First AG today

[Hopleaf]

Just finished cleaning up and I'm exhausted... I'm looking forward to cutting the time down as I get better at this... I was up until 3 am finishing my manifold last night with my Dad so I owe him some brews I think

It was a good day, learned a lot and my efficiency was 66% assuming I did my calculations correct.

Looking forward to cracking into my first AG American Pale Ale here in a month or so.

 

[sudbuster]

Congrats, on an AG being born. You will get the time down, but to only about 5 1/2 to 6 hrs. Good things come at a cost...... Again, cograts . P.S. Do something nice for your dad

 

[Orfy]

Good work.
The effieciency is a good base line. Post your recipe, techniques and volumes and we can check it for you.

It's very easy to brew a full AG batch in under 4 hours From set up to clean away.
I do it regularly.

 

[sudbuster]

Good work.
The effieciency is a good base line. Post your recipe, techniques and volumes and we can check it for you.

It's very easy to brew a full AG batch in under 4 hours From set up to clean away.
I do it regularly.

Orfy,
I guess i'm just getting too old . It takes me that long to just get to the brew shed. LOL........

 

[WBC]

As they said above, it takes about 5.5 to 6 hours for all grain. It is worth the effort though and you will find ways to get faster and easier. I am working on a better natural gas burner right now and it is 150000 btu's and so it will cut down time and cost. I would like to have a nice 25 gallon boiler and mash tun too as my Blichmann fermenter holds 21 gallons. It seems that if I share my beer, it does not last too well. Be sure to age your beers as this is very necessary. I let my ales sit at least 2 to 3 weeks after a 2 week fermentation. This gives time for the Starsan to disappear and the beer to condition. A lot of home brewers are just too eager to get their brews right into the 34 degree fridge right after fermentation. I let mine sit in the fermenting fridge at 67F 2 to 3 weeks and they are much better for it.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I hear ya, I was exhausted after my first AG, too. But I agree with orfy, < 4hrs for a 5 gal batch is the norm for me, a little longer for a 10 gal batch. If it still takes 5-6 hrs after you get your process down, you're doing something wrong. I did back-to-back batches a while back and kept very close tabs on how long everything took. Total time = 5 hrs 20 mins. Check it out to see where you can shave off some time.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=32200

Cheers

 

[Bobby_M]

It takes a while to get all the steps down in your mind, but then it becomes second nature. It always takes me longer because I usually decide to brew on the same day that I do. The wife will talk to her mother and before I know it, they're leaving for the day for a visit with grandma and hey, I get to brew. I have to learn to have my next batch finalized in beertools and have my grain and hop bill set aside, that will make things easier. Last batch I was heating up my water before I even knew the recipe.

 

[BierMuncher]

I hear ya, I was exhausted after my first AG, too. But I agree with orfy, < 4hrs for a 5 gal batch is the norm for me, a little longer for a 10 gal batch. If it still takes 5-6 hrs after you get your process down, you're doing something wrong. I did back-to-back batches a while back and kept very close tabs on how long everything took. Total time = 5 hrs 20 mins. Check it out to see where you can shave off some time.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=32200

Cheers

My problem is trying to multi-task on a Saturday.
Set the mash...mow the yard. DOH!!! It's been an hour an 30 minutes.
Dump in 1st sparge...and...go check the mail...DOH!!! It's been twenty minutes.
Set kettle to slow boil and clean up grains...(I'm a bit anal about cleaning as I go)...DOH!!! Too long to get to boil.
Time to chill...don't even ask me how much I dick around during this process.

Still, I get done between sun up and sun down so I can't complain. I will say that when I can get home on a Friday night and get cracking right away, I'm a lot more focused and a lot quicker.

 

[abracadabra]

My problem is trying to multi-task on a Saturday.
Set the mash...mow the yard. DOH!!! It's been an hour an 30 minutes.
Dump in 1st sparge...and...go check the mail...DOH!!! It's been twenty minutes.
Set kettle to slow boil and clean up grains...(I'm a bit anal about cleaning as I go)...DOH!!! Too long to get to boil.
Time to chill...don't even ask me how much I dick around during this process.

Still, I get done between sun up and sun down so I can't complain. I will say that when I can get home on a Friday night and get cracking right away, I'm a lot more focused and a lot quicker.

Here's to Multi-Tasking

Either way: multi-tasking or watching the pot to boil, the beer you brew will most likely be better tasting than most anything you could purchase commercially.

Congradulation

 

[ohiobrewtus]

My problem is trying to multi-task on a Saturday.
Set the mash...mow the yard. DOH!!! It's been an hour an 30 minutes.
Dump in 1st sparge...and...go check the mail...DOH!!! It's been twenty minutes.
Set kettle to slow boil and clean up grains...(I'm a bit anal about cleaning as I go)...DOH!!! Too long to get to boil.
Time to chill...don't even ask me how much I dick around during this process.

Still, I get done between sun up and sun down so I can't complain. I will say that when I can get home on a Friday night and get cracking right away, I'm a lot more focused and a lot quicker.

I have the same problem if I start on a weekend morning or afternoon. I'm much more focused on the task at hand if I'm trying to squeeze in a brew on a weeknight.

 

[sudbuster]

I hear ya, I was exhausted after my first AG, too. But I agree with orfy, < 4hrs for a 5 gal batch is the norm for me, a little longer for a 10 gal batch. If it still takes 5-6 hrs after you get your process down, you're doing something wrong. I did back-to-back batches a while back and kept very close tabs on how long everything took. Total time = 5 hrs 20 mins. Check it out to see where you can shave off some time.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=32200

Cheers

I keep close tabs too........
Protein rest: 30
Boost to sacc. temp: 10
Sacc rest: 90
Lauter: 60
Boil: 90
Chill: 30
Transfer & O2 & pitch: 15
Clean up brewshed: 30

Total:~ 5hr 45min

 

[Jester]

I use to be able to squeeze in a brew night during the week when I was doing extract/steeping. Now that I'm doing all-grain, there is no way I could get home from work and be done brewing before 1:00am, at the earliest... I do have to say though, that my first all-grain took almost 2 hours longer than the second time... so it definitely gets quicker as you get use to everything...

 

[Cookiebaggs]

Welcome to AG!

I did 10 gallons in 6.5 hours on Saturday. Fly sparging 11 gallons of water does add quite a bit of time to the process! I maxed out the keggle bringing just under 15 gallons of wort into the brew pot after stopping the runnings at 1.009.

I'm sure I could shave off some time but I enjoy the process. Rushing around like a chicken with my head cut off makes brewing seem too much like work.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

I keep close tabs too........
Protein rest: 30
Boost to sacc. temp: 10
Sacc rest: 90
Lauter: 60
Boil: 90
Chill: 30
Transfer & O2 & pitch: 15
Clean up brewshed: 30

Total:~ 5hr 45min

Kudos on keeping good notes!!

There are several things you can do to cut that down if you want. If not, stick to what you're doing - either way you'll make fine beer.

(-40 mins) Unless there's a really compelling reason, like using unmalted wheat or undermodified barley, I stick to a single infusion mash schedule.

(-15/30 mins) With today's highly modified malted barley, 30-45 minute mash is usually sufficient for starch conversion. I verify with iodine that conversion is complete.

(30 mins) Batch sparging can be easily done in < 30 mins. Even if you like fly sparging, you should try it sometime just to see the difference.

(30 mins) The only time I boil for longer than 60 mins is if I'm doing a big beer and need to sparge more to completely rinse the grains. It seems like a waste of time otherwise.

There, I just shaved ~ 2 hours off of your brew day. You can send me a couple bottles of your inaugural AG for the advice.

 

[sudbuster]

There, I just shaved ~ 2 hours off of your brew day. You can send me a couple bottles of your inaugural AG for the advice.

Lil' Sparky, I've been keeping good notes since 1976, but thanks for the complement. I'm afraid i won't be able to send you a bottle of inaugral AG though, because we drank it all up in April, 1978. Everyone has their protocal. I just haven't used "dump and flush" since i started brewing lagers.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

Oops. Sorry, you are an Old Timer. Got your post confused with the OP.

Well, I guess I'll settle for a bottle of your 53295721091st brew then.