Relaxed... Had a brew.... Took 3days to brew.

I finely took the advice and RELAXED. I made Yoopers Dead Guy clone twice in a row. I figured as a noob with 4 batches under my belt. Back to back with the same recipe would help with my process. Here is how it went....
7PM Sat.. Had a Homebrew or two
8pm gathered gear and washed it out
8:30PM had more Homebrew

7am Coffee
Used an APP on my phone to calc water volumes and temp. Rather then try to guess how much will boil off.
7:30 hot water in to warm mash run
8AM began heating mash water and started mash hit temps right on for the first time.
10:30am sparge completed didn't care about volume or readings figured the APP would be smarter then me.
10:45am Relaxed.... went to Costco figured I could start the boil when I got back.
1pm Relaxed had a Homebrew and started the boil.
2:30pm Chilled it to about 100.
Put it in the fermenter to finish cooling
3pm went to a birthday party and had a couple homebrews.
8pm still over 90deg figured I pitch it in the AM
Relaxed and had a couple homebrews...
5AM got up for work took a SG reading 1.066 perfect!!! pitched my yeast...

I could not beleve that by just not being in a hurry every thing went great! This had to be the most relaxing brew I have made. It only took three days to make it.

I learned the hard way that you can never rush a brew session or bad things happen. I can multi-task and do house cleaning or lawn mowing while brewing, but I still have to make sure I have the required time or I get rushed and stressed when the wife is pissed at me for taking so long.

I love this idea!

After leaving the wort to cool for so long, do you still aerate before pitching?

Good question about re-aerating after letting it sit over night. I probably would.

Does it do any harm leaving it to cool over night? Everything I have read suggests cooling as fast as possible and pitching ASAP.

chungking said:

Good question about re-aerating after letting it sit over night. I probably would.

Does it do any harm leaving it to cool over night? Everything I have read suggests cooling as fast as possible and pitching ASAP.

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Reaerating won't hurt the beer, but i don't think it's really a must. The oxygen comes out of the wort during the boil, but just sitting around you shouldn't lose too much.

As for the slow cool, there can be a couple of problems, but there are a ton of people prefer "no-chill" brewing, and after all, people have been brewing beer for thousands if years without the aid of modern refrigeration.

The problems that can arise from a no chill brew are:
hazy beer, since you don't get the cold break like you would by chilling it quickly. But there are plenty of ways to fix that, my favorite includes drinking the beer from a Stein.

DMS flavor (like cooked corn) because DMS forms at higher temps, it evaporates off while you boil, but then sitting at high temps more of it forms. Since you got your beer down to 100 fairly quickly i don't think that will be a problem. Also, I'm not an expert, but i think a longer boil could help fix this problem too (if you do notice any).

but the biggest concern is getting an infection while it's sitting at prime bacteria growing temps, and without yeasties to fight off any ambitious bacteria. But with good sanitation, you'll be fine on that front too.

Sounds like a good brew weekend too me though. Congrats.

I typically partial-chill as groundwater temps aren't low enough to chill entirely. I plan to get a pond-pump and use the bucket o' ice-water method in the near future, though. Cold break is important, as mentioned, to removal of DMS, clarity, and getting yeast innoculated ASAP to overpower any potential infections.

That said, I've done this method a few times and suffered no ill effects.

Now my ADHD is kicking in. It's been 24hrs with no sign of fermentation I pitched about 1/4 yeast cake from my 5wk old deadguy. I have two more 1/4 cakes washed in the fridge. It would be very easy to warm one and dump it in. I know I know "it can take up to 48hrs"

ilv4xn said:

Now my ADHD is kicking in. It's been 24hrs with no sign of fermentation I pitched about 1/4 yeast cake from my 5wk old deadguy. I have two more 1/4 cakes washed in the fridge. It would be very easy to warm one and dump it in. I know I know "it can take up to 48hrs"

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I've had some take 96 hours. Is this in a carboy? Guessing it's in a bucket. Just be patient. If no "signs" in 3 days, open it up and look for krausen. Could be a bad seal on the lid, could be a slow start, but chances are it will take off.

I've pitched 3 month old cakes with no starter and they've done just fine.

I couldn't help myself. I had to pop the lid so I let a jar of washed yeast come to too temp. Sprayed the bucket with star San and cracked the lid. And inside I found...... Fermentation.

Quick! Whip up another batch of beer for that yeast!

Yeast starter + another 3 day brew = perfect timing... Coincidence? I think not.

Thought about it! but with one fermenter full of beer and the new larger fermenter full of blackberry wine. It's time to buy another fermenter LoL!