Can i just mash and finish the boil tomorrow?
- Thread starter smonteton
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I'd be concerned that it might go bad without a really snug fitting lid till the boil the next day.
You could,but steps would need to be taken to keep nasties out till then.
I've done it a number of times with no ill effects. My brew kettle has a snug fitting lid, so I mash the night before, bring the wort up to boiling, cut the heat and put the lid on until the next morning. I find I get better effeciency that way as well, since I can take my time with the mashing, do a double batch sparge, etc.
Also, doing the mashing clean up the night before and getting all that stuff put away means that the brew day the next day is a snap.
I do this because I have young kids and have no block of time during the day on weekends to brew. My usual schedule is to mash friday night after they go to bed, be done by around 11pm, and get up early the next morning and fire the burner by 6am or so. I generally have the wort cooling by the time everyone else is awake, and the yeast pitched by 9am. Works for me.
Also, doing the mashing clean up the night before and getting all that stuff put away means that the brew day the next day is a snap.
I do this because I have young kids and have no block of time during the day on weekends to brew. My usual schedule is to mash friday night after they go to bed, be done by around 11pm, and get up early the next morning and fire the burner by 6am or so. I generally have the wort cooling by the time everyone else is awake, and the yeast pitched by 9am. Works for me.
woozy
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Wouldn't you kill the nasties when you do the boil?
My concern would be the the wort somehow "goes stale" of "flat" in some manner I don't know anything about. Or that some microbes would start fermenting or interacting with the pre-wort in ways I do not want. I don't know anything about that eiither. But then I'd presume, if I didn't have reason to believe otherwise, that neither of these are likely to be a serious concern. But I have absolutely no idea.
LovesIPA
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Some organisms produce toxins in the course of their activities - eating, reproducing, etc. You can kill the organisms but the toxins stay behind.
It won't go stale, flat, or otherwise spoil.
There can be a lag between lautering and boiling but I wouldn't want it to be any more than 12 hours or so.
woozy
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Oh... duh.
Well, .... I guess if organisims get in and mess it up, that counts a type of "spoiling" I guess. Maybe not in the strict biological sense but in terms of "oh ****, my wort is ruined"...
Good to know. Um, as long as we are discussing this, what about boiling the output for ten minutes or so to kill any organism that might be in it and then coming back hours later to make the wort. Or would organisms simply get in overnight. But would it buy one some time.
12 hours ought to be enough to get some sleep.
um, can you cover it (maybe with saran wrap)? or would that lead to DMS?
Just curious.
I generally bring mine up to boil before letting sit overnight, but I've occasionally gotten lazy and not done it, and the beer always turned out fine. DMS isn't going to be an issue unless you leave the cover on when boiling. My lag is generally about 6-8 hours, since I generally get up pretty early to get the boil going.
Even if bacteria do get into the wort over night A) They won't have built up a sizable community by the time you start boiling again B) Many toxins they produce(including botulinum, which doesn't like high sugar anyways) are denatured by boiling.
For short brew days in the future you could try your hand at a Berliner Weisse since they don't make use of boiling.
For short brew days in the future you could try your hand at a Berliner Weisse since they don't make use of boiling.
Yeah...if you're going to start the boil early the next day it might be ok. I prefer to finish it in one go,but I suppose it'd be ok for a few hours...
Yes, I've done this at least a half dozen times with no ill effects. I've never let it go more the 12 hours or so, and I've always made it a point to mash out to 170F to make sure conversion is halted. I also keep the wort covered.
jmcquesten
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I've done this several times in the past 6 months, and never had a problem. I recommended it to a coworker and he tried it last weekend and said his pre-wort went bad overnight. He still won't tell me if he drained off the grain bed before he left it for the night, which leads me to believe he didn't. I've smelled some pretty rotten day after grain, and that's why I think he left it on the grain overnight, but he keeps avoiding the question. He didn't trust the "turn it into a sour" suggestion either so he dumped the whole thing. It was pretty warm last weekend, so I think that probably hurt him as well. So, yes it can be done, but there is some risk to it, enough that I'm not going to chance it anymore. Now he's got the idea to put some kill-all, metabisulfate in the pre-mash to preserve overnight till he can boil, if he decides to try 2-day brewday again.
Your confusing conversion with efficiency. When you look at mash profiles, certain profiles yield certain results as far as "body" and "mouthfeel". You might get the profile you're aiming for by mashing at the right temp, but if you don't denature the enzymes in the wort by mashing out to 168+ your profile won't be stable. If you let it sit all night you won't have the result you accomplished during your mash.
This is all unscientific and to the best of my knowledge. I'm sure something I've said is slightly inaccurate and someone will be along soon to point out my idiocy, but that's the method to my madness anyway.....
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