Brewing Without Lifting?

[TopRowSeat]

So the last two times I've brewed I have messed up my back. The second time I was extra careful to maintain good posture, lift with my legs, all that stuff and I still came away unable to walk the next day.

So, any tips for how to brew without carrying as much heavy stuff? I BIAB in the garage and ferment in the basement. I'm pretty sure it's carrying a 6 gallon glass carboy full of beer up and down stairs that is doing the damage.

My kids are still too young for me to assign them that task.

Do those carboy carry strap things help? Anyone else found a solution for this problem?

 

[kapbrew13]

I think I've seen people use pumps for everything. Sparge instead of biab, no lifting of grains . Pump boiled wort down to basement, aerate with O2 and stone. No lifting of heavy containers. Back is now happy.

 

[scubasteve03]

you can get smaller 3 gallon carboys. one extra trip without risking your back.

 

[TopRowSeat]

Pumping is an interesting idea. I like the idea of solving this with a complicated series of gadgets. That definitely warrants further consideration. (and I'm being serious here, I love the idea of more gadgets)

However, I have to admit that scubasteve may have suggested the most obvious, simple and cost-effective solution. Simply splitting up the batch into two threes would definitely help (as long as I'm correct in my guess as to where I'm doing the damage)

Thanks! I appreciate the tips. These may well save my brewing career.

 

[MaynardX]

Depending on your brewing area, you can devise a series of chain pullies on some sort of track on your ceiling. A fellow brewer of mine who is up in age has built something like this in his basement.

 

[kpr121]

The brew haulers could definitely help you out. When you are carrying around a carboy full of wort it is natural to not have the best posture. The hauler helps by allowing you to stand upright, back straight.

Scubasteves idea is sound. You would have the added advantage of having the opportunity to easily try different yeasts/hops/additives but you also would have an additional carboy to clean. Also 3 gallon carboys are generally as expensive if not more than 5 or 6.5 gallon versions.

But I am like you (gadget lover) and I think you should definitely look into the pumping idea.

 

[eanmcnulty]

you can get smaller 3 gallon carboys. one extra trip without risking your back.

I was thinking 3 gallon carboys too. I brew 3 gallon batches, and I use plastic Better Bottles. As Scuba Steve said, you could split your batch between two.

 

[pdxal]

Another option would be to brew in the basement or ferment in the garage so everything would be on one level, no stairs. Then, you could build a rig with a winch and pulley to lift and then roll the batch around, like with an engine hoist.

 

[Cellarbrau]

I can't think of a reason why you couldn't transport the cooled wort to the fermenter in a gallon jug.

 

[November]

Unhook the hot water pipe to the spare bathroom and use it to pump beer upstairs. Better yet don't tell anyone and you may make it so the in laws never stay again.

 

[rrumney]

So the last two times I've brewed I have messed up my back. The second time I was extra careful to maintain good posture, lift with my legs, all that stuff and I still came away unable to walk the next day.

So, any tips for how to brew without carrying as much heavy stuff? I BIAB in the garage and ferment in the basement. I'm pretty sure it's carrying a 6 gallon glass carboy full of beer up and down stairs that is doing the damage.

My kids are still too young for me to assign them that task.

Do those carboy carry strap things help? Anyone else found a solution for this problem?

I am in the same situation as you as far as backs go. I do all grain in a cooler. I bought a rolling cart from home depot, and use that. I put the cooler on the cart as I heat strike water on the stove. I transfer water using a kitchen pot from the kettle to the mash tun. I drain the first runnings to the boil kettle, and then move the kettle to the propane burner outside. It's not heavy yet. Then I add half the sparge water to the cooler, and roll it outside to the boil kettle. Then I either drain that, or I carry the 21/2 gallons of the rest of the sparge water out and add it to the cooler.
After the boil and cooling, I put a fermenter on the cart and add the wort to it by using the kitchen pot. If i want to go to the basement, I only add half of the wort. Then I put the rest of the wort into another fermenter and carry it to the basement, where I combine the two and add yeast. The kitchen pot adds a lot of oxygen to the fermenter. I find that only carrying 2 to 3 gallons of liquid is doable for me, but you could even split it further if needed.