Brew Timing Question

[Mainer]

So I was planning on brewing this Saturday, but then I heard from my mom that she wants to get together for Mother's Day at lunchtime on Saturday instead of Sunday. I was wondering what would happen if I steeped my specialty grains in the morning, did my boil (this is an extract batch), then put it on ice to cool while I went to lunch with my mom and came back like three or four hours later to pitch. This sounds like a potentially-fantastic and also potentially-disastrous plan. Thoughts?

 

[jshathaway]

I think you increase the risk of infection by leaving the post-boil wort sitting out for hours. But see what happens. so long as everything is sanitary it may just be fine. get yourself a spray bottle of starsan and soak everything good before letting it sit

 

[McKnuckle]

People do this all the time. The key is just sanitation, as always. Cover the kettle - or rack it to a fermenter once reasonably cool and cover that. But it's trivial and a common practice to let wort sit for hours (even overnight! ) before pitching.

 

[HopHeavy]

You run a good chance of winding up with a sour beer. Bacteria present before the boil can present strong flavor characteristics (typically sour) which won't dissipate in the boil, even though the contaminant is killed off.

Ooops... misread some of that. Not likely in a couple hours post boil!

 

[RM-MN]

Put a lid on your pot as you wait for it to cool and you won't have much chance of bacterial infection. it will be fine.

 

[Oginme]

RM-MN has it right IMHO. Don't chill it or put it on ice. Once you reach the end of the boil, take out a sample for OG reading, slap a lid on the kettle and allow it to cool naturally until you get back to finish it.

 

[JohnSand]

Do you have to adjust late hops for no chill?

 

[RM-MN]

Do you have to adjust late hops for no chill?

Yes, the hop oils will continue to isomerize (add bittering) until the wort is below about 180F and you will lose some of the aromatics that give you flavor and aroma. I'd probably try to chill it a bit with the lid on and then let it cool on its own.

 

[kombat]

A real brewer would just get up earlier.

Just kidding, but seriously, it's an extract batch, so it shouldn't take more than 2-3 hours anyway. Even less if you mill your grains the night before and postpone cleanup until after lunch. Why not just start a little earlier?

 

[Mainer]

My mom rescheduled for Sunday, so I'm all set. I will have a long, luxurious Saturday to brew. So long, in fact, that I've decided, with some encouragement, to make this my first all-grain (BIAB) batch.

Bonus: the Missus is working on Saturday, then she's going to play hockey with her league, so I can do it all without stressing her out.

 

[JohnSand]

Have fun, don't stress about small inconsistencies. Mash temp off by a couple? Gravity too? No big deal.