Getting Older, and brewing in a time crunch

[wfowlks]

So I have found a problem lately with brewing: Time. It takes me roughly 8 hours start (Filling the pot with water) to putting the last piece of equipment away to brew a 10 gallon all-grain batch (BIAB).

A few of the places that I have isolated that take the longest time: Mashing (60-90 Min), and the largest time consumer is heating the water.

These long brew days used to be fine, but now at the ripe old age of 28, time is starting to be more scarce. Especially with a 15 month old running around and in the next year or 2, #2 will be in the picture.

We are moving into our first house in May, and the house has Natural Gas. I have looked into it, and while cheaper the heat potential is about 1/4th that of Propane.

But I don't know if doing more 5 gallon batches, or just figuring out a way to reduce the time needed for a 10 gallon batch is going to be better.

I have done some preliminary scanning for ideas, but I think

Lastly I am toying with a Wok Jet burner and also debating getting a NG disconnect attached to the side of the house so I can brew.

But I am mainly looking to solicit feedback/ideas because I can't be the only one that is facing this.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Get a Hot Rod (drop-in electric heating element) from Brewhardware.com. That should really help to reduce heat-up times.

 

[Melana]

Brewing 10 Gallons keeps the frequency in which you brew down.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Brewing 10 Gallons keeps the frequency in which you brew down.

True, true. You'll save time cleaning your rig once instead of twice for the same amount of beer.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Brewing 10 Gallons keeps the frequency in which you brew down.

Also double or even triple brew days if you have the attention span can fill a pipeline and occur on those rare occasions you have the place rug-rat free. If you do all grain, it normally adds about 1-1.5 hours per batch to your normal one-batch brew day.

If you do not love every bit of minutia of brewing, one of the the systems that combine many process into on vessel with some level of automation help on the time aspect but hit the wallet harder. If successful, the Grainfather that has been collecting kickstarter funds seems a nice balance of automation, involvement in the process and price. For me the Brewha BIAC seems the best all around but needs some work by you and a dedicated 220V plug.

http://brewhaequipment.com/products/biac-package

I am still looking at natural gas to brew inside as it is a such a cheap conversion for me but I just unwilling to pull the trigger at this time.

 

[RM-MN]

Why are you mashing for 60 to 90 minutes? Is your grain milled so poorly that you must mash that long? I BIAB and mash for 20 minutes. Me efficiency stayed the same, I hit my OG and my FG comes out a little lower than predicted so I know I have full conversion. Give 30 minutes a try sometime and see how your brewhouse efficiency changes.

 

[Schreiner]

+1 on 10 gallon batches.

Some may cringe here, but there's no shame on brewing an extract based batch once and a while when you're in a crunch. I did a couple last year after years of exclusively all grain brewing. It turns out that all of the other improvements in my brewing practices through the years also helped improve an extract recipie. My sweet stout was my first beer to make it to the NHC finals. :rockin:

 

[aangel]

There's a few ways to reduce time...
-no sparge
-reducing mash time
-going electric / automated (still takes time, but you can leave it alone)
-automate cleaning (keg/carboy washer)
-ferment in kegs to simplify transfer
-ditch secondary fermentation
-swapping diaphragm valves for ball valves (no disassembly ever needed)

 

[kombat]

I'm confident there are definitely ways you can streamline your brew day. 8 hours is ridiculously long, even for a 10 gallon batch. A 10 gallon brew day for me would take 6 hours, tops.

What I find helps immensely is preparation. A few days before brew day, I weigh out (but don't mill) my grain. I also weigh out my hops and package them individually with a vacuum sealer, labeling each pouch with the name of the hops and the addition time. I gather them all together in a ZipLoc baggie in the freezer. Finally, I fill a 6 gallon bucket with tap water and mix in 1/4 of a crushed up Camden tablet to give it a couple of days to off-gas any chlorine and/or chloramines (I'm on city water).

The night before brewing, I set up all my equipment (I store my gear in the basement but brew in the garage).

Brew Day

0:00 - 0:30

On the morning of brew day, I collect 2 gallons of hot tap water in a Home Depot bucket, dump it in my mash tun (a modified Coleman cooler), and close the lid. I then measure out my strike water and start heating it. While it's heating, I mill my grains. I then dump the hot water out of the cooler, add my strike water, and mix in the grains. That all happens within the first 30 minutes of brew day.

0:30 - 1:30

40 minutes later, I measure out my sparge water and start heating it. I recirculate the wort in the mash tun until it's clear, then collect my first runnings and transfer them to my boil kettle and start heating them.

1:30 - 2:00

I dump in my sparge water, give it a good stir, wait 5 minutes for it to settle, recirculate for another 5 minutes, then collect my second runnings and add them to my boil kettle with the first runnings (which are almost - but not quite - boiling by now). 15 minutes later, it's boiling.


2:00 - 3:00

I boil for an hour. While it's boiling, I dump the grains out of my mash tun and clean it thoroughly. With 15 minutes left in my boil, I set up my pump and plate chiller, and recirculate some boiling wort to sanitize everything. I also start rehydrating my yeast.

3:00 - 3:30

At the end of the boil, I kill the flame and begin chilling. With a plate chiller and February tap water, this takes about 7 minutes for a 5 gallon batch, maybe 10-12 for a 10 gallon batch. Once it reaches 65° F, I rack it to a carboy with an autosiphon. While the beer is transferring, I clean the pump, chiller, and hoses, by recirculating hot Oxyclean backwards through it.

3:30 - 4:00

Finally, I aerate or oxygenate the beer, move it into the fermentation chamber, and pitch the yeast.

4:00 - 5:00

Last, but not least, I clean everything thoroughly and put everything away back downstairs.

That's a pretty pessimistic timeline. Most steps don't take quite as long as I've outlined here. However, with some brews I might mash longer, boil longer (Pilsner malt or Imperial beers), or do a 30-minute post-boil hopstand (IPAs). Still, it would be unusual for it to take more than 6 hours, so I can't imagine how it would take 8 hours.

Hopefully this has given you some ideas about how you might be able to improve your process and streamline your brew day. Preparation ahead of time helps, and getting started early on brew day helps too. I'm lighting my burner by 7:00 am and am usually done by lunch.

 

[btbnl]

Multi-batch brew days can really cut the time-per-gallon - with 2 burners, 2 bags and 3 keggles I regularly BIAB 20 gallons in 6-7 hours.

I start with a 10G hoppy batch (APA/IPA), mashing in ~11G water.

The 2nd batch is 5G, so I heat ~12G timed to reach strike temperature as the 1st mash finishes so I can use 4G as dunk-sparge water using the 3rd keggle.

When the 1st batch finishes I use the the first ~8G of water from the immersion chiller as mash water for the 3rd batch - typically it's at about 150F, so getting it to strike temperature is pretty quick.

The 2nd and 3rd batches typically aren't as hoppy (often a bitter and a stout), so I no-chill them to save time and water.

 

[fimpster]

I've only brewed 10 gallons a couple of times since upgrading to a 16 gal kettle. I mostly still do 5.5 gal batches. I didn't really notice much difference in how long it takes except to get the larger volume to a boil, which added maybe 10 extra minutes to my brew days. For all intents and purposes, a 5 gallon brew day takes roughly as long as a 10 gallon brew day for me.

A typical brew day from the very start of prep, to finishing with putting all of my cleaned equipment away, is around 5 to 5.5 hours. I use a Bayou Classic Banjo Burner KAB4 which makes pretty quick work of heating water. I pretty much always mash for 60 minutes. I boil for 60 to 90 minutes depending on recipe.

Me thinks you can find ways to shave at least a couple of hours off your brew day.

 

[andrewmaixner]

Saw a brew club member with a nice home-made e-HERMS setup that gave me some good ideas. One of the big things is being able to break it up into sections instead of a huge block of time

-design recipe
-prepare/sanatize anything that needs prep/san (yeast, fermenters)

1) pre-heat strike water with a electric heat stick, temp controller, and on/off-timer: 5 minutes setup time, set it to heat overnight or before you get off work

-come back later

2) mash in: gravity-fed dump to full-volume mash tun, so you can't spill over
3) hook up mash tun output to copper HERMS coil (which is also the cooling coil later on), either in the re-heated strike water vessel, or in a second vessle that's also been electrically pre-heated to mash temp. adjust this vessel's heater to desired finishing mash temp, if there is a rise. Pump mash through it to recirculate and maintain temp.

-do something else for an hour+

4) redirect output to boil kettle, FWH, start heat immediately to get it boiling, then turn down to desired level
5) set timers for when you need to do any additions

-stop back in when you need to add anything, hop-stand, etc

6) hook the copper coil up to the sink or icewater, hook up the whirlpool arm to pump, go.

- let it run till you come back, or till a temp alarm tells you it's ready

7) transfer, O2, pitch, temp chamber, etc.

- CIP, or give a quick rinse, or do dishes when you have time later, or the next day.

=========================

I personally am currently doing 11 Gal batches with a single-infusion batch mash (drain at 30-60 min and mash-out with new infusion, or, do a full-volume mash if it's a weaker beer and I have less time), and have it so I can generally walk away and clean the house, or play with kids, or something, for large time blocks during the mash and the boil, and do dishes later. It works better than trying to sit there doing beer for 6 hours straight.

Also: Rice hulls: buy them by the 10lb and use judiciously to never have a slow mash when you need it out fast.

 

[Thedutchtouch]

my biggest time savers on brew day so far have been: crushing grain the day before, starting with hot tap water ( haven't found any taste difference vs brewing with water that didn't go through my hot water heater), using (propane) banjo burner. you could also try no-chill methods to cut out that time as well, just pitch your yeast the next day once it's cool.

 

[pegcitybrewer]

I hear you on the little kids. I've got 2 under 2. I've gone back to extract to cut down time. Still makes great beer

 

[brick_haus]

Yea, I too brew 10 gallon batches in 6 hrs or slightly less, this does not include the time spent designing recipes, water profiles and making starters.
I start by setting up my HLT with only strike water (no time to heat up any more than needed now!). Then when my water is heating I set up the mash tun, mill grains and anything else I have time for.
I use blichmann burners on propane. These are very effecient burners, time wise.
I set up the boil kettle during the mash and measure/heat the sparge water when appropriate.
During the boil, I set up my chilling system, clean the mash tun, prepare the fermenter and of course set a timer to remember the hop additions etc.
I do not pre measure the hop additions, I seem to have time during the boil to do this (no 2 yr olds at my house).
Then put the fermentor in the chamber and start cleaning up...
I like the aforementioned drop in heating element idea, but my burners seem to be quick enough for me.

 

[wfowlks]

Why are you mashing for 60 to 90 minutes? Is your grain milled so poorly that you must mash that long? I BIAB and mash for 20 minutes. Me efficiency stayed the same, I hit my OG and my FG comes out a little lower than predicted so I know I have full conversion. Give 30 minutes a try sometime and see how your brewhouse efficiency changes.

I will try that this weekend. I actually mill my own but I'll try this. Have you done this with higher gravity beers?

 

[greyghost]

Go with a NG jet burner. 10 or 23 jet depending on the Dia. of your of boil kettle. I use a 10 with my keggle and it works great and it's cheap.

 

[RM-MN]

I will try that this weekend. I actually mill my own but I'll try this. Have you done this with higher gravity beers?

No, I have never tried it with beers over about 1.095. With that and a 30 minute mash I still hit my usual 85% efficiency.

 

[Nagorg]

It takes me 8-9 hours for a 10G or 15G batch, But I include setup and cleanup in that estimate. I usually dont get everything put back away until the next morning since I let parts dry first and such.

It's defiantly a time commitment and this is one of the reasons I stepped up my batch size. That way I get more beer for the same time commitment so I don't brew as often as I did with 5G batches. I'm happily married with two kids and want to stay that way! (And btw, 28... old? lol)

 

[wfowlks]

I've only brewed 10 gallons a couple of times since upgrading to a 16 gal kettle. I mostly still do 5.5 gal batches. I didn't really notice much difference in how long it takes except to get the larger volume to a boil, which added maybe 10 extra minutes to my brew days. For all intents and purposes, a 5 gallon brew day takes roughly as long as a 10 gallon brew day for me.

A typical brew day from the very start of prep, to finishing with putting all of my cleaned equipment away, is around 5 to 5.5 hours. I use a Bayou Classic Banjo Burner KAB4 which makes pretty quick work of heating water. I pretty much always mash for 60 minutes. I boil for 60 to 90 minutes depending on recipe.

Me thinks you can find ways to shave at least a couple of hours off your brew day.

WOW! that thing puts out 210,000 BTUs. The WokJet only puts out 160,000!

 

[z-bob]

Build an electric HLT. It will cut hours off of your brew day, and save money over heating with propane. Mine is a 5 gallon bucket with a 5500W element. (I do 4 gallon brews, and mash and boil on top of the stove)

 

[wilserbrewer]

If at all possible, set up to e-brew in the basement of your new home.

1. Heat strike water on a timer....
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/i-love-waking-up-hot-strike-water-easy-1-2-3-a-381737/

2. Mash overnight

3. No chill

These three things implemented in an indoor brewery will make brewing very easy and convenient without a major time commtment

 

[philipCT]

Moving stuff around, setup and breakdown were always very time consuming for me. I finally carved out a tiny eight by twelve space in the basement, put in water and ventilation and an electric system. That has trimmed my brewday down considerably and made things a lot easier, with all the little brew tools close at hand.

I'm set up for 10 g batches and brew those often, but lately have been brewing 5g batches for more variety. Fives definitely take a little less time, but not much.

The biggest time sucks I've fixed were a slow hop filtration rig and aeration for 30 mins with an aquarium pump deal. I use a convolutus chiller that in the winter with 47 degree ground water I can fill a fiver in about 7 mins.

Hope this helps!

 

[Auger]

+1 on 10 gallon batches.

Some may cringe here, but there's no shame on brewing an extract based batch once and a while when you're in a crunch. I did a couple last year after years of exclusively all grain brewing. It turns out that all of the other improvements in my brewing practices through the years also helped improve an extract recipie. My sweet stout was my first beer to make it to the NHC finals. :rockin:

I've been thinking about this as a way to get more variety in what I have going. I figure that when I start heating strike water for a 10gal all-grain batch, I could start a 5gal extract batch in the boil kettle at the same time and be done in plenty of time to start sparging the all-grain batch.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Moving stuff around, setup and breakdown were always very time consuming for me.

A lot of folks have said this and I am sure it is true. My old 3-tier that resided down the hill in my detached garage took about 45 minutes to set up and breakdown on my front porch. That being said, now that I am older and hopefully wiser, my current 3-tier rolls out on casters, unfolds and the HLT is is heating strike water in about 10 minutes. The rest of the set-up takes all of about 15 minutes. In winter it all takes a little longer because I have to retrieve items from the house like the hose and filter but I still am under 30 minutes and 10 of that is after the HLT starts doing it thing.

Maybe looking at ways to make set-up easier is the biggest time-saver.

 

[wfowlks]

Thanks guys for all your feedback. I am hoping that I am able to get more beer brewed with all the tips!