AG: how long is your normal brew session (milling grain to fermenter)???

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How many hours is your typical brew day? All Grain only.

  • <3 hours

  • 3-3.5 hours

  • 3.5-4 hours

  • 4-4.5 hours

  • 4.5-5 hours

  • 5-5.5 hours

  • 5.5-6 hours

  • >6 hours!


Results are only viewable after voting.

Jayhem

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All Grain brewer's: How long does it usually take you from the time you start milling your grain till you have your batch in the fermenter and yeast pitched?

I'm trying to get it down to 4 hours but after 20 batches I have always been closer to 5 hours!

I think my issue is efficiency. I tend to weigh and mill my grain and then remember that I should have put my mash water on the heat first! :drunk:

So how long is your normal brew day?
 
I mill at the HBS...

It's usually 3 and half hours...

First thing I do is start kettle and get strike water heating. While it's heating I get everything organized (clean fermenters, tubing, measure hops..etc)
Mash in and immediately heat sparging water in same kettle. Right now your at about 30-45 min in.
Mash 60 min
Sparge 20min
Boil 60min
Cool 30 min (I usually cool to around 80-90 degrees then give it an ice bath for a couple hours before I pitch)

Total time: 3:35

Edit add 30 min to heat runnings...

Total time: 4:05
 
There is also time between steps that you forget about. After sparging it depends on your kettle but it could take up to another 20 minutes to reach a boil, then if you oversparged you may have to boil 70 or 80 minutes to get the right volume post boil. I think these are where my extra hour goes.

I usually have busy weekends with the wife/family, yard work and working on the house while it's light out so I have to do my brew days in the evenings when I get home from work around 6pm. These 5 hour brewing nights are just too much for me. I'm no good at much after about 10pm.
 
I bet i'm around 4 hours. I stopped trying to go fast. Now I enjoy it, don't stress about it, clean as I go and finish when I do. :mug:
 
Including cleaning the kitchen before and after brewing it's about 5 hours for me. However, there is maybe 3 hours of dead time that I can use for something else.
 
Including cleaning the kitchen before and after brewing it's about 5 hours for me. However, there is maybe 3 hours of dead time that I can use for something else.

That is a good point. The time waiting on the mash, 60 min boil, chilling the wort down, etc. can be spent doing other efficient chores. For me I use that time to clean up my mess as I go because the last thing I want to do after brewing is clean up the brewing mess and wash everything!
 
For me, it all depends on what I'm brewing, mash time, boil time, etc. Last batch I did a 90 minute mash, 90-120 minute boil, and then fairly normal things. I started the mash water heating before milling the 30# of grain (full keggle mash tun with that batch). Still, started everything around noon, and was carrying the fermenter of chilled wort (I aim for 60-65F) around 6pm. I'll try to get a better time line with my next batch (in another 2-3 weekends) which will have a more normal schedule.

I figure that if I can get everything lined up properly, and nothing goes even a little sideways, I should be able to get a 'normal' batch done in 4-5 hours. I'm including drawing water time too.

Keep in mind, I'm getting 6.75-7 gallons into fermenter here. IF I was still doing 5 gallon batches, the time frame would be shorter, even if only slightly.
 
Keep in mind, I'm getting 6.75-7 gallons into fermenter here. IF I was still doing 5 gallon batches, the time frame would be shorter, even if only slightly.

I usually do double batches of my session type ales (11 gal) so I can put 5.5 in each 6gal carboy. I figure it only takes about 20% more time to make 100% more beer per session. :rockin:
 
My last one on Sunday was 4 hours. The grain was already crushed though. That was starting the strike water to cleanup.
 
I usually do double batches of my session type ales (11 gal) so I can put 5.5 in each 6gal carboy. I figure it only takes about 20% more time to make 100% more beer per session. :rockin:

Only difference, really, should be the time it takes to get up to the temperatures (mash, sparge, boil) and then to chill. If you have a solid system, then that time difference is less. :ban:
 
Only difference, really, should be the time it takes to get up to the temperatures (mash, sparge, boil) and then to chill. If you have a solid system, then that time difference is less. :ban:

Well and milling twice as much grain for those of us who mill our own.

I find that heating twice as much water doesn't take anywhere near twice as long. Maybe only 20% more time to heat. To me that means propane savings! :mug:
 
Well and milling twice as much grain for those of us who mill our own.

I find that heating twice as much water doesn't take anywhere near twice as long. Maybe only 20% more time to heat. To me that means propane savings! :mug:

True... For me, though, milling the higher amount of grain only adds a couple of minutes (tops). I'm looking at getting some larger propane tanks when my current (20#) tanks need to be replaced. Might not be able to get one, or two, of them refilled due to the date stamp on them. :cross: Of course, when I get a stand, I could just set up for natural gas and go that way. :rockin:
 
From milling grain to pitching yeast including set up and cleanup i'm at 4.5- 5 hours and have yet to figure out how to do it in less, even with a helper. There is just too much to do and keep track of. The one time I did it in 4 hours I realized I missed something and was not a happy camper!
 
It always seems to take around 6-7 hours for a regular brew.

This is including clean up, malt grinding, heating water etc. for a 30 gallon batch. If I had already heated water/already milled grain I could probably do it in 5 1/2.
 
3-3.5 I do 5 gallon batches, start heating my strike water while I weigh grains and grind. I get everything else set up while I mash, and clean everything I can during the boil. At the end all I have to do is clean my BK and hose off the wort chiller.

Now I typically don't pitch my yeast for a while, because my ferm chamber is bringing the temp of the wort to where I want it.
 
3-3.5 I do 5 gallon batches, start heating my strike water while I weigh grains and grind. I get everything else set up while I mash, and clean everything I can during the boil. At the end all I have to do is clean my BK and hose off the wort chiller.

Now I typically don't pitch my yeast for a while, because my ferm chamber is bringing the temp of the wort to where I want it.

That is the efficiency I want to achieve as a "after work" brewer! I think having a checklist so you don't waste time trying to make sure you don't skip a step would help! Cleaning up during the boil is key! I may brew a batch tonight and see if I can get under 4 hours! Building a checklist now!

Nevermind...already a nice checklist on the internet!
http://cdn2.brewersfriend.com/brewersfriend_checklist_allgrain.pdf
 
It takes me 6+ hours, with milling the grain at the store. 5-6 gallon batches. But I'm brewing on a kitchen stove, and fly sparging. For a big beer, it can take close to an hour to get my strike water up to temp, even if I measure out the water the night before.

1 hour to heat strike water
1 hour mash
Close to 1 hour sparge (including vorlauf, etc.)
1 hour or more to bring to a boil
1 hour boil
30 minutes to chill
Another 30 minutes to transfer, aerate, pitch, move fermenter down to the basement
15-30 minutes to clean up

I'd say 6 hour minimum, I know it would be faster if I got a propane burner but that doesn't bother me much. I'm happy to do everything inside. I enjoy the process and don't brew that often (every couple months) so it's no big deal.

My preferred schedule is to measure out the strike water the night before and let it come to room temperature, put it on the stove then wake up at 5AM and kick the burner on. I can nap a bit while the strike water's heating up, eat breakfast during the mash, etc. If I get a good early start I'll be done by noon, when I lived in an apartment with roommates this worked out well. I feel bad hogging the kitchen all day.
 
Same here, around 6 hours for 10 gal batch (simple mashing schedule and 60 min boil).
 
You mash for an hour, you boil for 60-90 minutes. I always shoot for four hours and have been successful on most occassions by doing four things consistently. By the way my system works entirely by gravity. 1)get hot liquor going right away, 2) try to keep sparge at 30 minutes, 3)turn on the burner to the wort halfway through sparge, 4) immersion chiller with very cold water, and some sort of whirlpool effect (chilling was killing my whole schedule until I got it down). The transfer into the fermenter includes enough drop to oxygenate sufficiently out of a half-inch valve. Clean up your mess, equipment, put stuff away and kiss the babies in the down time. Go to bed if all you have left to rinse is kettle and hydrometer tube. It'll be there tomorrow.
I also just got a march pump, it may screw up all my gains until i get comfortable with it. I suppose it'll shave more time off chilling and transfer to say the least. I would love to stay under 4 hours with it! Good luck efficiency = ecstasy in the brewery and the sack!
 
Ok fellow brewers...Tonight I am going to make a simple Cream Ale with one goal: To cut my brew day time from 5 hours to 4 hours!

Last night I was able to mill my grain and measure out my strike water and add it to the brew pot so my brew night will start the moment I light the burner on the strike water. I think I can do this in 4 hours.

20 min to heat strike water
5 min mash in
60 min mash (heat sparge water during mash)
20 min batch sparge (starting boil as soon as the first runnings are in brew pot!)
60 min boil
25 min immersion chiller
10 min transfer to FV's and pitch yeast.
Total estimated time: 3.33 HR
So I'll have 40 minutes of fudge factor time in there.
Clean up will occur during the boil.

Update to follow.
 
ten gal electric brew
lhbs milled grain
45 - 60 mnutes heating mash water
60 minute mash
15-30 minute sparge
90 minute boil
30 minute cool and pitch
30- 45 minutes cleanup
I'm using 3/8" copper lines so transfers take a while, probably have to add 30 minutes or so to brewday
total 5- 6 hours depending on interruptions and other tasks at hand
mowed the the lawn during last brew, etc....
 
Ok fellow brewers...Tonight I am going to make a simple Cream Ale with one goal: To cut my brew day time from 5 hours to 4 hours!


Update to follow.

Update: still took me 4 hours and 35 minutes. I don't think I can get more efficient with my current setup. Getting the sparge water heated took 30 minutes and then another 30 minutes getting the boil to start. It definitely takes longer to start the boil when it's cold outside!
 
Currently from grain crush to yeast pitch about 4 hours and 30 minutes. I had 9 hours brew days when I started
 
It usually takes me a good 5.5 and another half hour for clean up.

A bulk of the time is spent waiting for the mash and sparge water to heat up, along with getting it to boil. Otherwise when I'm using my wort chiller, I take the water coming out of it to rinse out my mash tun and any other equipment that I can and start to put them away.
 
Ground water in Chicago is getting cold again.

Boiling to 60F in under 10 mins for the win!
 
9g batch. 5 hours usually.

If I flip on strike-water when I start measuring and milling grain, it's still not quite ready by the time I'm done milling. I preheat my tun for a while, too, maybe 15 minutes, then doughing-in takes me another 5-10. So there's basically an hour before the mash is "put-away".

Heating sparge water and running off first runnings into kettle takes a half hour or so, then another 30 minutes to add sparge water, stir, vorlauf, run-off, etc. So there's an hour before the boil starts. Then the hour-long boil, 30 minutes of chilling/whirlpooling, then 5-10 of racking to fermenter, another 5 minutes to aerate and pitch, put it in ferm chamber, clean kettle, dump buckets of sanitizer, put away stuff, that's 15-20 minutes.

So probably between 4-5 hours total. And I clean my mash tun during the boil, the HLT doesn't need cleaning, just putting away, and I do some stuff during chilling, racking to FV, etc. Sometimes I am also racking to a keg (another beer), so there might be cleaning a keg, sanitizing, racking, purge, crank Co2, etc...I'd do that during another step as well.
 
I used to think about improving my brewing efficiency and being as well prepared as possible. If I bought the right gear it would cut down the time of my brew day. If I laid everything out....if my water was already in my MLT and adjusted for my brew....and my grain was already milled.

It's like how long did it take me to drive from Nashville to North Carolina last time? Maybe this time I can set a new record if i get my tires inflated just right and rotated, get my oil changed, maybe even wash my truck. Heck I bet I can shave 10 minutes off my time if i don't take a bathroom break.

But if I'm concentrating on getting to the finish line faster; I may not be enjoying the scenery as much.

I'm 60 years old now and have been brewing for 20 years. I'm in no hurry to get done. I enjoy the process and I'm ready for whatever changes I have to make as my brewday goes along. It'll get done when it get's done.

What's that old matra that Charlie used to say...oh yeah...relax...yada yada...
 
I'm moving my brewing inside (basement) so that I won't need to fight the sun (or it going down on me) moving forward. Just means I can brew whenever I want and not worry about things. :rockin: Just need to make, and install the air vent setup and give it a test run. :D
 
old_tx_kbb said:
But if I'm concentrating on getting to the finish line faster; I may not be enjoying the scenery as much.

I'm 60 years old now and have been brewing for 20 years. I'm in no hurry to get done. I enjoy the process and I'm ready for whatever changes I have to make as my brewday goes along. It'll get done when it get's done.

I like this. Brewing is my hobby, and though I take it seriously, I'd better enjoy it or it'll become yet another job... and I have a demanding job and family life, so I get the pressure to get things done. I just feel like brewing is my art, so I'll take my time if I can.
 
I usually do it in 4 hours, but thats me just putzin around too included. I crush my grain at the LHBS. I do however, buy bulk hops, and do water adjustments, so I have to measure out leaf hops and salts, and stuff too.

I'll drag out my gear, which seems like forever, but now I've started pulling the kettle out and burner and getting the strike water going while I bring out the stand and table and whatnot. Once it's ready, I mash in real fast, and then I continue to pull out the stuff, make a batch of sanitizer, and clean up all the stuff real good.

Once I'm ready to drain and sparge, I have it all out, hops are in their cups for the schedule, and everything is going along. Once I'm boiling, I'll start cleaning up the other stuff.. Empty the mash tun out, wash it out, put it away early before I get busy adding hops late in the boil.

Once I fire up the chiller, I start putting it all away.. Mash tun, HLT, burner, table.. all the small stuff. I leave out my hydro, thermapen and refract and put it all away there.

By the time I whirlpool, have it chilled down, and come back to drain the kettle off, I've got most of it all sprayed down and put away in the garage.

Once I transfer, everything but one stand, and my kettle remain out there to be cleaned up.

I try and rush it, but remind myself to enjoy it. I'll fire up the outdoor speakers, and drink a couple of beers to slow it all down.
 
I always make sure im prepared and usually do more than one thing at a time. Heating mash water and crushing grain, weighing hops and heating sparge, ect. but I try not to rush to much and enjoy it.
 
I brewed today and it was right around 5-1/2 hours. That's from the time I started hauling the equipment out of the basement thru cleanup. That's for a 60 min mash and a 90 boil. The only thing not included was crushing the grain which I did last night. I could probably cut out an hour out if I had too, but I'm happy with that and I'm not pushing myself.
 
Can't seem to get it below 5 hours from dragging the keggle and burner out to cleaning up and putting everything away. It sometimes runs 6 hours if I need a long boil, mash or both.
 
Really depends on the brew day and how focused I am, but from start to finish (cleaning included) rarely takes more then 3.5 hours. Mind you I usually do some prep work the night before, like measuring water and sometimes milling the grain, and I am a BIAB, stove top full boiler plus I 'no chill" which all help save time.
 
But if I'm concentrating on getting to the finish line faster; I may not be enjoying the scenery as much.

Very true, about most things in life. In line with that I generally try to set my goal as enjoying the journey as opposed to getting to the finish line. At 28, sometimes life gets in the way of beer production which is part of the hobby. Im brewing 5 gallon batches(for now) for my girlfriend and I, and sometimes I need to cram a brewday into the thick of things, so my 3ish hour turnaround is a nice capability to have in my back pocket.
 
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