As the title says, how fast can you do an all grain brew day? And what tricks and tips doyou have for speeding up a brew day?
Last night, I was pressed for time and took a few shortcuts, and was able to bring the total brew day (from weighing out unmilled grains to pitching yeast in the primary fermenter) to 3 hrs 13 min. I was really happy with this time, and ended up with 86% brewhouse efficiency, which is better than my average of around 80%.
I milled my grains as I usually do (drill powered corona mill), then I only mashed for 45 minutes, instead of my usual hour. Rather than my usual fly sparge, I batch sparged, using a two step batch spargethat took about 15 minutes. I also used two kettles, and two burners. One to heat sparging water, and one to heat the collected wort. This way, by the time the sparge was done, it was only about five minutes until the wort was boiling. I then cooled using an immersion cooler outside in 15 F ambient temps. Rather than siphoning off the wort from the sediment, I just dumped it straight into the fermenter, then pitched my yeast.
This was a low grain-bill blonde ale, so that aided in being able to mash and sparge quickly and still maintain good efficiency. Other than switching to a countercurrent chiller, I don't believe I can cut my time down much further.
And in case anyone asks, I don't normally rush a brew day, but a quick brew is better than not being able to at all.
So anyone else have any quick brew day times, and tips on how they did it?
EDIT:
After reading some of the comments, I want to add that my time is for a 5 gallon batch (6 gallons post-boil, so that I'll have at least five after primary and secondary fermentation), and that this includes ALL cleaning as well.
Last night, I was pressed for time and took a few shortcuts, and was able to bring the total brew day (from weighing out unmilled grains to pitching yeast in the primary fermenter) to 3 hrs 13 min. I was really happy with this time, and ended up with 86% brewhouse efficiency, which is better than my average of around 80%.
I milled my grains as I usually do (drill powered corona mill), then I only mashed for 45 minutes, instead of my usual hour. Rather than my usual fly sparge, I batch sparged, using a two step batch spargethat took about 15 minutes. I also used two kettles, and two burners. One to heat sparging water, and one to heat the collected wort. This way, by the time the sparge was done, it was only about five minutes until the wort was boiling. I then cooled using an immersion cooler outside in 15 F ambient temps. Rather than siphoning off the wort from the sediment, I just dumped it straight into the fermenter, then pitched my yeast.
This was a low grain-bill blonde ale, so that aided in being able to mash and sparge quickly and still maintain good efficiency. Other than switching to a countercurrent chiller, I don't believe I can cut my time down much further.
And in case anyone asks, I don't normally rush a brew day, but a quick brew is better than not being able to at all.
So anyone else have any quick brew day times, and tips on how they did it?
EDIT:
After reading some of the comments, I want to add that my time is for a 5 gallon batch (6 gallons post-boil, so that I'll have at least five after primary and secondary fermentation), and that this includes ALL cleaning as well.