Super long mash times

[law-of-ohms]

Hi Chaps,

Just wondering if anyone has done extremely long mash times, like all day kind of length.

I'm trying to get a few brews down before xmas, and spare time is a premium,

I have all my grains crushed, mash tun cleaned, etc. I can start the mash first thing in the morning, ~6:30am, goto work, start boil at ~5pm.

Does anyone see any issues? I've done very long mash times for my 'other' 'steam' hobby but I dont drink the resulting beer...

 

[doon]

What kind of system do you have

 

[dicko]

If you have a method of holding the mash at mash temp then it should be ok but if it cools it may sour.

Cheers

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

No benefit. A lot of modern malts willl convert in as little as 20-30mopins.

Mashing a whole day will only help in ruining your beer through infection due to the length of time and a nice warm environment for nasties.

 

[Yob]

can you set it on a timer? as in mash in cold, set up hex on a timer to start at 3, by the time it ramps up to temp and get to say 64'c and hold that for an hour youd be right to run off by the time you get home.

Clearly will only work if you have a HERMS/RIMS though..

 

[pk.sax]

I've left one overnight out if frustration with a manifold that disintegrated.

Beer always had a bit of difference to it, not unpleasant, a little bite - sourness or whatever. Not held at temp, just turned the system off, chucked the lid on and went to sleep.

 

[r055c0]

Wouldn't the boil kill any nasties?

Basic Brewing did an experiment with leaving a mash to sour and it took something like 3 days (from memory)

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Boiling will kill the nasties...but if the nasties leave any toxins the boil wont remove them.

The smell of a rank mash is not one you forget easly.

 

[mje1980]

There are some brewers who do overnight mashes, do a google search for overnight mashing and I'm sure you'll get a few hits. From memory they make sure they have good insulation to stop the mash dropping into a temp that is very encouraging to lactobacillus.

Yep, I've left my tun overnight a few times in summer. Ohh yeah you don't forget the smell alright!.

 

[wbosher]

I've mashed one day an did the boil the next day, didn't mash overnight though. After the mash finished, I brought to the boil for about 10 minutes to kill and nasties, then sealed up the kettle with a lid and then wrapped the pot/lid seal in gladwrap.

Next day, removed the glad wrap and lid and brought back up to the boil for the remainder of the 90 minutes. Not ideal, but it worked out well.

 

[Bribie G]

I've done overnight mashes a few times. They need to be well lagged so that they don't drop much below 60 degrees. Turned out ok.

The Daddy of AG brewing in the UK, Dave Line, in his first book in the 1970s, listed in a lot of his recipes: "Mash for 90 minutes, or overnight". His system used a lagged / insulated mash.

 

[hoppinmad]

Could you get away with a night brew? Mash in at 5pm. Sparge 6-6.30pm. Boil 6.30-8pm. Cleanup 8-8.30pm. Bunch of flowers for the missus and all's good.

 

[law-of-ohms]

My 'system' is a 40L or 70L esky... My guess is that overnight the temp will drop to 55c.

Is 55c bad?

 

[Bribie G]

You could try floating a couple of rectangles of bubble wrap on top of the mash, seeing as most of the heat loss is through the lid, and further wrap the esky in a doonah plus bungee straps. Warra48 uses the bubble wrap (If I remember foggily from brewday) and loses very little temp over a regular mash.

 

[Yob]

Bunch of flowers for the missus and all's good.

Will she be happy with Cascade?

 

[Helles]

Mashed in on Friday about 7 am Mashed for nearly 2 hrs
Then got called in to work for 4 hrs
Mashed for about 7 all up
Hydrometer still tasted good
Fermenting now
Dont expect anything other than a dry beer with very little body
Havent done it before but it will turn ok

 

[Beersuit]

Before I got a job that I didn't have to work most weekends I used to come home at lunch to mash in and lag the bejesus out of it. 6 hours later came back and mashed out. It worked well as I would only loose 4 degree over that time period.

 

[breakbeer]

Mashed for nearly 8 hours once due to a power outage. I've got a well insulated pot so temp only dropped to 62

Beer tasted awesome!

 

[law-of-ohms]

Wish me luck,

I pre-heated the esky with hot water for 10 min, adjusted to 65c, added 8kg of grain (40L esky is full to the top), dropped to 63c, and I rapped it in a doonah.

Grain bill =

- 2KG unmalted steam flaked barley
- 2KG Joe White Pilsner
- 4KG Wyemeran Vienna

Hoping for a light colour.

Making this up as I go (like normal)
I'll call this one "Lighting IPA" (unless that name is taken?)


Hops? Um, I'll have a think about that over the day...

 

[NewtownClown]

Boiling will kill the nasties...but if the nasties leave any toxins the boil wont remove them.

The smell of a rank mash is not one you forget easly.

lol! I actually like the smell. Then again, I love sour beer (especially lacto-soured Berliner Weiss).

My mash tun sits for a day or two and I let the excess liquor drain before double bagging and into the bin. Baby vomit!

What "Toxins" are you referring to?