tips and tricks to save time

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vmpolesov

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I figured out a couple by myself today when doing an AG batch for the first time:

1) glass thermometers suck.
2) start heating your sparge water while mashing is in progress, so it's ready to go as soon as mashing is done. I have a 65,000 BTU (i think) burner called 'little kahuna' and it takes it some time to bring 5 gal to 170 degrees for sparging.
3) hose clamps on store-bought immersion chiller suck. They couldn't take the water pressure from my yard faucet without leaking, even when tightened all the way. So I turned down the pressure. I am going to flare the ends or solder on flare fittings and make up a set of hoses that can easily be attached/detached. The thing is downright ungainly (for use, cleaning, and storage) with hoses hanging off of it and always getting tangled.
4) clean-up is a pain in the ass. I'm looking for any tips on making this easier.

question: does anyone start heating the wort while sparging is still going on? Of course you wouldn't want a full boil until sparging is done, I'm just thinking of ways to do things in parallel, and starting to heat the wort to sub-boiling while sparging is in progress seems like a potential time saver. Otherwise you sparge, then wait a while while the full kettle of wort comes up to temp.

any other time savers? pumps for example. I'm sure they're convenient but do they save time as well?
 
Having 2 burners and 2 pots (Hot liquor and boiler for mash) is necessary to save time. In this case to save time we need $$$$.

Save hot water from your chilling the wort in buckets for clean up. Add PBW and it's easy.

question: does anyone start heating the wort while sparging is still going on?

Sure, I always do this. I keep track of how much I collect though. You can add wort any time too if needed, especially at the end of the boil to make up for vapor losses.
 
I like to draw up my water the night before. After the mash is done and I'm heating the collected wort to a boil, I clean the MLT. That way, I usually only have to clean the BK, IC, and misc utensils when I'm done. Pumps IMHO are a PITA. You gotta prime them, then ya gotta worry about running PBW and a rinse through them when you're done. Unless I'm doing higher level techniques like direct-fire recircing, fly sparging, or whirlpooling, I try to avoid using my pumps.
 
vmpolesov said:
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question: does anyone start heating the wort while sparging is still going on?
any other time savers? pumps for example. I'm sure they're convenient but do they save time as well?
Oh ya at just past the 1/2 way point I fire up the burner and keep close watch on your temp I never let it get above 180-185 before I am done with my sparging and at that point its 10 min. till I am at boil.. BIG time saver. as for cleaning..... clean as you go, so the only thing left to clean once your in fermenters is the system. I am 6 hours for a 14 gallon gatch and I am at 90% eff. I still fly sparge you can batch sparge (I never have) But I hear your eff will suffer a bit.
JJ
 
Another time saving trick I do is get all the grains crushed the night or week before. I also measure out all my hop additions and put them in baggies, so all I gotta do is dump em in the boil at the right times. Basically its just like one of the premade kits you get from the LHBS, but made myself. Sure saves time not having to do it on brew day.
 
If you start heating the wort as its being sparged is ti of if ti comes to a boil before sparging is done? I had thought about doing that to save some time in the past but never did it.

For clean up I always dread it but is a necessary evil I guess.

Tom
 
I find that treating clean up like an "assembly line" speeds things up. Take that hot water from the chiller with pbw and scrub each item down. Then, move on to the next step, which is hosing everything off. That way you're not wasting time going back and forth between scrubbing and spraying. Also, be careful not to kick your ehrlenmeyer flask or hydrometer at this point. Picking glass out of the driveway and or getting your alcohol-thinned blood to clot can add some time to the brew day. Ask me how I know :D
 
Can't ban him, sorry... I only imbide modestly when brewing by myself, and the beer I make sobor has tended to be much better (and with fewer ****ups) than the stuff I've brewed with a buzz going.

As simple as it sounds, cleaning up as you go it the best way - by far - of dealing with the mess. I'll clean out the mash tun as soon as I'm done sparging and the wort's still coming up to boil. It's so much easier not to have a huge pile of stuff to do after you think you've finished. There's a lot of standing-around time during the boil, better to use that to clean up than to pick your ass.
 
the_bird said:
Can't ban him, sorry... I only imbide modestly when brewing by myself, and the beer I make sobor has tended to be much better (and with fewer ****ups) than the stuff I've brewed with a buzz going.

My experience also. Have a beer or two after the yeast is pitched.

GT
 
On the pumps, I hear ya that they could be a pain in the ass.

How about a compromise - use a cheap harbor freight pump but only use it for non-wort applicaitons (i.e. moving stuff from one vessel to another, or using it to pump pbw cleaning solution during clean-up, etc).
 
[I"]question: does anyone start heating the wort while sparging is still going on? Of course you wouldn't want a full boil until sparging is done, I'm just thinking of ways to do things in parallel, and starting to heat the wort to sub-boiling while sparging is in progress seems like a potential time saver. Otherwise you sparge, then wait a while while the full kettle of wort comes up to temp."

[/I]
I use an electric hot plate left over from my daughters dorm room to keep my sparge water hot. It won't bring 3 gallons to a boil, but it will keep it really hot. I did my whole mash one afternoon and left the wort on the hot plate until after my 4 year old went to bed.
 
I sometimes run a food grade garden hose from the downstairs bathroom sink to my hlt so I have hot water to satrt with. That saves a ton of time, only need to heat it for about 5 min.

Switched to mostly one step mashes

Fill and heat sparge water while mashing.

Start boiling wort as the sparge is taking place.

Uh... usually leave the spent grains in the tun (covered so no critters) and empty when I'm not feeling lazy.
 
1. Just unpack kettle at start of brew. Measure out strike water and put on to heat.
2. While waiting for strike water to come up to temp, unpack remaining equipment, warm up MLT, grind grain, and start session in Promash. (I heat strike and sparge water on the kitchen stove which gives me enough time.)
3. While mashing, rack previous brew, keg previous brew - 1, and heat mash out and sparge water.
4. Clean up and put away equipment as soon as it is finished with.

As for starting boil before sparge is complete, I stop the sparge when the gravity has dropped to 1.008 or when I have collected sufficient volume. If I started the boil before finishing the sparge, I would find it very difficult to judge the volume accurately, which could waste more time than I saved.

-a.
 
All items to be sanitized go into my fermenting barrel, sprayed with iodophor+water, and they soak there for about 4-5 mins. Then I rinse the lid and turn it upside down and put it on my brew desk. All sanitized equipment goes on this lid, since it is sanitized.

For strike water, I'll draw and heat just what I need.

As mash begins, I'll draw and heat just the volume needed for the sparge.
 
tommymac said:
If you start heating the wort as its being sparged is ti of if ti comes to a boil before sparging is done? I had thought about doing that to save some time in the past but never did it.

For clean up I always dread it but is a necessary evil I guess.

Tom

I can't figure any reason not to fire up the kettle as soon as you have a gallon or more of wort in there. I'd keep the flame moderate as to keep it to a simmer at most but being at boiling temp by the end of the sparge is ideal to me.
 
I brew in my garage close to my hot water heater and brew at night - usually friday nights. When I get home from work, I crank up my water heater and pull water straight from it. That way I start off with 120-140 degree water. Just make sure you let the family know that the water is extra hot. And don't forget to turn your water heater back down.
 
tranceamerica said:
does anyone use the preheat water for the MLT as sparge water?

I figure if I've got 5 gallons of hot water - I'd better use it for something...

I do this. I need to add some more heat to it of course, but that's less wasteful than pouring it out on the driveway.
 
tranceamerica said:
does anyone use the preheat water for the MLT as sparge water?

I figure if I've got 5 gallons of hot water - I'd better use it for something...


I overshot the temp when preheating and let the MLT come down to the strike temp then add my grain.

if your using 5 gallons to preheat the MLT then yes it would pay to save it.
 
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