Epic/Idiotic BrewDay - 3 batches, flying solo

[blackwaterbrewer]

you run 6.6 minute miles? and that's if you RUN out of bed at 7 am and, still breathing heavily, start the coffee!!!what about stretching and conditioning? maybe you should get up earlier so you don't hurt yourself by jumping out of a sound sleep without warming up and sprinting 9 miles. what if you have to piss when you wake up? now you will have to run 6 minute miles.

 

[v2comp]

Getting ready for beer festivals we attend, this has been almost a common practice with our club.
Not the running of course, but doing 3 batches back to back to back.
other than the heat here in Alabama, the brew days arent really that stressful anymore because it really isnt just 1 day thats involved, I mill the grains the night before and weigh out the hops into plastic ziplock bags. I mark everything with a sharpie and put my brew sheet/ recipe from beertools pro with the mash schedule into the grain bags. I load up the hot liquor tank the night before and set up the rig.
the next morning around 7ish , I climb my lazy arse out of bed and immediately fire up the hlt, from there on its just a matter execution and a little help from a club member or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5.....lol, depending on whos wife needs a break from their loving man that day.

 

[Korben]

0700 am – wake up, run 9 miles
0800 am – Coffee, throw some tunes on, heat 2 gal H20 to 160F in SS kettle

Dang those are all sub 7 minute miles... beastly

 

[dcHokie]

Looks like an awesome day!

I would mention that you could start mashing on batch two as soon as you start boiling the first batch. That ends up shaving a few hours off your day.

At first I planned out everything step by step like this. Then gradually I got away from that. When it took me 8 hours to make one batch earlier this year, I knew it was time to get back to planning. Now I have the key steps planned out with general timing of pacing steps. As a result I can make two five gallon batches in six hours with 45-minute mashes and 60-minute boils. At any time I can look where I am on the checklist and see what I'm supposed to be doing "right now".

Maybe it comes down to personality but I love having it all planned out. That way I avoid the OH **** moment, for the most part.

Totally agree. I've found that I'm much, much more efficient with a checklist. Maybe I'm anal, but I've found it actually makes the brewday more relaxing and enjoyable b/c I'm never worried about missing a step. It keeps me on task, especially once I've had a few.

Thanks for the suggestion: I may try to time the 3rd mash to coincide with the 2nd boil, since I'll already have the experience of multi-tasking the first two batches.

Dang those are all sub 7 minute miles... beastly

I didn't actually mean to include the running in the HBT version of my brewday checklist, but thanks - I'm training for a fall marathon and aiming for a Boston Marathon qualifying time.

 

[EricCSU]

So, how did it go?

Eric

 

[EricT]

He probaly sprained is ankle running 9 miles and nevr got to brew Hopefully not but thats the first thing that came to my mind LOL. I'd be lucky to run 5 miles.

 

[dcHokie]

So, how did it go?

Eric

I've been traveling and haven't had time to post a recap until now.

Much longer day than I had originally planned (DUH); there were a few procedural missteps and a couple minor equipment malfunctions. But all in all, a success. It was a really hot day -- about 85 degrees with 90% humidity (so for the other runners out there, I only ran 7 miles). Yes, I showered.

I started about an hour late and by the time I hit the beginning of the boil on the first batch I was another hour behind, so I basically threw the schedule out the window. I didn't allow nearly enough time to drain my grain (especially the 10 gal batch) and should've given myself more time between steps. I also forgot to double-up on fermcap and yeast fuel on the 10 gal batch (not the end of the world). I finished the brewday a few minutes after midnight.


I lost my siphon racking to my primary carboy on the first batch. So I ended up having to tip my keggle and use a grain bag over a funnel to keep the trub to a minimum. Good for aeration, but it took forever, kept getting clogged and was a general PITA. I need to reposition or change my diptube setup, and after that mishap I'm adding a SS scrubby. I'm also making one of those spider-leg kettle hopsacks. By the end of the day, I realized why those things are so handy. Also, I need to find a way to get the keggle off the burner (or vice-versa) once I get the IC going, that thing was still putting out a ton of heat. I just used the runoff water to cool it and the keggle down, but by the end of the day I had rust on the burner. Any pointers on this???

A major brain fart: I threw an airlock on the first batch with the idea of switching to a blowoff tube when it started creeping. Well, I forgot, and it was a big Hefe cake. Needless to say, I woke up to quite a mess in the morning. Yeast/beer on the ceiling and everything covered in the brew closet. The airlock was actually cracked from the ceiling impact.

Obviously the day would have been smoother with a helper, but I really wanted to see what I was capable of doing solo. My advice: Plan for a long day and give yourself an evening to prep. Clean and sanitize everything you can think of, and some back-ups. Have food/snacks ready. Have a sanitizing bucket or container full at all times, and a sanitizer spray bottle - that was a huge help. Don't start drinking too soon (or do). Be prepared for a big freakin mess. And lastly, do it! While I won't do this every brewday, it was fun and at the end of the day I had 4 full carboys and a one gallon experimental bubbling away and I hit all my target OGs dead on!

thanks again for all the advice folks! I'll post some pics later.

 

[dcHokie]

the ceiling the following morning, after the airlock went rocketship mode:

the corresponding floor mess:

the big brewday's yield! (or the mad scientist closet according to SWMBO):

 

[Montanaandy]

"Make certain that you allow about 3 hours + for "Murphy's Law" which will come into play in a situation such as this. Figure on finishing around midnight and you will be fine. Montanaandy"

Ok, so what do I win

 

[thedude27]

If I brewed 3 batches of beer in 1 day I'd end up with a hell of a hangover the next day. I tend to lose a lot of time to the "walk to the keg and refill" step in my brew schedule lol. I did a double batch (with decoct mash) and a single a few weeks ago, too much work and I'm not anxious to repeat it.

As far as the running thing I will have to say that if whatever was chasing me for the first mile didnt give up by then I think I would have to turn around and fight it Thats pretty much the only reason I can usually find to run haha


Oh and to add, my ceiling looked just like that when I first tried my homemade beer gun.

 

[dcHokie]

If I brewed 3 batches of beer in 1 day I'd end up with a hell of a hangover the next day. I tend to lose a lot of time to the "walk to the keg and refill" step in my brew schedule lol. I did a double batch (with decoct mash) and a single a few weeks ago, too much work and I'm not anxious to repeat it.

It was a lot of work for sure and let's just say things got a little loose in the late evening portion of the brewday. It was a pretty taxing day

"Make certain that you allow about 3 hours + for "Murphy's Law" which will come into play in a situation such as this. Figure on finishing around midnight and you will be fine. Montanaandy"

Ok, so what do I win

Touche Montanaandy, touche. Well played, sir. I'm checking on the raffle prize.

 

[brewnickbrew]

dcHokie - I see you are another runner/brewer like me. Thought I was the only one.
My self, I'm an Ultrarunner. Unlike you though, I am slow as dirt.

Good for you.

 

[dcHokie]

dcHokie - I see you are another runner/brewer like me. Thought I was the only one.
My self, I'm an Ultrarunner. Unlike you though, I am slow as dirt.

Good for you.

Whoa brewnick, I can't hold a candle to ultrarunning, now THAT is impressive. That's gotta be tough to balance that type of training and brewing. What sort of distances do you run/race? is that 50 miles, 100K?

 

[brewnickbrew]

Whoa brewnick, I can't hold a candle to ultrarunning, now THAT is impressive. That's gotta be tough to balance that type of training and brewing. What sort of distances do you run/race? is that 50 miles, 100K?

The furthest I've ran was 64 miles (slightly longer than a 100k.)
Been to 50+ miles a few times.
Most of my training runs are 20+, my longest training run was a 42 miler.
I attempted Javelina Jundred (100 miler) last October and had to drop out at 51 miles due to a back injury.
My little races are usually 50k's (31.1 miles). I am a distance person, but not fast at all. Wished I had that kind of speed.