Effects of Prepping Water 1 Day in Advance

[Physics202]

Thinking about measuring my water out and crushing my grains 1 day in advance in hopes to compact brew day by a little bit. Are there any negative effects that happens to either with the 1 day sit?

My plan would be to rinse my kettle, give it a quick starsan, add my brew water and minerals, and then just let it sit covered until brew day. I don't plan to do any boiling, but should I be worried about infection? Or minerals in the water dropping out?

 

[Yooper]

I've never sanitized my kettle, or any of my brewing equipment, and I always prepare my water and grain in advance. I think many of us do that.

 

[broadbill]

why would you starsan? Plain water+minerals won't grow anything. It is A-ok to sit overnight

 

[RichBrewer]

Don't forget, you only need to sanitize equipment that will contact cooled wort or beer.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Yeah no starsan even needed. I know plenty of people who let their water sit overnight. You will be just fine!

 

[IslandLizard]

+1^

Do use a 1/4 Campden tablet (per 5 gallons) to remove chlorine/chloramines.

 

[stonebrewer]

I do this almost every brew day for a couple of reasons...

* It's nice to roll outta bed, light the burners and go grab coffee and breakfast while strike is warming
* Even though I filter out chlorine, leaving it sit overnight lets any left in solution escape my pot
* It just makes the brew day a little less hectic...I setup my stand the night before so I don't have to haul gear outta the basement, attach all my hoses, CFC, etc. All that stuff is done so all I have to do is fire the rig up. Really makes the start of the brew day relaxing.
* I also weigh out all my hops, put them in baggies in the freezer, and haul out anything I plan to use brew day from tools to irish moss...it is all waiting for me

Go for it! I am sure you will find it hurts nothing and makes the brew day just that much more enjoyable! Cheers!!

 

[MaryB]

I always crush my grain the day before to let any dust settle out in the brew space. So far I have been using distilled water but I am planning on an RO system and I will collect jugs of water from that a few days in advance probably.

 

[stonebrewer]

Talking about this with some brew buddies of mine today and one of them mentioned an overnight mash...got me thinking about my lagers. I may try this! Mash in the night before brew day (I am almost there now anyhow...so why not spend another 30 minutes heating and transferring strike?). Get up on brew day, transfer to the boil kettle, and cut my day down by 1-2 hours!

 

[Yooper]

Talking about this with some brew buddies of mine today and one of them mentioned an overnight mash...got me thinking about my lagers. I may try this! Mash in the night before brew day (I am almost there now anyhow...so why not spend another 30 minutes heating and transferring strike?). Get up on brew day, transfer to the boil kettle, and cut my day down by 1-2 hours!

Tony, if you do this make sure you take notes and let us know all the details (strike temp, mash temp, morning mash temp) and all the results and I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts!

 

[Doctor_M]

Only issue I can think of would be with lactic acid. Pretty sure you are supposed to add after grain has been added...... this may or may not make sense. I'm on my 8th day of being severely sick

 

[bossman]

Martin of Bru'n Water fame actually recommends adding all salts and acids prior to doughing in. Search his facebook page for "when to add water additives" and he has a pretty good write up on his reasoning behind it.

https://www.facebook.com/Brun-Water-464551136933908/

I'm also really curious how this experiment would turn out and hope someone tries and reports back.

 

[stonebrewer]

Tony, if you do this make sure you take notes and let us know all the details (strike temp, mash temp, morning mash temp) and all the results and I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts!

Lorena,

Will do! I have a kolsch going right now in my chest freezer so as soon as that is done and I can get a brew day in, I am doing this! I have a Bitburger clone that I plan to brew, so that will be my test run. Missed you (a ton!!) at NHC this year...that's two years in a row, dang it!! Cheers!!

Tony