Anyone have good luck with Mashing and Brewing on different days?

I did a quick search and didn't come up with much, but I was wondering if anyone has had much luck with mashing one night, then brewing the next?

I find weekday brewing to be difficult b/c of how long it takes to mash+brew. So I am wondering if I could mash, then store in several buckets and brew the next day.

The main downside I see to this is the loss of BTU's between the mashing and brewing. Any other drawbacks?

I'm concerned about the enzyme activities and the effect of dropping the temps overnight..?

Are you talking about mashing for like 24 hours or mashing then sparging, then boiling the next night?

Normal 1 hour mash then drain into some type of container. Then boiling the next night.

I don't see any reason for it to not be fine, but someone else might know more.

Mashing for 24 hrs will create sourness for anyone curious.

IXVolt,

I've never none it...but if I were to try it, I would bring the wort up to temp., say 200 after the sparge before letting it sit for 24 hours. The high temps would halt enzyme activity as well as keep the "bugs" in check, lacto, that will sour the wort.

ODaniel said:

I don't see any reason for it to not be fine, but someone else might know more.

Mashing for 24 hrs will create sourness for anyone curious.

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as would letting the liquid sit for 24 hours without boiling it to kill the bugs.

I did that on my last brew. While I was mashing my dog ran away. So I had to put off brewing until the next day. I just left the wort in the kettle with the lid on. The beer came out fine. I would say it was my best batch yet - because it was - but that had more to do with the other ones sucking than this one being amazingly good.

I've done it twice without issue, though the potential for souring is definitely there. You might want to bring it up close to boiling before walking away for the night just to kill whatever might be in there.

I wouldn't let more than 12 hours or so elapse between the end of the sparge and the start of the boil.

If you are going to boil it, wouln't it make sense to just go a head and put in the extra hour or hour and a half to complete the process?

I've gone 2 days between mashing and boiling... We got lucky and had no problems at all. After mashing, we brought the wort to a near boil, then had propane tank issues. I was sick the next day, and we were able to boil 2 days after mashing. We left it in the boil kettle and taped the lid on.

Amity said:

I've gone 2 days between mashing and boiling... We got lucky and had no problems at all. After mashing, we brought the wort to a near boil, then had propane tank issues. I was sick the next day, and we were able to boil 2 days after mashing. We left it in the boil kettle and taped the lid on.

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I have heard of other folks doing exactly the same with good results. The key is to get it hot enough to kill the bacteria before letting it sit.

It has been suggested (but I don't know if anyone has actually tried it!) to add one Campden tablet per gallon of wort rather than heating the wort. That should kill anything in it -- 50ppm of free SO2 is a sterilizer assuming the pH is low enough. Boiling would remove the SO2.

Saccharomyces said:

I have heard of other folks doing exactly the same with good results. The key is to get it hot enough to kill the bacteria before letting it sit.

It has been suggested (but I don't know if anyone has actually tried it!) to add one Campden tablet per gallon of wort rather than heating the wort. That should kill anything in it -- 50ppm of free SO2 is a sterilizer assuming the pH is low enough. Boiling would remove the SO2.

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I wouldn't say that mashing & boiling on different days is a best practice. If I had my choice, I'd do the entire brew in one day. If it must be done, then I agree that bringing the wort to a boil before shutting it down. It helps to begin heating the first runnings as soon as they're drained.

i've done this twice now with no issues. i mash one night, and drain/sparge into a sanitized bucket. when i'm done, i just close the bucket and put it in a cool dark place. 24 hours later, i pour it into my kettle and bring it to a boil. never waited more than 24 hours before tho.
interesting about the SO2. i wonder if you could store it longer that way.

I routinely make all of my ag batches that way; mash the night before, sparge/boil the next day. I haven't had any issues doing it this way for the last 3-4 years.

Isn't that just an overnight mash?

killsurfcity said:

Isn't that just an overnight mash?

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Yes it is. But, it is mashing and brewing on different days, as the question was asked.