Just Mashed In At 5.15am

[christmasbender]

morning folks!

2 weeks ago i stated my brew at 6am. that is i set the hlt going to heat up my strike water. managed to get the brew done by about 1pm. was very happy with this as it left the rest of the day open. but i now find myself wide awake at 4 something (after settling my 8 month old back to sleep) and with all the ingredients for an oatmeal stout.

i think to myself if i start now surely i can make it an all am brew? so here i am. mash is in the esky. sparge water is heating up. what to do? tell all you lot! i really do like this am brewing. as i said before it frees up the rest of your day plus i find my methods are a lot more honed at this time of the morning (probably because i don't drink quite as much beer)

does anyone else do am brews?

slainte

christmasbender

 

[THBF Wez]

Totally agree with you - early morning brews are great (if you can manage them) I used to do the same as you when my kids were under very young, why not !! Get the nightime feed in, settle down get yourself a big coffee (or Yorkshire Tea for me) and get the mash on.

I've had a few brews finish pre noon - good on ya hope it turns out a belter!

 

[RdeVjun]

Mornin'!
Absolutely, have done the same, particularly while the football is on SBS, which starts a 0430 when its on, and usually get to work on time but I've been doing extracts, first AG is this week.

Yep, tendency to drink at this hour is minimal.

Slainte!

 

[np1962]

Good luck to you blokes!
Only up at this time on a Sunday to take 16yo daughter to work at Maccas so other wierdos can get food at 6.00am
Will probably be back in bed in half an hour! <_<

Nige

Edit:- cant spel at this hour!

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

just about too mash in ,,, 06:15 will be start of mash ... should have 2 double batches by 13:00....

can then spend the rest of the day drinking and bbqing ... ahh yes

cheers

 

[christmasbender]

good work gents...... i'm about to go recirculate...... keep me posted and i'll do the same......... as i don't know about you but i find it gets very lonely brewing at this hour!

 

[Peter Wadey]

morning folks!

2 weeks ago i stated my brew at 6am. that is i set the hlt going to heat up my strike water. managed to get the brew done by about 1pm. was very happy with this as it left the rest of the day open. but i now find myself wide awake at 4 something (after settling my 8 month old back to sleep) and with all the ingredients for an oatmeal stout.

i think to myself if i start now surely i can make it an all am brew? so here i am. mash is in the esky. sparge water is heating up. what to do? tell all you lot! i really do like this am brewing. as i said before it frees up the rest of your day plus i find my methods are a lot more honed at this time of the morning (probably because i don't drink quite as much beer)

does anyone else do am brews?

slainte

christmasbender

Yes, I'm up with the birds too and like to mash in then.
Even in mid winter & I brew outside. Wife shakes head at thought.
The world is quiet. Great time of the day.

Peter

 

[Barry]

Yes, put the water on at 5.50 am, had a shower, mashed in an oatmeal stout then an Aussie dark ale starting at 6.25. It is a great morning, it is great to be alive. Now having breakfast and will mash out at 7.45.

 

[mje1980]

Christmas bender, how long does it take you to do a brew??. Im down to around 3 hours plus for a 36 litre ( finished volume ) AG batch. By the looks of it its taking you a long time, if you're mashing in at 6am, and finishing at 1pm. Are you decocting or something??

Im an early riser, so i like to brew early, but now that i no chill, it doesnt really matter. Im definately done and cleaned up by the 4 hour mark.

 

[technocat]

Yep nothing like a heart starter at six in the morning. My brew assistant Mindy makes sure I am up and running around that time.

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

beernut or MORK ??

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

Just comeing too the boil on the first , hlt full again and heating ,

Cheers

 

[justsomeguy]

Normally a 6am start for me. The HLT is on a timer so it's at strike temp when I get up. Mashing in by 6.15 usually.

I'm normally finished, including cleanup, by around 10.30 which leaves the rest of the day free to get other stuff done.

gary

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

first one, (NS ale) done and dusted , second (smoky choc porta) spargging now ...

 

[flattop]

Thats fast justsomeguy, i managed about 3 1/2 hours biab yesterday including cleanup and thought i was fast.
I have a lagtime from mashout to boil, lifting the urn's temp is an issue, less of a problem yesterday as i brewed inside, i usually brew on the balcony then i don't worry about spills

 

[reVoxAHB]

Nice. I do the same. I filter water the night before, HLT is on a timer 5:30AM, strike 7AM generally. My brewdays are around 7 hours give or take, so an early afternoon finish allows time with the family (or if I'm not required) further potting around the brewery, etc.

My 7 hours is step mashing, continuous sparging, plate chilling.

You should be nearing flame out around now, eh ?

reVox

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

about half way through boil of second batch ... flavor addition in 20mins and then aroma at 12:00 flame out 12:05...

Brew wench just served hot brunch , should be able too pour first beer about now (cheers)

 

[Screwtop]

Filter water the afternoon before, set timer. Mash in at 5.30 done by 1pm, doubt if I spend more than 2 hours all up in the brewery, most of the time is spent -----waiting

Screwy

 

[Sammus]

Lol all you crazy people, and to think I mashed in at 7:30pm last night I only just woke up now and made me a coffee haha

 

[justsomeguy]

Thats fast justsomeguy, i managed about 3 1/2 hours biab yesterday including cleanup and thought i was fast.
I have a lagtime from mashout to boil, lifting the urn's temp is an issue, less of a problem yesterday as i brewed inside, i usually brew on the balcony then i don't worry about spills

That's for 20 litres into the fermenter. a double batch adds about another hour to the process.

This is generally how it goes for a single batch.

6.15 Mash starts.
7.00 Add a little hot water to mash out.
7.15 Start draining mash. As soon as the elements in the boiler are covered with wort I turn them on.
7.30 Refill for second runnings.
7.40 Drain second runnings.
7.50 Refill for third runnings.
8.00 Drain third runnings.
8.30 On the boil and the first hop addition goes in.
9.30 flame out
10.00 Chilled enough to go into a fermenter.
10.05 Fermenter filled and cleanup of the kettle and chillers starts.
10.30 All finished and I'm usually hitting my calculated values for an 82% mash efficiency or within 1 point of it.

The things that speed up the brew day are doing multiple things at one. While the mash is on I measure out the hops and make sure the water is up to mash out temp. Then when the boil is going I clean the mash tun out and put a little sodium percarbonate in the HLT ready to receive the water from the immersion chiller. I'll also make sure the fermenter is sanitised and ready to go. As soon as the wort is cool enough I take the immersion chiller out and clean it using water from the HLT. Once the kettle has been drained I pump some of the now hot cleaning solution into the kettle to start cleaning that out. Its just a matter of figuring out what you can do while other stuff is happening.

gary.