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Goose5

Goose5

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I just turned 60 and did a brew today. I must admit brew day is turning into quite the chore. Carrying around pots and corny kegs of 5 gallons worth of liquid down stairs is beginning to be to much for me to handle. How do you cope with these limitations of strength and endurance?
 
Although I'm a good fifteen years behind you, I had a brief episode of lucidity last year and decided that I don't want to be one of those guys with a bad back. To that end, I retired the trusty old 6.5gal glass carboys that I've used for over twenty years and I bought a pair of SS brewbuckets. I miss the ease and certainty of sanitation in glass vs. the more picky stainless vessels, but the SS brewbuckets really are a lot easier to move around with their integrated handles.

I also broke down and bought a fancy brew kettle with a couple ball valves. While there was nothing wrong with my trusty old ten gallon pot, being able to underlet my mash makes things a lot easier--and boring. To my shame, I dispensed with what's left of my self-esteem and bought a couple of pumps. I'm not one bit proud of that, but they do make the day easier.

Finally, I repurposed an old pair of end tables as stands for my fermentation fridge and as a platform for racking. They're half the height of a bench or countertop, so the lifts are shorter. They're marginally slower for gravity transfers, but they move five gallons at a reasonable enough pace.

If you do a bit of googling, there are some really clever winch designs that folks have come up with over the years.
 
Previous injuries aged me fast, So I’m with ya here. Smaller batches and thinking ahead (like the pulley/winch idea, placement of valves and pumps, height of bench and ferment chamber). I keep brewing, fermenting, and serving all on the same floor and have wheeled carts so I can wheel around the really heavy stuff.

Have strong teenage/early 20s kids to help when I don’t think ahead is awesome too.
 
I'm not there yet in age but I don't like being tired at the end of a brew day and I want my brewing process to be future proof, so I make it a point to never lift anything I don't have to.

All transfers are done with pumps.
My brew rig is a flat 3vessel and no ladders needed.
For brew in a bag, an 8' step ladder over your kettle is a great platform for using a winch to pull the bag out with. A simple ratcheting pulley works well.
I use a 2 gallon shop vac to assist with clean out on my kettles and clean in place whenever possible
My fermentation happens right next door to my brew rig so I don't have to move the fermenter. Alternatively I could use a furniture dolly for a quick wheeled move

Overall look for places where you can eliminate a heavy lift, or eliminate some steps, or even something as simple as not having to bend over (elevate your kettle, get a work table or some wall racks)

If you have to lift something look for a way to use a tool, a ramp, or a workaround. This may require rethinking your routine and changing the way you do some things but you'll get used to it in time.

Hope that's helpful. Cheers
 
Goose5 said:
I just turned 60 and did a brew today. I must admit brew day is turning into quite the chore. Carrying around pots and corny kegs of 5 gallons worth of liquid down stairs is beginning to be to much for me to handle. How do you cope with these limitations of strength and endurance?
Click to expand...

I'm not 60, but I'm not all that far away. I'm still able to haul a kettle with 5 gallons of wort without much trouble, but can't really lift a filled SS conical into my (upright) fermentation freezer. For that, I get my son (he's in his 20s) to stop by toward the end of my brew day.
 
I'm 62 and have been brewing for 26 years. I brew in my basement with a single tier system with all the vessels connected by a pump. I clean the kettle with a CIP nozzle, and the mash tun (Rubbermaid cooler) in the sink. Most of the time I'm brewing, I'm reading or listening to the oldies on Pandora. Probably the most strenuous thing I have to do is to dump the spent grain out of the mash tun, which I do on the floor into a trash bag before I rinse it in the sink. The whole process is not strenuous at all. But, when I'm done, I'll often take a nap. After all, I am a sexagenarian.
 
For me: When I built my electric brew room, I immediately spec'd multiple pumps and electric hoists. I am getting older with a bad back and I decided to spend the money now so I can brew longer into my old age. Luckily I am an engineer so that helped. Now I do not lift an ounce of water during any given brew day. During your next brew day, make notes and drawings on stress points where heavy lifting occurs and look for solutions. That is what I did.
 
I mostly brew 5 gallons propane in my garage w/ the door up. I eliminated 1 issue (carrying a pot of 5 - 6 gallons freshly boiled and still super hot wort) by getting one of the Blichmann hellfire burners since it has such a short, wide base and putting it onto a metal plant caddy from the garden store. When I'm done boiling I disconnect the propane and push the whole thing (caddy, burner and kettle) to the driveway to attach a hose to the chiller and begin cooling. Then I wheel it back into the garage.

I do still lift it to a deep windowsill after that to allow gravity to pull it to the fermenter but at least I'm not walking with it and it's cooled off. A pump will probably be in my future however.

I also changed over to the big mouth bubblers, I found their light weight and their diameter to make them easier to carry than any conical I've come across, especially compared to the Catalyst I ditched.
 
I make 4 gallon batches instead of 5. That extra 8 pounds makes a difference. I also use lightweight plastic carboys. (I still have my glass carboys but not sure why, I just hate to get rid of them)

Except in the summer, I brew on my kitchen stove. I just have one awkward lift; moving the hot kettle over to the sink to chill it. I could eliminate that with some long hoses.
 
What Bobby and others said...smaller batches all the way, especially if you don't drink that much. If it's taking you longer than 2 months to drink a keg of average strength beer, brew smaller batches. I'm still young, but I do have a bad back, have had since I was 13. So in 25 years or so when I'm about your age, I definitely plan to be making 2.5 gallon batches. I've already done a fair bit of half batch brewing (all of 2017 and 2018) and it's definitely much easier and lower stress.
 
I may try a 5 gallon brew soon just to see how it goes. I'll actually brew 4 gallons of high-gravity wort and then top-up the fermenter with cold water to get 5 gallons. Don't think I'll lose anything except hops efficiency.
 
What everyone else here said. Do the brewing and fermenting in the same space. I'm 39 and still perfectly able, but if had a 15ft length of hose I could easily pump wort out of the BK and into the fermenter.
Also, def just ask for help if needed.
 
exosuit.jpg
 
I brewed my first batch in March of 2011, about a week after my 60th birthday. So, my entire brewing experience has been as an Old Person. :cool:

I’ll turn 70 in 3 months. After reading this thread I’ve spent this afternoon reevaluating my brewing space with an eye towards making the process a little more senior-friendly.

Right now, my setup requires a fair amount of heavy lifting. I’m going to buy one of those hydraulic lift tables so I only have to slide the BK from the burner to the table. I’m also going to tap into the water lines which are directly above my burners. There isn’t a drain in that location, but I will be able to fill kettles without rolling them on a furniture dolly back and forth to/from the nearby bathroom, as I do now. If I want to add a utility sink I can put a bucket under the drain and use a small transfer pump and garden hose to move gray water to the floor drain in the utility room about 15 feet away. I can use the same hose to carry the runoff from my IC to the floor drain instead of rolling the kettle of boiling liquid on the furniture dolly as I’m doing now.

It appears that I can do this for around $300 and a day, or so, of plumbing and fabricating (I’m planning to go the Harbor Freight route for the table). It won’t appeal, much, to those who are all about the bling, but it willl make it lot easier for me to continue to practice my hobby until The Home beckons. 😉
 
Having everything - brew rig, all equipment, water, sink, etc - in a ground level brew space makes a huge difference in bodily wear and tear. It did take ~14 years and a new kitchen for The Spousal Unit to get there, but totally worth it...

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
Having everything - brew rig, all equipment, water, sink, etc - in a ground level brew space makes a huge difference in bodily wear and tear. It did take ~14 years and a new kitchen for The Spousal Unit to get there, but totally worth it...

Cheers!
Click to expand...
Yeah. I have everything on one level, just not in the same place on that level.

I’ve put off making any significant upgrades to my brewing space because we don’t live in this house full time any longer. Over the next couple of years I will probably complete the transition from semi-retired to retired. We already spend about a third of our time at our city house; we’ll be living there most of the time in the not too distant future.

The house at the farm is part of the farm; when we move on another family member will move in. All of my brewing equipment could be out the door and in the back of a truck in an hour. I want to make it more convenient but keep it easily portable.
 
grampamark said:
I brewed my first batch in March of 2011, about a week after my 60th birthday. So, my entire brewing experience has been as an Old Person. :cool:
Click to expand...
Glad to hear I have another year before I'm old.

I looked at that the lift cart thing, I went with a rolling rack and pullies. I had it for lifting and moving 10gal batches, but when I messed up my back again this summer it came in handy to get kegs into the keezer.

When I messed up my back this summer I was moving a 5gal bucket of water which is something I was very comfortable with doing. My mistake was to over extend slightly to far setting it down. Felt like a shock across my lower back then no legs. I was glad the bucket was over the top of the cooler, would hate to have that happen on a stairs. Folks be careful moving stuff.

edit: I dont have to move thing up or down stairs but I see people saying they do that is why I mentioned it.
 
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I do 2 to 3 gallon batches BIAB on my kitchen stove. Less weight, faster brew time, get to brew more often due to smaller batch size. Brewing more often means more variety on hand.
 
75 plus - I mash in the garage, transfer ( with jugs) to outside 30 litre boiler, at end I jug into 2 stainless steel pans ( 13 litre and 9 litre ) with lids for fermentation.
 
I am 66. I have a Robobrew and there are no issues there. However, my 15 gallon sanke electric boiler is quite heavy when I have to carry it over to the laundry sink to hose out. I do plan on selling it when I can't lift it at all. Hopefully I will not be there in a while. I have to lift my 15 gallon mash tun also, but selling my 3 piece electric system will be hard to do, but what can you do? I put it together in 2003.
 
I hit 62 five years ago, retired and moved to the beach. Been brewing since 1985. Bought a gas Breweasy and made a few batches before I moved but haven't brewed since the move. Finally getting ready to get my brew room set up. I am planning to modify any process step that requires lifting. Been buying 1/4 kegs from a couple of local micro brews. My back is shot so if I have to lift much I'll stay with the micro brews.
 
I turned 60 earlier this year. I have been brewing 3 gallon batches for years anyway. I’m the only one in my house who drinks beer.

Most of my grain bills are 9 pounds or less. So even if I’m grinding on one floor and brewing on another floor, its not all that bad.

Like others, for me its storage. Everything is stored in the basement and I brew in the kitchen. I have both a little electic system and a cooler mash tun and I can use either. I don’t like the thought of brewing in the basement even with the little electric setup because there’s no vent or outlet for the steam or condensation. So where does that go?

Brew day for me is many trips up and down basement steps but not really much lifting. The heaviest part is carrying the chilled kettle with 3.5 gallons or so in it down the steps to fill a fermenter. I use 5 gallon glass carboys as fermenters and I suppose I’d rather carry the SS pot with handles down than haul a glass carboy up and then a filled glass carboy down steps.

And don’t trust those carboy neck handle things. If anybody has one - throw it away. I used to own a homebrew shop and had multiple customers tell horror stories about those things snapping the necks off their carboys.
 
I'm still in the last decade that nobody knows the name of - okay, I looked it up, and it's Quinquagenarian. :)

Smaller batches are where it's at, for a variety of reasons, starting with consumption, then frequency/variety, and finally managing the physical aspect. Nothing says you have to brew so much beer at once. Ditch that mindset and set yourself free.

I brew all on one level in the house, which is key. The heaviest thing I have to lug up the stairs are full 2.5 gallon kegs. The heaviest thing I have to lift in my brew space is a 5 gallon plastic carboy of R.O. water (to pour it). That is actually a minor pain, and is my only physical challenge remaining to be solved. I suppose I could store the brewing water in 1 gallon jugs instead, but it's more stuff cluttering the room.
 
I am 63 and brewed my first extract batch in 1982. Now days all my batches are what I can fit in 12 500 ml ez-cap bottles, so about 9 liters post boil. I use a Wilser bag in a 20 liter kettle, do no chill in the kettle and ferment in a 2 gal bucket inside a cooler with frozen bottles for temp control. So no heavy lifting at all. Ironically, I can lift a lot more now than when I was 20 because I started training for Powerlifting at 58.
 
McKnuckle said:
I'm still in the last decade that nobody knows the name of - okay, I looked it up, and it's Quinquagenarian. :)

Smaller batches are where it's at, for a variety of reasons, starting with consumption, then frequency/variety, and finally managing the physical aspect. Nothing says you have to brew so much beer at once. Ditch that mindset and set yourself free.

I brew all on one level in the house, which is key. The heaviest thing I have to lug up the stairs are full 2.5 gallon kegs. The heaviest thing I have to lift in my brew space is a 5 gallon plastic carboy of R.O. water (to pour it). That is actually a minor pain, and is my only physical challenge remaining to be solved. I suppose I could store the brewing water in 1 gallon jugs instead, but it's more stuff cluttering the room.
Click to expand...
Same here, lifting those full 5 gallon water jugs are a bit of a pain. I believe there are smaller ones available; I used to have a 3 gallon one. A couple of those could be worth picking up. If 6 gallons of water will be enough for most beers, that is...
 
Currently in my last year of "middle age". If I ever get to where I can't lift 5 gals of wort, I'll switch to half batches. If I ever get to where I can't lift 2.5 gals of wort, I'll switch to liquor and give away the brew gear.
 
I brew 10 gallon batches, and ferment in cellar below where I brew. Getting older too, but smarter also. 30 years ago, I hauled a lot of wort, moved large volumes of hot liquid in open kettles, etc. Now all the liquid gets moved by pump. 20 ft of half inch silicon tubing with quick connects and valve at the end moves the wort to fermentor. If I had to carry the wort down the stairs, that would not be good.

Heaviest thing I lift now is a full 5 gallon C keg, and that is only from racking table to crash fridge a few feet away. After that, it is just a pint at a time, when I can't lift that, well, I'll probably be done anyway.
 
I hit 77 last February and this year I have quit hauling 5 gallons in pail or carboy up/down the stairs between kitchen and basement, my old school fermentation control. I now split the loads so I only carry 2 1/2 gallons of warn wort down. At bottling time I split it into about 2/3 bottling bucket and 1/3 still in the carboy for the trips. upstairs. My plan for next year is to work out a good way to bottle in the basement, which is also the cellaring area for bottled ales. I'm actually finding that I am not so comfortable carrying just a full case down the stairs.

So I'm here to tell all but @bobtheUKbrewer2 that it doesn't get better.
 
I'm 63 and I built an electric brewery early last year. Everything in one room including a sink and it makes my brew day much easier. I used to mash in with tun on the floor and lift it into place, but I got an SSBrewTech mash tun and it's too heavy for me to list. I started pouring in the grain and underletting and that solved the problem. The only lifting I do is carrying the spent grain upstairs to the trash and moving the fermenter about 8 feet to the fermentation chamber.
 
65 and brew on a three tier. HLT is hard plumbed to fill via the ball valve. It is all downhill after that. Gravity to the mash through the ball valve then gravity to the boil. Gravity to the floor mounted Steelhead pumped up to Therminator chill then gravity to the stainless fermenter. Then pressured to double purged corny in the kegerator. Sometimes my arm gets tired lifting the pints but I persevere.
 
I will be 63 soon. Had a hip replaced a few years ago and on top of that I have a condition called DISH where my spine is literally hardening. I moved to an all electric brew system that is permanently set up in the garage which eliminated the need to haul all of my equipment around. I ferment in my basement so I still have to carry wort down stairs but I simply started emptying my BK into cleaned and sanitized buckets and only carry a couple of gallons at a time.

The biggest pain in the arse is lifting corny kegs into the keezer but I am working on a pressurized transfer system to move beer directly from the fermenter to an empty keg already in place in the keezer.
 
kevin58 said:
I will be 63 soon. Had a hip replaced a few years ago and on top of that I have a condition called DISH where my spine is literally hardening. I moved to an all electric brew system that is permanently set up in the garage which eliminated the need to haul all of my equipment around. I ferment in my basement so I still have to carry wort down stairs but I simply started emptying my BK into cleaned and sanitized buckets and only carry a couple of gallons at a time.

The biggest pain in the arse is lifting corny kegs into the keezer but I am working on a pressurized transfer system to move beer directly from the fermenter to an empty keg already in place in the keezer.
Click to expand...
Maybe you could advertise for an apprentice at the LHBS. Brewing lessons and beer in exchange for the heavy lifting. And washing up.
 
64.
In 2010-11, I was forbidden to brew due to shaved L5-S1 disk for 10 weeks. Part of the rehab plan was lifting a milk crate from the floor to chest level, first empty, then with increasing weights. When I could lift the equivalent of 5 gallons, I was given the go ahead to brew. Rehab considered this motivation.
Still brewing 5 gallons, but the backup plan is when the time comes, to reduce by a half gallon as necessary.
 
ATLBeer said:
Wow, Uline is expensive! Harbor Freight has 2 versions of these, one you can occasionally get for $75/ coupon.

I know they are lower quality, but I move 300# pinball machines around with one, so I'm sure they'll work fine for brewing.

You can get all the hoses you want, but they aren't going to get the malt bags out of the truck!
Click to expand...

That's why you can buy grain in increments of five or ten pounds!
 
ATLBeer said:
You can get all the hoses you want, but they aren't going to get the malt bags out of the truck!
Click to expand...
Drag them into a wagon, wheel barrow or hand truck. Get it down (or lifted)in stages to have better control. Order 10# bags from morebeer if you're in the USA, slightly more vs the whole bag easier to handle and you will get to close to the free shipping amount.

Practice like @DromJohn did for rehab., you need to know your limits Thinks about what you do before you do it then do it and don't question it midstream. Lift use your legs or bend your knees slightly to take stress off your lower back.
 

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