Owly055
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- Feb 28, 2014
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Brewing all grain can be an ordeal that takes many hours, or it can be quick and easy. What is not immediately obvious is that the amount of time you put into brewing has little if anything to do with the quality of the finished product, nor does the sophistication of your "system".
There are a number of ways to cut time down greatly, the main one being brew in a bag, and anybody who claims it produces "inferior beer" is filling you full of BS. Another is to have your water preheated long before you start, and your grain and hops pre-measured. I routinely use my sous vide to set mash temp so when I get home it's exactly what I want, and if I start with a plan, I have grain and hops pre-measured. The single vessel used for BIAB means only one to wash, and very little else to clean up. The brew bag is turned inside out and shaken in the yard, then tossed in the washing machine with no soap at a low water setting, and is clean and hanging before the brew is over. You can cut mash time down as low as 20 minutes, depending on crush, and unless you are using pilsner malt, there is no real reason for an hour boil. Adjust your hop additions and quantities accordingly. A good chiller is important, but extremely simple....just a coil of copper with hoses on each end.
I've beaten 2.5 hours quite a few times...... that's about 1/3 of the time mentioned in the initial post. My last two brews were no boil / no chill, and both were less than ONE HOUR. I did a hop decoction on the side while raising the wort to 170, and holding it there. The brew was poured into the fermenter (preheated glass fermenter) straight from the boil kettle / mash tun. I suspect that it is impossible to do an extract brew in 50 minutes!!!!!!
Unfortunately people make brewing far to complex here, and often tend to imply that it must be. I'm here to say that it does NOT have to be complicated or time consuming. If you are obsessed with traditional process, you CAN spend many hours brewing, but anybody who claims that this necessarily produces "better beer" is full of BS!!
H.W.
There are a number of ways to cut time down greatly, the main one being brew in a bag, and anybody who claims it produces "inferior beer" is filling you full of BS. Another is to have your water preheated long before you start, and your grain and hops pre-measured. I routinely use my sous vide to set mash temp so when I get home it's exactly what I want, and if I start with a plan, I have grain and hops pre-measured. The single vessel used for BIAB means only one to wash, and very little else to clean up. The brew bag is turned inside out and shaken in the yard, then tossed in the washing machine with no soap at a low water setting, and is clean and hanging before the brew is over. You can cut mash time down as low as 20 minutes, depending on crush, and unless you are using pilsner malt, there is no real reason for an hour boil. Adjust your hop additions and quantities accordingly. A good chiller is important, but extremely simple....just a coil of copper with hoses on each end.
I've beaten 2.5 hours quite a few times...... that's about 1/3 of the time mentioned in the initial post. My last two brews were no boil / no chill, and both were less than ONE HOUR. I did a hop decoction on the side while raising the wort to 170, and holding it there. The brew was poured into the fermenter (preheated glass fermenter) straight from the boil kettle / mash tun. I suspect that it is impossible to do an extract brew in 50 minutes!!!!!!
Unfortunately people make brewing far to complex here, and often tend to imply that it must be. I'm here to say that it does NOT have to be complicated or time consuming. If you are obsessed with traditional process, you CAN spend many hours brewing, but anybody who claims that this necessarily produces "better beer" is full of BS!!
H.W.