Splitting The Brew Day In Two

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thebigwilk

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My brew days usually start with a lot of high expectations and great excitement and that usual thought process that most of us have on brew day

that this brew is going to be the best one yet. But by the end of the six to seven hour brew day the legs are a bit wery and the energy and the

motivation for the clean up is running on low, not to mention trying to keep the kids and the Mrs on side while i devote all my attention to the brew

for the day. I have been putting some thought into how can i make this experience a bit more enjoyable and less taxing on me and the family, so

the last brew i put down i heated my strike water and mashed on Friday night and enjoyed a few beers with a couple of mates when the mash was

over I pulled the grain bag out dumped the grain and cleaned the bag and threw a blanket over the kettle ready to fire it up for the boil in the

morning first thing. Started the boil and all finished and cleaned up by about 10.30 that morning, now thats more like it . Still had the rest of the

day free to do other stuff, it worked out great. Just thought i would pass on this experience for others that are in a similar situation it was a much easier brew session.
 
Better see how the beer turns out before its labelled a success? Wort can spoil and the boil wont fix that. It will just kill the bugs after the damage is done. But if it works without noticeable damage, then good luck to ya.

The best way I find to split things up is to do all the prep during the week, so you can mash in immediately on brew day. Otherwise it can be an hour or so before your ready to start. Also, if your organised you can leave the brewery and do other stuff for an hour during the mash, and for short breaks during the boil, post whirlpool, etc.
 
Better see how the beer turns out before its labelled a success? Wort can spoil and the boil wont fix that. It will just kill the bugs after the damage is done. But if it works without noticeable damage, then good luck to ya.

The best way I find to split things up is to do all the prep during the week, so you can mash in immediately on brew day. Otherwise it can be an hour or so before your ready to start. Also, if your organised you can leave the brewery and do other stuff for an hour during the mash, and for short breaks during the boil, post whirlpool, etc.
The brew was a blonde ale taste wise its all good. Whats the spoiling process on the wort prior to boil never heard of that one? Curious to learn more about it.
 
The wort can go sour...
It's called lactic...
It's when lactobacillus infects the wort...
Not having a go , but don't try and reinvent the wheel .
In 1516 , when the Germans enshrined brewing in the rheinheitsgebot , they did it for a reason...
 
Indeed, I too would like to hear more about the possibility of wort spoil between mash and boil as thebigwilk's process is exactly what I have been considering. I often can't get going 'til evening and those 4am finishes are, well, too much with my little one's 7am wakeup.
 
The wort can go sour... It's called lactic... It's when lactobacillus infects the wort... Not having a go , but don't try and reinvent the wheel . In 1516 , when the Germans enshrined brewing in the rheinheitsgebot , they did it for a reason...
Yeah, but I don't see what affordable bread prices has to do with our old mate's extended brew day. ;)
 
I'm splitting my brew like this:
Friday: crush grains and general prep = 1 hour.
Saturday: mash, boil, cube = 3 or 4 hours.
Sunday: cube into fermenter, done = 1 hour.
 
Why does it take 6_7 hrs?. If I get my HLT full, and crack grains the day before, im done in around 4 hours, even with a 90 minute boil.
 
Far out why does it take so long for you? Brewing beer is a great hobby for me because I can do it while babysitting the kids. So it keeps everyone happy.
 
Bum...please explain...lol I'm lost
Without wanting to take the thread too far OT, there were a few reasons the Germans (although I don't think it was all of Germany at the time) initiated the Reinheitsgebot and they were all political. Primary amongst their concerns was commercial competition for certain types of grain pushing up the prices of bread so beer was limited to only using barley, leaving wheat and rye for bakers. Also had the effect of protecting the local market from brewers from other regions who brewed with more varied ingredients.

Also, the initial Reinheitsgebot didn't include mention of yeast so that pretty much shows how much faith we should be placing in that particular regulation when designing our own brews.

[EDIT: all my recent posts are stripping the closing square bracket off quoted posts - this happening to anyone else?]
 
Bum,
I know that yeast wasn't included at the time , because as far as they were concerned , fermentation was the devils business...it wasn't until the late 1800's when yeast was isolated as a strain , was any thought put into it..
The point I was trying to make was that making beer has some conventions that ought be followed ... And I was trying to say that by trying to shorten your brew day is admirable but there are reasons why , as brewers , we so the things we do...
Anyway , to the OP...you may get lucky doing what your doing but I reckon you are tempting fate...
Boil ASAP and then maybe no chill...my 2 cents
Ferg
 
Bum,
I know that yeast wasn't included at the time , because as far as they were concerned , fermentation was the devils business...it wasn't until the late 1800's when yeast was isolated as a strain , was any thought put into it..
The point I was trying to make was that making beer has some conventions that ought be followed ... And I was trying to say that by trying to shorten your brew day is admirable but there are reasons why , as brewers , we do the things we do...
Anyway , to the OP...you may get lucky doing what your doing but I reckon you are tempting fate...
Boil ASAP and then maybe no chill...my 2 cents
Ferg
 
I usually start at 7:30 and have 2 cubes filled and everything cleaned up at 12. Always mean to have the HLT filled ready the night before but that never happens lol. If I run late I mash in have lunch have a nanny nap but then I figured it takes a hour longer.

for a beer with mash in, sach, mash out and sprage I do it like this

Fill HLT with mash in, Fill boiler with sach rest
drain HLT into MT then 10 mins later drain boiler into MT
Mash and fill boiler with mash out and HLT with sparge and heat.
When time for mash out drain the boiler to MT and keep heating the HLT if its not hot enough
10mins later after recirculation for a while and HLT to temp drain to boiler and fly sparge
when the boiler is over the ball valve crank the heat up and heat while it fills

the rest is normal lol There is no down time here as if you time it right every step is ready at that time. So there is no ramping a 80min mash takes 80mins (10min mash in, 60min mash and 10min mash out) but I tend to cut the mash short so it all up is more like 70mins and have always hit targets so leave it at that
 
Thanks guys for your ideas and input. I've only just gone to all-grain BIAB, in a very ghetto way due to limited funds, so am still fumbling around as I get used to the processes and that accounts for some of my time. That and my foolish cussedness to try things like complex step mashes on my first AG brew, but I'm like that.

I can totally understand the lactic infection possibility. Back when I was doing long-fermentation breads professionally, working that one out took us about six months (long before the interwebs was common and banging your head against the wall took the place of banging your head against the computer).

fergthebrewer, it's certainly not about wanting to make square wheels because they stack better on the shelf. When I brew I belong to the wort and continually convince myself that staying up that extra half hour is better than cutting a corner, and then adding another hour for cleaning. Just looking for a way to crawl into bed a little earlier. That's one of the cool things about brewing. We're part of a long tradition. Just bought a bunch of old CUB bottles off a kegger and they were from the 70's. Nice to be using the bottles that home brewers have been keeping and using for all that time.
 
Why not start the process early doors. Cover your kettle. Go out for the day, then boil it when you return. A bit less time for lactic action. Or pay the neighbours kids to watch the boil while you go out.
 
Yes sorry, should've mentioned im a no chiller. Still, the tun gets cleaned while the boils going, and the boilers takes 15mins to clean.
 
I just did a brew in my 50L braumeister. Mashed in at 1am and had a long mash schedule and just left it to mashout for about 2.5 hours. I woke at 7.30am pulled the pipe and started boiling. I was done and all cleaned up at 10.30. Weird thing was my efficiency went through the roof! I had to check my figures a few times because I couldn't believe it. I left the gravity as it was and upped the late addition hops for more bitterness. Beer is tasting great ATM and sitting on 1016.
 
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