Split Brewday

[IainMcLean]

Anyone have any input on this notion:

You have kids/busy weekend/lack of time so you do your mash one evening, mash out and collect the wort into the kettle before covering it with the lid. You wrap the kettle to insulate it and then go to bed. In the morning you start the boil.

Works out at 2 hours one night, 3 hours the next morning for a brew.

Heard it on Basic Brewing Radio. Interesting idea - the guys discuss that apparently little heat is lost due to thermal mass, enzyme activity and the possibility of infection - saying that as the wort is going to be boiled that any wild yeasts that may bet in there will be killed anyway.

Here's the Basic Brewing Radio linky:
http://hw.libsyn.com/p/f/c/5/fc5841eca6229...9d40d0695f0c53a

Edit: the topic is about 1/4 of the way into the show....

 

[kelbygreen]

hmm this is interesting I have asked it before and I have tried it with a 5lt batch but it was a bit longer then over night and I came back to a 5lt cube swelled up to almost bursting I opened it and the stench that came out was just to wrong to even think about boiling the wort went down the drain and cube into the bin. I now do it all in one day (apart from if you cube after the boil)

 

[bignath]

I did it once but it wasnt planned.

Got a ***** of a sticking sparge, so i let it drain overnight and came back to the boiler in the morning. Had eventually collected my expected volume, and started where i left off.

Beer ended up ok, but not something i want to repeat anytime soon.

 

[fcmcg]

Iain,
You could do it , but you wouldn't want to leave it too long....
I "happened" upon some wort that a brewer i know decided wasn't up to scratch for a commercial operation ( wrong colour...prob with his grain order )
It was day 2 after the sparge when i got a hold of it....
Boiled the bejeesus out of it for an hour with some old hops...
It's interesting...sour..lactic...sorta...
Drank a bit of it...chucked the rest lol

 

[drtomc]

If you biab, you could raise the temperature to mashout, raise the bag then wrap overnight. Basically, the hotter it is when you leave it, the less stuff is likely to grow, and at mashout, you should have denatured the enzymes, so the sugar profile should be fixed.

That sId, I have not done it but now you've reminded me, I might.

T.

 

[IainMcLean]

I'm thinking the idea has merit - with the obvious caveat:

The mashout is done properly before the lid is put on the kettle & collected wort & you boil it first thing the next morning...

Could get one going Friday night after Junior has been put in his cot and then after feeding him the next morning I could disappear to the brewery until lunch to wrap it all up.

 

[szopen]

I have done something like this last weekend.
Something came up Saturday arvo and I had to stop half way through.

I have collected the wort into the pot, heated it up to boil (to pasteurize), turned off the heat, covered and left till Sunday noontime when I was able to continue. Done the normal full boil, hops etc.
I don't think there are any major problems with doing this.
Only issue is waste of energy, a very minor thing on homebrewing scale.

 

[argon]

When i brew i normally do it in parts... kinda (but not like what you're proposing) It's simple enough to get a brew done and not upset family commitments. Usually get to bed about same time as usual.

I have 2 little kids and there is usually a flurry of activity around 5.30-7.30.

I prepare well in advance making sure everything is clean and prepped at least 24hrs prior... eg HLT filled and timer set for brewday, grain crushed and water additions added, all vessels and cleaned and sanitised etc.
Normal brewday goes like this;
5.30 bath the 3month old
6.00 3 month old in bed
6.15 drain HLT to mash tun and dough in
6.45 bath the 2 year old
7.15 2 year old in bed
7.30 drain to kettle and batch sparge
8.15 boil started
8.20 first hop addition then clean mash tun
9.20 flameout
9.30 drain to cubes or start chilling
10.00 all cleaned and packed away (10.30 if chilling)
10.30 wake up 3month old and give them another feed
11.00 go to bed

 

[peas_and_corn]

The problem with possible infection is that microbes create funky chemicals that won't be driven off by the boil

 

[srcossens]

I have done something very similar, but not by design. Firstly, I was doing two brews in one day, both TTL clones, one balanced to the Chloride side and one to the Sulphate side.

The Chloride one was started during the day and finished by the afternoon/evening. The Sulphate one was started straight after and during the mash, the electricity went out for 3 hours, so the mash was extended to 4 hours. Once the electricity came back on, I drained and went to boil, but the elements wouldn't get the beer up to boil, only about 90c. I was playing with it until about 1 am, when I gave up. I put a lid on the boiler and went to bed. What I found out the next day was that the elements had been coated with all the salts (ie. limescale) and therefore were cutting out before the liquid could get to a boil. I normally cleaned these after each brew, but I didn't this time because of the double brew day. I cleaned them off and was away boiling by about 10am the next morning.

It probably turned out to be the nicest beer that I have ever brewed. Slightly higher in Alcohol due to the extended mash (lower FG) and had the best head on it that I have ever done in any brew.

 

[IainMcLean]

Well. I did the spilt thing today/last night.

Besides a screw-up with the mill and crush size all went well considering.

Got the water heating @ 7:30pm, went to bed a little after 10:30 with the wort in the kettle with the lid on.

This morning @ 7am the wort was @ 40 degrees. Boiled, hopped, chilled, in FV and all clean for 10am.

Included kegging a beer that was fermenting last week....

I'm liking this... Keeps the wife happy and let me have playtime with Junior.

 

[WitWonder]

I find the thing that seems to make my brewday go alot faster is when I crush all my grain and into the mashtun the night before, set the timer so the strike water is ready when I get up and mash in straight away. The idea of leaving the mash overnight doesn't really appeal...

 

[IainMcLean]

I find the thing that seems to make my brewday go alot faster is when I crush all my grain and into the mashtun the night before, set the timer so the strike water is ready when I get up and mash in straight away. The idea of leaving the mash overnight doesn't really appeal...

That was a concern of mine so I mashed out and got the wort into the kettle, dumped the spent grain and put the lid on the kettle and went to bed... in the morning it hadn't lost too much heat...

Besides if I left the mash out overnight I'd probabyl fine a couple of rodents doing the backstroke in it come morning

 

[Nodrog]

That was a concern of mine so I mashed out and got the wort into the kettle, dumped the spent grain and put the lid on the kettle and went to bed... in the morning it hadn't lost too much heat...

Besides if I left the mash out overnight I'd probabyl fine a couple of rodents doing the backstroke in it come morning

I,ve mashed overnight a couple of times now with no issues so far as I can tell. Read about it here somewhere. Left Eski in garage has been 60+ in am, add pot nr boiling water for 75 mash out and carry on as normal. This way can go to bed after dough in. Not sure I would mash out and leave it in the kettle, would just cool down and not save any time really.

 

[manticle]

I did it once and it worked OK but I wouldn't do it on a regular basis. My spent grain, if left overnight, can smell pretty rank. That's because stuff is growing in there. Some of that stuff may have a flavour impact.

 

[fergi]

I find the thing that seems to make my brewday go alot faster is when I crush all my grain and into the mashtun the night before, set the timer so the strike water is ready when I get up and mash in straight away. The idea of leaving the mash overnight doesn't really appeal...

Just wondering ,it sounds like you put your grain in first, then add water to your mash tun, i do it the opposite way, water into mash tun then slowly add and stir the grain in.

anyone have a preference on the way you mash.
fergi

 

[pk.sax]

depends what I remember to do first. IF I had a proper HLT setup I'd do it the way you do.

 

[IainMcLean]

Not sure I would mash out and leave it in the kettle, would just cool down and not save any time really.

The way I see it, instead of using up the better portion of one day brewing, when Jr and the missus call it a night I can be in the shed brewing. I'd only be melting my brain on AHB or watching TV otherwise

Getting up early, I get the wort heating then have breaky before the other two surface. With Jr down for a nap mid-morning I get to finish when he wakes up so it's play time!

For me it's not so much about cutting time out of a brew schedule - it's more using my time more efficiently so I can brew AND spend time with the family...

 

[ekul]

I've mashed in and let it sit overnight. Makes for a dryer beer, so i use it for aussie lagers/coopers clones.

 

[[email protected]]

I've mashed in and let it sit overnight. Makes for a dryer beer, so i use it for aussie lagers/coopers clones.

Ekul

What mash temp do you go for?