Last year I wrote a post about my attempts to reduce some of the waste in my brewing. The biggest area of waste in all brewing is water. After visiting Summit Brewery, I noticed they reused their water and tried to come up with a way to do this. Collecting the water has been working well, but even after filling up 2 5 gallon containers, and usually a carboy to sanitize, I was still watching probably another 5-10 gallons go down the drain. Also, it has been difficult for me to always find a large chunk of time for brewing, so I've been trying to find ways to make steps shorter in time. I thought that the 15 foot garden hoses I was using for my wort chiller was probably a waste. On top of the bulkiness, and the space they took up, I thought that a shorter hose could increase efficiency. I went to my local hardware store looking for a solution, possibly a dishwasher hose or something along those lines. I was happy to find 3/4'' replacement parts to repair a hose. Similar to the barbed fittings for beer tubing, it was simply a barbed end and a female adapter, perfect! I cut my hoses down to about 7' and attached the replacement end. Last night after brewing El Muerto, I was pleased to see that my plan worked. Not only did I only go through the carboy and collect 10 gallons of water, I also cut probably 10 minutes or more off the cool down!
Another way I wanted to reduce water was to find a solution for buying plastic gallons of water. I use a basement sink that has a garden hose size faucet, so I needed to find a way to attach a Brita filter. I ended up buying a filter that you use to reduce cholrine and other chemicals for a shower head. I went to the hardware store and found an adapter for a garden hose and some piping to make the filter work with my sink. I can now fill up my brew kettle right from the faucet or simply reuse one container. Before I was running up and down the stairs to a Brita adapter in my kitchen, this has saved me a lot of hassle.
Just a couple of ways I've been trying to become more sustainable in my homebrewing.
Soon I'll be posting some thoughts (and recipe) on Oso Brown Ale which is ready, as well as an update on the Cherry Stout.
Salud!
Bearded Brewer
2 comments:
How much water do you end up collecting from your IC? I have thought about doing something similar this spring but I am sure I will still end up wasting water.
I end up collecting about 10 gallons. I use 5 gallon camping water jugs that I bought for like $5. They have a spout, and work great. Then I reuse the water for cleaning or whatever I need around the house.
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