kev211
Well-Known Member
Brewing this saturday. Set to start at 6am. Love an early morning brew day. Nothing like having a hot cup of coffee while the mashing.
Early Morning Brews
- Thread starter reuliss
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jwalk4
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I don't like to drink really when I brew. I've had a beer or two before when I really couldn't resist, but I find I lose my focus and end up more stressed.
Now I abstain from beer on brew days and it's a lot more fun. Coffee is where it's at.
Now I abstain from beer on brew days and it's a lot more fun. Coffee is where it's at.
jwalk4
Well-Known Member
Later start than planned, of course, but strike water is almost at temp 
Edit: All cleaned up. 4 hour brewday. Woot!
Edit: All cleaned up. 4 hour brewday. Woot!
catdaddy66
Well-Known Member
Getting excited about an early start in the morning. Today is clean and organize day for tomorrow's brewday. Hope to start heating water by 7am and be finished by noon!
milldoggy
Well-Known Member
630 dough in for a kolsch
Brewed ~13 gallons tripel last night and put it in ferm chamber to finish cooling. Pitched the yeast this morning in the midst of preparing to brew another 13-ish gallon batch (Cream of Three Crops) this morning and got called into work for a quick bit of overtime, hoping to finish mid afternoon.
Up a little after 5. Had to unload & load the dishwasher so didn't get strike water going until a bit before 6. Now the sun is just barely filtering through the rye. It's 7 am with 20 minutes left on the mash. Should be done before it warms up too much outside.
kev211
Well-Known Member
milldoggy
Well-Known Member
Started at 5 am. Transferring to conical now. Still got the whole day to drink ahead of me
Dcpcooks
Well-Known Member
Thought about it when my eyes opened at 5:30 this morning but I rolled over. Just milling grains now. Doh
catdaddy66
Well-Known Member
Yeah... Go up at 7am but had some chores first like pet feeding, breakfast making and mashtun cleaning. Got the strike water on at 8:30 and now I am finished with the boil (1pm). Gonna have it cooled and in the primary by 2pm.
Yeah, not exactly early but for me it's an improvement.
Up at 5am CST to get a brisket on the smoker and to start the boil on my kettle soured Gose.
I tried something different this time. Filled everything the night before, then left the BCS on in Auto. 630 laying in bed fired up strike water, but the time I was downstairs with coffee I mashed in right around 7ish.... was done by 11. Cleaning still takes a long time... need to simplify that part of it...
Got a 4:15AM start this morning to beat the heat! Have about 20 minutes left on the boil for a low ABV Pale Ale... OG of 1.040... Citra/Centennial/ Cascade with all the bitterness coming from 20/10 and 5 minute hop additions. Should round out at 33 IBUs at 4% ABV
Cheers! Don
Cheers! Don
kev211
Well-Known Member
Got started at 6am this morning to beat the heat. Double batching ftw
View attachment 1499545915248.jpg
View attachment 1499545915248.jpg
DatsyukianDeke
self-proclaimed
I've got a Ruthless Rye clone and a pork shoulder ready to go for Monday. My first day off without rain in the forecast in almost a month. Summer my ass!
This will be interesting since I've never been much of a morning person. I'm shooting for first flame around 6:30.
What kind of things can I get prepped the night before my brewday?
This will be interesting since I've never been much of a morning person. I'm shooting for first flame around 6:30.
What kind of things can I get prepped the night before my brewday?
milldoggy
Well-Known Member
Drink heavily and stay up late. Makes getting up early so much easier.
When I do the early morning brew,my prep work goes like this.
Nite before, mill grain ,fill both kettles
I have 2 induction burners that have built in 2 hr timers. So before I crash I set them to what ever setting will be close to what I need,this took some trial and error. Both kettles are insulated,so they stay at temp once there. I do this for most brew days and a couple of times could mash in rite after I made the coffee.
I got the chance to bring my gear to a professional brewery and make a batch. Having water at mash in temp when I was all set up is the bomb.
Nite before, mill grain ,fill both kettles
I have 2 induction burners that have built in 2 hr timers. So before I crash I set them to what ever setting will be close to what I need,this took some trial and error. Both kettles are insulated,so they stay at temp once there. I do this for most brew days and a couple of times could mash in rite after I made the coffee.
I got the chance to bring my gear to a professional brewery and make a batch. Having water at mash in temp when I was all set up is the bomb.
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5:00 AM here in Nashville and I have my strike water started. Hoping to have two batches in the fermentor by noon.
Me too... mill the grain the night before...dough in by 8AM...done by 3pm.
I like that I can still BBQ or take mama out for Sunday night date. Im also far more sober while brewing....A couple beers while cleaning up is far less of a concern than 3 or 4 in me about the time I'm surrounded by 13gal of 212F liquid. It's also better for folks who want to join but don't want to carve out 6 hours of their day or make it the evening activity...they show up around the time I start my boil and are around to help clean up and have a beer.
yep...morning brewing FTW!
I like that I can still BBQ or take mama out for Sunday night date. Im also far more sober while brewing....A couple beers while cleaning up is far less of a concern than 3 or 4 in me about the time I'm surrounded by 13gal of 212F liquid. It's also better for folks who want to join but don't want to carve out 6 hours of their day or make it the evening activity...they show up around the time I start my boil and are around to help clean up and have a beer.
yep...morning brewing FTW!
I usually like to get going around 5am so I'm done by 11. Little late this morning because I was out of propane and had to run down to the corner store for an exchange. Mash will be done by 8:30 and should have it all buttoned up by 10:30 or so since I'm doing no-chill today...glad Fall finally decided to show up so it'll be cooler today.
SlitheryDee
General Manager
I've done several early morning brew days now, and it's definitely the way to go. I've really been trying to optimize my process to get done as early as possible. Finally bit the bullet and did an overnight mash. In terms of saving time the next morning it was a smashing success, but my efficiency shot so high I damn near made what was supposed to be a strong cream ale into a barleywine. That day I had a beer to bottle as well, so I finished up around 10:00 AM, but I think if I don't have any bottling or other stuff to do I could be done as early as 9:00 AM with an overnight mash.
It feels a bit like cheating honestly. Like I can have my brew day and basically my whole sunday at the same time.
It feels a bit like cheating honestly. Like I can have my brew day and basically my whole sunday at the same time.
I'm considering an overnight mash for my next brew, like you it's a bite the bullet kind of thing. My tun holds temp pretty well so I'm thinking if I start with a temp of 160 it won't drop too far. Just might do it since it sounds like you got a successful brew out of it. Question though - do you still sparge afterwards? Would seem like a long mash would pretty much suck all the possible sugar out of the grist. Just curious.
SlitheryDee
General Manager
I really didn't worry too much about the temperature dropping off. The mash essentially pasteurizes the contents of the kettle, so barring anything getting in after it drops below 140 or so it'll be just fine.
As far as efficiency goes, you're probably going to get full conversion hours before you come back to finish the brew whether it drops below optimal mash temps or not. I wasn't really worried about whether my mash tun held temps beyond about the 90 minute mark, so I just mashed in at 150 like normal. When I came back the next day it was still at about 125 and my preboil gravity was 1.073 for a beer that was supposed to have a 1.067 FG.
One concession I did make to heat retention was a full volume mash because I knew that the larger liquid volume would stay at a higher temperature longer. There was really no sparge to do and I'm not sure I'd want to do one due to the thermal mass that would take away from the mash.
Hmmmm I might have to try this.... I run an eBIAG setup so keeping temps is easy. I usually recirculation though. Maybe just recirculation for few min when I wake then sparge??? Any downside to this?
kev211
Well-Known Member
Had the heat on the hlt at 6:30 this morning. Really foggy this morning too which added a nice ambiance and coolness to the air
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I'm a convert, as i used to mash in after work (big mistake) or at around 11 or noon on the weekends
I'd go well into the night and would miss out one weekend happenings
I'm work up to a 4am start; earliest so far has been 7:30, and I love having the rest of the day free
I'll try 4am ish next time
I'd go well into the night and would miss out one weekend happenings
I'm work up to a 4am start; earliest so far has been 7:30, and I love having the rest of the day free
I'll try 4am ish next time
Early morning on a Saturday is my favorite. I like to start at about 6 and have breakfast while mashing.
Early morning is nice because its when my neighbors are typically out walking dogs and we get a chance to talk without my or their kids around.
Sometimes if I have bottles of the previous batch on hand I just give them out for the neighbors to drink later.
Early morning is nice because its when my neighbors are typically out walking dogs and we get a chance to talk without my or their kids around.
Sometimes if I have bottles of the previous batch on hand I just give them out for the neighbors to drink later.
bstacy1974
Well-Known Member
Got a pork sholder going at 6:30am. About to eat breakfast, then I'll start a cereal mash for a Kentucky Common brew this morning. First time brewing in the morning. Most of my brew days finish up 10pm or later. This will be a new experience.
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