

[applescrap]

Don't know how my response got lost but yes it's physical for me.

 

[Droot]

Yes, when I am done my azz is dragging.

I do 10 gallon all grain.

It takes just as long to clean up from 5 gallons as it does for 10.
David

 

[springinloose1]

Yeah man, I'm with you. 7 hours = set up the equipment in the garage from it's home in the basement, sanitize everything, brew, clean and sanitize everything, and put it all back away = 1 long brew day. Sometimes I get help lugging everything, but most of the time I'm solo so I actually started doing it in stages but I'm usually beat come nightfall trying to do it all in one day so now set it all up the night before with a 5 gallon bucket of Starsan ready to dump and run though all the hoses and sanitize everything the morning of. That cut a little over an hour out but still... I'm tired too after brew day. I idolize the people who have the 3 tiered rigs that stay in one place with fermenters feet away from the kettle. One day, I'd like to chunk down on an electric brewery in the basement and just leave it all set up looking shiny and fly waiting for the next brew.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I BIAB in my kitchen, mostly 2.5-3 gallon batches, with this size the lifting is not hard, and everything I need is right there or a few steps away. I have done a 5 gallon and that was obviously more physically challenging especially lifting and draining the bag of grains without a hoist.

Organizing what you need and having a cart to move it all at once would save some steps. Everyone's situation is different. If one is storing their equiptment in the basement and brewing outside, setting up and cleaning up is going to be more labor intensive. The key is working things out to be as streamlined as possible. Or you can always count it as a gym day.

 

[jcav]

Yea I am tired at the end of a brew day as well. It's a satisfying tired, but still tired nonetheless. Since I don't have a basement and I don't brew in the garage (way too hot), I brew on my back lanai. So I have to lug everything out of the garage and set it up, and then clean everything after and break it down. So now I usually set it up the night before and get all my water volumes and ph taken care of, so in the morning I hit the HLT element and fire it up. The mash/strike water gets heated at the same time through my herms coil, and then I have some coffee and breakfast. After breakfast it's time to grind the grain and by then the water is at temp. But at the end of a 7 to 8 hour brew day I am beat from cleaning and putting it all away.....

John

 

[Yooper]

I have my set up as easy as possible- but it's still a long and tiring day for me. When I was younger, I didn't mind it as much but these days I sort of dread brew day as much as I look forward to it.

I'm still doing 11 gallon batches, since it's just as much work for 11 gallons as it is for 5, but I'm thinking that as time passes I might do something else, like a picobrew or something.

When I added pumps and things about 10 years ago, it did make things easier for me and about 8 years ago I added a tippy dump but it's still hauling grain outside and things. I have a few ages and pains anyway so it's not as fun as it used to be.

 

[MaxStout]

Due to space constraints I store some of my gear in one place (crawlspace), and brew in another (garage). Lots of schlepping gear and jugs of RO water (which I make in the basement). So yes, it's some work, but I enjoy the exercise. I do try to streamline workflow where I can. My ferm chamber is in the garage, so not much distance to it from the kettle. It's a chest freezer, so I rigged a Wilserbrewer ratchet pulley with a Brewhauler to lift the carboys in and out. I recently built a rolling BIAB stand with pulley system, so my burner and kettle are ready to go.

Cleaning equipment and putting it away is a chore. At the end of the day I'm a little tired, and I smell like grain and hops. But I'm happy when I see that new batch bubbling away in the chamber later on.

If I wanted a physically easy hobby I'd collect stamps.

 

[Murphys_Law]

I keep a lot of my gear in the basement, as well as my kegs and ferm chamber. I used to brew on my back patio so I would take the burner and kettle from the garage and to my back yard, then haul boxes up the basement steps, through the house and down the deck steps. Then reverse at the end of the day, but I have the added luxury of carrying 5 gallons of beer down, as well. Plus I'd have to haul water, ice, etc.

I wore a fit bit on brew day and I climbed something like 31 steps and walked >2 miles.

I changed where I brew (just outside my back garage door) and it's considerably easier on the legs and back! I only have to contend with the basement steps. I get RO water from the local grocery and I just have to walk through the garage now - no steps. It's also easier to go through the garage and into my basement. This change has helped a LOT.

But yes, I am pretty whipped at the end of the day. I brewed yesterday and when it was all said and done I crashed on my couch, watched a little football with a home beer in hand, and thought...I really need my daughters to hurry and give me some grandkids who can help carry and clean!!

 

[day_trippr]

Being a creaky old fart I have found popping an ibuprofen before firing up the kettles makes a world of difference wrt aching knees at the end of the day...

Cheers!

 

[BeardedBrews]

I think most people are physically tired at the end of the brew day because it's cheaper to be tired than to eliminate most of the physical work involved with brewing. The pros will have very large access ports and bottom drains so that they can automate the heavy chores, but that sort of thing doesn't make much sense at the home scale.


Lifting Water and Wort - Using pumps and plumbing house water pressure into the brew area will help with this considerably, and is low cost (RV water hose, 24v DC pumps, etc). Using water pressure and a 3-tier system would work too, but has other drawbacks.

Lifting Hardware - If you're using kegs the weight of those suckers makes everything a chore. Bayou kettles are light and reasonably durable.

Lifting Ingredients - Single tier is the way to go, but again would require some form of pumping to avoid lifting water and wort.

Moving Finished Wort - If you can run from your boil kettle right into the fermentation chamber then you're saving a bunch of lifting and bending.

Dumping Ingredients - Building in a tippy-dump as @Yooper suggested is a good way to save some back pain. I've also heard of people using a shop-vac on wheels to suck the mash tun clean. Be sure to have nice wheels on whatever you're dumping into, and somewhere low in the yard to roll to.

Cleaning - This one can be the worst since it's more difficult to automate. Spike just did a how-to video on their 3V system that includes a section on cleaning near the end: https://spikebrewing.com/collections/spike-systems In truth, that video does a pretty good job showing how to do a full brew with minimal work. Long handled scrub brushes can help minimize the leaning and bending, even with a CIP spray ball it's tough to avoid all of the scrubbing. Probably the most important is having a good drain plan. If you're draining into buckets and moving those to the back yard to dump, you're working pretty hard by the end of the day.

Disassembly and Storage - This is an area where you can save work with organization. If your gear can stay mostly set up then you don't have nearly as much work. Nice hooks to drain the hoses will help, and spots to keep all the tools.

 

[Yooper]

I think size and age play a bigger part for me than they used to. I dropped a few pounds this spring/summer. Not many, but enough that I must have lost some muscle too. I thought about it, and I weigh 130 pounds and I'm 53 years old. I'm still in decent shape, but when I am brewing, literally every thing that is mobile is heavier than I am! I may only use 25 pounds of grain in a batch, but once it's full of strike water and in the keggle (40+ pounds empty), it's about my own weight. Then there is a keg for the HLT, with a HERMS coil and it's full of water. So even just pushing the stand if I have to for some reason is some work!

Even with the tippy dump, the spent grain is heavy to move to the compost pile, wagon or no wagon.

But yes, I agree that working smarter (not harder) is the answer.

 

[Droot]

Charlie P's request.

First before brewing a batch, salute the previous batch.

Two years ago I got a real hernia picking up my full hot HLT which is a keggle. I lifted it about 3 inches onto the forklift.

This year I have a crank and pulley to lift the HLT for my 10 gallon all grain gravity system. I was a little gunshy at first. It took a long time to heal.

However, I have brewed 4 batches this fall.

I tried having a buddy come over and help. We split the batch. Worked most of the day brewing and only ended up with 5 gallons of beer. Not good.

David

 

[sbsmann]

Yeah, it tires me out a bit as well. I like to do all grain in the summer outside and it's always a 6 hour day requiring lugging stuff from the basement to outside and a ton of clean up, but it's all very satisfying to me. I also like the changeover to fall and winter when I do more extract brewing which tires me out less due to less equipment, time and cleanup. Mixing it up is the key for me.

 

[enkamania]

I use a furniture dolly to move my kettle around. Also, got a pump to pump into the fermenter.

 

[Konadog]

But yes, I agree that working smarter (not harder) is the answer.

Yes, with age this becomes more apparent. I try not to lift anything any more other than my 10 gallon mash cooler with spent grains. Everything else is with a pump, or overhead crane.

Being a creaky old fart I have found popping an ibuprofen before firing up the kettles makes a world of difference wrt aching knees at the end of the day...

Cheers!

Again, ibuprofen is my brew buddy! Takes the "creaky" out of this old fart!

 

[MaxStout]

I think most people are physically tired at the end of the brew day because it's cheaper to be tired than to eliminate most of the physical work involved with brewing. The pros will have very large access ports and bottom drains so that they can automate the heavy chores, but that sort of thing doesn't make much sense at the home scale.


Lifting Water and Wort - Using pumps and plumbing house water pressure into the brew area will help with this considerably, and is low cost (RV water hose, 24v DC pumps, etc). Using water pressure and a 3-tier system would work too, but has other drawbacks.

Lifting Hardware - If you're using kegs the weight of those suckers makes everything a chore. Bayou kettles are light and reasonably durable.

Lifting Ingredients - Single tier is the way to go, but again would require some form of pumping to avoid lifting water and wort.

Moving Finished Wort - If you can run from your boil kettle right into the fermentation chamber then you're saving a bunch of lifting and bending.

Dumping Ingredients - Building in a tippy-dump as @Yooper suggested is a good way to save some back pain. I've also heard of people using a shop-vac on wheels to suck the mash tun clean. Be sure to have nice wheels on whatever you're dumping into, and somewhere low in the yard to roll to.

Cleaning - This one can be the worst since it's more difficult to automate. Spike just did a how-to video on their 3V system that includes a section on cleaning near the end: https://spikebrewing.com/collections/spike-systems In truth, that video does a pretty good job showing how to do a full brew with minimal work. Long handled scrub brushes can help minimize the leaning and bending, even with a CIP spray ball it's tough to avoid all of the scrubbing. Probably the most important is having a good drain plan. If you're draining into buckets and moving those to the back yard to dump, you're working pretty hard by the end of the day.

Disassembly and Storage - This is an area where you can save work with organization. If your gear can stay mostly set up then you don't have nearly as much work. Nice hooks to drain the hoses will help, and spots to keep all the tools.

Very good points! I'm not ready to jump into the wort pump thing yet, but that may be in my future. I hadn't considered your first point before--pumping water into the kettle. I hate dumping those 5 gal jugs of RO water into the kettle. I suppose I could switch to 1 gal jugs, but I don't envision wanting a dozen or more of those things scattered about. Maybe a good pump for filling. Things to think about.

In the past I had stored kettles and burners on a high shelf in the garage, and most everything else downstairs. I don't have room for everything all in one place. But I grew tired of moving stuff off and on that garage shelf--especially the rather heavy Blichmann burner with the stilt legs. Another thread gave me the idea to make a rolling BIAB stand, and I just finished it. The hoist frame is removable and the whole thing rolls to the back wall of the garage, where it's ready to go for next time.

The hoist over the ferm chamber is helpful, too. I hated lifting full carboys in and out of that, with its center of gravity so far out. I don't mind some lifting, but my back can do without that.

 

[BeardedBrews]

Maybe a good pump for filling

You can get into those DC pumps for $20-30. Even if you never use them to move wort (where they might clog) it might be helpful for transferring water. You don't need valves or any of that, just hook up to some tubing and drop the inlet into the RO jug and suck on the outlet end to prime it.

If you really wanted to go the easy way you could put a cigarette lighter plug on the pump and push the water from the jugs without ever taking them out of the car.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

It all depends on one thing.....Am I drinking on brew day

If I start out with a beer, and then another, and by the end of the brew day they're flowin like a river...I'm toast by the end of the day

If I'm not drinking which I do sometimes on an early start brew its a breeze.

I've got it down to a science and my 10 gallon brews with a single pot and no pumps makes setup and cleanup so easy. To be honest I spend most of the day on the couch during brew day. I've even left the house and did some running around during the 60 minute mash more than once...I'm thinking BIAB is what makes brew day so easy

 

[FloppyKnockers]

It's only physically taxing on me when I do more than brew. I usually take the long mash and boil times to do other things around the house. Yesterday I hung a gutter, cleaned the shop, prepped some meat for dinner, vacuumed, and stared a paint project while mashing and boiling. Otherwise, if I've got nothing else to do, I would just dick around on the internet or play video games while the beer is making itself.

 

[jimmykx250]

It's only physically taxing on me when I do more than brew. I usually take the long mash and boil times to do other things around the house. Yesterday I hung a gutter, cleaned the shop, prepped some meat for dinner, vacuumed, and stared a paint project while mashing and boiling. Otherwise, if I've got nothing else to do, I would just dick around on the internet or play video games while the beer is making itself.

Im like this guy, I have to do something during the mash and boil. Although
3.5 hours start to finish including clean up isnt too bad. I dont mind the labor
Though.

 

[GHBWNY]

Does anyone else - after a successful all-grain brew day - feel exhausted all over, with sore arms and legs? Don't get me wrong... the results and the feeling of satisfaction are worth it.

Sounds like you should call it "Bushed" Beer.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

Sounds like you should call it "Bushed" Beer.

Long brew day...I'm Anheuser Busched.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Well, as others have mentioned, one way to manage it is bigger batches. Takes as much time to brew 10 gallons as 5, but you end up with twice the product. And while 10-gallon batches means some of the lifting you have to do is heavier, it's not IMHO as big of a difference as you'd think it would be.

That said, I'm not quite 40 yet and I'm a big guy, and I brew on a single-tier system with pumps. ANd it's all in my garage so I don't have far to move anything. But still I'm aching after brew day. It's a lot of time up and down, on my feet (on my unforgiving garage floor). There's a lot of bent-over scrubbing of mash tun / boil kettle, carrying of mash tun to my yard waste bin and dumping it, moving/cleaning fermenters, etc etc etc. It just adds up. Even with a system where the only "heavy" things I carry are the mash tun (after mash) and carry the full fermenter to the fridge, it's a lot of working out of muscles in ways that perhaps they're not used to being used.

Maybe if I worked more on my overall fitness, it would be less straining lol...

 

[triethylborane]

get on TRT HRT

strength weightlifting program like Starting Strength by Rippetoe or Madcow/Pendlay if already have some lifting programming like squats, deadlifts, mil press, bench, only 3 days a week and not much time

eat big, drink beer, brew, sleep

you'll be chucking 50lb sacks of two row across the garage and lifting full 15gal boil kettles in a few weeks

 

[day_trippr]

Holy cow - that'd put me in traction.
Already had two microdiscectomies, thanks, and as the poster senior citizen for degenerative disc disease I try to avoid physical drama

My 3V/2P single tier w/CIP takes most of the actual labor out of brewing, and aside from lifting my 20g MLT and setting it on my 2 wheeler to take out to the compost pile there isn't any exertion involved. But closing in on 70 the joints aren't as willing as in my yute and there always seems to be a dozen separate reasons to go upstairs and back during the brew day.

"Vitamin I" does the trick

Cheers!

 

[hinkensj]

Yes. Space and pumps make a significant difference. We, too, used to haul equipment and ingredients from the basement to the garage, lifting, pouring, brewing, cleaning. Then haul all that crap back the the basement. And if my “friends” decided to head home, the evening haul was left to me.

A couple winters ago we sat down and designed a 3 vessel linear system based on Kal’s Electric Brewery and what a huge difference it made. We stole a chunk of our basement and put in a dedicated space for brewing—strong brew bench, 30 amp service, water, sewer, ventalation. Now like day_trippr points out the only lifting is hauling the MLT off the bench to empty the grain. And a big scoop could limit that if we chose.

I realize that not everyone has the luxury of space, but I place a high value on it. Just not having to put all the brew kettles and stuff away is a benefit.

We brew more often. We enjoy it more. We get in a few games of cribbage. Oh, and the beer is better quality and much more consistent. But more importantly we’re not exhausted afterward. We might be drunk(!) but not exhausted.

 

[dmashl]

Not exhausted...More relieved. I just brewed yesterday after not brewing for 6 months, due to being too damn busy to brew. Went well, but I do brew differently than most. I do a partial boil(4 gallons), then top off in fermenter. I still put in about 11lbs of grain(dependent on recipe), with the appropriate amount of heated water into a mash tun. But only get 4 gallons of wort(after sparging). Boil 60 minutes, then top off in the fermenter. Up and down a set of steps a few times. But never exhausted. My brewday is about 4 hrs this way.

 

[Kent88]

I make a brew day way more work than it needs to be. I should get better at having sparge water ready and get a wort chiller.

I am also over the top with my sanitation process. All that adds time. I'm usually pitching yeast well after midnight.

 

[hinkensj]

Yeah, @Kent88, but you’re talking about efficiency, not effort. Many of us could be more efficient with our time. We use long, controlled mashes, long, slow spares, and a 90 minutes boil. You would think with all this white space, we would be ready for the next step, but often it catches us by surprise. Maybe I should brew solo to keep my focus...

 

[MaryB]

I do prep the day before, everything weighed, grains crushed, water in mash tun and HLT with any mineral additives needed. Brew day I turn on the MT burner and get it up to temp, mash in, at 30 minutes I heat the sparge water, fly sparge at 60 minutes, when the HLT is empty I fire up the BK burner, when the MT is drained I take it off the burner, scoop grain to a bucket(s) while sitting on a chair, cold water rinse/green scrubby the MT and dry it off and put it back on the burner, dump the grains in the garden to compost or in the compost bin depending on time of year, by this time the BK is almost at a boil so I watch and stir(11 gallon batches in a 15 gallon kettle. Boil overs are very very close!), once things are at a boil and first hops are in I kick back and rest during the 60 minute boil, at 30 minutes put IC in the BK to sterilize and swirl sanitizer in the fermenters and dump it. Add hops etc as needed of course. After boil cool, drain to the fermenters. Put them in the wagon and pull it from the garage to my front door where I carry it 10 feet to planter rollers on wheels to roll it to my pantry. Pull wagon back, scrub BK and rinse(or soak every 10 batches with PBW) then done for the day

Sure I am tired when done but I have everything down to where I am not wasting any time. I am doing something during every stage of the brew day to minimize the time spent brewing.

 

[MaxStout]

I have my set up as easy as possible- but it's still a long and tiring day for me. When I was younger, I didn't mind it as much but these days I sort of dread brew day as much as I look forward to it.

I'm still doing 11 gallon batches, since it's just as much work for 11 gallons as it is for 5, but I'm thinking that as time passes I might do something else, like a picobrew or something.

When I added pumps and things about 10 years ago, it did make things easier for me and about 8 years ago I added a tippy dump but it's still hauling grain outside and things. I have a few ages and pains anyway so it's not as fun as it used to be.

Funny you mention that, as I have kind of the same mind-set. I really enjoy brew day, and I look forward to it. But when I get up that morning I'm a little apprehensive. It's like "oh, crap, I have a lot of work to do." Setup and cleanup are the most tedious.

 

[Die_Beerery]

Nope I brew remotely!

 

[applescrap]

Its physical and while I am so blessed to be able to easily lift 11 g of wort and dump in 2 fermenters without spilling a drop, I am not gettng any younger. I have the utmost respect for brewers who figure out how to use pumps, etc..to make brewing happen for them. They have a lot they can teach a Homer simpson like me. No matter what its physical, either grains move or the water does (later grains get removed). Even stirring the mash. Since I brew so quickly its even more physical, a grind. Ill be on a zymatic as well before to long.

 

[wyowolf]

I have my set up as easy as possible- but it's still a long and tiring day for me. When I was younger, I didn't mind it as much but these days I sort of dread brew day as much as I look forward to it.

I'm still doing 11 gallon batches, since it's just as much work for 11 gallons as it is for 5, but I'm thinking that as time passes I might do something else, like a picobrew or something.

When I added pumps and things about 10 years ago, it did make things easier for me and about 8 years ago I added a tippy dump but it's still hauling grain outside and things. I have a few ages and pains anyway so it's not as fun as it used to be.

I agree, hauling the grain basket out is heavy as heck.... I wish i could come up with an easier way to take apart and clean the kettle hoses pump etc...

 

[hezagenius]

I'm always beat after a brew day. It's a one-man show for me. I do my BIAB mash in my kitchen and then carry the kettle outside for the boil. Probably not the best idea but it helps hold the temp better. I usually start heating water around 9am and get the fermenter put into the chamber around 3pm. Then cleaning for at least 1 hour. I find that drinking several glasses of water and some ibuprofen really helps. And no drinking beer until the fermenter is in the chamber.

I need to find a brew buddy.

 

[MaxStout]

I make a brew day way more work than it needs to be. I should get better at having sparge water ready and get a wort chiller.

I am also over the top with my sanitation process. All that adds time. I'm usually pitching yeast well after midnight.

A chiller will knock a lot of time off brew day. The ice bath method is very time-consuming. If you like DIY projects, you can make an IC for around $30 in parts. Or buy a basic one for a little more. Well worth the $$.