Back to back 20g days will bring much needed rest. What takes it out of me is brewing in the garage on a 90 degree day with burners blasting, standing on concrete all day and airating 4 carboys (20g) by manually shaking em (that last part really sucks). Oh, and drinking beer ALL day I'm sure doesn't help, brewing just isn't the same without it though.
Brew days wear me out!
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oceanic_brew
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When I'm organized and mindful I'm surprised by how easy it can be. If I'm squeezing an unplanned batch in on a Tuesday night it can seem not worth it at times.
Some people are built better than others for these things. For example, I'm a carpenter and I don't exactly specialize in anything but when I see the guys who are just laying tile for like 35 years I cringe. Gotta remind myself that if they didn't possess the physical form and mental capabilities for that specific task they would have failed or quit long ago.
I'm sure some pro brewers are amazingly efficient and clean, yet some homebrewers probably put in twice the amount of work necessary due to improper planning and procedure or bad brew house setups.
Some people are built better than others for these things. For example, I'm a carpenter and I don't exactly specialize in anything but when I see the guys who are just laying tile for like 35 years I cringe. Gotta remind myself that if they didn't possess the physical form and mental capabilities for that specific task they would have failed or quit long ago.
I'm sure some pro brewers are amazingly efficient and clean, yet some homebrewers probably put in twice the amount of work necessary due to improper planning and procedure or bad brew house setups.
rtracer
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BAIB makes cleanup a breeze. Well.... Relatively speaking
NothingRhymesWithCurtiss
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I'm 36 and I hear you about being worn out.
Between work, chasing my kids around, and honey-do lists, I'm pretty tapped out to begin with. My brew nights don't start until 9pm, and go until 2am some nights. And while I wake up physically exhausted the next day, I'm mentally recharged. It's something about the process, from recipe formulation to tasting the final product, that does it for me. Plus, it gets you drunk!
Between work, chasing my kids around, and honey-do lists, I'm pretty tapped out to begin with. My brew nights don't start until 9pm, and go until 2am some nights. And while I wake up physically exhausted the next day, I'm mentally recharged. It's something about the process, from recipe formulation to tasting the final product, that does it for me. Plus, it gets you drunk!
GJOCONNELL
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I crap thunder and whole leaf hops
I (48) am also pretty wore out after a long brew day. (15G batches..) It is the setup, tear down and cleaning that's the bear. It does make a difference if I am more prepared before brew day as well as doing cleaning during time like the boil, cooling etc... It's actually me feet that bother me the most. Probably shouldn't brew in cheap flip-flops with all the standing on concrete and such... 
I love brewing though and am looking forward to the next session!
I love brewing though and am looking forward to the next session!
I'm 52 and I still love to brew, once I get going. It's lugging everything out of the garage to the lanai to set up that is a pain. Just takes awhile. Then it's cleaning and breaking everything down and putting it away afterwards that is the only thing I really dislike about my brewing process. Wish I had a basement with a dedicated brewery/room, so I could keep everything set up and ready to go. If I set everything up the night before I brew it does make a huge difference in the time saved on brew day and I am not as worn out!
John
John
rtracer
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Now THAT.... I wouldn't want to see
Redlantern
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Wold rather just hear about it - -probably a horrible spectator sport....
By the end of the brewday, after the yeast has been pitched and everything cleaned and stored away, I look forward to enjoying a few cold beers. The days of cleaning fermentors, kegs, tubing and pumps during brewday has long since past. By doing all of that stuff, and making RO water at least a day ahead of time brew days have become far more enjoyable and a lot less work.
gosh, i couldn't imagine fooling around with cleaning extra stuff ahead of using it during brew day. the only 'cleaning' i do while brewing that i don't want to do in advance is sanitizing the carboys and whatever hoses i will use downstream of the chiller.
i do cleanup as i brew but that is so i don't have to do it the next day or something like that. i dry out my hlt while the wort is coming to boil and clean the mlt while boiling. i'll also clean the hoses i won't need during chilling and the water pump during the boil. after the yeast is pitched and the carboy is on its way, i'll clean the boil kettle, wort pump and the last hoses.
i clean my kegs as they kick but don't sanitize them until i am ready to rack in a new beer. i clean my carboys right after kegging. similar with starters, i clean the flask right after i put the starter into mason jars to settle. then i don't sanitize the flasks until i am ready to make the next starter.
doing ro water the night before is a total no-brainer. i used to do it overnight before brewing but got too paranoid that i would oversleep and end up with water all over the floor (i fill the hlt directly from the ro unit without any tank or float switches).
I do my RO water during the brew; I keep a 7-gallon Aquatainer full of RO water; 3 or 4 gallons goes into the kettle to heat for the mash; as soon as that's in the mash tun, I dump the rest of the water into the kettle to heat for sparging, and begin to refill the Aquatainer with RO water for the next time. It takes about 3-4 hours to refill the Aquatainer, which is just about right for a brew day.
Might not be enough time for tomorrow; I set up the equipment tonite in the garage, filled the boil kettle with water, crushed the grain, so all I have to do to start is hook up the propane tank and start heating.
VladOfTrub
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"I'm 52 and I still love to brew, once I get going. It's lugging everything out of the garage to the lanai to set up that is a pain."
It wore me out just trying to pronounce "lanai." Is that the location where the beer drinker holds a demitasse glass with the pinky finger extended away from the glass?
It wore me out just trying to pronounce "lanai." Is that the location where the beer drinker holds a demitasse glass with the pinky finger extended away from the glass?
prepare the day before, Im older and I just started doing it, everything is milled set up cleaned and ready to go, all I have to do tomorrow is fill the mash tun
ericbw
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Brew days aren't bad when everything goes as planned. Last night I had burner issues. Took forever to get to a boil. I have to do something about my chilling... 25' copper IC just isn't cutting it for 10 gallon batches.
Get a big ass storage container, fill with water, add ice or ice bottles, add hot keg. Helps a ton but make sure you have some thick gloves (such as welding gloves) and a friend to help lift or you'll burn the hell out of your hands.
Or just pump that cold water through your IC using an aquarium pump.
One thing I would add is having equipment to make things easier. I built a dolly so I can roll my kettle to the burner. A brew hauler or milk crate makes carrying fermenters easier.
It used to be a tiring thing for me as well but I started making tweaks to my process. That included where I store things so that getting and replacing stuff used fewer steps. I try to clean up as the day progresses so at the end of the day about all I have left to clean is my kettle, some racking hose and maybe a few test tools. Everything else has been used cleaned and put away. I'm outside on a covered patio when I brew so I bring some portable music and a cigar and of course a homebrew if I have one. I do my hop measuring while the mash is going on. After the boil starts and things calm down I can start cleaning up stuff like the dunk kettle and the sieve, grain bag, the bucket I use for milled grain storage. Then I start sanitizing the carboy and getting it ready. Also I spray off the chiller and get it ready for the dunk. After you do it a few times, it sorta becomes routine and there is always time for relaxing and a good bit of waiting.
Oh, I'm 65....
Oh, I'm 65....
trav77
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+1 on this. I love the whole process but certainly getting things ready the night before and mis en place makes the brew day so much more relaxing. I have young kids so I've started brewing in the evenings. Prep the night before, heat strike water while making dinner/eating, mash in then put the kids to bed and I'm completely free for boil and cleanup.
I used to love the days where I could just have a couple pints and read a book while brewing but will have to wait a while for that again.
Yeastieboy
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+1... kiddos got me brewing at night to. Sometimes I get overzealous and start heating water before they are in bed. Always a bad idea cause they are young and still want to hang out with me however, they're not old enough to be messin' with 220V and hot water. Frankly, I'm not sure I am either. Mise helps in the beginning but cleanup is the real PITA part. Mostly that's due to the plate chiller. It drives me to recirculate PBW which then needs to be rinsed. Huge pain. Getting very close to buying an immersion chiller instead. Maybe the next big purchase since I accidentally just bought a Chronical... which the Wife hasn't seen yet. She'll either think it's awesome (because it is) or she'll ask how much it cost... or both.
trav77
Well-Known Member
Yeah I tried this tonight... Getting started early. Involved some running around but should be done and clean by 10 including dinner and kids in bed! Not bad.
I love my immersion chiller. 5-10 mins to get to pitching temps depending on my groundwater (which is always fairly cold).
It's a pretty easy project to solder yourself up one... Even if you've never done it before. Just use all that spare time you have!
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