Can brewing process be split up into multiple days

[skam]

*total noob here*

I'm looking to get into all grain brewing but one of my reservations is that I'm somewhat limited on time. From what I'm reading, it seems like it takes around 6 hours from starting the first boil to getting the wort into the fermentor. My weekends are pretty busy so I don't know that I can set aside a 6 hour block of time for brewing (weekdays are impossible). But I could probably get away with 3 hours over two days or something like that.
So my question is... is it possible to do part of the process on one day, and then save the wort to finish up the process the next day.. or something like that.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Psylocide]

Have you brewed anything before? If not, I'd suggest starting with extract brewing... doesn't take near as much time and you still get to learn the basics.

I'm not sure splitting the AG processes up would be ideal, however, I'm a noob as well... so don't take my word for it.

 

[Mike_kever_kombi]

You could. I wouldn't. Some do and have no problems, to me you are just inviting either lacto if you don't boil, or an infection if you do. Plenty of people swear by no chill, I am not one of them.

If you have a 3 hour chunk on the weekend, and a means of rapidly cooling wort, there is no reason you could not do a BIAB. Get grain killed the night before, start the yeast a couple days ahead of time, get your hops all measured out, and a gameplan.

With all the prep done ahead of time, the only thing you would have to do on brew day is heat water, add grains, let mash for 45-60 mins, boil 60 mins, chill for 20 mins, pitch yeast, clean up. 3 hours

 

[JonM]

You can, and there's a couple ways to do it.

You can start the mash before bed and then sparge, boil, chill, and pitch the next morning. You can also mash and sparge one day and then heat the wort up to Pasteurization temps for a while and then finish the next day (but that has infection risks)

Or you could do what some of us do - get up at 4:00 a.m. and be done by 10:00 or so. There are also threads around here about increasing efficiencies and getting the brewtime down to something like under 5 hours.

 

[Curtis2010]

Yes. I've done it a few times recently. But, as others have mentioned, you have to be more cautious about contamination.

I've brewed a wort, ran short on time, and decided to pitch the next day. Works fine with kegs because I can blanket the wort with CO2, chill it, and not worry much about contamination.

 

[poptarts]

I weigh and crush grain, and prep all water the day before brewing, have the water heat up to mash temp while I sleep, stumble out to the garage at 430 and am cleaned up and ready for the day by 8.

 

[Barley_Bob]

I think it's important to remember that all-grain takes a lot of time, but it's low intensity. It usually takes me about 5 hours, but in between each step, I have a lot of time to do other things. Usually, I work on something else, and I can get ~3 hours done on whatever that is.

I do occasionally split my brewing into two days... Usually this is because I can't get the post-boil wort cooled fast enough. So, I did a batch the other day, and it's cold enough that my hose is frozen and I can't use my immersion chiller, but it's not so cold that the wort cools at a reasonable speed. In this case, I transferred the wort to my fermenter at ~100F, and then I left that bucket (lid on with dry airlock) on my porch overnight. In the morning, the wort was ~40 and I pitched the yeast. I've done this a couple of time with no problem.

I would also consider storing pre-boil wort for a boil the next day, but I've never done it. If I did, I would add my first-wort hop additions and then put it somewhere cold, such as in my freezer or on my porch (if it were cold enough). The two combined would go a long way toward protecting from infection. I would not store pre-boil wort (especially unpasteurized and without hops) anywhere remotely warm.

 

[theonetrueruss]

I recommend either sticking to extract batches or putting in the time to do it right. Even with no chill you are not heating mash water, mashing, boiling and chilling in 3 hours.

 

[EO74]

I've mashed overnight tons of times with no ill effects, keep in mind you have to have a mash tun that holds temp well you can't let temp drop too much or that's when you start to have problems. I can mash overnight 11:00-5:00am with less than a 5 degree drop. Wrap your cooler in a heating blanket if it doesn't hold temps well. It knocks about 2 hrs off my brew day.

 

[joshualoomis]

whenever i do a decoction mash (which isn't often) i split it into two days. the night before brewing i mash and sparge and bring my wort to a boil for a few minutes. i then leave it covered until the next morning and boil, chill, pitch, and clean like usual.
note: this has worked well for me, so much so that i even scored a 43.5 on a dusseldorf alt in a relatively large bjcp competition this past fall.

 

[skam]

Thanks for all your help.
I'll keep it in mind for when I'm ready to move forward.

 

[BrotherBock]

I know a brewer (always makes great beer) that often mashes late at night and lets it sit until morning. Then does his brew day in the A.M. Never had any souring effects and claims great efficiency.

He may tend to do this for bigger beers, I don't remember.

 

[j1n]

Takes me about 4 hours from start to finish. I fill my 6 gal bottles i ferment in with RO water the night before. Other than that i just multi task while brewing. there is a lot of waiting around time that you can do things instead of just sitting there.

 

[Darwin18]

While an all-grain brew day for me can take 5 - 6 hours, it's generally a very low intensity event. Unless you feel the need to stare at your wort as it boils or mashes, then you can find time to do other things that need to be taken care of. I'll routinely do a bunch of yard work or house chores while I'm mashing or boiling.

 

[RussPDX]

I am building a eBiab setup right now for midweek brewing. My 3 vessel setup is great for a weekend day, but I don't get enough of those. I have seen other threads posing the same question as this one and my plan is to setup on Wed. night so that the water can sit and off gas. Mash Thursday night and heat to about 190 then cover and leave it. Then boil and finish on Friday. We shall see......

If it doesn't work well there is always sour wort Berliners which I love anyway and have done with good success in the past. I was listening to the new show on TBN "The Sour Hour" on my way to work this morning and they were talking about with Green Bench in FL where they do all sorts of sour wort styles. That would put a bigger gap between days but it would use the breakup of days in a very deliberate matter. Since sour wort does not carry any lacto over into your equipment you could brew clean when you have the time and sour when you want shorter sessions. The Berliners that I have made in the past are short boils, so it lends itself well to this kind of process for saving time.

 

[skw]

I know a brewer (always makes great beer) that often mashes late at night and lets it sit until morning. Then does his brew day in the A.M. Never had any souring effects and claims great efficiency.

I've done that a few times. To my knowledge, 63°C for 30 mins is sufficient to pasteurize lactobacillus, so as long as the mash tun remains closed and you mash at usual temperatures (65+°C), there should be no danger of lacto infection.