Show Us Your Short-Cuts

I have seen at my LHBS short cuts that detrimentally brews beer...I got over it, they are selling kits and are showing new people how to brew in one hour.
This is not at all what I am trying to do here. I found a couple of shortcuts that helped me, and thought that maybe I can speed up the process of brewing by starting this thread. If there is already a thread started, I apologize and would be thankful to be directed to it.


While comming out of the Mash Tun, I started a fire under pot, kept it close to boiling. When I got it all in pot I was already boiling, must have saved close to an hour in my brewing that night.

Stuck Sparge? I have a small copper tube that fits my valve end (loosely) that I can force air to unstick the sparge and away I go again, works like a charm.

These are the only two I can think of at this point. Care to share? And happy brewing.

For indoor brewers, having an electric tea kettle has been crazy helpful. I'll even speed up heating sparge water by pulling out 2 l at a time and boiling it in 2 minutes then add back to the main kettle


Useful for five gal batches, bigger would be a pain though.

I just got another one....after drinking water out of water bottles, refill and freeze them to use in ice bath is what I try to remember to do. Saves time on cooling wort. Any type of ice would be good at that as long as you have plenty of it. If I don't freeze the bottles, I only have one ice bin worth of ice to work with.

I have been known to pour in a few sealed bottles of refrigerated water into wort to top off to five gallons and help cool wort at the same time.

Then of course plan your brew day. At least twenty four hours before do the yeast starter, I usually grind my grain that day as well.

Brew with extract . Seriously, though, I just multitask as best I can and try to time everything so that it will be ready when I need it. When I'm waiting for something to get to the correct temperature I'm doing something else.

I do the water bottle thing as well. Plus, I save the cold packs that get shipped with the yeast. Just be sure to leave the cap loose the 1st time you freeze the water in the bottle. Then, when you take it out, tighten the cap. From there on out, you are good to go.

Staying sober is really the only thing that usually makes for a quick brew day.

Displaced MassHole said:

Staying sober is really the only thing that usually makes for a quick brew day.

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Boooo! Hisssssss! Booooo! Hisssss!

Sober while brewing, that is not right.

I have no shortcuts, it takes me 4 to 5 hours no matter what.

Displaced MassHole said:

Staying sober is really the only thing that usually makes for a quick brew day.

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Too funny, but it aint gonna happen. I might be sipping, or guzzling, never abstaining. I'm still buzzed half way through my shift at work!

Rubberband said:

Boooo! Hisssssss! Booooo! Hisssss!

Sober while brewing, that is not right.

I have no shortcuts, it takes me 4 to 5 hours no matter what.

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I've actually only brewed sober ONCE, it was the quickest and easiest brew day ever. That was three years ago, I'm usually hammered by the time I'm done heating strike water. I will never learn my lesson.

I stayed sober today. I started at 8 am, though.

Going electric has had a null effect on my brew day length, but I like the results. I have to start heating sooner, since I don't have as much power available as with a giant propane/NG burner. However, there is no pot scorching, so cleanup is faster and easier.

+1 sober - I'm a lot more efficient.

Plus I spend less time on HBT posting topics like, "OMG! Instead of putting yeast in my wort, I accidently put my dog! Is my beer ruined?! What should I do?!"

I'm an extract brewer and do 3 gal. boils (until I get that bigger pot). I have found that heating and additional 3 gal of water to 70 degrees helps me to (with the use of a IC) be able to pitch about 15 - 20 min after my boil.

Here are a few "shortcuts" Although they don't save a ton of time; they do make the brewday easier.

• Clean as you go. If you can get all the mash equipment cleaned up during the boil, there's less to clean once the boil's over. Although it's the same amount of cleaning up overall, it seems easier to me if there's less to clean once the wort's in the fermenter.
• Recirculate your immersion chiller. When I'm chilling, once the wort hits 90F or so, I switch my chiller to recirculate 5 gallons of icewater out of a Homer bucket. For the price of a $30 pump, I get my wort down to 60F pre-pitching temperatures a lot faster than using simply tapwater.
• Experiment with short mashes. Modern malts convert fast, and I think that in many cases, mashing for 60 or 75 minutes is unnecessary. YMMV and all that, but there is time to be saved there.
• Explore no-chill brewing. If you can cut the chilling step, you can save time and effort on your brewday. The easiest AG brewday I ever had was a no-sparge, no-chill beer that I only mashed for 30 minutes. I was done and cleaned up in just a tad over three hours.

My biggest time savings has come from learning how to utilize the waiting periods during mashing and boils. Instead of just sitting there drinking beer, I now drink beer and get stuff done. But two things have been a big help. First, instead of waiting hours for my mashed grains to cool before cleaning the tun, I run cold water through them. Then I just let the cold water drain out and then I can scoop the grains back into the bag they came in and put it in the trash. Second, using a refractometer. I used to waste a lot of time doing my pre-boil gravity readings. It is amazing how well one of those plastic beakers can insulate hot wort. Now it's a 30 second process, and I waste far less wort to boot.

I get my HLT filled and ready to go the night before I brew. Same with milling grain.

I find that brewing early in the morning is much more efficient for me. I get started at sunup and I'm done with the brewday and cleanup before noon.

A lot of it's been said but:

I pre measure my grains the night before, but I usually don't mill until the strike water is heating.

I clean as I go, and I start putting stuff up as the wort is chilling.

I usually brew early in the day (especially in the summer), so I basically never drink when I'm brewing. In fact, I make it a habit to celebrate with a beer when the carboy is bubbling - usually by 7 or 8 pm on brewday.

In Texas, and other warm-weather states, use lots of ice for the wort chiller in the summer. I use a pump and recirculate ice water. The more ice, the quicker it chills. I drop the pump in my pool for the initial cool-down. Winter is nice with an unlimited supply of sub-50 degree water.

jldc said:

I drop the pump in my pool for the initial cool-down. Winter is nice with an unlimited supply of sub-50 degree water.

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Exactly what I do. Yes, in the winter I get ridiculous cooling ability.

BIAB and No-Chill. I do go for 90 minute boils for BIAB rather than 60, but the bag cleanup is much faster than cleaning out a mash tun, and I can always find something to do during the extra 30 minutes. And of course there is never a stuck sparge.

1. I clean as I go.

2. I pre-calculate and pre-weigh my hop additions. Each addition goes into a baby food jar with a piece of paper numbered, 1, 2, 3, etc... I stick a pin through the paper and it goes back on the corkboard for reuse.

3. When I take my OG reading I divide it by 4 to give me a projected FG. (projected attenuation of 75%). Example: (1.050) 50 / 4 = 12.5. When my gravity reading is down to and stabilizes at 12 or 13 I know it's done.

4. I have a spreadsheet of pre-calculated gravities in ABW and ABV all the way up to 0.250. Example (as above): 50 - 12 = 38. Looking at my chart I find 0.038 and come up with 3.990% ABW and 4.988% ABV.

Anyone who wants a copy of the chart can email me for it: [email protected]

passedpawn said:

I get my HLT filled and ready to go the night before I brew. Same with milling grain.

I find that brewing early in the morning is much more efficient for me. I get started at sunup and I'm done with the brewday and cleanup before noon.

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I did this last time too. I got my whole rig set up and my HLT filled with strike water, then I got up at 7am and cranked up the heat. I then took a shower and made breakfast for my wife. Went back out and doughed in and refilled the HLT and started heating it slowly. I had to take my wife to work while the mash was going. I realized I was gonna be done so early that I stopped by the LHBS and picked up supplies to make a second batch. This took a little longer then planned because I BS'd with the guys for a bit, so my first mash set for about 1.5 hours. I got home and started the vorlauf. I turned on my burner once I had about 3 gals in the kettle and then refilled my HLT. I scooped out my MLT after I added my 60min hops. I doughed in the second batch in between the 40-30min point of the first boil. Then I went and made sure everything was sanitized for the first batch fermenter. The first batch was an IPA, so I let it steep for a little while before chilling. As soon as it was chilled and in the fermenter, I was able to start vorlaufing the second while giving to kettle a quick scrub down.

I was completely done with everything all cleaned up and put away by 5pm. It wasn't the fastest double brewday by far, but it went very smooth for the most part. There were a lot of little things I did that if I hadn't, would've made for a much longer day.

artyboy said:

I stayed sober today. I started at 8 am, though.

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That's no excuse! Ever hear of Breakfast Stout? It's named that for a reason :rockin:

This routine is as fast as I've been able to do AG. From when I start heating the strike water in step 4, until clean up is done, it's between 3.5 and 4 hours, and doesn't want to get any shorter. I've considered trying the shorter mash trick, but haven't yet.

1. Mill my grain the afternoon before brewing.

2. Mise en place. This is French for "Have everything in its place, set up & ready to go." It's taken from cooking, and is a lot shorter than saying the same thing in English. It includes things like having the burner set up, pots & equipment out. It also includes things like making sure you have enough propane. Ever forget? Happened to me. Yes, also smack the pack or do whatever you have to to your starter or harvested yeast.

3. While first coffee is brewing, get heat under 3 gal. preheat water for mash tun. By the time I've drunk the first cup, H2O is at 170F, and goes in the MLT. I make my run to town while the MLT preheats.

4. About 0830, I return, immediately after turning off the truck I go and put heat under 5 gal. strike water. I multitask by feeding my face. More coffee.

5. Mash in. Position garden hose, buckets, etc. Start to slowly bring preheat water to 170 for sparge/mashout. Do other unrelated things during mash.

6. At conclusion of mash time, check with refractometer for conversion. Vorlauf & begin first runnings directly into boil pot. When about a gallon, put heat to boil pot.

7. When first runnings complete & sparge water hits 170F, sparge. Second runnings while boil pot continues to approach temperature.

8. When wort is collected, dump spent grains from MLT into bucket. Clean MLT with garden hose and store.

9. Boil begins. Take another refractometer reading. Add Fermcap, hops, determine stability of boil. Dispose of spent grains in soybean field across road.

10. Depressurize hose to prepare for connecting wort chiller. Do hop additions, add wort chiller, Whirlfloc, yeast nutrient, & do unrelated activities during boil.

11. Connect wort chiller, start hose, chill to <70F. Ærate, pitch yeast, seal bucket, move to basement & add airlock to commence fermentation.

12. Cleanup.

13. Have a beer....but ONLY after.

cleaning used gear during the boil saves a lot of time. Plus it keeps SWMBO happy and it makes brewing look less messy.
-Jefe-

I use a electric 8 gal turkey fryer to heat my water so whether I'm brewing after work or in the morning, I have that plugged into a timer so that when I come home or wake up, I'm ready to dough in give or take a few min.

Additionally, for those of you without refracts and are tired of waiting on your hydro sample to cool. I use this. http://www.coolest-gadgets.com/20061108/pasta-express/
Just add ice and water and place my whole hydrometer tube in. I can usually have a cooled sample in about three min

Am I the only one that mows their lawn while mashing?

BendBrewer said:

Am I the only one that mows their lawn while mashing?

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Nope. I've also used the time to clean out the garage, wash and clean the cars, and do many other outside tasks that can be done during the mash and boil. Last time, I aerated the yard.

I used to be worried about minimizing the time it takes me to brew. And, I still practice basic stuff like mise en place and I definitely multitask while brewing. But I decided it wasn't worth worrying about so much.

Nowadays, I will go off and do other things around the house while mashing, sparging, boiling, etc. and let things take their natural course. I will check email, watch TV, do laundry, etc. Sometimes I will be finished pretty fast, and sometimes it will take me 6-7 hours to make a batch. Even if you're completely minimizing the time it takes to brew, for AG you've got at least a couple hours of downtime, so I just plan to be around and keep an eye on things, and not worry about rushing. I do the same thing when I bake bread.

I clean equipment as I go, so by the time I'm racking into the fermenter I've only got to worry about the BK & chiller to clean. And my flask if I made a starter for that batch. But really, it's all about RDWHAHB.

My tip is when using Grolsch bottles. When drinking out of them and I usually pour in a glass. I leave the yeast behind and cap. Then when I get a chance I just rinse them. No sanitizer. I store them for the next bottling session confident that they're free of germs and bacteria.

I mash most beers for 20min unless I want a large amount of fermentability.

I batch sparge. I can go from mill in to boiling in under an hour often.

I try to mill in and measure out all my water the night before so I can get the brewing going faster.

I enjoy the day while brewing and the time it takes becomes no big deal. I don't stress out about anything while brewing at home, it will all work out in the end no problem.

Another vote for cleaning as you go. I clean out the grain from the cooler and wash it while I wait for the rolling boil.

Also I typically do my batches first thing on a Saturday morning. I usually put the strike water on the burner, then go and get washed and dressed. By the time I am done, I am ready to mash.

I try to clean as I go, but often I am getting stuff ready that I forgot to get ready ahead of time. But my brewday is strictly for brewing. No mowing or any of that other stuff.

BendBrewer said:

Am I the only one that mows their lawn while mashing?

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No. I'm with you there.

Here's another tip. When done cleaning your carboys out why not just sanitize and cover with sanitized saran wrap or aluminum foil. They'll be good to go for your next brewday.

All good stuff, guys.

The posts about not worrying about how long it takes is what I needed. I brew at night after getting home about 9 PM, I likey the drinking and brewing theory as it were. Weekends are for playing and partying, so I do all the work around the house mainly during the week.

I am set up for ten gallon batches so 4 mostly, sometimes 5 hour average (is usually what I am looking at) is not that bad, I guess.

And Cheers

Well, I followed the lead of one post and did something I've never done before....I mowed during the mash of today's Amarillo Ale. I dunno if that qualifies as a brewing short cut or not, though....unless I were mowing barley.

Cleaning as you go is a must. When the beer is in the carboy, I'm pretty much ready to be done - so the less stuff to clean up at the very end, the better.

jldc said:

A lot of it's been said but:

I use a pump and recirculate ice water. The more ice, the quicker it chills. I drop the pump in my pool for the initial cool-down. Winter is nice with an unlimited supply of sub-50 degree water.

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Great Idea, the wife has been asking me to figure a way to get the pool to warm up a bit Not sure how fun lugging hot Wort to the pool is going to be though.

EricT said:

Great Idea, the wife has been asking me to figure a way to get the pool to warm up a bit Not sure how fun lugging hot Wort to the pool is going to be though.

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Why not just set up a brew stand poolside?




I have been saving up ice the past few days with my icemaker set to "max" in anticipation of chilling my next batch to lagering temps.

Just shaved some more time (10 to 15 minutes). I only have to remember....Freeze unopened bottles of water (after opening and pouring a little out), they are sterile, with my equipment, I always have to top off the carboy a touch after pitching. I am figuring about 4 frozen bottles of water is what I have to add, will save me considerable time.

Weirdboy, About having a cooling chamber, After a lot of ideas, I figured out that I can build a small insulated box. I already have an airconditioner (hurricanes, or just in case the AC craps out) to hook up to said box. It has a digital read out...too simple.

Come to think of it, scratch building the box, the portable AC sits inside the house, you just have to rig exhaust to go outside. If I put it in my closet where my fermenters sit, the exhaust won't be that hot as I am only bringing room temp 6 degrees colder to 68 degrees or so. Easy Squeezy Lemon Freezy!