My Beer Ride

[Zymurologist]

By the ripe ole age of sixteen I was blessed with an extensive enough baldness that allowed beer purchases by way of grocery store, that made it easy to pursue cheap beer and long nights praying to the porcelain gods. Along about the time I turned eighteen an uncle introduced me to the world of import beers, on a single evening it was Cooper's, Guinness, St. Pauli Girl, Heineken, etc. the flavors experienced in that session were unforgettable to say the least and a seed was planted. By the time I turned twenty-one I had grown tired of drinking for effect and bar-hopping held no fascination or intrigue.

Fast forward some years and I found myself strolling through a pre 1840's rendezvous enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells associated with a period correct encampment, lo' and behold there was this wonderful aroma wafting through the crowd, the scent was nothing I had encountered before and was not easily identifiable, but was definitely worth further investigation. After some searching through the vendors my nose led me to an engaging gent decked out in period garb stirring a roiling boil of this viscus liquid in a large kettle upon an open fire. At my inquiry he informed me that he was making "homebrew", a bit skeptical I quizzed him some on his processes and practicality of such an endeavor, at that point he offered up a small taster of his "brew" and ayup tasted just like beer without the alcohol, green beer he called it. Still a bit skeptical I purchased a kit just to see if he was for real.

That summer of 1990 in the heat and humidity of the upper-Midwest my first batch of home made beer was brewed and consumed, faults and all. Over the next eight years I moved back to the west coast and continued to hack out a few batches of beer a year, brewed beer for my wedding (bought a pony keg for the muggles), collecting equipment along the way and moving up from canned kits and quantities of corn sugar to extract brewing with grain additions. In 1999 I went into business for myself (service industry) and the time to physically brew ceased but the desire to create smouldered on. In my daily travels and interactions I met folks and managed to continue to collect various bits and pieces of equipment (gifted to me out of appreciation for hard work provided) to up my game and overall brewing experience. In 2011 all of the required ingredients to brew a batch were purchased but life was still in the way so it never came to fruition, still have those ingredients though.

In early 2019 some loser ran a flashing stop sign and I was hit broadside, that effectively put an end to my business and labor intensive service career. Over the years I never parted with any brew equipment, (still have the original kit bucket and air-lock I started with), the key at this point is to work smarter and not harder. I still consider myself a FNG due to the two decade time lapse so my inquiries will reflect that, it's funny how much has changed in the industry since 1990, Had (still have) Charlies book and at some point a subscription to Zymurgy, today all of that information and so much more is available at the pressing of some select buttons.............

 

[IslandLizard]

That's a great story! Certainly among the better introductions we've gotten here.

Welcome to HBT!

So sorry you got mangled in the unfortunate T-bone. How's homebrewing treating your body? It's a labor intensive hobby, with some heavy (and sometimes awkward) lifting at times.

 

[Zymurologist]

That's a great story! Certainly among the better introductions we've gotten here.

Welcome to HBT!

So sorry you got mangled in the unfortunate T-bone. How's homebrewing treating your body? It's a labor intensive hobby, with some heavy (and sometimes awkward) lifting at times.

Thanks for the welcome and sentiments, I've yet to brew a batch but am researching ways to manage the cumbersome weights involved, I can manage empty gear without much effort, installed a 2'x3' mop sink some years ago for (large dog bath) sanitation situations and am in a single level dwelling with a handy four wheel cart. New kettle has a spigot and have a few old school (Hambleton Bard/Insta-Pub International) fermenters with spigots, along the way was gifted a couple corny kegs and a Co2 cylinder, so just need to procure tubing and regulator, selectively mounted lift systems and limiting my batches to five gallons should be dandy.

 

[IslandLizard]

Thanks for the welcome and sentiments, I've yet to brew a batch but am researching ways to manage the cumbersome weights involved, I can manage empty gear without much effort, installed a 2'x3' mop sink some years ago for (large dog bath) sanitation situations and am in a single level dwelling with a handy four wheel cart. New kettle has a spigot and have a few old school (Hambleton Bard/Insta-Pub International) fermenters with spigots, along the way was gifted a couple corny kegs and a Co2 cylinder, so just need to procure tubing and regulator, selectively mounted lift systems and limiting my batches to five gallons should be dandy.

Wow, you're certainly dedicated to get into homebrewing, no lack of enthusiasm!
But you need to be the judge how able you are to do the various tasks involved. Yes, there are extended times of sitting or standing around (while mashing, steeping, boiling, chilling, etc.), but there are lots of moments where manual work is required and sometimes with quick action, such as preventing boil-overs.

You can simply use gravity to drain, and use a pump to transfer liquids "uphill" from one vessel to another. Although these may alleviate lifting heavy kettles, buckets, and other vessels, it's difficult, if not impossible, to avoid lifting and handling equipment using both hands. Even prep work and cleaning takes much dexterity.

Brewing itself needs quite a bit of manual work too and much requires standing, reaching, and labor, making hose connections, lifting lids, intermittent stirring, etc. It can be quite a workout at times. There are also safety concerns, dealing with large amounts of hot or boiling liquids on stoves or burners, usually placed in more precarious or semi-stable positions, not always in the most easily accessible places. Lots of "hunkering" and bending over. Brewing smaller batches (2-3 gallons) reduces the need for larger sized equipment, making handling, lifting, cleaning, etc. easier, such as a 2-4 gallon kettle on the stovetop or induction burner.

Have you ever been at a homebrew session? Watched some videos?
If you don't have that kind of mobility, a steady footing and good use of both hands at a time without support, I would recommend recruiting a brew assistant to help you with your brew sessions. That in itself is not a bad idea generally, it provides extra hands, support, morale, and shared enjoyment of the fruits of your labor.

 

[eric19312]

Welcome to HBT! If you include information about where you live in your profile it is likely we have brewers on here not too far away who might be able to invite you to a brew day. Heck if mobility is an issue maybe someone can bring a brew day to you. I'd start back with extract and steeped grains batch. Probably a kit and see how that goes. Brewing ingredients have improved a lot over the years and the quality of what can be made from a good extract kit is remarkable.

Do you have a fridge you can put that keg into (perhaps with help from a friend or a pulley? With your regulator and a picnic tap in the fridge it would not be hard to see if brewing 5 gallons is something you are up to using the equipment you already have. With a little help I'm sure you could get a batch or two in and then assess direction you want to go. Maybe backing off to 1 gallon or 2 gallon batches will be necessary but maybe not.

 

[Zymurologist]

Yup all good and valid concerns, 30 years as a service plumber by trade in union dominant states, injury is to lower back so any heavy lifting is out, I can move and am mobile, and still solid on my feet, just not in a manner that is productive enough to be billed out. Have brewed in the past so am aware of the requirements, again my movements are limited but the biggest issue is lifting weight and carrying it, I can build all manner of washing/cleaning wands etc to simplify the cleaning and sanitation issues, I'm just slow and therefore methodical in my movements.

A brew day sounds amazing, unfortunately in my condition I am just a liability and would not want to put others at risk.

I am planning on a chest freezer for fermentation control and a small fridge or chest freezer for kegerator conversion, if placed correctly all can be accessed with a simple to utilize lift system to move the heavies. I don't drink a lot of beer, but I love good beer, brew pubs are limited in their offerings as most have to cater to what the general public wants and the general public has a weak taste in beer so generally speaking I cannot buy the beers I like without hour and a half round trips and then it's a crap shoot as to whats available.

Lambics, Krieks, Belgian Whites, Fruited Honey Mead (on the dry side), Stouts, Porters etc, I like to be able to stand a fork up in my beer.


This is the lift system I am thinking about purchasing, several tracks strategically placed lineally over chest freezers and wash station and just move the trolley and hoist as needed since they are light duty as we're only lifting less than 100lb.