can i let it sit after the mash?? need help ASAP please

[dirtyfrank557]

alright, so here's my "problem" ...

a local brewery gave me 6 gallons of wort. i threw it into a 6.5 gal pail with no airlock. i need to take off tonight, so i'd like to just put off figuring out the hops, etc. until tomorrow. especially since i'm probably going to have too much liquid for my fermenter (not enough headspace right?). i have a 2.5 gal fermenter that i'll probably have to use.

so before i start rambling too much...here's my basic question..

after you do a mash, is it ok to leave the wort sitting around for a day...can i just rig up an airlock and figure out the rest tomorrow? or is it best that i boil this now?

feel free to give me advice on anything else though.

thanks.

 

[Kugster]

I am not sure...but i don't see y not? since there will be no yeast in it, not sure you will need the airlock (cause no co2 being created) what was the temp of the mash when they gave it to you? was it just collected or did they give it to you cold?

 

[dirtyfrank557]

i'm not sure of the temp but it was just collected.

thanks for the quick reply.

 

[Kugster]

so it was still warm?

 

[dirtyfrank557]

yep. it was still warm. then i had to drive about an hour to get home. not an ideal situation, but i wasn't going to pass up some free wort.

 

[Kugster]

I think it will be ok to sit overnight...as long as your vessel is properly sanitized...if you do some searching on this site, there are a few threads that talk about this...actually a few years ago someone had this same issue...did the wort the night before and boiled the next day...now go have fun...I'm gonna sit here at work and dream of brewing beer!

 

[Kugster]

not an ideal situation, but i wasn't going to pass up some free wort.

heck no...gotta love free wort!! And you said you can only use 2.5gals of it? I'd get another fermenter if possible...don't waste not want not!

 

[dirtyfrank557]

sorry, that wasn't clear i'm rushing...so i've got it sitting in a fermenter (6.5 gal) that i just used just to transport it. and i've got about 6 gallons of wort. so i was thinking that i would need to use other fermenters in addition to that one. however i wasn't even thinking about the fact that i'd obviously losing some of the liquid when i boil it.

 

[ChshreCat]

Gotta say that if you leave post mash wort overnight, you have a pretty good chance it's going to end up souring on your. Not that that's a bad thing. Some folks do it on purpose.

 

[allhandl]

I let mine sit overnight just about everytime I brew. I just put a lid on it and figure my boil will kill off any creatures anyway. Never had an off flavor as a result.

 

[ChshreCat]

The boil will kill off anything in it, but between mash and boil acetobacter can work on it and while you'll kill the bacteria, the acetic acid will still be there.

 

[dirtyfrank557]

anything i can do (besides actually brewing it) to avoid that? does it make a difference if i leave it outside all night (its 38 out right now) or leave it at room temp?

 

[andysim]

anything i can do (besides actually brewing it) to avoid that? does it make a difference if i leave it outside all night (its 38 out right now) or leave it at room temp?

I collect my wort the night before and boil the next day. Nothing bad happens in 12-16 hours.