Brew days wear me out!

[rtracer]

I'm now 40 and I tell ya, I'm dead after a solo brew day. Getting old is a *****.
Though, if I had time and space in the ferm chamber I just might brew to tomorrow

 

[jsprinceiii]

not drinking enough beer..

 

[day_trippr]

"It Gets Better"

Mid-60s here and still doing double AG brews - though it does take a couple of Vitamin I capsules to keep the knees from calling it quits and leaving town...

Cheers!

 

[treacheroustexan]

I'm now 40 and I tell ya, I'm dead after a solo brew day. Getting old is a *****.
Though, if I had time and space in the ferm chamber I just might brew to tomorrow

24 and I feel the same way. Lol.

 

[GJOCONNELL]

I'm now 40 and I tell ya, I'm dead after a solo brew day. Getting old is a *****.
Though, if I had time and space in the ferm chamber I just might brew to tomorrow

I did a double AG brew on Saturday and boy that was a *****! I did RRBC Consc. kit and I didn't notice the 90 minute boil I assumed 60 min. so I messed up my cleaning time on the therminator (I flushed with hot PBW for 15 minutes back flushed for another 15 minutes. Then hot water flush in both directions then chilled it down and flushed with star san). Had a boil over in the 10 gallon kettle that was ***** to clean in a brand new ss brewtech kettle.

Second batch was Soulless IPA kit from more beer. I didn't realize it had a **** ton of hops. I felt like I was cleaning FOREVER!

The good news was both kicked of fermentation under 24 hrs (did starters for both one got 2 days on the stir plate the other got 16 hrs).

I wanted to get the RBBC down because I am going to let it run for 9-12 months. I got to use my new ss brewtech chronical it was tits!

 

[ChelisHubby]

Damn I must be brewing all wrong, I find it relaxing but I am 57. When I think about how getting old sucks I try to remember my friends that did not get old. Don't try to accomplish so much on your weekend and you might enjoy them more. I know that it is tough to do with the wife and kids. I find if I get a early start that things go smoother.

 

[bucketnative]

Do you exercise regularly? I don't find them as stressful when I am running regularly, and when I have everything planned out ahead of time (even pre-weighing hop additions and using a checklist).

 

[bruteforce]

I feel that way if my brew day goes badly, otherwise I'm usually pretty energized by it. But when my sparge gets stuck, boilovers, missed gravity, and pump doesn't work, yeah, I'm pretty tired. Fortunately I haven't had one that bad in a while.

 

[jojacques]

Yea I feel you. And I'm only 30!
Might have something to do with the brew sessions starting around 7pm and done by 1am!

I concur with bucketnative, using a detailed checklist and pre-measured quantities help with the stress/tiredness!

 

[Thorsbrew]

Very tiring for me as well. It doesn't help by the fact that i brew in the back yard but all my brewing gear is stored on the second story. So i have to carry everything down and outside walking up and down the stairs at least a dozen times each brew day. I bought a pulley to help reduce the number of trips up and down the stairs. But ultimately what will make it more enjoyable to me (focus on the recipes and not the physical labor process) is when im in a position to get a new house with a garage in a few years, cant wait. That and an electric brew setup.

 

[kristiismean]

My brew days used to wear me out, but then I split of the tasks. It used to be 2 extract batches and bottle 2 extract batches. now it's either 2 extract, 2 ag, or 1 ag and 1 extract. we bottle a different day, get the bottles ready ahead of time, and just relax..

 

[Sparge]

I've revised my brewing to split it into several small tasks over a weekend. For most beers, I've switched over to a no-chill BIAB method. This way, I only have one pot to clean (no pumps, lines, chillers, mash tun, etc.).

Friday - set up water in a kettle (on the burner) and drop in a bucket heater on a timer and crush the grains.

Saturday - remove bucket heater, bring temp in kettle up to mash temps, put in bag and grains and mash for 45 - 60 minutes. Lift bag and bring wort to a boil. After boil, sanitize kettle top and let cool overnight.

Sunday - at half time, rack to fermenter and pitch yeast. Clean kettle.

Friday's work takes less than an hour. Saturday, I'm usually done by 10 am. Sunday is done about the time of a NFL half time.

Works for me and I'm not near as tired as I would be if I spent all day brewing.

 

[JimboVorlaufski]

I hear ya about brew day exhaustion. When I brew now I do a double back to back 10 gal all grain brews. It keeps me hoppin (pun) paying attention to all the processes. But in 6 1/2 hours I put up 20 gallons so it seems a no brainer anymore. During all that Im usually keggin or racking something over to glass or something. At then end of it all, cleaned up and put away, Im beat with my arse parked on the couch and a frosty pint in my hand.

As tiring as it is, it beats anything else that needs done around the house!

Cheers

 

[bruteforce]

Biggest thing that has helped me is milling the grain and collecting the water the night before. Then mise en place, and I'm off and running with very little effort. The brewing part is easy, it's the clean-up at the end of the day that sucks then.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

It all depends on my mood going in.If I'm jacked about brewing theres nothing Id rather do all day.If I'm brewing for the sake of brewing to have beer it seems like more work.BIAB is pretty easy though.Fill pot with water,wait an hour,pull bag start boil wait an hour.I have more couch time then brew time on brew day

 

[wapitiscat]

I think what wears me out the most is walking/standing around on concrete for the better part of 6-8 hrs. Keep telling myself I'm going to drag my rubber mat out from my workbench area and/or remind myself to sit sit when I can but it doesn't seem to happen.

Todd

 

[schatzke]

I find if I set up my rig the night before, fill the HLT, weigh out grains and hops it goes much quicker and doesn't feel like as much of a "task". Next morning just fire the HLT burner and mill the grain. Cleaning along the way makes a huge difference for me also. It's nice when you pitch the yeast and all you have left is to clean the BK and go relax.

 

[enkamania]

I'm setting up my old man brewery. I have a dolly to roll my brew kettle and I'm getting a pump so I don't have to lift to get the beer in the fermenter

 

[itsnotrequired]

i brew in the basement so make several up/down trips to mill grain, clean buckets, dump spent grain, etc. plus the family is usually upstairs and i'd rather hang out with them than stare at a mash for 90 minutes so that is more up/down. the up/down is probably the biggest drain on me, as well as moving 20 gal kettles around to clean.

 

[Spartan1979]

i brew in the basement so make several up/down trips to mill grain, clean buckets, dump spent grain, etc. plus the family is usually upstairs and i'd rather hang out with them than stare at a mash for 90 minutes so that is more up/down. the up/down is probably the biggest drain on me, as well as moving 20 gal kettles around to clean.

I brew in the garage but everything is stored in the basement, even the water (from an RO system) so I'm up and down the stairs all day. But I just brew 5 gallons. 10 gallons is more than I can drink and more than I want to handle on a brew day,

 

[kh54s10]

You young lads that get worn out brewing are doing something wrong. I started brewing at 58. I only find it a problem on days that I do a double brew session. And even then it is not really worn out.

I think what wears me out the most is walking/standing around on concrete for the better part of 6-8 hrs. Keep telling myself I'm going to drag my rubber mat out from my workbench area and/or remind myself to sit sit when I can but it doesn't seem to happen.

Todd

Get a chair..... A good portion of a brew day is waiting around.... I spend a lot of that time on my laptop, researching or just looking at HBT.

 

[itsnotrequired]

the other thing that wears me out is getting up early (saturday or sunday brew days). i do 10 gallon all-grain batches and don't want to be screwing around until dinner time. i've been getting up at 5 am for my last few brews, typically finishing up in the early afternoon and spending time with the family.

this coming saturday, i'm doing an ris, that will be a long day (90 minute mash, 2 hour boil, etc.)

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

Sounds exhausting. Since I use RO, I run the filter into the HLT the day before, I mill in the morning and store the grains in a bucket (or two for high gravity). During the actual brew day my pump moves all the water around, I do dump the grains in, but I vacuum them out and then dump them. I pump directly into my fermenter(s) so unless something goes horribly awry there's not much physical work involved... but I do get a bit wet spraying out the kettles.

 

[ZZBrewing]

The worst brew day is still better than any day at work

 

[petemoss]

I'm 42 and it totally wears me out too. Part of that is the standing on concrete for that time. Mainly, though, I think it is because I too have to carry everything out and back in individually. I can't wait to build a mobile rig one day.

 

[rtracer]

Not too mention I brew in my garage. Looking forward to cooler days. Running a jet propulsion sounding propane burner in a garage for 90 minutes that is already 90* makes for a hot day.

I guess all the lifting dumping lifting cleaning is like a good workout at the gym. Its not for the beer honey, its for the exercise!

 

[Xernex]

I can get worn out on a brew day, but not actually from the brewing typically. It's been 90+ degrees here since I started brewing so being out in the heat all day will take a toll, even in my very shady yard. Mise en place is a big deal for me on brew day, or cooking for that matter as long as I have all my stuff, out together in order and ready to go there isn't too much to the actual brew. My problem comes in the waiting and what I decide to do during it...I have this weird idea that, that is a good time to do yard work, and with a yard full (20+) of oak trees that's never ending. I also take the time to wear out the dogs as many times as possible. Sometimes after a brew day my knees or back are shot, but that's mostly from being too cheap to get good shoes or too ADHD to just sit the heck down and relax.

 

[Beer-lord]

I enjoy the heck out of brew day and most days, go it alone and I do sometimes grab the Advil before hitting bed but it's the heat of the summer that really wears me out.
But, I've started getting my RO water, mill the grains, separate the hops and a few other things out the way the day before so that brew day begins so much easier and less stressful.......though none of it is really a stress at all.

 

[Redlantern]

am 47 and completely energized after brewing!


Let me take over the beer drinking responsibilities on your brew day and lighten the load!!!

 

[pretzelb]

The biggest problem for me is brewing in the garage with no windows in the Texas heat. That will just drain you even if you sit still.

I'm using a 20g single vessel setup and cleaning that kettle bugs me. It is so much more awkward than I expected. I think the other thing that wears me out is the new plate chiller. Used to be much easier with an IC.

Might be wrong to say but when i don't drink while brewing it seems to help a bunch.

 

[rtracer]

Didn't drink any yesterday while brewing, maybe that was the problem

Anyways, I don't get stressed while brewing, like others have mentioned it is a relaxing day psychologically, just exhausting physically
Probably the fact that I use a heavy ass Keggle, opened, soaked, cleaned two Sanke kegs and used my heavy 7 gallon glass carboy added to the work. Good lord I sound like a WUS! haha

 

[catdaddy66]

I have not felt too tired with the last several brews I've done. I get exhausted when brewing somewhere else, like at my brother's house or the lhbs I frequent. All of the gathering and lifting and loading and carrying... Ugh.

 

[soccerdad]

I guess 40 is the new 70 😀

 

[JimboVorlaufski]

Im 51 but don't feel a day over 65

 

[mongoose33]

Do you exercise regularly? I don't find them as stressful when I am running regularly, and when I have everything planned out ahead of time (even pre-weighing hop additions and using a checklist).

Just want to throw this out there.

I've found that if I stretch before I do things like paint, or brew, I feel much better the next day. I know it sounds crazy, because something like painting is not all that strenuous, except that there's bending, and reaching, and squatting down to get low places, and so on. Literally just a minute of stretching the legs and the torso (side to side) and pulling arms over the head makes a huge difference.

I do the same thing before I mow the lawn, and have similar benefits. And FWIW, I'm on the sunny side of 60, but only barely.

 

[pvpeacock]

I'm 57 and while brewing doesn't wear me out, I do get a good workout. I brew in my driveway/garage and go back and forth to the house which is down a small flight of stairs (maybe 8 steps). My wife got me a fit bit and I log approx. 7,500 - 8,000 steps just brewing from start to finish. In addition, I can usually feel my back the next day after lifting and carrying 5 gallon water bottles, a full stainless steel mash tun with grain and water, 5.5 - 6 gallons of cooled wort in the brew kettle and finally my full SS Brewtech 7 gallon fermenter. I use only gravity for all my steps -- no pumps.

On the other hand, I will say that once you get your system down, all the stress goes away. That takes a big strain out of the day and makes it relaxing to me. I love putting on old vinyl records and reading between brewing steps. Makes for a nice day.

 

[Firewalker11]

I'm 50 and I still do double brew days! Common ladies, lets do a triple!!!

 

[Yooper]

I notice that cleaning is what tires me out. I brew 11 gallon batches, but I have pumps and a tippy dump so it's not too much work. I sometimes clean in place, but when I take it apart to clean every once in a while, I feel beat afterwards.

I use kegs for my HLT, MLT, and BK. I never move the HLT or that pump (as it's always been water only), but hoisting and cleaning the MLT and BK is a pain if I"m tearing it all down. I think that a keg is about 30 pounds (?) empty. They are a bit harder to manipulate into my brewery sink with the connections, the hardware for the connections, the electrical stuff, etc and somedays it's tougher than others.

I weigh about 130 pounds and I'm 52 years old. By the end of a brew day, I'll have lifted and measured 25+ pounds of grain, and then hauled it up the stairs from the basement just to start, mashed in with it, dumped it (wet it weighs lots more!), and then cleaning adds tons of weight. By the end of the day, I'm sure I've lifted more than twice my own weight. I'm in good shape but it's not very much fun anymore.

I always think when I do smaller batches that I'd get a picobrew or grainfather or something.

 

[ericbw]

I hate having to clean and put it all away. It feels like when you're done, you should be done, right? But there's always one more thing to put away.

 

[PADave]

I hate having to clean and put it all away. It feels like when you're done, you should be done, right? But there's always one more thing to put away.

Same here, I love the brewing, but dread the cleanup after.