Best single addition to your brew day procedure

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Martin30R

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What is the one thing that you've changed about your brewing procedure (equipment, procedure, etc) that has improved your experience? I'm not talking about the one change that helped you make better beer, but rather one that has made the process either easier or more enjoyable.

So far for me it is getting a propane burner and moving my brewery from the stove to the back patio. This has made things more fun, but also has introduced complexity regarding equipment mobility and no sink outdoors, etc.

Really I'm looking for smaller type changes that may help the average at home brew maniac (not "I built an e-HERMS brewery in my basement").

Thanks!
 
Until I get a bigger kettle, spitting my boil into 2 pots until I boil enough down to add back to my big pot. I used to get massive boil overs every time trying to get the necessary amount of wort into my 7.5 gallon kettle. I now drain my first runnings into a smaller pot and put it on the kitchen stove and then drain my 4-5 gallons of 2nd runnings into my large kettle to put on the propane burner. My post-boil volume was always coming up short until I started doing this. Now I can easily manage hot break, get enough wort in my fermenter, and clean up is easier.
 
Going to no sparge. I buy pretty much everything in bulk, so cost is not an issue, but now I not only save time, but I'm always dead on with my volumes. Sure, efficiency is now 60-65% down from 75-80%, but who cares? Maybe costs me an extra 5 or 6 bucks, but cost is not really the motivating factor anyway.
 
A keggle. After going all grain, the 7g turkey frier wasn't cutting it. Now I've got a small BK for doing test batches when I go that route, and a 15g keggle for doing 5g and 10g (also, when I get to that point). Well worth the upgrade.
 
Until I get a bigger kettle, spitting my boil into 2 pots until I boil enough down to add back to my big pot. I used to get massive boil overs every time trying to get the necessary amount of wort into my 7.5 gallon kettle. I now drain my first runnings into a smaller pot and put it on the kitchen stove and then drain my 4-5 gallons of 2nd runnings into my large kettle to put on the propane burner. My post-boil volume was always coming up short until I started doing this. Now I can easily manage hot break, get enough wort in my fermenter, and clean up is easier.

Does this affect your hop utilization? Not that I could see why it would but just curious.

I have an 8 gal kettle that has proven itself to be a little small for all grain. I've been managing okay with it but I almost always have sparge water left over that does not make it into the kettle.
 
Really I'm looking for smaller type changes that may help the average at home brew maniac (not "I built an e-HERMS brewery in my basement").
Thanks!

I was thinking going electric.. it's really not that difficult to do and it doesn't have to be super expensive (although it can be and mine was pretty spendy). I love brewing in near silence - except for my tunes going - and having electronic control over the temps is really nice.
 
Adding cam locks to all of my valves and tubing has saved me a lot of time and been the most welcome addition to the brew day.

I also picked up about 20 sham wows at the nearby "as seen on tv" store for cleaning up spilled water and drying other stuff off. That has saved me a lot of money on paper towels.
 
I'm going to cheat and give two. The starsan spray bottle is terrific and an immersion chiller has made the post boil part much less tedious.
 
Does this affect your hop utilization? Not that I could see why it would but just curious.

I have an 8 gal kettle that has proven itself to be a little small for all grain. I've been managing okay with it but I almost always have sparge water left over that does not make it into the kettle.

I split my hops proportionally between kettles. It may not be ideal for hop utilization, but I doubt it would affect it enough for me to even be able to notice.
 
I put my IC on a shelf and went to no chill.I love it!!

I am a fourth grade teacher and have the patience of a Saint in the classroom. For some reason though, I just can't wait around for wort to cool. I think it is because I am so concerned about the yeast. They must be very hungry after sleeping so long! Who am I to make them wait on delicious, sugary malt?!
 
Genjin - I like that you are looking out for the well being of your yeasties ... I'll bet that they appreciate it.

I have done a few no chill brews, and they have all come out perfectly fine. Something about it feels wrong though - just like not worrying about the foam from star san ... I know that I'm supposed to not worry about it, but it is tough to do!

I was worried that someone was going to list a pump as the best addition right away ... and that is exactly what happened!

I have just made a few of the other practices listed here my own (before starting this thread). I have switched to Star San (and I have a spray bottle for application), I have just received an Immersion Chiller (I had a CFC but it didn't work very well without a liquid pump for me), and I'm kegging my beer.

I would really like to go electric at some point (so that I can basement brew) ... but I don't know that I'm really quite ready for that just yet.

Really I think that kegging the beer is the best addition. I find that I drink less and not more (I can have a 1/2 glass if I want), and it is so much less work. Of course, it wasn't as cheap as I'd have liked...
 
Equipment aside, larger batch size has made the process a lot more enjoyable for me. Brewday itself is not as easy going and relaxing as it used to be, but, I'm not brewing every other week anymore so the work doesn't really bother me. I can now jam six 4-6 hour brew days into one 12-14 hour brewday. As a result I have more time to spend doing other things that I enjoy. The best part about it is that I never have to drink green beer anymore. I used to hate getting half way through a keg before it started getting carbed up good. Or having to be stingy with friends and family because the pipeline was low. I finally got to a point where I knew brewing would be a permanent part of my life so I sized and built a brewery (as cheap and simple as possible) that more than sustains my consumption rate and maximizes time and cost effictiveness. And aside from dreaming about equipment that I'd love to have, I really don't need to make any more major upgrades ever.
 
Besides taking the whole operation outside with a turkey fryer, I'd say a fountain pump to feed icy-cold water through my IC.
 
I'm also going to cheat and give two.

First, making a yeast starter for every brew. Fermentation takes off so much faster, and finishes up faster as well, and it doesn't take more than 15-20 minutes to get a starter going. Even for the low OG brews, I still like using one.

Second, kegging. Yes, it's got a high up-front cost (especially for a grad student on a budget) but it saves so much time and energy. Bottling is convenient if you want to give beer away, but I've found that having a keg of delicious homebrew just makes everyone want to come visit me :mug:
 
I'm also going to cheat and give two.

First, making a yeast starter for every brew. Fermentation takes off so much faster, and finishes up faster as well, and it doesn't take more than 15-20 minutes to get a starter going. Even for the low OG brews, I still like using one.

Second, kegging. Yes, it's got a high up-front cost (especially for a grad student on a budget) but it saves so much time and energy. Bottling is convenient if you want to give beer away, but I've found that having a keg of delicious homebrew just makes everyone want to come visit me :mug:

Agreement!

I just started making yeast starters (my bro got me a stir plate from stirstarters), and I started kegging last August. Both of these are big improvements that I enjoy a ton!
 
Going to no sparge. I buy pretty much everything in bulk, so cost is not an issue, but now I not only save time, but I'm always dead on with my volumes. Sure, efficiency is now 60-65% down from 75-80%, but who cares? Maybe costs me an extra 5 or 6 bucks, but cost is not really the motivating factor anyway.

Thanks for sharing this. I was looking for a way to get into it without having to get a sparge set up, that was sounding like the ***** of the bunch. Now, I feel good about getting just a cooler setup, and boiling 2 cheapo 5 gallon stainless pots for strike water and some leftover to help hold temp. WOOOOT.
 
Thanks for sharing this. I was looking for a way to get into it without having to get a sparge set up, that was sounding like the ***** of the bunch. Now, I feel good about getting just a cooler setup, and boiling 2 cheapo 5 gallon stainless pots for strike water and some leftover to help hold temp. WOOOOT.

Except for the extra time involved, batch sparging is pretty painless and no extra gear required.
 
Going with the keg mash tun. I direct fire it to get it to temp and maintain it (as needed). I'm going to list another being the pump, which I use in several steps, including the mash and chill. Of course, chilling with a plate chiller simply kicks ass. I wouldn't be even thinking about making a 10 gallon batch next time if it wasn't for the plate chiller to cool it after the boil. Of course, I also wouldn't be able to boil to 10 gallons without my keggle...

Is that too many?? I'm leaving off other things that just make it much easier on brew day. Things like the refractometer and pure O2 setup to name just two. Fermenting in sanke kegs and being able to push the finished beer into serving kegs via CO2 is another great one.
 
So far, my two have been graduating to using a burner outside with a pot large enough for a full boil, and (very recently) kegging.

Having home brew kegged is just awesome :)
 
Taking notes.

If something turns out great, I want to be able to replicate it, or atleast come as close as possible.
 
Four quart aluminum measuring pitcher. It's so much easier to measure out liquid for cleaning solutions, mashing and making actual wort starters. My heat resistant gloves were a nice addition as well.
 
Going to no sparge. I buy pretty much everything in bulk, so cost is not an issue, but now I not only save time, but I'm always dead on with my volumes. Sure, efficiency is now 60-65% down from 75-80%, but who cares? Maybe costs me an extra 5 or 6 bucks, but cost is not really the motivating factor anyway.

Thanks for sharing this. I was looking for a way to get into it without having to get a sparge set up, that was sounding like the ***** of the bunch. Now, I feel good about getting just a cooler setup, and boiling 2 cheapo 5 gallon stainless pots for strike water and some leftover to help hold temp. WOOOOT.
 
I'm enjoying this thread! Aside from several things already listed that have made brewing a lot less tedious for me, I'll throw out canning starter wort. To be more specific, I started canning small jars (with a pressure cooker) of 60ml and quart jars. If you're going the route of keeping a frozen yeast bank, it's real nice being able to just pop a sterilized jar that's the right size for a small yeast culture and having quart jars ready to step it up.
 
Upgraded to a 40 quart (10 gallon) brew kettle. No more boil overs! Also, it sounds strange but I use puppy / pet training pads when I brew, rack and bottle. They're relatively cheap if you but them in bulk at your local club store (Costco or Sam's) and very absorbent. They make the whole process easier to clean up from the accidental boil over on the deck to small spills / drips when racking and bottling.
 
There are many things that have made my brew day more enjoyable.
Most of which revolve around adding a March pump.
It is truly the heart of my process.
 
Looks like a March pump might find its way onto my "to buy" list ... I've seen it listed here so many times!
 
I think I have a new one to add the the list! Last night I transferred to my keg 5 gallons of an amber ale using a new 1/2" ID racking cane and tubing. I had been using the smaller size all this time and filling the fermenter or keg would take 10 to 15 minutes. This new larger size and I was done in a matter of minutes - can't believe it took me so long to realize they had a larger size.
 
BBL_Brewer said:
Equipment aside, larger batch size has made the process a lot more enjoyable for me. Brewday itself is not as easy going and relaxing as it used to be, but, I'm not brewing every other week anymore so the work doesn't really bother me. I can now jam six 4-6 hour brew days into one 12-14 hour brewday. As a result I have more time to spend doing other things that I enjoy. The best part about it is that I never have to drink green beer anymore. I used to hate getting half way through a keg before it started getting carbed up good. Or having to be stingy with friends and family because the pipeline was low. I finally got to a point where I knew brewing would be a permanent part of my life so I sized and built a brewery (as cheap and simple as possible) that more than sustains my consumption rate and maximizes time and cost effictiveness. And aside from dreaming about equipment that I'd love to have, I really don't need to make any more major upgrades ever.

+1 couldnt agree more.
 
Upgraded to a 40 quart (10 gallon) brew kettle. No more boil overs! Also, it sounds strange but I use puppy / pet training pads when I brew, rack and bottle. They're relatively cheap if you but them in bulk at your local club store (Costco or Sam's) and very absorbent. They make the whole process easier to clean up from the accidental boil over on the deck to small spills / drips when racking and bottling.

Interesting about the puppy pads. I seem to eat through paper towels, its one of the things I have been looking at resolving (expensive approach is to tile/waterproof/enclose my entire brewing area and then just shop vac'ing spills). So I have been thinking about alternatives. Are they much cheaper than paper towels?
 
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