How much time to allot for an all-grain brew?

How much time does it take to do a 5-gallon all-grain brew? I have this equipment:

• One propane burner, test boil took just under an hour to bring 5 gallons to a rolling boil
• Gas stove which takes about 30-45 minutes to bring 2.5 gallons to a boil, has 3 good burners
• 15 gallon brew pot
• Two 2.5 gallon pots
• 10 gallon cooler converted to a MLT
• Counter-flow chiller, 25 ft 3/8" copper tube used, cold tap water here is about 65 F
• 5-gallon carboy with blowoff tube that's empty and waiting for beer

I wanted to do my first all-grain brew this weekend (EdWort's Haus Pale Ale) and went out and bought the grain on Sunday, which I ground using the mill at my LHBS. I ended up spending all day building the CFC instead and tossed the bag of ground malt in the fridge because I was out of energy and time.

I'd like to do the brew after work tomorrow but I'm concerned that it might keep me up past midnight and make my next day at work hellish due to lack of sleep. I don't want my big bag of grain to go bad, though. Should I try to do the brew tomorrow after work (I get home at 6 PM), or should I wait until Saturday when I've got all day free?

Don't do it after work tomorrow. Wait until you have all day. Especially for your first AG batch, you will appreciate not having any time pressure, and being fully awake when you're trying to finish your batch.

If I were to do it tomorrow, this is the schedule I'm hoping I could follow:

• 1 hour to bring enough water for mashing up to temperature, boil 2.5 gallons on the stove during this time and use it to preheat the MLT prior to dough-in
• 1 hour mashing, heat sparge water during this time
• 1 hour for first vorlauf, draining most of the wort into the big brew pot, and batch sparge
• 30 minutes to bring the full 6-7 gallons of wort to boil
• 1 hour boil
• 30 minutes to cool the wort after boiling
• 30 minutes to rack it into the carboy and pitch yeast
• 30 minutes clean-up

If I could follow this schedule, I could get this all done by midnight. That's assuming everything goes smoothly...

It takes me 6 hours from start to finish. This includes everything minus setting up some things the night before. However, I'm always throwing new things into my brew day and don't yet have a solid system/pattern. If it were me I would give myself 6 maybe 7 hours for my first batch...... but you aren't me.

I really wouldn't do it. I think my first AG batch took me 8 hours, even though I did a lot of prep the day before.

It may take as much or less time than your plan, but it's better to plan for the worst case and be pleasantly surprised, than to plan for the average or best case and end up brewing when you're stressed out, tired, and more likely to make stupid mistakes that could have been easily avoided by brewing a few days later.

So I shouldn't be concerned about my 10.5 lbs of ground malt in a paper bag in the fridge going bad over the course of a week, is that right?

You could leave it for a month, and it would still be fine.

In that case, Saturday is brew day! I have something to look forward to now. I'll sip on some of my bottled extract brew in the meantime, I guess. It's not amazing but it'll keep the spirit of homebrewing alive in me as I plod through the rest of the mundane work week.

Thanks for the advice, gentlemen.

I think you really need to build in some buffer time.
There is nearly always something you forget, or that goes wrong. Stuck sparge, leak, longer time cooling, whatever.

Do the prep before, weigh out the hops the day before., heat the sparge water whilst the mash is on, i'd say you need to have 6-7 hours. wait for the weekend when you have nothing but time.

I crush my grain the day before I brew. I get up about 0500, put on about 3 gallons of preheat water (which will later be reheated for my sparge). When it gets to 170F, I throw it in my MLT. I then make my run into town, go to the gym and the store, by the time I get back it's between 0730 - 0800. I immediately put the strike water on my propane burner and begin the process. With a 60 minute mash / 60 minute boil, I can be cleaned up between 1130 - 1200. This is the best I've been able to do, and is the biggest change / issue for me since switching from extract in June. I can't see any way to shorten the time significantly. The good news is, I"m retired....

I wouldn't give yourself less than 7 hours. It still takes me almost 7 hours of real time, when you include cleaning, breakdown, etc., and I've been doing this for a long time.

4 to 7 hours

Takes me 4 hours exactly:

1. This time takes into consideration that my Strike Water is already heated.
2. Grains are crushed
3. 60 minute mash
4. 20 minute mashout
5. 40 minute sparge
6. 90 minute boil
7. 20 minute cool/transfer to the fermentor

And a little time in there for wiggle, 4 hours.

I clean the MLT and such while I have 90 minutes during the boil.

It really all depends on you, how efficient you are with your time etc. Sometiems it is 4 hours, sometimes it is 8...

If this is your first time, Id allow for 6 hours. What you NEED to do takes 4, this allows for 2 hours of "oh crap" time. Much of what you need to do post mash, can be accomplished during the mash time. Much of your cleaning and prep for post boil, can be done during the boil.

ReeseAllen said:

If I were to do it tomorrow, this is the schedule I'm hoping I could follow:

• 1 hour to bring enough water for mashing up to temperature, boil 2.5 gallons on the stove during this time and use it to preheat the MLT prior to dough-in
• 1 hour mashing, heat sparge water during this time
• 1 hour for first vorlauf, draining most of the wort into the big brew pot, and batch sparge
• 30 minutes to bring the full 6-7 gallons of wort to boil
• 1 hour boil
• 30 minutes to cool the wort after boiling
• 30 minutes to rack it into the carboy and pitch yeast
• 30 minutes clean-up

If I could follow this schedule, I could get this all done by midnight. That's assuming everything goes smoothly...

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Note that heating up a separate volume of water for MLT preheat is wasteful and not necessary. Put your strike water into the tun at about 185-90F and let the cooler take heat out of that. It will take about 5-10 minutes for that to happen. If you need another reason, adding boiling water to a cold cooler is likely to over expand the liner and cause a lot of blistering. That sucks.

I agree that you can do it in 4-5 hours but you have to have good time management. Did you remember to start heating sparge during the mash? oops. Did you remember to clean the MLT and sanitize your carboy during the boil? Oops.. You can plan ahead, but you definitely get frazzled during.

The Pol said:

Takes me 4 hours exactly:

1. This time takes into consideration that my Strike Water is already heated.
2. Grains are crushed
3. 60 minute mash
4. 20 minute mashout
5. 40 minute sparge
6. 90 minute boil
7. 20 minute cool/transfer to the fermentor.

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You've just considered the time from mash-in to the fermenter. You don't spend any time before or after doing anything related to brewing? I kill a good two hours before and after with setup, breakdown, cleaning, sanitizing, making coffee, yada, yada, yada. Granted, my process isn't 100% efficient, but i'd be pretty impressed if you were ready to close up shop as soon as your wort was chilled and in the fermenter.


5 hours seems like a realistic time for a full batch, without shortcuts, if you manage your time perfectly. 4 hours seems a little far fetched to me. 4 hours is probably doable if you have a fully controlled, permanently mounted system and pre-schedule the HLT water to be a strike temperature when you're ready to start brewing. Otherwise, set-up, breakdown, cleaning and water preheat kill any chance you could have at a real 4-hour brew day.

JKoravos said:

You've just considered the time from mash-in to the fermenter. You don't spend any time before or after doing anything related to brewing? I kill a good two hours before and after with setup, breakdown, cleaning, sanitizing, making coffee, yada, yada, yada. Granted, my process isn't 100% efficient, but i'd be pretty impressed if you were ready to close up shop as soon as your wort was chilled and in the fermenter.

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Yes, 4 hours from mash in to fermentor. Note I told him to plan 6.

In my post I said that is considering Strike Water heated... and grains crushed. He is probably buying pre-crushed grain at this point anyway.

All cleaning is done during the boil, except the 15 minutes it can take to clean the BK. Hops and such can be measured during the hour long mash.

The only thing I need to sanitize is the fermentor, which is done the day that I empty it. This doesnt impact my brew day.

The brew kettle and one hose is all that I need to clean after the fermentor is filled. This can take 15 minutes. I personally do a hot Oxi soak now and then which has no time contraint, I fill it and leave it until I feel like emptying it.

First AG took about 6 hours. Last time I brewed it was 10 hours for two batches (no chill, 90min boil and mash for both).

My first AG was 6+ hours total. With my last one, I was finished and cleaned up in just over 4. I now use waiting (for water to heat, for boiling, for wort cooling, etc.) time to gather/clean/store equipment.

I agree with those who recommend a full day. You'll appreciate having the time and energy to focus and enjoy it.

I did my second AG batch on a Saturday afternoon. I was sitting around, got the urge, so I started up the burner. This was at around about 4 PM.

The first AG took me 7 hours so I figured worst case scenario I finish at 11 ish.

Wrong! The 1.5 hours from flameout to pitching yeast was probably the longest 1.5 hours in my life. I was so exhausted and all I wanted to do was go to bed but I had to clean and watch the IC and sanitize etc. Finally pitched and looked at the clock and it was 2:30 AM!!! I still have no idea why it took so long but I guess Murphy's Law had something to do with it.

These days it takes me right around 4.5 hours from flameon to pitching.

I would set aside 8 hours for your first pony ride. Having too much time will never be a detriment to your beer, whereas if you have to rush to be to a dinner date but really have an hour and a half of work left, your beer could suffer.

Mine have been anywhere from 4-7 hours depending on how long the mash is and then boil is. With a single infusion you won't have as long of a mash. So 4 hours is with the shortest mash and boil and no hiccups in the brew day but that rarely happens. I average about 5 hours.

I always have to laugh when the Mini Mash vs, AG argument turns to the How Long Does It Take answer and the AG people all say 4 hours easy!

Who said 4 hours easy? 4 hours aint easy

Yes, true. I can do a pretty easy 6 hour AG brew. Nice casual pace, no multi-tasking. But to do it in 4 1/2 hours is hard work. This is kind of a non-stop pace which requires careful planning and multi-tasking whenever possible.

The Pol said:

Who said 4 hours easy? 4 hours aint easy

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This is funny - takes me exactly 4 hours as well, Rob... Must be the system. LOL

And yeah - my 4 hours is a hectic 4 hours, but I get it done. I crush my grains and measure my salts while my HLT is heating strike water. Sort out my hops additions during the mash. Wash my MLT during the boil. To do it in 4 hours you need to be efficient.

brrman said:

This is funny - takes me exactly 4 hours as well, Rob... Must be the system. LOL

And yeah - my 4 hours is a hectic 4 hours, but I get it done. I crush my grains and measure my salts while my HLT is heating strike water. Sort out my hops additions during the mash. Wash my MLT during the boil. To do it in 4 hours you need to be efficient.

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Must be the BrewBeast v2.1 huh??

So brrman says that it takes him 4 hours.

I rest my case. In the last 20 batches he averages 4 hours! That means sometimes he can do it in less then four hours like 3.5?

It seems when the question is asked AG brewer quote the fastest time and not the average time.

Grinder12000 said:

So brrman says that it takes him 4 hours.

I rest my case. In the last 20 batches he averages 4 hours! That means sometimes he can do it in less then four hours like 3.5?

It seems when the question is asked AG brewer quote the fastest time and not the average time.

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True, if you add a triple deco in there it will take longer, but I can guarantee that Pol takes only that long or shorter because every time he podcasts I almost miss him he is so fast.

My average day is about 5-6 hours unless I am doing multiple batches in which case I approach the 4 hour range. I would be at 4 hours too if I had a more put together system... oh how I long for the day.

Boerderij_Kabouter said:

I would be at 4 hours too if I had a more put together system... oh how I long for the day.

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I think once you have experience you can get 5-6 hours/brewday with a 60 minute mash and 60 minute boil. But I think to get below that you need a dedicated brewing system and area. My biggest wastes of time are tearing everything apart and getting everything out. This takes quite a while and is the thing I hate about brewing. With a dedicated brewing system and area this is much less so.

Scut_Monkey said:

I think once you have experience you can get 5-6 hours/brewday with a 60 minute mash and 60 minute boil. But I think to get below that you need a dedicated brewing system and area. My biggest wastes of time are tearing everything apart and getting everything out. This takes quite a while and is the thing I hate about brewing. With a dedicated brewing system and area this is much less so.

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Yep. When you watch the Pol (for example), he pulls out his rig, fills it with water, and within 5 minutes is brewing. That step takes my 45 minutes to an hour with my current setup.

I'm an "all-dayer" myself. All good things come with time

Next time I do a brewcast, I will market it as a 4 Hour Brew Day LIVE!

I dont pull any punches, I put a timeline up here when I do a brewcast to show when each step will be accomplished. My Brew days are always 4-4.5 hours, because that is just what it takes. I could take longer, but I dont know what I would be doing.

I could take longer, but I already do a 40 minute sparge and a 90 minute boil along with a 20 minute mashout. My times arent skimpy. It isnt like I am single batch sparging, with no mashout and 60 minute boiling over here... I take longer with each step in the process than most do.

30 people from HBT watched me do it yesterday... and MOST of the time I was in front of the camera BSing with them and letting them take shots at me Much if it depends on the system you use. If it is temp. controlled, you are free to do anything you want most of the time. If it is a dedicated system, there is little cleanup, as it cleans itself. My system cleans much of itself just by performing the sparge. The only thing left is the MLT which is cleaned during the boil, then the BK which is rinsed out after the wort is transferred.

My only disclaimer is this is assuming that my strike water is heated (temp controlled, so I just turn it on whenever and walk away, sometimes it waits 12 hours), and my grain is crushed.

You have another option. The last batch I did, which was a stout last weekend, I mashed Friday evening and did the boil Saturday afternoon.
I suppose the total hours were longer than if I did everything the same day but it seemed much more leisurely to me.

I used the wort from Friday to make a starter. That was my first starter and it comforted me for some reason to know that I was using the exact same wort, minus the hops, for my starter and my brew. The fermentation took off amazingly fast, to me at least.

My first AG took over 8 hours.

As it stands now,I can do 1 batch in 4 hours, 2 in 6 hours, 3 in 8 hours etc.

Brew days are busy.

I dont count the time weighing grain, because, nomally I do that beforehand.

Busting out 3 batches in 8 hours would be kick a$$. That would build your pipeline rather quick.

Scrut,

It can be done.

I've done the 2 in 6 hours a few times, never a 3 batch day. 2 was plenty exhausting enough.

zac said:

My first AG took over 8 hours.

As it stands now,I can do 1 batch in 4 hours, 2 in 6 hours, 3 in 8 hours etc.

Brew days are busy.

I dont count the time weighing grain, because, nomally I do that beforehand.

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That's amazing, my first AG was between 6-8 hours (I wasn't actually timing myself, and time slows when having homebrews!) w/clean up, I hope to improve that, but 3 batches in 8 hours, you da man! I envy you :rockin:

I allot 5 hours . Most times I am done putting everything away at 4 to 41/2 hours. That's for 10 gallon batches I want to go to 20 shouldn't take any more time.

springer said:

I allot 5 hours . Most times I am done putting everything away at 4 to 41/2 hours. That's for 10 gallon batches I want to go to 20 shouldn't take any more time.

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Yeah, I brewed my first AG (test batch) as a 5 gllon batch, but I purchased my equipment for 10, the way I figure is it should take approx. the same amount of time, maybe slightly longer, because of waiting for the boil to begin, but that time should be negligeable (10-15 minutes at worst).:rockin: