Early morning brewing

This morning I woke up at 6:00 in order to mash a beer so I could start a sour mash for brewing on Saturday. I woke up reluctantly and then went out back to where I had set up my brew stuff last night and I fired up the burner.

I live on the flight path and it was before the first planes had started flying in, and it was really quiet out there. The only thing I could hear was the white noise coming off the burner. It was still sort of twilight and I sat on the retaining wall staring at the burner. It was so relaxing.

I think I might have converted myself to a morning person today. This will help because on top of finishing the sour mash saison I'm making, I am also doing a wit and a blonde this weekend, so the early start will help.

What time of day do you like to start the whole process?

I really like starting my brew day early 6-7 am so I can spend the afternoon doing something else. The problem with that is I usually end up getting drunk before noon and end up not getting anything more accomplished than if I would have started my brew day at noon.

dblvsn said:

I really like starting my brew day early 6-7 am so I can spend the afternoon doing something else. The problem with that is I usually end up getting drunk before noon and end up not getting anything more accomplished than if I would have started my brew day at noon.

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I think I might be the oddity. I don't really drink when I brew. I'm usually doing other things around the house so I don't really have time to drink much.

I usually brew late night. Usually Dont start till around midnight. That or I start the mash around 1pm and finish up just before dinner!

The last few batches I have actually started early and really like it. I'm a morning person anyways. I usually start drinkin' once I get my grains steeped and the boil rollin'..(usually around 11am) to keep my errors to a minimum.

Arneba28 said:

I usually brew late night. Usually Dont start till around midnight. That or I start the mash around 1pm and finish up just before dinner!

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13 hours from start to mash!? You must have one complex system

I either brew at 3pm, so that I have all morning to get in some exercise and I can be finished by 8 so I can relax.

Or I brew around 8am so I can be finished by 1 and have enough time to take a nap or relax before doing something that evening.

I only really brew in the morning out of neccessity, because I have something going on that afternoon. Otherwise I prefer have a productive morning and then brewing that afternoon with nothing to worry about for the rest of the day.

Not even beer could turn me into a morning person, but I do appreciate how quiet and peaceful morning can be.

As early as possible. I woke up at 2:30am once to smoke some pork and brew some beer.

Very interesting question. Since I've only just finished brewing batch #1 of hopefully many, I guess my only experience so far is late-night brewing. Started cleaning/sanitizing all of the old equipment I bought off a guy at 7pm, got a boil going at about 10pm, chilled from 11pm-11:15pm, had the fermenter good and full by 11:20pm.

Wasn't bad. Kind of fun. Would go later next time.

Hikeon3 said:

Very interesting question. Since I've only just finished brewing batch #1 of hopefully many, I guess my only experience so far is late-night brewing. Started cleaning/sanitizing all of the old equipment I bought off a guy at 7pm, got a boil going at about 10pm, chilled from 11pm-11:15pm, had the fermenter good and full by 11:20pm.

Wasn't bad. Kind of fun. Would go later next time.

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ahh the days of extract brewing. When I started doing extract brews, I would do them after work. I went all grain after 5 batches though. The process takes me a little longer and I am brewing outdoors now, so night time is a little restrictive.

My last 4 batches have been after supper. I start around 6 or 7 and finish up around 11 or 12. I really need a wort chiller to help speed things up.

I first started out brewing @ noon and finishing up at supper time, but have found starting at 6am to 7am gives me the time to relax in the afternoon after a hard day at the kettle.
I have to admit that I get a better beer when I brew in the morning (before beer time).
When friends want to come over to learn or watch, I will do a afternoon brew then (usually drink too much) and usually miss my mash and hops schedules. When this truns out to be one of my best beers I can't remember what I did different to repeat it.

I always brew early, nothing like firing up the burner at the crack of dawn. I love the smell of Wort in the morning (stands with chest out, hand on hips). The neigborhood is asleep, so I don't start jammin to AC/DC untill 8AM.

beerbuddy said:

My last 4 batches have been after supper. I start around 6 or 7 and finish up around 11 or 12. I really need a wort chiller to help speed things up.

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A wort chiller is the battery powered drill of homebrewing. It will make your life muuuch easier.

I am going to attempt my first every crack o' dawn brew tomorrow morning. I'm wondering when the internal 'is it to early to drink yet' argument will start.

blacklab said:

A wort chiller is the battery powered drill of homebrewing. It will make your life muuuch easier.

I am going to attempt my first every crack o' dawn brew tomorrow morning. I'm wondering when the internal 'is it to early to drink yet' argument will start.

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It's always 5 O'clock Somewhere.

do yourself a favor and get your HLT already full of water so you only have to wake up and light it. It's all downhill after that.

EdWort said:

It's always 5 O'clock Somewhere.

do yourself a favor and get your HLT already full of water so you only have to wake up and light it. It's all downhill after that.

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Excellent idea! thx, Ed.

I think I am going to start at 8 AM tomorrow. I have to finish the sour mash beer, make a blonde, and then make a wit. Or a wit then a blonde. Doesn't matter much at that point, I suppose. I think I will buy a second burner today!

Dawn around here is at 5:30 AM these days. No thanks, I'll start at 9 AM on a Monday like any normal human being would.

dblvsn said:

I really like starting my brew day early 6-7 am so I can spend the afternoon doing something else. The problem with that is I usually end up getting drunk before noon and end up not getting anything more accomplished than if I would have started my brew day at noon.

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Sounds like an accomplishment to me!

I've always brewed VERY early in the morning. I have the house to myself and it is quiet. No one complains about the mess or the smell. Oh and no one gets in my way!

I usually start around 7 or 8am after my coffee. It gives me an excuse to start drinking early and I don't care that I don't get anything else done because I usually just cook some good food when I'm finish. I don't think I'll ever do a late brew.

I've brewed at all hours, including a crazy overnight brew when I was switching to a night work schedule.

Generally, I try to tell myself that I'll be up at 7 AM and doughed in by sometime around 8:30. However, in practice, my alarm goes of at 7 on a Saturday morning, I turn it off, roll over, then wake up sometime before 9. I then realize that I've forgotten something, so I have to run to the hardware store or HBS. By the time I get back it's after 10, so I wind up doughing in just in time to make lunch.

So my 8 AM turned into 9:30 thanks to my band going on so late last night. Then I realized I needed more propane so I got in my car only to find a flat tire. So I started brewing around 10:30, and finished at 7:00. Not bad for 2 1/2 beers! I think the sour mash saison is going to be a winner.

i have brewed at many different time, i'm liking mid morning i think. i'll wake up around 8, fart around until 10 or 11, start my mash, i'm usually done by 5 or so, just in time to start dinner. i've brewed during the week before right after work..... NEVER AGAIN!!!!!! that was a great brew day but the next day was hell, not enough sleep, hang over, tired..... i pretty much stick to weekends now. i'm really starting to like mead weekends, they don't take as long, not as much stuff to do. i did a small batch of mead yesterday and was done before 3pm, maybe took me 3 or 4 hours, cutting up the fruit took the longest time i think. that and cooling since i didn't use my chiller.