What do you do during a 90 minute boil?

I was just sitting here watching my 90 minute IPA boil away and I m wondering what people do while they wait.. Other than the obvious DRINK.

Occasionally, I'll play a real guitar too.

-Steve

I've tried that a few times.. I have had issues where i got into it and didn't see the boil over that was about to happen... bye bye 5oz of wort.

Drink a homebrew, weigh out hops, clean, drink another, sanitize, and RDWHAB.

drink, um... then i drink, and then umm.. drink while adding hops...then uh, i think i drink after that too. throw chain smoking in there and you've got a 90 minute boil...

During my boil is when I start getting together my fermenter, auto-siphon, chiller, etc, and then start cleaning and I sanitize when I add my chiller to my pot. I also start weighing my hops and adding them. I almost always do a 60 minute boil, not a 90 minute boil, so I don't have quite as much time to kill. Once I get the hot break, I add the hops and start cleaning/sanitizing the stuff I need at the next step.

Until recently, I used to have to sit close by the brewpot constantly adjusting the flame so as to keep a rolling boil without boiling over. Now I use fermcap drops so now, instead, I can clean up, surf HBT, shag momma, and what not (all the while drinking homebrew of course). The boil takes care of itself.

Clean bottles

Today I drank coffee and played Champions Online..

lately, Madden 10, Franchise mode, NY Giants

drink a homebrew and enjoy the day

I almost never drink during brewing now. Usually the most critical part is POST boil so you don't want to F this up.

Usually i'll get everything cleaned up, the area that i've been weighing grain out, emptying the mash tun etc. The last thing you want is a mammoth cleaning task after you've pitched the yeast.

I usually clean up the mess I have made. Yesterday I did some bottling.

Now during the mash I usually go for a run. During the sparge yesterday (I do long, slow sparges, the way they like 'em!) I cut the grass!

Hookers, my friend. Hookers.

mysterio said:

I almost never drink during brewing now. Usually the most critical part is POST boil so you don't want to F this up.

Usually i'll get everything cleaned up, the area that i've been weighing grain out, emptying the mash tun etc. The last thing you want is a mammoth cleaning task after you've pitched the yeast.

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As everyone said, clean and prep, start putting stuff away that I no longer need.

+1 on not drinking. I once went through almost a 12 pack of longhammer during a brew session once. I took an OG reading about 6 times. I kept thinking, 'Oh, I can remember these 4 digits, I dont need to write it down.' Finally, after the sixth sample, I wrote it down. I might have A beer now during the boil after everything else is done.

StunnedMonkey said:

Hookers, my friend. Hookers.

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Yeah, they can take a good 60 minutes to dismember and bury, and I'm always misplacing my lime. Another fine reason for a 90 minute boil.

Or did you mean something different?

-Joe

I did this today - my alarm went off at 5:45 AM because I live in Texas and by the time I mash and sparge it is about 8:30 - and it gets real hot real fast boiling 6 1/2 gallons on the turkey frier outside. I started at 6:00 getting everything out and organized and the water heating for the mash, and I ended almost right at 12:00 noon putting the last of the cleaned equipment away. That is 6 hours of brewing - in between boils and mashing I am working frantically getting the next step ready and prepped to try and cut down on that 6 hours. Not that I don't enjoy brewing - but 6 hours of non-stop action is quite a bit.

I think you should add another entry in your poll - get ready for the next step...

I dont see the drink till I blackout option

I'm concerned about this option
"Help SHMBO with random chores."

She-He Must be obeyed????????

Not that theres anything wrong with that...just sayin.

I drink homebrew and stare at the pot. Stare, stir, sip. Stare, stir, sip.

Clean out the mash tun while enjoying a homebrew and the smell of boiling wort.

nostalgia said:

Yeah, they can take a good 60 minutes to dismember and bury, and I'm always misplacing my lime. Another fine reason for a 90 minute boil.

Or did you mean something different?

-Joe

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I think you meant Lye, I won't make that mistake twice...

Stickshaker said:

I think you meant Lye, I won't make that mistake twice...

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Nope, I meant lime. Lye smells much worse

Er...not that I'd know...

-Joe

I help nostalgia with the digging i am in school for drilling of course i know my way in around the ground....

Sometimes I read, this weekend I hooked the old turbografx up for some "blazing lazers" action. most of the time i'm just on here though... I brew in my basement which is also my office. I usually wait to start drinking while the second batch sparge is sitting.

nostalgia said:

Nope, I meant lime. Lye smells much worse

Er...not that I'd know...

-Joe

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Ooh, yeah, that does sound nasty. This must be the preservative one?Calcium hydroxide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Masturbate, what the heck else am I going to do? That's more than enough time to rub one out, recover and rub out another before I need to start sanitizing the wort chiller.

prep for the next step. Rigging the counter flow chiller. And oh yes on occasion have an icee cold beverage

Today I cleaned out the mash tun, then sanitized carboy and all cold side stuff. Normally have my first beer during the boil.

Once that boil starts it gives me a couple of minutes to think about my life, all my dreams, where I am versus where I wanted to be. Then I spend the next 88 minutes sobbing...but, then it's right back to brewing beer!

All but the SWMBO bit. Throw a slab on vinyl on the turntable, turn on the PS3, and dread the hour-plus or so it's going to take to chill that brewpot down in the sink. And of course RDWHAHB.

McKBrew said:

Masturbate, what the heck else am I going to do? That's more than enough time to rub one out, recover and rub out another before I need to start sanitizing the wort chiller.

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note to self - never use McKBrew's wort chiller....

No option for clean? I mostly clean and do other brewing stuff. Weigh out hops. Clean the mash tun etc etc.

I'm boring, I clean and hang out here.

Clean and prep

Play with Beersmith and prep for the next steps, and clean up the stuff that is already dirty of course.

I really dont do any of those (of course I contemplate how much better my rig could be). Mostly I brew with my buddies and we just chill around the boil, adding hops when necessary, drinking beer and just enjoying the morning/day/night/ whatever it may be. Do a little prep if its needed, clean anything that needs to be cleaned. But nothing really else, when brewing the SWMBO knows its brew time, not chore time

Another non drinker during the brew session. I just sit outside in the Texas heat and watch the pot boil. I also just do a 60 minute boil so it's not as long. The second hop addition is 45 minutes later so it's really not that long. I do get the fermentor ready.

90 minute boil isn't nearly as dull as a 90 minute mash.

Both are excellent opportunities for a cigar and fetch with the dog.

Clean, baby, clean! I'm down to a 4.5 to 5 hr brew day for 5 gallon batch. I also use brew day to clean any other equipment, like kegs and I usually re-clean and sanitize the fermentor I will be using.

Also a non-drinker until the chiller is running. Shot myself with the Dumb Dart too damned many times sippin suds earlier in the brewing process.

Have a new Eee PC now, so I can do the mobil thing and have my netbook running while I brew. Now I can enter my info in Promash realtime and hang around here on brewdays.