Brewing away from home on a long weekend

[Old Forester]

Hey all, I was wondering if anyone ever goes away for a long weekend and carries their brewing equipment with them to brew while on their mini vacation? If so, any tips on things you may have forgotten or would you recommend doing something simple like a SMASH? Maybe just brew an extract instead of all grain? (I BIAB single vessel BTW) Or just any other brewing away from home “stuff” I should watch out for? I’ve never brewed anywhere but in my garage so it will be very different for me to say the least. Also is it okay to move the fermenter after fermentation has began? I’ll be brewing on Friday and driving home on Sunday so fermentation should be well underway. It’s been 6 months or so since I’ve had time to brew so I’d hate to waste a nice long weekend and not get a brew in. Thanks!

 

[NeoBrew]

I've gone on some excursions to brew with some friends. I've done with a BIAB setup and once with a three vessel setup. Packing up all the equipment, ingredients, and accessories up was the biggest pain. At the time I was still brewing in my own garage, so most of my equipment was already in totes and boxes that were easy to take and not forget anything. (I think I forgot my yeast nutrient in the fridge on one day.)

One thing to think about is utilities where you are going to be. It can be easy to take for granted electrical outlets with sufficient power for whatever you need. One of my trips was to a fellow brewers house who had hot and cold running water and a floor drain in his garage, which was awesome! Another time I went to a place with not running water. I had to bring all brewing and cleaning water in buckets.

I'd love to hear how it goes, where you brew, and maybe even see a few pics!

 

[Old Forester]

I've gone on some excursions to brew with some friends. I've done with a BIAB setup and once with a three vessel setup. Packing up all the equipment, ingredients, and accessories up was the biggest pain. At the time I was still brewing in my own garage, so most of my equipment was already in totes and boxes that were easy to take and not forget anything. (I think I forgot my yeast nutrient in the fridge on one day.)

One thing to think about is utilities where you are going to be. It can be easy to take for granted electrical outlets with sufficient power for whatever you need. One of my trips was to a fellow brewers house who had hot and cold running water and a floor drain in his garage, which was awesome! Another time I went to a place with not running water. I had to bring all brewing and cleaning water in buckets.

I'd love to hear how it goes, where you brew, and maybe even see a few pics!

Thanks NeoBrew! I should have also mentioned that this hasn’t been approved by my better half so it may not happen at all but if it does I will surely update!

 

[TechFanMD]

Let us know how it goes. The local brew club does several events each year where a bunch of people brew (separately but together) at a members house. I can’t imagine hauling all of my gear.... but to me the biggest issue would be sanitation. I have a well planned sanitation scheme which I would be hard pressed to duplicate, especially if I needed to haul brewing water AND water to clean and sanitize with.

 

[Jtk78]

I just did a Learn to Homebrew Day event at a local brewery. I will echo the above comments about utilities, which we know would not be a problem.

My car, Nissan Altima for reference, was packed. Now I did bring a large pop up canopy, my 22g kettle, chiller, propane tank, burner, 3 fermenters (10g batch & I got 5 gallons of wort from the brewery), another burner and 7g pot I was selling, my pump, pump hoses, extension cord, chair-in-a-bag, and some other small stuff. I didn't feel like i brought too much either. Could have done without the pump, but it was probably the most talked about item by the people that have brewed a few times. The key was having a list started a few days early, as there was nothing I forgot.

I would do a one day event like that again in a second. My biggest concern with traveling to far away land for a few days would be managing fermentation temperature until I returned.

 

[Old Forester]

Well guys, my brew on the long weekend didn’t happen. The vehicle was jammed to the gills even without my brewing stuff. (

See photo!) So next time I’ll just have to drive a second vehicle with all of my gear. There just wasn’t room in the budget for the extra gas on this trip. Thanks to all who took time to respond!

 

[TechFanMD]

Gah! I see your error. Next time pack your clothes in kettles and mash tuns instead of suitcases and you're good to go! The wife will love it.