Brew time

[clemson55]

Made my third batch today and it took about 4.5 hours. started around 3 with some cleaning and sanitizing and water filtering. Finished around 7:30 with pitching. Havent done any cleanup that will add 30 min I'm sure. The question is how long does it take you guys brew time to run through an extract kit? I feel like its taking me to long and I'm just missing what I need to do to cut the time down.

 

[Moonpile]

Depends on how drunk we get. We were doing extract batches on a weeknight, so we were more careful with it. 3 to 4 hours sounds about right. There's three of us though.

Keep everything clean and ready to go, or ready to sanitize. That helps.

Propane burner helps by boiling faster.

We keep a big rope handled keg tub full of sanitizer from the beginning of the session to the end. Makes sanitizing quick and easy. Remove the rope handles so they don't pop out on you while lifting it.

I'm sure others will chime in with more tips.

 

[Sloppy Sam]

Wort Chiller cuts down the time a lot. Instead of waiting an hour to cool I can, in the winter with really cold water, cool the wort in 10 minutes.

Depends on the kit as well. I can do an extract kit with a full 60 minute boil in about 2.5-3 hours if I am on top of things. Otherwise If I am goofing around it can take up to 4.

I have all my brew stuff organized in a big rubbermaid tote. I put it on a card table in the kitchen and go to town. I get the boil going and then start sanitizing things, since I have to watch it anyways. Then I fill the primary bucket, chill wort, hydrate yeast, rack wort. aerate wort, pitch and clean up.

I also, like to try and line up a boil with a rack to secondary or to keg, If I have to make sanitizing solution I might as well use it for as much as possible.

 

[Chello]

Yeah, i average about 3 hours for an extract brew. Thats with an electric stove top boil that seems to take forever...

 

[clemson55]

So I'm not terribly far off then a couple more runs and I'll be down about as low as I can expect it sounds like. I dont have a wort chiller but I got the wort down to 85* in about 29 minutes today gotten faster each of the 3 times. I have a killer propane burner I can get to a full boil on 3 gal in about 15 min. Sounds like its just practice now.

 

[sonetlumiere85]

I end up taking like 4-5 hours because I'm very careful not to make mistakes. I don't mind, I usually make dinner before hand, have some beers, and watch TV during that time, so its nice.

 

[TOBOLD]

Isn't the time spent making the brew the most fun? ok well maybe 2nd only to drinking your home brew...enjoy it!! take your time

 

[Ooompa Loompa]

I did an extract/steep batch today. I started at 1 pm, and pitched at 4 pm. That's on a crappy electric stove, and no wort chiller. I think I have the process pretty much down.

 

[TinmanDan]

I generally can do an extract kit in just under three hours, soup to nuts. The key, in my opinion is organization -- have your equipment ready to go and once the boil starts, multitask. For example, I don't have a wort chiller (I just put the kettle in an ice bath), so while the wort is chilling, I use the time to clean up. If you think about it, you're wasting a lot of time waiting for the 60-min boil to finish, and that's the perfect time to sanitize, clean up previous steps, etc.

Of course, I echo the other guys -- if I have friends over or if I'm drinking a lot, it slows the process down considerably.

 

[Big10Seaner]

Yeah if you don't have a wort chiller I would highly recommend one. I can cool 3 gallons of wort in 10 minutes.

 

[Revvy]

I'm about 3-4 hours with an extract and a 3 gallon boil. I'm on an electric stove and it takes forever to get to the 165 mark for grain steeping (about 35-40 minutes). Once the bag is out of the kettle and I'm heading towards the boil, that's probably another 20 minutes. So there's an hour to get to the boil.

Another Hour for the boil. (A little longer actually I don't count the time it takes to pull the pot off the heat, and add the extract. I usually do a couple pounds just before the boil for hops utilization, then the balance of the dme at about 20 and get it back to boil temp again.) I usually pause my timer during the times I'm adding the extract, since it's off the burner and not boiling. So call it 1:20 for boil/extract additions.

About 40 minutes to cool in the sink, with 3 water changes.

Another 15-20 minutes to strain, add to fermenter, add water to 5 gal. Agitate the heck out of it, take a gravity reading, pitch yeast and get an airlock on it.

So yeah, about 3 1/2 hours till it's in my brew closet.

For cleanup I tend just to rinse, then put everything I used into the brewpot with a couple scoops of oxyclean and hot water. I usually let it all sit for a few hours or even overnight before I take care of it. That way just about evey bit o gunk is loose and everything just needs to be thoroughly rinsed several times.

 

[clemson55]

Yeah I think I'm about where I can expect considering my buddy was over and we were drinking and bsing and all that the whole time. Probably would have cut some time if not for that.

 

[Joker]

I do two batches with steeping grains in a 6-7 hour brew day, solo. With two of you your time should be a lot less. Quit bs'ing and get to work.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I've never done an extract batch, but I always thought one of the biggest reasons for doing extract is the time savings since you don't have to mash and sparge. I guess you actually spend about the same amount of time steeping grains. My all grain batches only take between 3.5-4 hours (add 30 mins for 10 gals).

I think it's time for some of you guys to come to the dark side!

 

[Revvy]

I think it's time for some of you guys to come to the dark side!

As much as we'd like to some of us can't do it on a regular basis due to space concerns. I live in a downtown loft and have no yard, deck or any outside space where I can brew on a propane burner and have access to water...Best I can do is countertop mashes and partial boils on a stovetop.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I completely understand. I'd brew however I could make it work, too.

 

[Revvy]

I completely understand. I'd brew however I could make it work, too.

There's two roofs on my building...one at the level of our floors, and one that is over our lofts...There is access off our laundry room to the lower roof.

I have been tempted to try doing it there, running a hose from the sink to a chiller...but the only access is through the laundry room window... And I cant see handling a full fermentation bucket and trying to bring it back in.

This summer I may get a turkey fryer and talk a friend into "helping" me brew AG at their house. But it's not something I could do with great frequency.

I have taken a hibatchi out to the top roof, with some brews and grilled out there.