Brewing Whislt Travelling/caravaning

[wobbly]

Hi

Does anyone out there brew beer whilst caravaning with stops varying between 2 to 3 days and say a couple of weeks or longer.

Equipment would need to be kept to a minimum due to space limitations and it would proberbly be either kits or extract beers. Maybe using a 15 lt fermenter and 1 tin of goo. Coopers PET bottles maybe the way to go weight wise. Any thoughts on using some sort of party keg set up say around 10/11 litres (if they are availble), one that would fit into an Engel fridge or Eski, with say a soda stream gas attachment and the "Ros" carbination method.

Any tips,thoughts and procedures would be appreciated.

Cheers

Wobbly

 

[wambesi]

IIRC there was a bloke looking at sailing around for a while and was going to brew BIAB (or maybe he brewed BIAB on shore and kits on the boat), just tried quickly to find a thread with it but couldn't. I will try again shortly and post the thread details if I can.

Party keg setup wise you could get a 9L corny although they're normally at least twice the price and a little more (new anyway). Fix that kind of setup with a reg and SS bottle and your laughing.
If you're only using a half size keg than a SS bottle will carb up and dispense quite a few with the bonus that you can replace a bottle when needed at a K-Mart/Big W on the way.

If you can take a pot along with some ingredients extract would be the better way to go IMO but either way you could get away with kits and dress them up a little still.

On the other hand if you are only going for a few weeks maybe it would be better to brew something better at home and fill up a few kegs/bottles to take on the road. I did that for our two week tour of Tassie a few years ago, with three kids space was at a premium so I brought a box of longies and would make sure I had 2-3 in the powered esky along with the kids milk etc.

 

[Gavo]

Often thought about this myself for when I get to retirement, some time off yet though. It would be quite easy to tweak a kit with a small amount of spec grain, hops and dry yeast. You would have to stop long enough to ferment and settle as you wouldn't want the crap shaken out of it while traveling. you could fit most of your brew gear into a bucket fermenter while not using it. Coopers bottles would be the go and I use them for camping.

Kegging? for me I have thought about making a custom fridge, a insulated box with a bdf35 refrigeration motor built into it. But I reckon you could probably fit a 9lt keg into a evakool fridge and use bronco taps or put a tap on the fridge.

Gavo.

 

[wambesi]

Often thought about this myself for when I get to retirement, some time off yet though.

Something I want to do when the kids are older (good 15-20 years off so plenty of time to save and plan!) is similar with a caravan except set up a permanent keg system, nothing huge and only one tap (maybe two). That way I can load up a few kegs and not worry for a while, just make sure if it's a long trip to find an AHBer along the way to fill up! :icon_cheers:

 

[SpillsMostOfIt]

I can see the thread now: Where's the most remote place you've brewed? (No kits, please. AG only. Flowers and plugs preferred.)

I figure that you would need to discard the airlock if you're going over rough roads, but you'd get good agitation. Might have to filter the beer out of the fermentation for the same reason?

 

[Screwtop]

When I did the around Oz thing caravanning for nearly two years I met lots of kit brewers. One guy used to "park up" for a couple of weeks until fermentation and bottling was completed before moving on, always had about 6 ctns of beer stored in the van/4WD. For long term travellers the cost of fuel is the greatest expense, one fill (inc long range tanks) costing about the same as a weeks accommodation in a (non 5 star) van park. Cost of accommodation is cheaper weekly than per night so most stay a week minimum before moving on, you get to experience the local area better this way too. So brewing can be managed on the road without too much fuss. Tasted some pretty darn good kit beers in some really out of the way places while on the wobbly too. Have had guys bring HB bottles out of tents and Vans in places like Cape York and Mary Pools in the Kimberly and down the west coast of WA on some remote beaches.

One long time AHB member (Metters) brews while travelling in his converted coach/motorhome. He was parked in Ross' front yard for a while about 4 years ago, last heard he was in WA around Ningaloo Reef or somewhere.

Screwy

 

[Cube]

I'd make up a gimble to hold the fermenter in. Easy enough to do.

 

[wobbly]

OK So why wouldn't/couldn't you have a brew in the fermenter while travelling form one location to the next. Not over 4WD tracks but say on bitumum or reasonable gravel roads. Just have to make sure that the fermenter was secured such that it wouldn't tip over and maybe would need to think about a different style of bubbler than the standar "U" tube.

Sure you would get agitation but would that be an issue if you let the brew settle for a couple of days towards the end of fermentation period.

Temperature control at best might be inside an airconditioned vehicle or most likely a "wet towel cooler" and thats all you would proberbly have at a "location" anyway.

Tweaking a tin of Goo shouldn't be too much of an issue by doing a small partial boil or even just steaping a bit of crystal or similar would help along with just dry hopping.

An extrac brew might be a bit more of a challenge as it would depend on the size of pot you have and the ability to boil a larger volumn of wort on a caravan/camper gas stove. Might not be such an issue if in a caravan park that had free gas BBQ's where you might be able to do a larger boil hopefully without stiring up the roth of the park staff.

Any comments on the likely/possible effects of the fermenter being subjeted to a bit of a shake up while on the road would be appreciated.

Cheers

Wobbly

 

[RobboMC]

Might not be such an issue if in a caravan park that had free gas BBQ's where you might be able to do a larger boil hopefully without stiring up the roth of the park staff.

Any comments on the likely/possible effects of the fermenter being subjeted to a bit of a shake up while on the road would be appreciated.

Cheers

Wobbly

I've done a heap of camping and most park staff are very happy to see you doing something different and interesting, especially if you give them a sample of your previous work. You may by asked to pay for the gas, so what?

I always take about 20 Coopers PET longnecks with me for a week. A slightly higher brewing temp could see 4-5 day brews, just pick a nice enjoyable place for the brew. The biggest challenge I see if being able to carry enough to allow for a decent storage time before drinking. I reckon you'd need about 60-70 full ones to allow 2 month storage and consumption averaging one/day, which is quite a bit of extra weight.

Fridge space is usually also an issue. My allocation from SWMBO is a single longneck for myself, but I get an extra one if a visotor is coming. In a small caravaning fridge space is at a real premium.

 

[metters]

G'day Wobbly,

Better late than never in replying I guess. Screwtop was right I was last seen near Ningaloo WA, trying to get a brew down but have been off air since.
I found brewing in 38 degree heat (in Karratha) with my cool box running at 30 produced a drinkable beer but not for everyday consumption.
Temp control is a factor but have finally put all the dud brews I've made on the road down to sunlight affecting the beer.
No matter how or where I brewed it was exposed to the sun at some stage so now I have added an annex to the side of the bus and will be trying again soon.
I am currently in Macedon Victoria so keeping it cool won't be a problem. :unsure:

Cheers Metters