2hr all grain brewday... it can be done!

[ekul]

A good mate of mine has been been smashing out some really quick, great tasting brews in 2 hours, which he aptly calls the "smasher".

It consists of a 30min mash followed by a 30min boil. I've noticed a few things with the smasher, it seems to have a fuller mouthfeel and his clarity is a lot better in his smasher brew than his normal 1hr mash and 1hr boil brews.

To bring the brewday down to 2 hours is a fantastic thing, you can easily knock that out after dinner without having to worry about being up to midnight.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

My ignorance spurned this discussion...

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/76190-10-minute-ipas-are-good-for-school-night-brewing/

Whilst I can take no credit for any of this wisdom - there are a few that came along after me and took it a bit further and tested the idea of short boils with some good results.

Happy reading

 

[ekul]

10minute boil! I wonder how short you could make your brewday? I've read that 90% of the mash is converted within 5 minutes (i think) so i wonder if you could get away with a 20min mash and a 10minute boil. Thats getting to be a brew day as short as an extract brewday

 

[dr K]

(Dependant on mashing regime) there is a very good chance that most of the conversion will be done in 30 minutes.
Ale malts (that have been kilned longer/higher) have much lower levels of DMS pre-cursors so a roiling 30 minute boil will give you most things except >30 minute hop utilisation, you certainly will have hot break , cold break is another thing.
The fact that the method may not be appropriate for some beers becomes irrelevant if you are not making those beers.

K

 

[dr K]

I've read that 90% of the mash is converted within 5 minutes

Well, you have to have gelatinisation before you have saccharification
Malt specs show saccharification time in ideal and standardised lab conditions, typically around the 15 minute mark.

Of course do not try this at home !!

K

 

[ekul]

I have a 20L pot somewhere and some 5L demi's. Might be time to do some experiments

 

[buckerooni]

There's a 'school night brewing' thread on here somewhere with a bunch of info. I also do this 30/30 for full volume BIABs for 80% of my brews. An even shorter boil time is of interest as I no chill so hop additions could be added at whirpool and cube hops but I haven't looked into the impact of <30mins.

Have never got it under 2.5 hrs due to the ramp up time from mash to boil and whirlpooling.

I rely on the starch conversion test with iodine, which can still take at least 15-20 mins of the mash. I don't consider mashing out until this test passes.

One from one of my fav homebrew sites: http://brulosophy.com/2015/03/11/the-impact-of-boil-length-ale-exbeeriment-results/

 

[Judanero]

This intrigues me for an APA no chill experiment, mash at 66c for 30, boil hard for 30 (~90% of bitterness is obtained from 30 mins of boiling) and then big cube hop.

Drink young.

As it it something not readily adopted by commercial breweries (they would if it ticked all the boxes) I can't help but wonder if long term flavour stability isn't compromised? How long were your mates beers kept before drinking ekul?

 

[ekul]

How long were your mates beers kept before drinking ekul?

Never very long. They are called smashers because he smashes them out and then smashes them down.

 

[Zorco]

I've read that 90% of the mash is converted within 5 minutes

Well, you have to have gelatinisation before you have saccharification
Malt specs show saccharification time in ideal and standardised lab conditions, typically around the 15 minute mark.

Of course do not try this at home !!

K

So, strike water temp tuned for your grist and tun can't be understated then....

I need to pay more attention to this...possibly pre-heat my tun.

 

[Bribie G]

With a higher mash temperature that favours alpha amylase, conversion can occur frighteningly quickly - when I do a separate side-mash at 72 with rice or maize plus only about a kilo of base malt, the mush turns from a thick porridge into a sloppy soup in about thirty seconds.
A former member of kitten fame did his excellent Midlands mild beers for about half an hour at 71 or 72.

 

[dr K]

In an imaginary perfect world (for brwers) alpha amylase activity would be at the lower temp range and beta at the high end !
and we would have really well converted worts ready for high attenuation.
Is the sloppy soup result of alpha amylase conversion or gelatinisation, I have never tried it so am interested, in particular given the post topic with speed.
K

 

[manticle]

I love short high mashes for milds but boil remains the same.

I've no doubt it's something you could 'get away with' and if you were time poor but wanting to stay ag and somewhat hands on, I can see the appeal. I like what boiling brings to the party so I'll stick with it. You can make a quick and dirty beefstock that tastes good but it will never beat an extended reduction/jus done with every element in the right place.

 

[MartinOC]

^ Wot he said.

Every short-cut you take will detract form overall quality of your beers.

 

[dr K]

Is NoChill a shortcut?

 

[manticle]

Nope.
Takes longer so it's better.

 

[Whiteferret]

Is NoChill a shortcut?

It takes longer.
But I know where you are coming from.

Beated by Mants

 

[Zorco]

^ Wot he said.

Every short-cut you take will detract form overall quality of your beers.

Say a target conversion is 90% of available starch (humour me) then if you achieve that at 70 in 21 minutes then anything longer cannot detract from the quality.... Unless there are other things we want to happen in the mash.

Are there other things?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I love short high mashes for milds but boil remains the same.

Oohhh...please....Mild....marry me now...

I think Mild would be perfect for this style of brewing

 

[dr K]

other things do happen, limit of attenuation for example....
a mash with a really high "efficiency" may stop short of what was expected..is it the ferment or the base?