Storing AG Runnings Before a Boil

Well, was just wondering if there is / are logical reasons to NOT collect all of my AG runnings from my MT, store them in a fridge for a day or two, then proceed with the boil?

Was just thinking this over, as this would effectively break a 4 hour-ish process into two roughly equal sessions ... good for SWMBO relations

Seems to me that I'd be boiling the runnings / wort anyhow, so what would be the harm ?? Bummer would be that I would be losing all the heat / whatever headstart on the boil I get today.

Thoughts??

The boil kills all of the bacteria that washes out with your wort in the sparge step. Storing the runnings pre-boil opens you up for possible infection. Not that your finished beer would be at risk (b/c you would ultimately boil it), but that day or two might allow for some bacteria to florish and sour your wort. That sourness would be carried through to the boil and into your fermenting beer. On top of that, some of the sugars would be metabolized by the bacteria and not by the yeast, so your OG would change.

Your best bet would be to rapidly chill those runnings to below 40 degrees and store it cold. No guess on this would actually work in practice...what you want to do is avoid having the temp of the runnings in the "danger zone"...between 40-140 degrees F.

I believe there have been discussions about this topic before. I really suspect that you will spend more time doing it in two steps than in one.

Part of your estimated time savings will be lost on the second day. Heating 170*F wort from the tun to a boil should take much less time than heating your cooled wort from your fridge to a boil the next day.

I don't know what kind of burner you have, buy I imagine it would take 30 minutes or more to get up to a boil the next day, so I think your second day would probably be more like 3 hours with heating, boiling, chilling, cleaning.

Plus, you'll tack on a extra "clean-only" time to the first day because you won't be able to "hide" the time to clean out the mash tun.

There is a risk of your wort souring before you get to the second day, too. I don't know how real of a concern this is, but you have excellent bacterial breeding grounds with hot/warm wort sitting in a vessel for a long time.

I asked this question about a month back...there was a pretty good discussion generated. I decided against it.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/how-long-wort-fresh-ie-mash-refrig-boil-later-144749/

broadbill said:

Your best bet would be to rapidly chill those runnings to below 40 degrees and store it cold. No guess on this would actually work in practice...what you want to do is avoid having the temp of the runnings in the "danger zone"...between 40-140 degrees F.

Click to expand...

Yeah, chilling the runnings might help with avoiding sour beer, but now you have more to do the first day to chill the liquor.

Turning a 4 hour process into two 3 hours processes, maybe?

I've stored wort from a partial mash up to 2 days before using it, no problem.

Lost time would be:

End of mash, sparge time + 30 minutes to clean up the tun.

The next day, figure on + 30 minutes to go from 38F to 212F.

That also doesn't figure in the energy loss of chilling the wort quickly and heating to boiling. I would say negotiate for a day of brewing by paying it forward. Bang it out in one session.

Right. OK. So not wise, although sometines one can get away with it

I am hesitant to try it - just as I would prefer to just brew it - but i might have to someday - and wanted to test the waters, so-to-speak.

I thank you all.

WOuld throwing some campden in to the wort help here? That retards (or stops?) bacterial growth, right?