I brewed today... man am I bushed!

[applescrap]

Or rig a zip line down the steps and use it to lower the full buckets/carboys! Use mechanical advantage with pulleys!

Wow have you seen this done

 

[madscientist451]

Does anyone else - after a successful all-grain brew day - feel exhausted all over, with sore arms and legs?

Its a hobby, its supposed to be fun, not a chore that makes you tired.
I'm super busy, but also like to take it easy when I'm not at work.
Here's some of the things that have helped me:
-Measure out and grind the grains the day before. Double check to make sure I have the right hops.
-Have my brewing equipment ready to roll, make sure everything is cleaned and sorted out the day before I start.
-Get all the brewing math done the day before, how much water, what the strike temp is supposed to be for my grain/water ratio, how much chemicals to add for water adjustment, things like that.
-Scale back my recipes to make it easy. Yeah, I have a keggle/big mash tun, but I don't want 10+ gallons of the same beer anyway. I've scaled back to 2.5-4 gallon batches, do it all in my kitchen and actually accomplish other things while brewing.
-Skip the fussy and time consuming fly sparging, batch sparging works fine. I do some manual re-circulation, but don't really worry about it.
-Put the first runnings on the stove while I'm running off the batch sparge.
-In the fall/winter/spring, skip the immersion chiller and put the lid on the kettle and after it gets down to 180F or so and set it outside and go to bed.
-In the morning, dump the wort from the kettle into a carboy pitch the yeast and leave for work, I'll clean the kettle when I get home.
So the above breaks a whole bunch of "rules" but it all actually works for me. Eventually, you'll get tired of a long brew day and being tired/sore and either quit brewing or take a much easier path.

 

[Blackdirt_cowboy]

You guys that complain about a brew day whooping your azz must not have physical jobs at all. I work 12-15 hour days, 6 days a week, outside, no matter the weather. Physical labor all day every day. A seven hour brew day on Sunday is like a mini vacation for me.

 

[MaxStout]

You guys that complain about a brew day whooping your azz must not have physical jobs at all. I work 12-15 hour days, 6 days a week, outside, no matter the weather. Physical labor all day every day. A seven hour brew day on Sunday is like a mini vacation for me.

Good for you!

 

[MaxStout]

I brew in my garage, if it is above 20 degrees I can use the outside faucet to run a hose in for wort cooling/cleanup into the driveway(gravel). 3 tier all gravity fed, right now I lift gallon jugs to fill the HLT but it is going to get a sight glass when I get the RO system installed so I can just run the RO hose into it and fill. Even fermenters are filled via gravity, I made sure the BK burner sat high enough to get a 6.5 gallon bucket under it to drain the wort. I pick the bucket up place it in my garden wagon(rated for 500 pounds) and pull it to the house door where I unload onto house planter rollers to roll it to the pantry to ferment. Minimal lifting at all stages! Work smarter not harder!

Gravity fed means less cleanup, one the sparge is done I lift the MT to the floor, scoop grain into 2 buckets to carry to the garden or compost. Rinse/scrub it out while the BK is coming to a boil. Always be cleaning if you are waiting! It shortens the brew day!

11 gallon batches and I have had 9 surgeries on my back, neck, shoulder, wrist, hip, knee, and thumb in the last 9 years! Lumbar decompression to remove bone spurs and chewed disc, I have a 3 inch plate in my neck...

Work smarter not harder!

Ditto on the burner height. I added the leg extensions to my Blichman and have the burner setting on a DIY stand which elevates it a little higher yet. Nice to have the chilled wort drop right into the carboy. There's even enough height to allow a funnel with strainer atop the carboy.

I started using a ratchet pulley to lift the fermenter up and into my chest freezer ferm chamber. No more stooping to lower it in.

 

[Murphys_Law]

You guys that complain about a brew day whooping your azz must not have physical jobs at all. I work 12-15 hour days, 6 days a week, outside, no matter the weather. Physical labor all day every day. A seven hour brew day on Sunday is like a mini vacation for me.

Yeah, but I walk uphill to work, both directions, in the snow, without shoes! :rockin:

 

[MapleGroveAleworks]

Most of my brew session is spent sitting. And I still ghetto all grain brew, no pumps. And I'm fat and out of shape. But no I'm never exhausted or tired after a brew. I'm mostly sitting there.

 

[user 125772]

I do 10 gal batches, sometimes by myself, and I'm usually tired after. I don't carry water, grain, kettles or fermenters. I tend to think I'm tired after brewing cuz I was drinking beer... I have no way to prove it tho, since I can't recall the last time I didn't drink beer when brewing

 

[ancientmariner52]

"Rules? Rules? Young man, we don't have rules here! We're trying to accomplish something!"

Supposedly said by Thomas Edison to a new assistant who inquired about lab rules.

 

[Yooper]

You guys that complain about a brew day whooping your azz must not have physical jobs at all. I work 12-15 hour days, 6 days a week, outside, no matter the weather. Physical labor all day every day. A seven hour brew day on Sunday is like a mini vacation for me.

Forty years ago, I had a physical job. I laid concrete blocks and hand mixed the cement. Thirty years ago, I was a paramedic. Twenty years ago, I was an athlete. Ten years ago, I was still playing hockey several times per week.

I think time and age play a huge role, and not just because I'm lazy.

 

[JimRausch]

Wow- this is a great thread- they should make it a sticky! I didn't read every word, because after all I have the attention span of a squirrel. (Don't we all?)
I hit the big 60 earlier this year, and while I can still outhike any of my Scouts, I do seem to appreciate naps more than I used to. And a 5-hour brewday does wipe me out.
So, I prep as much as I can the night before- water, grain, all supplies and equipment laid out. Then I'm up at 5:30am (it's a brewday habit started years ago). Start the coffee on the way down to the garage to fire up the burner. Back upstairs for the 1st cup, and then I'm down in the garage until after mashin. While waiting on the mash to complete, I cook myself some breakfast (always includes bacon, of course). Then back downstairs for the boil.
Now, that I look at it, there's a frackin lot of up and down stairs. I need to work on cutting that down. I'm usually done with cleaning up by 10:30-11:00, then after cleaning the kitchen floor (it's a bargain with SWMBO) it's time for the 1st beer. So, no labor saving devices, just years of habit, making things go as smoothly as possible. Or at least, that's what I tell myself as I take another nap...........

 

[ba-brewer]

Part of the bad back club here. Double brew days or first brew after a hiatus are what get to me, not so much that day it is the morning after when I try to get my socks on. Try to brew regularly to keep that from happening. Probably should make better use of pumps and make a more permanent setup but I think the manual movement of water, equipment and kegs help keep my back in shape.

 

[Singletrack]

Embrace the workout. Earn the beer. Enjoy both.

My brewing process is intentionally manual and labor intensive, but I consider it a fun workout day. Beer tastes better after a hard brew day. Also, I have incentive to stay in shape so I can continue to brew.

 

[DurtyChemist]

I don't get sore but I'm also young. I try and overlap as many things as possible. I start brewing early. I setup my keggle to heat my strike water while I'm making coffee or breakfast. While the mash is going I heat strike water. Moving the full mash tun isn't fun so I bring the trash can as close as possible to minimize lifting. When the brew is finished I use my pump to recirculate the wort to chill. All that's left to move is the 11 gallons of beer that will ferment. Other than that I don't feel exhausted/tired after brewing unless I've been drinking while brewing. Starting a brew around 7:00 am seems to help prevent that though.

 

[DurtyChemist]

Also, since I don't have to climb stairs and most of my brewing equipment lives where I brew it makes things easier. Moving everything from the garage to the back patio on a nice day makes it a little longer of a brew but pumps make moving wort MUCH easier on your back. Also keeping my keggle and mash tun clean makes cleanup much easier. I went through the days of not cleaning because it all boils. To get the buildup off took probably close to a year of brewing and cleaning more and more each time. I'd suggest a pump and about 10 or 12 feet of thick silicone hose to help your back out.

If you have to go up and down the stairs a lot you'll have to plan out a brew day much better to minimize how often you're climbing stairs. It can be as simple as having a crate to bring out fittings, measuring devices, pumps, hoses, salts, sanitizer/cleaner, scrub brushes/sponges, fermentors, etc. Making 2-3 trips is a lot easier than 6-8.

 

[MaryB]

Wow have you seen this done

I did it with 1,000 pound loads of lumber when my parents started their lake home. We had a 50 foot super steep hill to get materials down and the trucks couldn't make it! Simple process, pulleys top and bottom, double them so effort needed is halved.

 

[MaryB]

Or some of us worked hard physical jobs for years and ended up disabled!

You guys that complain about a brew day whooping your azz must not have physical jobs at all. I work 12-15 hour days, 6 days a week, outside, no matter the weather. Physical labor all day every day. A seven hour brew day on Sunday is like a mini vacation for me.