Breaking up the brew day

[Hub Brewer]

So time is a bit of a scarce commodity around my house these days and I can't seem to get a solid chunk of time to get my full brew day in. Just wondering if any all-grainers do their mash and prepare the wort one day, then boil, chill, etc. the following day? What am I risking by leaving 10 gallons of unboiled wort in my BK for that length of time with the lid on (other than heat loss, of course)?

[GuingesRock]

Not the best place to break up the brew day. You apparently get bacterial growth because it's a nice temperature and culture medium for that. The boil the next day will kill all them off, but they will leave their mark with off flavours. That's what I read any way.

[Hub Brewer]

Not the best place to break up the brew day. You apparently get bacterial growth because it's a nice temperature and culture medium for that. The boil the next day will kill all them off, but they will leave their mark with off flavours. That's what I read any way.

This is what I was hoping not to hear. But thanks.

[GuingesRock]

Some people overnight mash, but I never made a beer I really liked doing that, might be just me. But based on the overnight mash principal you might be OK-ish. I think you are supposed to insulate so the temperature doesn't drop below I think 120, to limit bacterial growth. Might be worth a try.

[GuingesRock]

With overnight mashing, there’s no significant efficiency gain leaving the grain in overnight. Everything is pretty well done at the end of 60 – 90 minutes, and the mash is just sitting around doing nothing, waiting for you to show up and finish the brew, so you might as well finish the mashing process IMO and keep the wort warm overnight instead. You could even raise the temperature a bit, before insulating, to be on the safe side.

[GuingesRock]

See what the others say, but I think it might work.

[adams81]

So time is a bit of a scarce commodity around my house these days and I can't seem to get a solid chunk of time to get my full brew day in. Just wondering if any all-grainers do their mash and prepare the wort one day, then boil, chill, etc. the following day? What am I risking by leaving 10 gallons of unboiled wort in my BK for that length of time with the lid on (other than heat loss, of course)?

I did this on Friday, mashing one day and boiling the next. The only difference being that I brought the wort to boiling briefly before letting it sit overnight as a kind of sterilization process.

So far I haven't seen any ill effects and the beer is fermenting away nicely. That being said I'm fairly certain that the total amount of time I spent brewing was longer, but it certainly more convenient. Bringing the wort up to boiling the next day was a test of patience but provided a great lag time to get a cup of coffee.

I couldn't find anything specific to a process like this on the net, so I just did it. Most comments were about overnight mashes and the dangers of lacto - so I killed the lacto (hopefully). YMMV

[Keith]

It may be more beneficial to increase volume and reduce brew days to save time.

[Jimmy]

What about mashing in and leaving it for longer? If you mash in a cooler you can extend the mash time by quite a bit. I used to mash in and go for groceries, run errands, etc. It breaks up the brew day and lets you get other things done. Once you're back, fire up the kettle and do your boil.

[Hub Brewer]

It may be more beneficial to increase volume and reduce brew days to save time.

I did double my capacity as I saw this train coming. Problem is, more and more people keep coming over and drinking my beer!
Oddly enough, I could probably still get 5 gallon batches done more frequently. But that extra bit of time for the 10 gallon batch takes me into the wee wee hours of the night/morning.

[Hub Brewer]

That being said I'm fairly certain that the total amount of time I spent brewing was longer, but it certainly more convenient.

For the next couple of months I can put up with longer overall times, if I can tailor it to my schedule, so this is definitely good to know.

[Hub Brewer]

What about mashing in and leaving it for longer? If you mash in a cooler you can extend the mash time by quite a bit. I used to mash in and go for groceries, run errands, etc. It breaks up the brew day and lets you get other things done. Once you're back, fire up the kettle and do your boil.

This seems to be the only other natural/convenient way to break things up so if I have to get up extra early, I guess I'm no worse off than if I stayed up brewing late into the night. What kind of mash time are we talking here? Any length of time before something else becomes a concern doing it this way?

Thanks everyone.

[Jimmy]

What about mashing in and leaving it for longer? If you mash in a cooler you can extend the mash time by quite a bit. I used to mash in and go for groceries, run errands, etc. It breaks up the brew day and lets you get other things done. Once you're back, fire up the kettle and do your boil.

This seems to be the only other natural/convenient way to break things up so if I have to get up extra early, I guess I'm no worse off than if I stayed up brewing late into the night. What kind of mash time are we talking here? Any length of time before something else becomes a concern doing it this way?

Thanks everyone.

I used to do 4hr long mashes. Really I'd think the only concern is that you don't drop too low with the temp - I forget the temp, but I'm sure a quick google search will tell you.

[Hub Brewer]

What about mashing in and leaving it for longer? If you mash in a cooler you can extend the mash time by quite a bit. I used to mash in and go for groceries, run errands, etc. It breaks up the brew day and lets you get other things done. Once you're back, fire up the kettle and do your boil.

This seems to be the only other natural/convenient way to break things up so if I have to get up extra early, I guess I'm no worse off than if I stayed up brewing late into the night. What kind of mash time are we talking here? Any length of time before something else becomes a concern doing it this way?

Thanks everyone.

I used to do 4hr long mashes. Really I'd think the only concern is that you don't drop too low with the temp - I forget the temp, but I'm sure a quick google search will tell you.

Yes Mark said 120.
Thanks

[Keith]

I'm planning on during work this week. I'm 5 Min's from work so I'll take a late lunch and start my mash.

[know1]

Partigyle!! If you build a heavy grain bill and with a few rounds of sparging and some powdered extract you can get three 5 gallon batches. I've done it using one 5 gallon boil followed by a 10 gallon boil and ended up with three unique beers. Yeah its considerably more time but you still only have to setup, mash and cleanup once. you can even start off with a light beer mash and steep some specialty grains in part of the wort while you boil the other.

Alternatively, you could consider a low volume high gravity 5 gallon extract (with grain steep if you want specialties) batch and dilute it down or bump it up to two to bypass the mash.

I wonder though, as Mark mentioned, if you brought the wort temp up to around 160-180F for a few minutes enough to effectively pasteurize if you'd less prone to potential bacteria growth. Especially if you keep everything isolated and covered.

[Jimmy]

Yes Mark said 120.
Thanks

Guess I should have read more of the posts before making mine

[Woody]

Pete congrats on the new addition to your family and no doubt you are busy man. The above points are great. I've done the same as Jimmy and left the mash for an extended time and in my case about 5 to 5.5 hours. I start when my daughter is down for a nap and dough in and pull the bag when she goes to bed and start the boil that same evening. I've also read 120F is the number to avoid your mash falling to. I BIAB as you know and wrap my pot in a winter coat and sleeping bag and after that time it only dropped down to 140F. Your cooler would be even better. Both were 10 gallon batches and I noticed a greater efficiency. You'll find what works for you but consider the extended mash or scaling down to the 5 gallon quicker brew days until things slow down. I have only done this with my Black IPA and mash temp was 152F. Not sure how it would affect a full bodied beer mashing at 156F etc with the temp drop etc

[Hub Brewer]

Pete congrats on the new addition to your family and no doubt you are busy man. The above points are great. I've done the same as Jimmy and left the mash for an extended time and in my case about 5 to 5.5 hours. I start when my daughter is down for a nap and dough in and pull the bag when she goes to bed and start the boil that same evening. I've also read 120F is the number to avoid your mash falling to. I BIAB as you know and wrap my pot in a winter coat and sleeping bag and after that time it only dropped down to 140F. Your cooler would be even better. Both were 10 gallon batches and I noticed a greater efficiency. You'll find what works for you but consider the extended mash or scaling down to the 5 gallon quicker brew days until things slow down. I have only done this with my Black IPA and mash temp was 152F. Not sure how it would affect a full bodied beer mashing at 156F etc with the temp drop etc

Yup. This is what I'll try, with the same timing. Mash in after lunch (nap time), then batchsparge/boil/cool after the little ones are in bed. You're right Derek I think my cooler will hold that temp no problem for 5-6 hours. And I did just come across that 120F number in a BYO article as well.

"Keeping the temperature high is also critical for pest control! Wort bacteria don’t mess around and will quickly begin growing if the wort temperature falls into the 120 °F (49 °C) range. Malt is chock-full of bacteria that cause souring of wort, such as Lactobacillus and other bacteria that can lead to some really rank off-flavors. In fact, the most common application to overnight mashing is for sour mashes where the temperature is intentionally allowed to drop into the realm of these “bugs” that so effectively turn mash sour. Perhaps the best method to guarantee that the mash stays in the 150 °F (60 °C) range is to put the mash into an oven set at its lowest temperature. I strongly suggest you verify that the lowest temperature is not too hot for the mash before chucking your mash into your oven for a 10-hour bake! However, it sounds like you have a very well-insulated mash tun if the mash only drops 10 °F (5 °C) over 10 hours.
As long as the mash temperature is adjusted to address concerns about overly-fermentable wort and bacterial spoilage, your method is a real daylight time saver!"

[RubberToe]

I did this on Friday, mashing one day and boiling the next. The only difference being that I brought the wort to boiling briefly before letting it sit overnight as a kind of sterilization process.

^^^ This.

Sterilize the wort, nothing will get in there with the lid on. Hope your pot doesn't cave in from the lid on and the vacuum created by the temperature / volume change.

Other things you can do to break up your brew day is to prepare your recipe / grains / hops beforehand.

Something else I do If I don't want to overnight mash is to prepare my strike water the night before but bring it to a boil. By morning it's usually at or just under the strike temp so it only takes minutes before I can dough in.

Another thing is cleaning and organizing your brew space. I won't start a brew unless my area is tidy and really clean. The only problem is that if I don't brew for a while it can get really cluttered and dirty. This can push out my brew time severely.

[adams81]

Something else I do If I don't want to overnight mash is to prepare my strike water the night before but bring it to a boil. By morning it's usually at or just under the strike temp so it only takes minutes before I can dough in.

Clever!

[GuingesRock]

Something else I do If I don't want to overnight mash is to prepare my strike water the night before but bring it to a boil. By morning it's usually at or just under the strike temp so it only takes minutes before I can dough in.

Clever!

I posted about that a year ago: http://www.brewnosers.org/forums/viewto ... 252#p74106" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Maybe Rob (and others) were doing it before then though. Nowadays I have a heat stick with a thermostat and leave that in overnight set to strike temp and it's ready to go as soon as I get up.

I think your idea of bringing the wort to the boil before leaving overnight is a good one. I'd prefer that to overnight mashing.