I figured out what hell must be like

[Aussiekraut]

The parameters are good: "Officially" took possession of my Guten today, grains are being delivered today, I have today off, etc. 

The problem is, the reason for the day off is my back yet again playing up big time and I can barely move, let alone brew beer. Things are so tantalisingly close and yet so far out of reach. I guess it is a little like Tantalus in the greek mythology. 

Maybe Sunday.....

[Journeyman]

No little helpers around to cart things around for you?

I know about bad backs... and knees... le sigh

[Daniel-J]

Don't forget about sports. The right load cures many diseases. I have seen people after accidents whose backs look like a Lego constructor, eventually put in and were active. That's because they trained back muscles in such a way that they held most of their back and started training lying in bed

[James Lao]

Hi Mate,

 

Give core strengthening exercises a go (using resistance bands).

Just over 12 months ago quit brewing and sold my Robobrew and kegerator due to ongoing dodgy back /hips/glutes.

No good having a room full of shiny stuff I couldn't use,  if I couldn't pass a work medical and feed my kids! (was my thinking at the time...)

Went to a really good physio who showed me some really good gut, butt and hip strengthening exercises using the elasticated resistance bands (not the plank!)

Within  weeks I felt stronger and and more 'centred' than I had in 20 years.

I still do 10 minutes of these exercises every morning and haven't had an issue since .

Have been brewing all through 2019 , bought a new kegerator,  not back to all grain yet though..

Hope it turns round for you mate.

 

Cheers

 

James

 

 

 

[Geoff S]

My Doc' gave me Arthrexin for gout, BUT when taken 1 a day(instead of 2  3x a day for gout) it calmed the back problems right down, no blinding pain spikes, only a little niggle when you stuff it up & recovery times are heaps better, it's an anti-inflammatory which soothes the area that's damaged & continually causing the problem, google 'inflammatory foods' & try to cut some out(I have blinders on for beer) ya gotta stop putting in foods that aggravate inflammation.

[Beers Gone Wild]

On 1/20/2020 at 3:11 PM, Daniel-J said:

Don't forget about sports. The right load cures many diseases. I have seen people after accidents whose backs look like a Lego constructor, eventually put in and were active. That's because they trained back muscles in such a way that they held most of their back and started training lying in bed

I know your pain. Pilates is very good @Aussiekraut ,strengthen those muscles mate, fixed my issue. Mine was my core muscles. 

[iBooz2]

@Aussiekraut  

Hey AK hope the back issues are getting better for you and you are on top of it.

Just interested in your opinions of your Guten.  Have been flirting with the idea of getting setup with something like this and getting back into AG brewing.

Seeing you are a freshman at using one of these 1 vessel setups I might pick your brains if I may.  How did you find yours?  Any traps for young players?

I am looking at maybe a slightly bigger model as I already have 15 amp power outlet in my brew shed and also one under the carport nearby (just in case things get messy with my mucking around) so no issues there.  Just thought a bigger unit as it will give me more head room for stirring, heat up quicker and make for a shorter sparge time; that's if only doing a 23 litre type batch for example as they appear to have a wider grain base.

So if you had your choice over again would you go with what you have got?

What extras do you think are an absolute necessity to get on with brewing using a Guten, Robobrew or Brewzilla system?

Anyone else with something similar have any opinions?

Cheers - AL

 

[Aussiekraut]

@iBooz2

Yeah, all better mate. 

I'm pretty happy with the system. It's simple to use and the results are pretty good as well. It's certainly worth the 400 bucks I paid for it. I'd buy one again. It's not flawless of course but I can live with it. Like I haven't figured out how to store a recipe in it. The way described in the manual sure as heck doesn't work. A filter over the hole to protect the pump would also be nice but other than that, I can't really fault it. I could have gone cheaper and gotten a 40l kettle, a grain bag etc. but thought I'll give the Guten a try and haven't regretted it yet. I'm impressed with the results, although there is still a helluva lot to learn about this AG thing  

Your concerns about the 40l volume are justified. Since it is essentially a BIAB system, a no sparge full batch mash with should be the way to go. But if you have 33l of water in there and add 5kg of grain, all you get is a mess, inside the kettle and out. So a 25l mash and 10l sparge does the trick, although I'm going to drop the sparge volume to 8l next batch. The 50l system with its extra headspace and the 3kW heater would make life a lot easier but as you mentioned, a 15A circuit would be required. As it is, you can't run the 40l on a normal 10A circuit on full blast. 2.4kW is the max for 10A, so you risk tripping the killswitch on full power. I usually drop the power down to 2.2kW, although that increases the time to heat up. I'm considering putting a 15A circuit in.

 

[iBooz2]

 @Aussiekraut Thanks AK, appreciate your input.  Glad your back is all better, look after it.

Still kicking this idea around.  Be easier for me if I already had plumbed water to the brew shed but now have to think about running hoses here and there.  At the moment am carrying cubes of filtered water to where it is needed.  Got plenty of tank water so may look at getting that to the spot where its required for the initial chilling circuit.  A 15 amp power outlet is already there so that's one hurdle jumped.  Be nice to have a big sink or even a big dishwasher out there too ha ha.

Thanks also for the heads up re mash and sparge sizes = big mess too.  Don't want that to add extra clean up if I can help it.  There are enough chores to do on/after brew day. 

Cheers - AL