Getting Beer Out Of 60l Fermenter

[Tony]

i use 60 liter liter fermenters too, and i put 54 liters in them.

I must admit they are a bitch to pick up onto the workbench in my garage to drain into the keg.

I have a 2 story house and bang in the middle of the work / brewing area in my garage is a big bag steel I beam that runs the length of the house as a support........ perfect to mount a small electric winch on to lift fermenters for draining and full 50 liter kegs into the kegorator.

Might start watching evilbay for one i think

 

[Superoo]

So presuming you sort out a winch, what method would you use to attach it to the fermenter ?

I have thought about making some sort of pole with a chain in the middle, and a winch handle so thAt when you totate the handle, one side platfor goes up and other side goes down.
That would be useful for 3v brewing as well, mash to kettle, then raise / lower for kettle to cubes or fermenter.

Any thoughts on a device for attaching to the fermenter for lifting ?

Cheers...

 

[booargy]

You need something like this they are used for racking circuit breakers(lifting). the cabinets have 2 tracks that slide out and then pinned to the lifter. then the circuit breaker rolls out onto the lifter. A modified removals trolley might work as the FV only has to be lifted 700mm. just something to think about

 

[cdbrown]

The guys who installed the reverse cylce units on our house had something similar to that. what about an engine hoist?

 

[Superoo]

The guys who installed the reverse cylce units on our house had something similar to that. what about an engine hoist?

yep, that would work, but what actually attaches to the fermeter to lift it ?

i was thinking of making up some sort of strap thingy to wrap around and underneath, with some lifting loops on it, so might set about designing my own 'strap-on'

 

[olde]

God, softcocks inc or what. Pushin' 50, and a dodgy old lug at that, but I do 52litre brews all the time and just lift the fermenter onto the benchtop a couple of days before kegging. You don't need anything more than bent knees and a straight back. What's this country coming to?

 

[Superoo]

pushin 50 here too, but floggin me back for all these years hasnt helped...

softcoc my arse, were you a pen pusher up till now ?

 

[olde]

pushin 50 here too, but floggin me back for all these years hasnt helped...

softcoc my arse, were you a pen pusher up till now ?

Done nothing but bust my hump all my life. 'Nana grower, maintenance fitter, firefighter, general dogsbody.

Softcocks.

 

[QldKev]

pushin 50 here too, but floggin me back for all these years hasnt helped...

softcoc my arse, were you a pen pusher up till now ?

that sounds a bit wrong!

 

[gava]

I dont lift my 60lt fermenter.. I let it drain into one keg because theres enough preasure behind it to go up and over into the keg and start a siphone.. Once one keg is done its light enough to lift....or keep the siphone going..

 

[Pennywise]

that sounds a bit wrong!

I suppose it'd be better than hardcocing his arse

 

[Superoo]

quote...
"Done nothing but bust my hump all my life. 'Nana grower, maintenance fitter, firefighter, general dogsbody. "

you forgot tosser

 

[Hogan]

i use 60 liter liter fermenters too, and i put 54 liters in them.

I must admit they are a bitch to pick up onto the workbench in my garage to drain into the keg.

I have a 2 story house and bang in the middle of the work / brewing area in my garage is a big bag steel I beam that runs the length of the house as a support........ perfect to mount a small electric winch on to lift fermenters for draining and full 50 liter kegs into the kegorator.

Might start watching evilbay for one i think

Hey Tony. Here's what I rigged up to lift my kettle off the garage floor onto the bench for gravity cooling. It's from evil bay. Now I have the new brewshed I will no doubt be working out a way to use it to lift kegs into the chest kegerator when my back goes from half stuffed to completely stuffed.

Cheers, Hoges.

 

[olde]

you forgot tosser

From a fuckwit that's almost a compliment.

 

[Superoo]

1 all, leave it at that hey

 

[woodwormm]

keep it clean boys!

 

[michael_aussie]

http://www.machines4u.com.au/view/advert/The-Mule/24716/

 

[kymba]

I'm going to take the plunge and get a big fermenter...

how am i going to get the beer out and into my cornys?

siphon? - what do people use and how do you do it?

pump? - i a peristatic pump ok for this purpose? there's some cheap ones on fleabay

gravity? - i can't lift the big fermenter but i could weld up a stand to raise my entire ferment fridge...

cheers.

surprised no-one has suggested that you use this setup to overcome the gravity



use them with a hoist as a counterbalance...don't dare lift them yourself

 

[michael_aussie]

one of the least desirable sides of home brewing is the heavy lifting.

I mix up my shit in the kitchen, and then carry my fermenters to my shed .... only 23 litres, but to carry them so that they don't splash up all the sides, and the under-side of the lid is not much fun.

I've tried a trolley, but this splashes too much too.

I find the best way to carry full fermenters and not splash the contents everywhere, is to hug the fermenter to my chest and walk very slowly and carefully ... or alternatively hold it by the hand holes only, and allow the fermenter to hang like a big counter-weight .... I can walk quite quickly like this with little or no splashing .. but shit it is hard work.

It's certanly the main reason I haven't gone to larger fermenters.
if 23 litres is a struggle, then making it heavier will only be harder.

I used to carry the fermenters inside to bottle/keg.
Now I move them from the fermenting fridge to a higher bench in the shed and rack to my kegs in the shed.

After reading this thread, I'm going to try racking to the kegs with the fermenters still in the fridge.

I'd also be interested to hear any other techniques for moving heavy stuff around.

 

[booargy]

I may not be wery smart but I can lift heavy finks.
if you had a crane something like this could be made for little money. crane would be good for gravity filtering