Moving stuff

[LowelR]

Getting old, how do you guys move heavy stuff like full carboys up stairs?

 

[pigroaster]

Good question. I am also getting old. My only thought is to invite a new brewer over for lessons and share some brew!

 

[kh54s10]

Very carefully.

I don't have that exact problem anymore since I have no stairs where I live now.

But, I will at some point look at devising a hoist to get my fermenters in and out of my chest freezer fermentation chamber.

 

[Dland]

I pump finished wort down to fermentors in cellar as it is runs though wort chiller. The fementors are on a good stainless table with castors, so I can roll near cellar window & back to where they live. Transfer tube has quick connects and a valve at bottom to help with tidiness.

The kegs stay in keggerator in cellar until empty, beer is decanted into glasses, pictures or growlers as it is consumed.

In your case, with the carboys, I'd probably set up bottling or whatever process so I could keep them in cellar until they were empty. That might require the purchase of another 'fridge, or clearing out some space down there, but the consequences of a trip on stairs not worth it.

As we get older, we have to work smarter.

 

[augiedoggy]

I pump finished wort down to fermentors in cellar as it is runs though wort chiller. The fementors are on a good stainless table with castors, so I can roll near cellar window & back to where they live. Transfer tube has quick connects and a valve at bottom to help with tidiness.

The kegs stay in keggerator in cellar until empty, beer is decanted into glasses, pictures or growlers as it is consumed.

In your case, with the carboys, I'd probably set up bottling or whatever process so I could keep them in cellar until they were empty. That might require the purchase of another 'fridge, or clearing out some space down there, but the consequences of a trip on stairs not worth it.

As we get older, we have to work smarter.

We are implementing a similar process at our brewpub... beer is brewed upstairs and pumped downstairs to basement into fermenters -brites-kegs and comes back up through tap lines.

At home I simply located my glycol /heater wrapped conicals 5 ft from my BK and its pumped from one to another.. the beauty of electric brewing is everything can be done in one spare room in the house.

 

[mongoose33]

One thing has to do with how you lift. I have a few plastic fermenters; before I bought the lifting straps, I would either pick it up and carry it in my arms, or carry it in a milk crate--which is hard, as you have the center of gravity away from you. At least, that's hard on my back...

When I bought the straps, it made lifting and carrying a lot easier. Kegs that have two handles on top instead of a single one make that easier as well. I can lift them a stair at a time if I want--though the reality is that I brew in the garage, and carry down to the basement. Easier when gravity is working with you.

Now, if you can't lift 50 pounds, that's not going to help (I get it, 2 back surgeries later...). Splitting into smaller amounts may help if that's possible and not going to compromise the brew.

I've even seen examples of using a hoist/pully on a track above the stairs; if your setup will allow for that, it might be the easiest way to deal with it.