Homebrew Time Saving Techniques

[Breadontap]

I have seen several homebrewers come and go due to the lack of time to brew. The now ex-homebrewers usually make claims that they cannot not brew since they have had children.

I would like to help people understand that there may be some time savers that can help the out. Hopefully this will keep the hobby strong, growing and good beer flowing.

I must confess that since I have had children it has become harder to find the time but it is more my own fault then theirs. I don't want to go back to extract which is an automatic 1.5 hours. I also prefer 90 minute boils. I know there are several ways to save time on a brew day. How do you save time?

Please post your ideas and maybe you can save a homebrewer.

 

[Psylocide]

Mash for 30 min... skip the 90 min boil. Thats excessive unless you're using pilsner malt.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=519602


Mash way shorter

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=519615


Break up the brew day. Mash overnight.


https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=515150

 

[thaymond]

Clean as you go. Staring at a mountain of dirty equipment is like staring down a mountain of laundry. You know that all that stuff has to get cleaned, dried, then put away. It can cut some time off of the end of the day.

I work it out with my wife way ahead of time about brew days. This makes it easier to get all the work/house/kid stuff taken care of first so that there are no unexpected interruptions during the day.

Brewing extract is another time saver. Ag folks tend to scoff at extract brewing, but it is a great way to knock out a brew in a time crunch. Plus it's reminiscent of how most of us started.

Lots of debate on the brewing end. I like the process and take my sweet time with it. Shortened mash schedules, skipping steps, abbreviated boils all sounds like the enjoyment of the process has gone, or ones more bored with the process because it is routine. I try to mix it up when I get that feeling and do something new or try out a new technique, recipe, or style. It adds some spice to the mix.

 

[kpr121]

Set up what you can the night before (mill grain, weigh hops, get water and mineral additions done, set up all equipment so you don't need to do that the next day). Not really saving overall time per say but makes brewday itself faster.

I start heating strike water about 30-45 minutes before brew day is supposed to start- wake up around 530am, go downstairs and turn on HLT. Go back upstairs and either make coffee and breakfast or back to bed for a little bit. I run electric so ymmv with gas/propane. Sometimes I'll run my mash overnight even.

mash and boil for 30/45 minutes, and no chill are also ways to save a bit of time on brewday. I've never done all at the same time though.

 

[JonM]

+1 to all of the above - esp setting up the day before and clean as you go.

If you really get in a time pinch, Northern Brewer had 20-minute boil extract kits. I got one just because I wanted to test out some new equipment without the fuss of a full brew day. Guess what? It was surprisingly good.

 

[raysmithtx]

I set everything up the day before and grind my grains. I measure the water and put a immersion heater in the kettle attached to a Heavy duty timer. I wake up to hot mash water and I'm ready to dump the grain in immediately.

 

[madscientist451]

If you have kids, they only young once, soon enough they'll get the teenager attitude and then be gone, so its a good thing to put hobbies aside and spend time with them while they are around. But you don't have to put all hobbies aside, and shortening your brew day can keep your beer pipeline going at a reduced level.
I started brewing with all grain, but then tried tried a 15 minute extract brew after reading about it here. I couldn't believe how quick and easy it was. The beer was ok, but I think with some tweaking I can improve it a lot. Some people at my brew club have entered short boil extract brews in competitions with decent results.
Take a look at your process and decide where you can cut time. Do you really need to haul everything outside and brew a 10 gallon batch? Get an 8 gallon pot and brew in the kitchen while the Mrs is out shopping and you are watching the kids. Brew at night and set the pot outside for an overnight chill, skip the extended sparge and do a batch sparge or no sparge. Sell some stuff you don't need and get a kegging set up, that will save time on bottling.
My 3 kids are in their late teens and early 20's now, and don't have time for their dad, wife is now ex wife so I can brew whenever I want, but still seem crunched for time. I mix in an extract batch now and then, usually a hoppy pale ale type brew, its easy and fun and a good way to experiment with some hops I haven't tried before.

 

[Breadontap]

Thanks all of you for your great input. I hope it will help people see that you can still enjoy an abbreviated version o this hobby.

I personally love my all grain brewing but wouldn't mind going back to extract on occasion just to keep kegs full.

Has anyone considered brewing extract in a Sanke that still has the top on and doing the French press method for hops. Then just doing a long chill?

I ferment in a 7.75 pony and have considered this. That seems like it would cut down time in almost every part.

What are your thoughts?

 

[TX_Brewing]

I brew at night after the kids are in bed, usually start around 8, done by 1. Catch a few winks and am up by 7 with the little ones.

Biggest time savers for me have been:

Batch sparging instead of fly, and then moved on the Breweasy/Brutus 20 method.

Chilling wort with ice water and recirculating the brew kettle.

Our grocery store gives out free ice to keep meat and cold items cold. I accumulate this ice in my freezer and use it on brew day.

 

[Grinnan5150]

If you are an all grain brewer switch to BIAB or extract kits. I went to BIAB and I'll never go back to sparging. It saves about 1-2 hours and is way less mess to clean up.

You can brew an extract kit after the kids go to bed.

 

[vincentAlpha]

A big time saver for me has been my counterflow chiller. Takes about the same amount of time as just draining my kettle and I can do other stuff while it is filling up the fermenter. No muss, no fuss, next to no attention required. Even gives me hot water to clean up with.

 

[huckbof]

Some of these are obvious, but I try to have only heating, mashing, lautering, collecting, boiling and cooling in the critical path and do everything else in parallel.

1. Make sure I have stocked (and maybe weighed) all ingredients ahead of time, not knowing when I will brew. Then when a window presents I am rtg.

2. Store large enough quantities of yeast so I don't need to plan a starter

3. Have the complete brew plan outside on a clipboard with a calculator - no fumbling around for info

4. Know the equations, how to do all necessary calculations manually on a calculator and not waste time accessing and using the interwebs.

5. Mill the grain while the mash water is heating full bore and win that race.

6. In the colder weather store water, grain and mash tun inside to heat up faster and hit mash temps dead on, eliminates time for mash temp adjustments

7. Have sparge water at the target temperature just as the first runnings are done.

8. Start heating the 1st runnings in the boil kettle while sparging. But don't let it boil until all of the wort has been added to the kettle.

9. Have a cold water bath and small copper saucepan to cool samples quickly. Some brews like partigyles require gravity readings to take further action.

10. Clean mash tun and sanitize fermentor and cooling coils during the boil.
If brewing solo, have some room in your kettle or turn down the boil to prevent boilovers while doing some tasks in parallel.

11. Also during the boil or cool, have the fermentation location ready to accept a fermentor. I use crawl space, closets, garage floor, laundry room floor, kitchen floor, temp controlled chamber etc. depending upon the brew and the current weather conditions.

12. Sanitize funnel and sieve while cooling. Use max flow on the cooling water.

 

[huckbof]

Having an extra heating setup and kettle will save a lot of time when doing things like carmelizations and partigyles