Overnight mashing in a pot

[milldoggy]

I see lots of post discussing overnight mashing in a cooler. Has anyone done it in a pot? I have a 25g Concord Al. Pot. Was thinking about wrapping in reflectix, then a series of blankets, comforters. Anyone done this? Will it hold temp for 8 hrs? Probably mash high, like 158.

 

[jjeffers09]

It can be done. It doesn't need to hold temp for 8 hrs, because the enzymes stop working in about 2-3 hrs I think. It should not get sour on you in 8 hrs.

 

[Arminius757]

What is the purpose of mashing this long? Only time I have heard of someone trying to mash that long would be for souring a mash. I mean its even debatable if a full hour mash is necessary.
In terms of holding temp, no, it will not hold it for 8 hours. I cant tell you how much it will drop, but figuring at maybe 2 degrees an hour at worst, that would be 16 or so degrees in the 8 hours you let it sit.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

i did a lot of research on this a year ago and do it from time to time in my cooler. The reading I did said as long as you stay above 140 you dont have to worry about souring starting. I'd be concerned about getting temps too low with just a pot. with a coleman extreme cooler totally full with mash, sealed edges with saran wrap, rachet strap the cooler closed, and wrapped in a sleeping bag, I get ~8 degrees temp drop in 10 hours.

I collected a lot of info on overnight mashing in a thread about a year ago you may want to look at.

 

[jjeffers09]

In general laziness I believe... I do know that lacto/pedio are slow growing and usually I believe take a full 24 hours to get to a point of souring a beer. I can't remember if Mosher talked about it in Mastering homebrew or not. At any rate heating up water for a mash, go to bed. Heat up a sparge, and collect your run off. I have herd of guys that work 14hr days on Friday, start up their mash before the go to bed, then brew day as usual and have wort in a "no chill" fermenter before they go to work for the 8-10hr Saturdays. Come home and pitch in the yeast. It is not what I believe QC guys would recommend but I have had some good tasting beers from that process.

If you are planning on doing this regularly I would look into a better cooler than Coleman Extreme... Try getting the Yeti Tundra Cooler.

http://www.campsaver.com/yeti-tundra-45-coolers-2

 

[bucketnative]

If you're looking to use a pot... how low does your oven go in terms of set point? You could put the mash in your oven overnight at 150 F without the need for the insulation.

 

[milldoggy]

Thanks everyone, goal was to speed up the brewery as I have a 1 and 3 year old. I have an electric herms and could leave it on all night, but that just worries me. There is no way to put a 25 gallon pot in the oven.

 

[bucketnative]

There is no way to put a 25 gallon pot in the oven.

Missed that part in your OP.

 

[RM-MN]

By the time you have boiled the wort for an hour the only organism that can survive that is botulin spores. You aren't likely to get an infection from leaving the wort in the pot if you have a lid on. If you are really worried about it, the growth of any of the normal infectious organisms is quite slow and if you reheat the wort to above 160, they will all be killed in seconds.

Other things to worry about are the hop additions. Hop oils isomerize to give you the bitterness you want during the boil but any late additons will continue to isomerize too until the wort cools below about 180F which can increase bitterness and decrease any flavor or aroma you wanted.

 

[madscientist451]

I see lots of post discussing overnight mashing in a cooler. Has anyone done it in a pot? I have a 25g Concord Al. Pot. Was thinking about wrapping in reflectix, then a series of blankets, comforters.

I just bought a new cooler at Walmart for a party, I hadn't bought one in a while and the prices seem pretty low. Seems like just using a cooler would be way easier than wrapping up a pot with insulation and blankets.
My cooler mash tun only looses about 1-2 degrees in an hour, don't know what the temperature would be after an extended mash, but I think you'll be fine if that's the only way you can get time to brew.