Mash now, boil later

Can it be done? As in, mash Friday night and boil Saturday afternoon? I'm always looking for innovative ways to keep LOML happy.

Should be fine. I have seen this done before with no issues.

I've been interested in trying this too. With a 2 and 3 year old...it's tough to squeeze in those all grain batches.

I've done it, but it was Feb. and up here, that's like sticking in the fridge!

I've heard of lots of others doing it. Just cover and keep the nasties out. You will boil all of the bad stuff dead.

I'm actually thinking about doing this today, because I want to take a half-day off work to brew, and now my buddy is coming up and wants me to play golf with him and his dad... I might need to split the brew day into two pieces!

Thanks! I'll give it a try.

Hoss, that's why I got away from brewing about 15 or so years ago. It's hard to find the hours necessary to brew when the little ones (and Mrs. Poppatopolis) need attention. I still have little ones running around but the youngest is almost 6 so....IIIII'mmmmm baaaaaaack!
Nevertheless, any maneuvers which appear to save time are most welcome.

What I would do if I wanted to brew in split shifts is sparge all the wort to the kettle. Heat the wort up to 200 or so to kill off all the lacto bugs that are in the grain...then the wort will sit. There are lots of bugs in fresh wort that left to sit will begin to sour. If the wort is pastuerised (sp?) it will sit longer w/out change.

wilserbrewer said:

What I would do if I wanted to brew in split shifts is sparge all the wort to the kettle. Heat the wort up to 200 or so to kill off all the lacto bugs that are in the grain...then the wort will sit. There are lots of bugs in fresh wort that left to sit will begin to sour. If the wort is pastuerised (sp?) it will sit longer w/out change.

Click to expand...

That's good advice. I didn't mention that I'm making a Guinness-like brew and since Guinness uses, I think, 3% soured beer in their formulation, a little lacto-action in this case might not be a bad thing. It'll make an interesting experiment.

You wont' get enough lacto growth in that much time to notice, if at all. Plus, you will be boiling it within 24 hours, so no future growth either.

This is great advice guys, thanks. I too took a break after the kiddies were born and am now thinking that split-day brewing is the way to go. My biggest fear is: what if I don't get back to the wort for a few day? In this case I'm guessing that the heating to 200F will help my wort stay for a few days.

After pasturizing the wort should it be moved to a carboy with a little CO2 added to keep it from interacting with the air?

I think it will be fine as long as you apply the usual food handling rules, cool it down fast, keep it closed off to avoid contamination and if possible keep it refrigerated until you go to boil it.

~r~