How Organized Is Your Brewing?

[Pumpy]

How organised are you when it come's to your brewing

If eveytime you brew do you spend looking for the whirlfoc or the thermometer I would suggest you are Not organised .

I feel as Brewing is all about process control ,better organisation makes for a better more consistant beer



1) Do you meticulously organise your Beersmith/Promash .
2) Do you write everything down.
3) Is there a place for all your gear on brew day.
4) Do you religiously check that you have the necessary hops. So you dont have to make last minute changes.
5) Have you plastic tumblers marked with the Hop additions times
6) Do you wash up your gear as you go along on mash day or leave it to the end wasting time?
7) Have you the grain crushed and weighed prior to Mash day.


What do you do to organise your brewing ?

or is it just Organised Chaos?

Pumpy

 

[schooey]

At the moment, i'd have to admit to organised chaos.. :unsure: Mainly because of space constraints and not having my complete rig built.

On brew day i will make sure I have all my gear ready and fermenters, hoses, airlocks and hydrometers sanitised. Make sure the fermenter fridge is at the right temp, yeast is ready to go etc. My grain is bought cracked, so that's not an issue, and I usually buy my hops to match the recipe so I don't have to worry about keeping them for long periods.

I will usually clean as I go, except for the grain in the tun. it always goes out first thing next morning when its cooler...

 

[Jye]

According to your list Pumpy I am very organised Everything is kept on the brew stand and I make sure I have the correct ingredients about a week before... while continually modifying the recipe

 

[Beer Guy]

Also good idea to check your HLT is filled with rain water not dam water.

 

[Pumpy]

Jye , I can imagine you to be organised but when I started ,every brewday seemed to be different or there was some major contingency I had to deal with .

I just wanted for the day to go smoother and it didnt until I organised myself better, It may be a oversimplistic message I am trying to get across but it has made my brewing so much more pleasurable .

Pumpy

 

[joecast]

I feel as Brewing is all about process control ,better organisation makes for a better more consistant beer

i would agree with that. i find that when i have things ready to go the day before, brew day does seem to go smoother. while i cant say i follow all your steps i get my grain cracked from ross, so its ready to go, weigh my hops as the addition comes up and endlessly fiddle with promash. most of my gear, which isnt much, has a place so i usually know what im missing and when to panic and since my brewery is also my kitchen, i usually give it a good clean before i start so all i have to do when im done is clean up my brew gear and wipe up a small spill or two.
joe

 

[lowtech]

98% goes as planned.
other 2% is kids fighting :angry: /injuring themselves type distractions that can't be solved by just yelling orders from the shed.

 

[Screwtop]

According to your list Pumpy I am very organised Everything is kept on the brew stand and I make sure I have the correct ingredients about a week before... while continually modifying the recipe

+1

 

[warra48]

Brew Day minus 1:
HLT is filled, and ready to go on the burner.
Grain weighed and milled.
Hops weighed in individual lidded plastic tubs, and kept in freezer overnight.
Equipment such as hydrometer, thermometer etc readied for sanitising next morning.
Brew Day:
The usual stuff. I usually forget something anyway. Last brew forgot to add the Irish Moss to boil.
All cleaning done at end of brew day.
Brew day plus 1:
Put spent grains on vege garden and dug in.
Clean mash tun and manifold.

 

[peas_and_corn]

1) Do you meticulously organise your Beersmith/Promash .

I have Promash set up, and I plug in the necessary numbers as I go along. However I'm not crazy about absolute accuracy- enough to know what I did when I read the document in a years' time

2) Do you write everything down.

As above. Everything goes into Promash, and later printed and put into a folder.

3) Is there a place for all your gear on brew day.

Yep.

4) Do you religiously check that you have the necessary hops. So you dont have to make last minute changes.

Yes and no. I normally check a couple days before, but I have been caught out- and I just substituted. Didn't bother me.

5) Have you plastic tumblers marked with the Hop additions times

Bowls in a line in order of addition.

6) Do you wash up your gear as you go along on mash day or leave it to the end wasting time?

As I go along. I used to leave it till the end, but cleaning makes waiting for stuff to happen a little more interesting. I can still chat with my brew assistant while doing so.

7) Have you the grain crushed and weighed prior to Mash day.

Crushed for me by HBS

 

[pb unleaded]

I sometimes log into brew software before brewing but never follow it up. I crack my grains same day while the water is heating, ...never write anything down, my brew gear is all over the place.
Hops... whatever is in the freezer at the time, added in unmarked handfuls at various stages of boil. On a good day I clean up same day.

Organized? You be the judge.

 

[Muggus]

Hmmm lemme see, this is probably gonna look bad...
Don't have any beer programs.
Do write MOST stuff down...sometimes things happen that arn't exactly to plan
My brew rig is, like almost everything else in my life, is quite improvised, but I do have a place to it.
As for hops, again, improvise with what I know I have and whats available when I visit the LHBS.
Whats this about plastic tumblers? Haha, nope!
Big on the whole sanitisation thing, so thats a yes.
And yes, all grain is crushed beforehand.

Most of my brewing comes to me in 'moments of clarity', where I think about what I want to brew all day at work and impulsively purchase it that afternoon. Very rarely do am I actually prepared to follow a recipe, or a schedule for that matter. So in that regard...you could say i'm quite unorganised!

 

[TidalPete]

How organised are you when it come's to your brewing

If eveytime you brew do you spend looking for the whirlfoc or the thermometer I would suggest you are Not organised .

I feel as Brewing is all about process control ,better organisation makes for a better more consistant beer



1) Do you meticulously organise your Beersmith/Promash . --- yes
2) Do you write everything down. --- yes
3) Is there a place for all your gear on brew day. --- yes
4) Do you religiously check that you have the necessary hops. So you dont have to make last minute changes. --- yes
5) Have you plastic tumblers marked with the Hop additions times --- more or less. I package my hop additions in old hop sachets (Thanks Ross) & put in freezer in the correct order.
6) Do you wash up your gear as you go along on mash day or leave it to the end wasting time? --- yes
7) Have you the grain crushed and weighed prior to Mash day. --- yes

Pumpy,

All this answering business has made me wonder what happened to your polls????
A poll on this may have been quicker perhaps?

TP :beer:

 

[Pumpy]

Pumpy,

All this answering business has made me wonder what happened to your polls????
A poll on this may have been quicker perhaps?

TP :beer:

Pete I am looking for some meaningful feed back here so everyone can benefit from a little orgasmation sorry organisation
Pumpy

 

[matti]

1) Do you meticulously organise your Beersmith/Promash .
2) Do you write everything down.
3) Is there a place for all your gear on brew day.
4) Do you religiously check that you have the necessary hops. So you dont have to make last minute changes.
5) Have you plastic tumblers marked with the Hop additions times
6) Do you wash up your gear as you go along on mash day or leave it to the end wasting time?
7) Have you the grain crushed and weighed prior to Mash day.

Answers

1. Nah just pop then in.
2.yesireeee
3. No way
4. Yep and then some hehehe
5. No, just in right order on the bench
6. yes if time allows
7. Yes

But i never able to keep thing as planned....... ever........

I couldn't mash out when planned as the water hadn't heated up to accurate temperature after 90 minutes,

120 minute mash
2 hour sparge

 

[mika]

Lets see.

1. Yes
2. Sometimes, I at least record OG into the fermenter...most of the time
3. Mostly, the brew rigs on castors so it gets pushed to a clear spot in the shed, does that count ?
4. Not really, I've stuffed up here before and had to sub something when I was sure I had more than 5g of Northern brewer left
5. Nup, I have at times used bowls with pieces of paper, but mostly that requires too much planning
6. Tend to wash as I go, but usually the fermenter doesn't get washed until the chilling waters running and then about 5mins later I realise I need the hose to wash out the fermentor
7. Still setting up the grainmill, so nup, I'll buy it from the LHBS tomorrow. Switch the HLT on before I leave and it'll be up to temp by the time I get back...though last time I did that I forgot to plug the element into the controller water still at a nice 20C when I got back :huh:

Tomorrow's brewday is even more special, I've been running around all day and achieved absolutely nothing, so at this stage I haven't opened a new session in Promash or even got the liquid yeast started :lol:

 

[braufrau]

You left out


0) make a schedule like this



) Do you meticulously organise your Beersmith/Promash .
Of course!

2) Do you write everything down.
ditto. on the brew sheet that I print out from beersmith and store in a folder of plastic sheet protectors for posterior!

3) Is there a place for all your gear on brew day.
Ummm .. .the kitchen floor?

4) Do you religiously check that you have the necessary hops. So you dont have to make last minute changes.
Yep.

5) Have you plastic tumblers marked with the Hop additions times
No but that's a good idea. I liked PP's idea of the washing powder scoops.

6) Do you wash up your gear as you go along on mash day or leave it to the end wasting time?
As I go.

7) Have you the grain crushed and weighed prior to Mash day.
No choice there ... I don't have a mill.

 

[Kleiny]

1) Do you meticulously organise your Beersmith/Promash .
2) Do you write everything down.
3) Is there a place for all your gear on brew day.
4) Do you religiously check that you have the necessary hops. So you dont have to make last minute changes.
5) Have you plastic tumblers marked with the Hop additions times
6) Do you wash up your gear as you go along on mash day or leave it to the end wasting time?
7) Have you the grain crushed and weighed prior to Mash day.

I have started to use beersmith and think it helps BIGTIME

Everything is first writin on a big whiteboard (recipe, timing, additions, boil, hops etc) and then once finished copied into a exercise book for further reference (along with problems encountered and future suggestions)

Their is a place for everything and it is where ever my boys run away with it and leave it after ive set up

I know exactly what hops i have in my fridge or purchase the ones req early

Always thoroughly wash all gear as i go along (clean brewery at the end no hassles next day chasing kids around who happen to be playing luke skywalker and darth vader with my mash paddle and refractomoter)

Grain has arrived crushed up till now and my monster mill will be here soon (cant wait to see what toys get thrown through that)


kleiny

 

[Stuster]

store in a folder of plastic sheet protectors for posterior!

Do you sit on them, or attach them to your posterior in some way?! :lol:

Anyway, back on topic, I'm pretty organised, but perhaps not overly so. I spend ages planning recipes and love doing it. A big part of the fun for me, researching the recipe and getting it together. I have my grains, hops and yeast in my Beersmith inventory so always have them in stock on the day. I don't line up cups though, and in general the brewday is far less organised than the planning. With very space (and variable amounts of it as well) brew day stuff has to make do with whatever spot it gets put in on the day, though the stuff is reasonable organised. Gear gets washed up, although the mash tun sometimes gets left till the next day if I do an evening brew. Grains are usually crushed on the day.

 

[DJR]

1) Do you meticulously organise your Beersmith/Promash .

No, i use Brewsta but i tend to just go with first instinct for beers - when i had more free time i used to spend ages getting as much info as i could, but nowadays, it's all beer and all generally tastes good. Just a few different styles keep me going, so i usually just tweak the recipes the night before i brew to get it done to the taste i want to go for with the ingredients i have on hand.

2) Do you write everything down.

Mostly. Although when the page that i write things down on (which is also the printout from Brewsta) the ink runs and it becomes useless.

3) Is there a place for all your gear on brew day.

No - just get what i need from the brew equipment stash, use it and clean when done, then back in the stash.

4) Do you religiously check that you have the necessary hops. So you dont have to make last minute changes.

Mostly. MOst of the time things are pretty interchangeable anyway, but i tend to keep track of what's there and whats not so no suprises.

5) Have you plastic tumblers marked with the Hop additions times

I was doing that for a while but now i just line them up left to right from 60m to whirlpool (and adding the whirfloc into the 10m/5m hops tends to help me remember)

6) Do you wash up your gear as you go along on mash day or leave it to the end wasting time?

Clean as i go... it's a habit.

7) Have you the grain crushed and weighed prior to Mash day.

No, you have to have something to do while your dough in water heats up don't you?