Anyone do 3 batches in one day?

[Jtk78]

As the title states, anyone here ever bust out 3 batches out in one day. That's the plan next time I brew. I've done two batches 3 times. Once was one extract and my first all grain, and twice I've done a mash/sparge big enough for two batches. I've split them up evenly, steep a lil specialty malt, different hop schedule, and bam...2 beers. Last one I was done by 1pm and I did zero prep the night before. Zero.

I'm planning a surprise birthday party for my wife and want to brew 3 batches before hand. I plan on doing a mini-mash Wit, and another split mash / sparge for the other 2 batches. The mini-mash batch will kick off first. I do have 3 burners and 3 kettles (2 with valves), which will really help. It will be a bit of a marathon, but I plan on prepping the night before. All equipment out, grains milled, salts and hops measured and marked, and anything else I can think of.

So.... am I crazy? I think I'm good. Hope to be done by 4ish.

 

[kh54s10]

I have only done 2 in a day. They were all grain, separate batches so it took all day. About 10 am to 7 pm. It makes for a really long day.

Making one mash and splitting will certainly speed things up. Doing as much as possible the day before will also help.

 

[MrHadack]

I do side-by-side batches (2 sets of equipment.) I did 4 batches in a day once: back-to-back brew sessions with dual equipment in parallel. But to be honest, it was miserable. Halfway through the second dual batch I wanted to quit. Started at 6am and finished at 5pm or so.

 

[65C]

Wow - I was thinking I might do 2 at some point but couldn't imagine doing 3

Currently I've got 3 in ferment and I'm bottling 3 every 4 weeks - so brewing just over a week each time - it's working out well so far

Each brew is taking about 6H - I don't see it getting much shorter and I'm fine with 6 - but shattered once it's all cleaned up etc.

Plus each brew day is also shifting the other 2 carboys and bottling 30+ bottles

I'm thinking about adding another carboy so I've 4 in progress - as time is becoming one of the biggest quality factors - I know people say 'give it more time on primary' but so far I can't emphasise that enough - the diff between 2 and 4 weeks on primary is enormous

I had some summer ale I was drinking after 2 weeks which was tasting like banana + nail polish - at 6 weeks it's bringing back memories of one of the best drinking afternoons I ever had in Den Haag after missing a ferry

 

[Dcpcooks]

I did a quick 1/2 bbl of saison followed by a 1.130 RIS with a two hour mash and a four hour boil once. That was a long day! Cheers to you being crazy enough to consider a three brew day! I say you go for it just to say you did it!

 

[IslandLizard]

It's gonna be a busy day for you, but very doable if you have the stamina. Only one cleanup.

A brew friend and I did a partigyle and brewed 3 batches, a NEIPA, a Saison and an ESB, but it was a long, long day, about 12 hours, including cleanup. Well worth it, 20 gallons of excellent beer! Next time we'll probably limit ourselves to 2 batches, 10 gallons each.

I've brewed 8 batches in one long afternoon... but they were really small ones, about half a gallon each. mashed in several pots in the oven and boiled in several pots on the stovetop, all staggered. Hit a few knots where more than one needed attention, but it all went well. It was quite a workout!

I usually brew 2 batches back to back, but now rarely on the same day. There's a good nap involved in between.

 

[Jtk78]

I know it's gonna be a long day, and I plan to start EARLY.
I believe there will be a few keys to my success;
- as much prep work as humanly possible the night before,
- a good solid breakfast and some filling snacks readily available;
- having a timing plan and trying to stay on schedule by staggering the batches,
- clean clean clean during downtime;
- no beer consumption until I last batch is in the fermenter.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I've only ever done one in a day. My equipment won't allow for a double sized mash. I've been toying with the idea of doing a double sized grain bill in a single batch volume of water and then topping my fermenters up to the correct batch size. Is there any reason that wouldn't work?

 

[beernutz]

Yes I think you're crazy but I admire the attempt.

I did 5 hour all grain batches on consecutive days once. Never again and absolutely never on the same day.

 

[GJOCONNELL]

As the title states, anyone here ever bust out 3 batches out in one day. That's the plan next time I brew. I've done two batches 3 times. Once was one extract and my first all grain, and twice I've done a mash/sparge big enough for two batches. I've split them up evenly, steep a lil specialty malt, different hop schedule, and bam...2 beers. Last one I was done by 1pm and I did zero prep the night before. Zero.

I'm planning a surprise birthday party for my wife and want to brew 3 batches before hand. I plan on doing a mini-mash Wit, and another split mash / sparge for the other 2 batches. The mini-mash batch will kick off first. I do have 3 burners and 3 kettles (2 with valves), which will really help. It will be a bit of a marathon, but I plan on prepping the night before. All equipment out, grains milled, salts and hops measured and marked, and anything else I can think of.

So.... am I crazy? I think I'm good. Hope to be done by 4ish.

I did this once....NEVER AGAIN.

 

[eadavis80]

I've done 2 in a day - extract + BIAB. In my experience doing 2 in the same day took about 1.5 times as long as one batch because a lot of the time is just getting your equipment out/ready. The most annoying part for me was waiting for batch A to chill before starting batch B. Just "wasting time" was kind of annoying, but I only have one big kettle to work with. I'd do it again though.

 

[Jtk78]

Well a change in family plans has taken the 3 batches day off the docket. The day I had planned is gonna get cut a little short. I will still do 2 batches that day though, with a single mash again.

I would probably be stupid enough to do 3 batches another day in the future though.

 

[Aristoi]

I have done 3 extract mini mash batches in a day, don't think I would want to try 3 all grain, maybe 2

 

[AJinJacksonville]

I've had plans before to drink three batches...but that never seems to work out.

I'm lucky I can do one batch in a day...even with summer upon us!

 

[JDXX1971]

I have done three batches in a day with my single vessel BIAB system. That was a looooong day. I was inspired though and my goal was to be able to do four or more batches in a weekend. Since brewing seems to use up the whole weekend regardless for us I figured I might as well make it super productive.

When I first got the idea I added a 10 gallon cooler HLT to hold strike water for the second batch and planned to get a second burner and a boil kettle. That would have allowed me to do consecutive batches all day. Figuring I could do 20 gallons in a day that way.

But then I decided to get a 20 gallon Spike bargain cave kettle for my birthday!! So now I want to still add the second burner and 20 gallon boil kettle,gas controll for my BIAB burner, but also a 20 gallon insulated mash tun with my RIMS to use as a HLT and then also as a mash tun or second BIAB vessel. I figure I could pump out a lot of beer in one day with that set up.

it would go something like this.

Heat strike water in BIAB kettle and transfer to mash tun.
Heat more strike water in boil kettle
Add bag and grains to BIAB kettle
bottom let water from tun to BIAB kettle
add bag and or grain to mash tun
bottom let water from boil kettle to mash tun
let the mashic happen
hoist bag from BIAB kettle and let drain
hoist bag and drain mash tun to boil kettle
boil both batches
rinse mash tun and start heating water with RIMS
run batch # 1 through cfc into fermenters
run batch # 2 through cfc into fermenters
rinse BIAB kettle and boil kettle and repeat starting with stike water from the mash tun\HLT into the BIAB kettle.

I figure I could do at least 40-60 gallons in a weekend with that set up or 10-20 gallons in one day easily. With plenty of other options of brewing too. Like being able to do 10 gallon or larger batches of high gravity brews.

* disclaimer* I am, of course, insane though

 

[balrog]

OP - Yes, you are crazy. Aren't we all?
I'm am in the camp with @IslandLizard and @Beernutz -- I've done two batches but on two consecutive days: Fri night/Sat morning. There's just too much on the honey-do list to take up a whole Saturday from "important" stuff.

 

[Anon111]

As the title states, anyone here ever bust out 3 batches out in one day. <>
So.... am I crazy? I think I'm good. Hope to be done by 4ish.

I have a 6 gallon fermenter and two 1.5 gallon pots. Yeah, took me 3 batches to fill(-ish) it. And despite the >20% headroom it managed to blow over.
SWMBO was not amused.

 

[Jim311]

You could consider doing overnight mashes. I do that sometimes to shorten a brew. You could also brew an extract batch or two. That can make for a lightning quick brew day.