From Grain To Wort

[ledgenko]

I am wondering what effect if any there would be if I were to mash out then wait approx 12 hours before boiling wort? Can any one tell me if there is any effect good or bad?

 

[Nick JD]

In 12 hours all the micro-organisms living in your wort will have had a party and there'll be puke everywhere.

 

[BOG]

Well I think that question is worth a resonable reply.

I cannot see why if you complete the mash process. Bring it up to the boil and then turn off the flame the wort would be sterile and you can commence the full boil later.

Cube the wort while you wait. It would be an unhopped fresh wort kit.

Saves you an hour and then clean up.


Could be done.



BOG

 

[michaelcocks]

Unless you are talking about no chill...(search this forum if you are not sure )
I wouldn't do that....unless you like farmyard ales ?

 

[manticle]

I am wondering what effect if any there would be if I were to mash out then wait approx 12 hours before boiling wort? Can any one tell me if there is any effect good or bad?

If you mash out you are at pastuerising temps. If you no-chill that wort (following proper no -chill processes) then you should be fine. I can't guarantee it but I have done it and the resulting beer was fine and it makes sense in theory as well.

I wouldn't do it every brew but in a tight spot.............

 

[MHB]

This isn't a new idea and there are several threads where it's been discussed.

I think the general consensus is that you might "get away with it" but it's far from best practice.

Even if you mashed out at 80^oC there are still lots of bacteria that are going to survive and Alpha and Beta aren't the only enzymes involved in mashing. If you don't get the wort up to boiling you can't be certain that either all the enzyme reactions have been halted or that the wort is sterile.

This idea doesn't make sense from either a theoretical or practical perspective and the economics of it suck, you lose all the heat you payed for, then pay to reheat the wort, which will take something like a quarter to half an hour, that's added to your brewing time not taken away from it.

A Pasteurisation Unit (PU) is the amount of heat required to kill half of the bacteria in 1 minute, at Pasteurising temperatures (at 60^oC you get about 1PU/Minute) as the temperature goes up the number of PU's/M goes up exponentially. Here's a good intro View attachment 37949 Or if you want to plot the graph in excel PU/M=0.000000003*2.71828182845904^(0.329*t) (t=^oC)

Unfortunately some bacteria are much more heat tolerant than others, good examples of them are the ones that have survived the malting and kilning of the grain we use to male our beer so we have selected for heat tolerant bugs.

If you're going to brew boil your wort.



MHB

 

[crundle]

I have done this many times in the past (not best practice but sometimes it just has to be done to get a brew done at all in my house) and have not had any issues.

The one caveat I would suggest is to get it boiling first, then leave it covered and insulated to keep the temperature as high as possible. I have left a freshly boiled wort for 12 hours in my urn (BIAB) covered in a doonah and then got it back on the boil again to do my hop additions with no ill effects quite a few times now.

As said by others, this is not best practice, but if you have to you have to. You are dicing with possible trouble though if you let the temperature come down too far, but if it was boiling, then wrapped up nicely, the temp should still be likely to be enough 12 hours later to keep the bulk of nasties at bay.

Obviously the sooner you can get it back on the boil the better, but 12 hours is do-able.

Crundle

 

[boobiedazzler]

wouldnt a one hour boil kill the nasties? i have read that leaving grain mashing overnight is ok, then mashing out the next day then boiling. but i also remember reading that this isnt the done thing with high wheat grain bills and you will end up with a sour beer. the disclaimer to this is that i havent tried it, so reader beware.

 

[crundle]

wouldnt a one hour boil kill the nasties? i have read that leaving grain mashing overnight is ok, then mashing out the next day then boiling. but i also remember reading that this isnt the done thing with high wheat grain bills and you will end up with a sour beer. the disclaimer to this is that i havent tried it, so reader beware.

A one hour boil WILL kill the nasties that may already be in the wort, but then when the wort cools back down to a certain temperature range, the nasties may get into the wort again and multiply. As the wort cools, it will draw air into the container it is in (unless it is in a sealed cube) which is where the new nasties come from.

Wort is an oasis for bacteria or yeast, when we brew with it we are interested in getting the population of the yeast to be large enough and healthy enough to compete with any possible wild yeast or bacterial infection.

As for leaving the grain mashing overnight, there is an issue that by leaving it too long you will convert too much of the starch to sugar, making a very thin resulting beer, which will be avoided when the wort and grain gets above 80 degrees Celcius. If you are planning on leaving the wort at any stage, it is best to get the mashing out of the way, then get the wort up to the boil before sealing it up as best you can and insulating it for the duration it will be left.

Not sure re: wheat beers, any takers on that point?

cheers,

Crundle

 

[ledgenko]

Thanks for the wise words guys.... I did 2 brews on Sun and ran out of GAS !!!! I had to wait around 10 hours between the completed mash and the boil for the second brew .. I boiled the arse out of it and it was tasting pretty damn good at the end .. heres hoping it turns out ok .. it must be a terrible feeling to have to tip "all that good stuff" out :-(

I am going fully electric (with gas back up) to avoid running out of gas ever again ...

I sincerely appreciate your words of wisdom !!

Matt

 

[ledgenko]

Hey gents! It survived....... Thank the beer gods... Not sure if strong enough to throw beer away.. Have worked out a way to never experience this again. A pseudo BIAB!!!!