agitation while traveling

[Kent88]

I've temporarily halted production as I'll be moving in a couple weeks.

But do I really need to? How bad would it be for a fermented beer to travel in carboy (3 gallons, if it matters) down a few city streets and on a highway for about a half an hour?

Is that too much agitation/aeration?

I've traveled with wort that had yeast pitched on less than 24 hours before and no issues, but what about a week? Maybe 2?

I would describe myself as a good, not great, driver.

 

[billl]

The only real risk is it tipping over. As long as the carboy is filled with CO2 still, it's safe for the beer.

It will kick up a ton of yeast though, so you'll need to let it settle back out.

 

[Kent88]

I can't purge with CO2, I'd have to rely on what the yeast kicks out.

 

[GPP33]

You can't stop brewing for two weeks so you can get ready to move? You might have a brewing addiction

I would hold off simply because moving fermenting beer sounds like a pain in the butt. I'm sure you can do it without a problem but why make things more difficult than they need to be? Moving day will already suck, making more stuff to move will just make it suck even more and cleaning 3 gallons of beer out of your car would be enough to make you cry. Spend your time over the next couple weeks making that DIY brewing gadget you've wanted to do, working out recipes or dividing up and packaging bulk hops so you are ready to go as soon as you are settled in your new place.

 

[philipCT]

I have no opinion about what you SHOULD do - you're a big boy and will figure that out

...but what I can tell you is that your beer will finish lower than normal. I have two mini-fridges on wheels that I use for longer fermentations and conditioning and I have noticed that the one in front, that I roll out to check every few days, always ferments lower than the one in back that I don't move. Not a bad thing necessarily but you should not be surprised.

Also, if you're fermenting in glass carboys please put that puppy in a square plastic milk crate before you start moving it around. Protection from bumping and much better handles to grip it with. This is just a simple precaution against breakage - which could really be dangerous apart from being messy.

 

[invictusbrew]

I have no opinion about what you SHOULD do - you're a big boy and will figure that out

...but what I can tell you is that your beer will finish lower than normal. I have two mini-fridges on wheels that I use for longer fermentations and conditioning and I have noticed that the one in front, that I roll out to check every few days, always ferments lower than the one in back that I don't move. Not a bad thing necessarily but you should not be surprised.

Also, if you're fermenting in glass carboys please put that puppy in a square plastic milk crate before you start moving it around. Protection from bumping and much better handles to grip it with. This is just a simple precaution against breakage - which could really be dangerous apart from being messy.

Actually had a buddy of mine (who got a bunch of glass carboys for free off a guy on Craigslist) who got a bunch of tall plastic crates much like that one and put all of the carboys in them more or less permanently. I think the crates were for water jugs originally (Sparklettes perhaps?) and I have no idea how he got a hold of them, but I do remember thinking it was a pretty good idea.

 

[dude3516]

Just do a standard ale, and pull it off after 10 days and slap it in a keg.

 

[Kent88]

You can't stop brewing for two weeks so you can get ready to move? You might have a brewing addiction

I would hold off simply because moving fermenting beer sounds like a pain in the butt. I'm sure you can do it without a problem but why make things more difficult than they need to be? Moving day will already suck, making more stuff to move will just make it suck even more and cleaning 3 gallons of beer out of your car would be enough to make you cry. Spend your time over the next couple weeks making that DIY brewing gadget you've wanted to do, working out recipes or dividing up and packaging bulk hops so you are ready to go as soon as you are settled in your new place.

I wouldn't call it a brewing addiction. I want to get a lager most of the way done by christmas for gifting, and I also have some private collection ale yeast that is getting a little old. These are legit reasons, right? Like when a buddy tells me he has to drink a 12 pack so he has enough empties to bottle into...

But you are right, trying to time all this out would be awful and the cost of failure in this case could be high if it means I'm trying to get hop smell out of my vehicle, and mold...

Also, if you're fermenting in glass carboys please put that puppy in a square plastic milk crate before you start moving it around. Protection from bumping and much better handles to grip it with. This is just a simple precaution against breakage - which could really be dangerous apart from being messy.

I've brewed at a friends house a few hours away before and just timed it out so I left soon after pitching, put the carboy back in its box, seatbelted it in, and I think I wedged some blankets or pillows around it so everything was snug. This doesn't count as open container, right?

I could brew the evening before closing day, but that just sounds like I'm asking for trouble.