How long does your brew day take with your electric systems?

[zacster]

I just finished my brew day, 6 hours start to finish, using a stove top, all grain, BIAB, full boil "system". I know of one time reduction I can do by using an outdoor propane burner, but how long does it take for your electric systems? I've been tempted by the all-in-one electric systems but haven't justified the cost yet in my head, even for the least expensive ones. Would it really save any time?

My beer has come out consistently good for years this way so that isn't an issue.

 

[Barbarossa]

It's more for the convenience than the time saving in my opinion. I'm new and it takes me six hours including the cleaning and storing away of the toys.

It makes the step mashes very easy and batch sparging very hard.

 

[Chetbrews]

Roughly 3 hours from start to finish. I scaled down from 5 gallon batches to 2.5 gallons. Easier to manage. Use BIAB in a gigawort electric kettle. 30 minute mash, 30 minute boil. No chill into corny keg until it's hit fermenting temp.

 

[Redpappy]

I do 5 gal batches, BIAB. From start to finish, it takes about 4-5 hours, and this also includes me kegging my previous batch, and clean up my fermentor, of course I brew in my basement, and everything stays on my brew stand.as my mash is coming up to temp I gather my grains together and mill them. I’m constantly doing something. And at the end, I always take a seat, and enjoy a homebrew

 

[Gnomebrewer]

I can do batches in 4 and a bit hours (or up to 15 gallons in 5 and a bit). You don't need an expensive system to go electric though - my boil kettle (the 5 gal system) is just a cut up keg with a $30 element put in it. You can still mash in a cheap cooler mash tun or whatever else you have (for me, another cut up keg with a homemade RIMS tube). Or if it's just time-saving you're after, go to BIAB. But the most important things for time saving are plenty of power (3 or more Kw for 5 gallons will roughly get you boiling as fast as you sparge) and a fast method of chilling (or no-chill) - a plate chiller and pump can chill 5 gallons in a few minutes if your water's cold enough.

 

[odie]

impossible to answer your question...every "electric system" is a bit different. some are manual, some are automated, some are a blend...

It doesn't really save any time in the brewing process...but it can provide some automation which allows you to do other things with your time.

 

[Dland]

4-5 hours for 10 gallon batches. 30A 240V elements in HLT & BK.

 

[jcav]

With my three vessel e-herms and ten gallon batches, I average 6 to 7 hours on brew day. That is without cleaning up. Even more if I am step mashing with several steps, or if I do a decoction. But I like the process and I enjoy the day, so I am not in a race to finish. Normal average beer is usually I start heating water at 7am and I am pitching yeast by 2:00. But I have had days that took 9 hours to finish. The beer I make is fantastic so why rush if the end product is stellar!

John

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Longer than I'd really like it to take. I have one of the Kal Electric Breweries. I've broken-up the steps to keep track of time spent on each one. Having used a number of times, I feel confident in the averages.

Currently, I average 10 hours for a 60 to 90 minute boil (this includes step mash recipes). This is start to finish including cooling the wort, filtering the wort, pouring the wort into the fermenter, adding oxygen to the wort, pitching the yeast and the dreaded, but necessary, cleaning up (cleaning everything, dumping grain and hops, etc).

I am not complaining. Yes, 10 hours is a LONG time. However, I believe I do make the best homebrew I've ever made. I began brewing on the stove top with malt extract, graduated to mashing in a Gott cooler and graduated to my current setup.

I must be doing something right as, IMO, my beer is the best it's ever been. Also, others (relatives and friends) constantly bug me to visit or brew more.

 

[jcav]

I will add my brewery is also like Kals, and it does take awhile to clean up and I have to store the whole thing in my garage and bring it out to my back lanai to brew. So with that said it does take me at least 10 hours from start to finish on brew day. Incidentally I set the whole thing up the night before and get my water salts right and the ph where I want it. Doing this the night before also saves a lot of time on brew day if I had to do all this then. I love it though!

John

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

I forgot to write in my prior post that I brew 10 gallon batches.

I will add my brewery is also like Kals, and it does take awhile to clean up and I have to store the whole thing in my garage and bring it out to my back lanai to brew. So with that said it does take me at least 10 hours from start to finish on brew day. Incidentally I set the whole thing up the night before and get my water salts right and the ph where I want it. Doing this the night before also saves a lot of time on brew day if I had to do all this then. I love it though!

John

Not trying to hijack this thread, but I thought about getting the water ready the night prior to brewing. However, the water step, at least for me, only takes, on average, 7 minutes.

 

[Snark_Wolf_Brewing]

I'm averaging about 4 hours for a 5 gallon batch with my Brewer's Edge Mash & Boil.

 

[Spartan1979]

About 5.5 hours including cleanup, but the yeast is often pitched several hours later.

 

[RedRyderr]

I've only got a couple batches on my electric set up. Still learning the new process and hardware. I do some prep the night before (grind grains, fill RO water tank). At this point only my kettle is electric, still using big round orange coolers for mash tun and HLT (panel is built for 50 amp for if/when I upgrade HLT/mash tun). Fly sparging. Last batch from turning the kettle on to being done cleaning was a solid 6 hours.

 

[tracer bullet]

I'm going to say I am at 4.25 hours, BUT it's broken up and doesn't feel as long. Here is the time that I put into a brew day w/ my Anvil (it would be much longer if I was next to it the whole time):

* 1 hour the night before to get stuff out of the closet, set up on the counter, water measured out and additions made, check for leaks, and so forth.
* 0 hours because I set the timer to come on and heat my wort before I get out of bed.
* 0.25 hours (15 min) of mashing in after I roll out of bed, doing some stirring, checking temps, getting recirculation started, and a little babysitting just to be sure I can walk away and not come back to a mess.
* 0 hours while it mashes and I'm getting coffee, breakfast, waking the kiddo up, etc.
* 3 more hours from start to finish, like totally finished meaning cooled, yeast pitched, things cleaned up and put away. Subtract about an hour if you don't include the cleaning and other little bits.

If I sat with it the whole time I'm sure it'd be close to 6 hours.

 

[Bobby_M]

If I stay ultra focused with no major step mashing and a 60m boil, it's 4 hours.

25 minutes to heat 9 gallons from 58F to 158F. While that's happening, I weigh out my salts and add them along with lactic acid. I also weigh out and crush my grains.

5 minutes to stir the grain in and get the recirc up and running.

50 minute rest, 10 minute ramp up, 10 more minute rest.

5 minutes to hoist bag above the wort. Start ramp to boil.

10minutes to reach boil,

60 minute boil

Drop in chiller and start chilling, about 20 minutes.

Pull chiller out and whirlpool another 3 minutes.

Allow trub to settle in the kettle for 30 minutes. Drain to fermenter and put that in the fridge.

About 10 minutes to clean the kettle and rinse out the bag.

That's right at about 4 hours.

 

[LarMoeCur]

I'm also in the 4-5 hour range. The part I like best about my electric brewery is that it's almost set and forget. The hovering around worrying about temperatures and fires and boil overs all but gone. I can now do other things while heating water or mashing without have to hover over the brewery. Automation has made it so I can monitor my equipment with alarms and see what's happing at glance of an eye. Now when the wife calls me in from the garage to do something I'm not thinking that I'm going to burn the house to the ground or I can detail my car during the mash.

 

[Bobby_M]

That's a good point. Since I brew at "work", the 60 minute mash is completely hands off so I go get some work done. If the boil only has a 60 minute hop addition, that's another full hour that I can be away. I guess you could say I brew for 2 hours spread across a 4 hour timeframe.

 

[Birrofilo]

Currently, I average 10 hours for a 60 to 90 minute boil (this includes step mash recipes). This is start to finish including cooling the wort, filtering the wort, pouring the wort into the fermenter, adding oxygen to the wort, pitching the yeast and the dreaded, but necessary, cleaning up (cleaning everything, dumping grain and hops, etc).

That's my time and I take even longer, due to inexperience. Yesterday I begun at 15:40 or so and at 2:30 I finished cleaning.
That includes measuring the grain, wetting them, milling them, measuring salts and acids, doing a multi-step mash (55, 59, 63, 70, and mashout at 78 °C which were called by my recipe, using Pils malt), sparging, 90 minutes boiling, cleaning the immersion cooler, 30 minutes cooling with the immersion cooler (I was already very tired and begun considering a plate chiller), 30 minutes whirlpool and cleaning of most sticky stuff after the work (kettle, pipes). Taking all the density measurements of the various samples with the refractometer. Going to the computer to correct or improve my written step-by-step procedure, sanitizing a pipe and a tap with the microwave etc.

Being a beginner, I want to have everything ready and then only execute a script. I don't want to mix chemicals while mashing or to clean the fermenter while boiling, or look for parts while the clock is ticking. Yesterday I took an hour just to prepare the various complements (salts, acid, carragenen, anti-foam which I did not use, cups for density samples, each with a label, I'm slow).

I want to improve on this aspect. I could, for instance, measure the salt and acid additions while the water heats up, not before. And I could clean the fermenter while the beer boils, because I saw that, apart maybe the first minutes, beer doesn't come out better if you watch it boil .

I am working to my "script" so that I can comfortably insert into the dead phases certain activities.

The ramp-up to boil is slow in my electric kettle, also. Plenty of dead time which could be used better.

 

[IslandLizard]

About 5 hours for a 5.5 gallon batch using a 3500W induction plate. Doing 2 batch sparges while heating runnings.

From starting to heat strike water while milling to wort oxygenation and pitching yeast. Cleanups while the brew progresses, such as dumping and rinsing out mash tun.

This does not include cleaning the boil kettle, pump, plate chiller, hop bags, etc. That's another hour I'd say.
But I often brew 2 batches back to back so there's only one kettle/rig cleanup at the very end.

 

[Sammy86]

I have a Brewzilla 65L so I've been doing 12 gallon and 6.5 gallon batches.

I have the benefit of filling the unit the night before and setting it up to heat the water up before I even wake up. I mash in by 7 AM and usually transfering wort into the fermentor by 11:30 AM. Then cleaning and putting everything away by 1 PM.

Six hours total but I'm away from the brewing during the mash and cleaning because of the all in one.

 

[Birrofilo]

Six hours total but I'm away from the brewing during the mash and cleaning because of the all in one.

Same here. I don't even attempt to get rid of the spent grain if a few days haven't passed. I let the grains drain in a bucket and I try to collect them when they are not too wet. I must recycle them in the humid collection and I cannot just throw "garbage" in it, I dry it as much as possible and "pack" it in compostable shoppers. Only then will I be able to clean the grain basket.

In my last brew I used some PVPP (in tiny amounts) so I cannot save some of it for bread.

 

[crazyjake19]

DIY electric kettle with 3500 watt element. An all-grain brew day with 60 minute mash and 60 minute boil takes me a total of 4 hours tops for a 4.5 gallon batch. Smaller batches reduce the time by a bit due to less volume.

 

[Birrofilo]

Wrong thread. Deleted.

 

[LarMoeCur]

So, 10 hours seems like a awful lot of time. With electric brewing you can multi-task a ton of things. Here are my brew day steps maybe it will help you shave sometime off your day.

1. Pull system away from wall. Plug in.
2. Close all valves.
3. Put water in HLT and water in boil kettle. Set HLT PID to 2 degrees over mash temp. Set boil PID to strike temperature. Turn on alarm for strike water temp reached. Built a 50a system so I can run both elements at the same time for this exact reason. To save time!
4. Hook hoses to kettles and pumps. Open all valves except for MLT. Turn on pumps and circulate water.
5. Set up mill. Weigh out grains and mill grains.
6. Weigh out salt addition (mash & sparge) and add to kettles.
7. I forgot step one is always put on a pot of coffee. So, now I go get a cup or two and wait on hot water.
8. Turn off boil element and pump strike water to MLT and mash in.
9. Turn on pump to recirculate and take a pH reading and add acid if needed.
10. Set 60 minute Alarm.
11. 5-10 into mash another pH reading. Adjust as needed.
12. Back to coffee and breakfast if the wife made some.
13. Ramp up HLT temperature to 168 for mash out.
14. Back to coffee.
15. Start the sparge. I've got my system pretty dialed in so I can set and go back to coffee.
16. I do mostly 12 gallon batches. I collect around 15.5 gallons of wort. So at 15 minutes, I have just about 4 gallons collected. 3 gallons will cover my element. So, at 15 into sparge, I turn on the boil element and set it just below boiling 208-210 depending on wort gravity.
17. 45 minutes to burn so a good cigar is found and I pull a draft beer. I grab the hops out of the freezer on my way back to check the status.
18. I start checking my mash runnings at 13 gallons and stop before 1.010 or 15.5 gallons which ever comes first.
19. Sparge complete. Bump boil element to max blast! Document my boil gravity. Wort will boil in about 5 minutes. Enough time to weigh out my hop additions.
20. Set timer for hop additions. Wait for the break then add my 60 minute charge.
21. Enjoying my cigar and beer while I watch and smell that sweet goodness cook. With 5 minutes left I hook up hoses to the chiller and drop in the boil kettle.
22. Boil complete. Start whirlpool and chiller.
23. While cooling. The WORST part of brewing. Mash tun clean out. I get my wife or son to come out and one dump into the trash can it goes. A quick hose out and done. Sanitize the fermenter and get it ready. Shoot some water through the hoses and HLT pump and stow for next brew day.
24. Wort into fermenter. A quick check of the SG and fermenter into chamber. Set to temp.
25. Drain boil kettle and blast with hose. Scrub with green scrub pad and rinse and stow. Clean out mash pump and hosing and store.
26. Wort is now at temp. Hit with O2 and pitch yeast.

If I'm ultra focused I can get it done in 4 hours but I like to dick around and smoke cigars and drink beers. So most of the time, I'm around 4.5 to 5 hours sometimes if I have brew buddies over we will hit 6. But like I said that's because we are dicking around playing Corn-Hole or watching the game. If I clean as I go it really save me a lot of time.

 

[BarryBrews]

That's my time and I take even longer, due to inexperience.

I want to improve on this aspect. I could, for instance, measure the salt and acid additions while the water heats up, not before. And I could clean the fermenter while the beer boils, because I saw that, apart maybe the first minutes, beer doesn't come out better if you watch it boil .

Electric is definitely faster gallon for gallon with my 7750 watts compared with the old 200K BTU burner.
But...the biggest time saver is when experience and critical thinking happen. While brewing, I think of time and beer improvements with the caveat that it must be less movement of everything including myself. Nine years of procedure and equipment changes after every brewday and still a 10 gallon batch is over 6 hours, but it's easy and fun.

 

[tracer bullet]

procedure and equipment changes

LOL same here, same here. I think that's actually part of the fun. I'm an engineer by degree but also it's my personality. Every time I brew I tell myself to relax, but I'm always thinking of something that can go faster or better and am cobbling things together during and after brew day, and again before the next one. If I can't think of a hardware tweak I'm thinking of something process related. I think my longer boils for RIS's are the only time I actually sit still.

 

[phoenixs4r]

3-10 hours. Depends at what point I start drinking. Also kinda depends on when you start the clock. I fill my HLT the night before and when I wake up I go on my phone and start heating the HLT. S/S/S and everythings ready to mash in! I don't include that time cause I wouldn't have even started the HLT if I didn't do it from bed.... lol

 

[bwible]

I have an Anvil Foundry 6.5 (running regular 120v) and I use it to brew 3 gallon batches. It takes me right about 6 hours total, start to finish, including cleanup. I have fermenter cleaned and filled with sanitizer the night before. I grind grain while the mash water is heating, don’t believe it would save any time to grind the night before. We’re usually talking 6 or 7 pounds of grain total. Scoop out and throw away spent grain while the wort is coming up to boil, etc.

I know I could brew more beer in the same time but I’ve settled on 3 gallons because its a good amount for me. It’s not completely overwhelming when I have 8 batches in bottles and 3 batches in kegs. Especially since I’m the only one in my house who drinks beer. Time is not my enemy and its not 6 hours of activity. It’s 6 hours of performing small tasks then waiting for something before doing the next small task.

I use the Foundry but I also still have my cooler and brew kettle and I use that too sometimes.

 

[dwhite60]

I do 10 to 12 liter batches, stove top, all grain, biab. I'm usually done in four hours. If I subtract out the one hour mash it's only three hours.

 

[bwible]

If its time saving you’re after, just brew extract. I can do an extract batch in half the time or less because there’s no grain grinding, mash water heating, hour long mash, sparge, or mash tun to clean out. Every time I do an extract batch I’m reminded how much easier and quicker everything is.

Just be sure to have the freshest extract possible and I prefer to use DME over LME in a can.

 

[Huv13]

I just finished my brew day, 6 hours start to finish, using a stove top, all grain, BIAB, full boil "system". I know of one time reduction I can do by using an outdoor propane burner, but how long does it take for your electric systems? I've been tempted by the all-in-one electric systems but haven't justified the cost yet in my head, even for the least expensive ones. Would it really save any time?

My beer has come out consistently good for years this way so that isn't an issue.

I brew 5-7 gallon batches with Brew-Boss. It takes about 4 1/2 hours start to finish, which includes set up. Maybe add another 15 minutes the following day to put away the equipment after everything has dried.

 

[d146895x]

I use a 20litre Braumeister, usually doing 23litre (in the fermenter) batches. I fill the system the night before (and my 8 litre sparge water pot). On brewday I start at 7am (switch on system to start heating) it is usually in the fermenter by 12:00/13:00 depending on mash steps and length of boil. So maximum 6 hours for the brewday and 1 hour to clean up.

 

[macbrak]

Currently 4-5 hours on a 6.5 Anvil Foundry (2.5 gallonish batches). I'm still perfecting the process and can probably get that under 3 brewing time, with .5 prep the day before. I have been able to make 10 gallons in 5 hours on my propane/cooler/batch sparge system (with decent chilling water temps and not cutting too many corners).

I'm liking the anvil as even though it took 4-5 hours, I was much less engaged. I wasted a lot of time doing active things elsewhere. I used to spend a lot more time babysitting the kettle without doing anything vs running around the house, making breakfast and other minor chores. I see some super short days in my future once I get the process flow down and do come short and shoddies if I need to turn the crank to get more beer in the pipeline.

I might be able to reclaim the cold brew/soda/seltzer tap for this purpose.

 

[matt_m]

I'll usually weigh out my grain, water salts (into a jar) and hops (into bags for each addition), mill grain and fill the kettle in evening(s) the week week ahead so that's all ready to go. I usually start heating when I wake up then go make breakfast before mashing in. I'm not rushing through anything and lately have been experimenting with a 90 minute mash to improve consistency. I'll often wrap up cleaning in time to help make dinner or if we are going out, to get there early enough to beat the crowd on a "normal" CIP cleaning day. I've got my rinse and clean method down pretty pat after brewing provably 20 times over Covid. If I knock everything down after the CIP for a more thorough cleaning it will go longer.

 

[augiedoggy]

Started at 7am yesterday morning (but premeasured and ground grain the day before) finished CIP on boil kettle at 2pm after brewing...so 7 hrs for brew till sitting chilled in the conical with cleanup... but that was 102 gallons of finished wort into the fermenter- this was at the brewpub.
At home the whole process used to take me about 5 hrs give or take.

 

[BarryBrews]

Some of my best time savers since going all electric include:
1. Crushing grains directly into the mash tun. Less steps and less dust.
2. Using a pump. Huge time and labor saver.
3. Using a Counter Flow Chill. Faster and doesn't effect a whirlpool.
4. Pumping RO water from my 30 gallon storage barrel. Faster and no lifting!
5. No propane tanks to refill and all the other nuisances entailed.
6. Indoor brewing is weather independent. Brew on your own schedule.
7. Electric brewing is about 25% the energy cost of propane. Ok, not a time saver.
8. Electric brewing is quiet. Though the wrong pump can quickly change that situation!
9. For me, boil-overs with additions are nonexistent.
10. Easier temperature control. This is weak since never had a problem with propane.
11. Wheeled brew cart for easy setup, easy storage. Ok, just wanted 11 things to say.

 

[swimIan]

5.5 hours total for me. Brewing and clean up. 5 gal batches on 3v hermes with 5500 watt elements in HLT and BK.

 

[zacster]

What I'm reading here is that it may save a little time but not a lot. 6 hours beginning to end includes a lot of down time for me too.

• 1/4 hour to get gear together.
• 1 hour to get to mash temps, while having coffee
• 1/4 hour to add grain, wrap kettle
• 1 1/4 hour to mash
• 1 hour to get to boil, meanwhile I'm squeezing/sparging the bag to get the last out
• 1 1/4 hour boil, meanwhile cleaning/sanitizing carboy, hoses, etc...
• 1/2 hour to chill and empty the kettle, add yeast
• 1/2 hour to clean up

All times above are approximate but it does add up to 6 hours. Where could I actually save time? Again only in the time it takes to heat up. I only brew about every other month if that much, so it just wouldn't be worth the investment to me.

 

[DuncB]

I enjoy my brewdays, so very happy doing various brew related activities whilst the Guten 70 ( similar to Brewzilla ) gets on with step mashing or simple mash, boil etc. Not a lot of time spent hovering over the kit, especially if only half batch being done as the auto program is well dialled in so no chance of a boil over.
I'm happy to wander away, do a bit of cleaning as I go and have a beer and try not to forget some bit of the process.