How long does your brew day take with your electric systems?

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Not a lot of time spent hovering over the kit, especially if only half batch being done as the auto program is well dialled in so no chance of a boil over.

That's another thing that keeps me too much near the kettle. I have this possibly wrong idea that I have to stir the wort during boiling to reduce the risk of scorching. I suppose this makes no sense, because I have theoretically no solids in the wort, and the convective motion should move the wort all around.

There is some "dust" coming out from the hop basket, but I have the impression that it will all swim at the surface and tint of green the froth.

From what you say, I should realize that stirring the wort is not necessary at all, and that during the tedious boil I can do whatever else without paying attention to the kettle, once the first 10-15 minutes have elapsed without overflow.
 
On my 3V Herms it takes me 6 hours from turning it on and pouring water to clean and lights out. I have also come up with a very quick method too and it only takes about 20 min from start to finish. How ever the beer seems to cost more per glass?
 
5-6 gallon BIAB using Avantco 3.5 KW induction heater takes me 3-4 hours including cleaning. I use hot water from the faucet which takes me to around 140F to start with.
 
5-6 gallon BIAB using Avantco 3.5 KW induction heater takes me 3-4 hours including cleaning. I use hot water from the faucet which takes me to around 140F to start with.
I should try the hot water as it is about 130 in my house. It would kick start the process. I'm always a little shy about using hot water from the tap and the only thing I currently use it for cooking is when I use my sous vide, which never actually touches the food. I have a relatively new hot water heater so maybe the crud buildup hasn't happened yet.
 
About 5 hours for a 5.5 gallon batch using a 3500W induction plate. Doing 2 batch sparges while heating runnings.

From starting to heat strike water while milling to wort oxygenation and pitching yeast. Cleanups while the brew progresses, such as dumping and rinsing out mash tun.

This does not include cleaning the boil kettle, pump, plate chiller, hop bags, etc. That's another hour I'd say.
But I often brew 2 batches back to back so there's only one kettle/rig cleanup at the very end. ;)
Same here. I don't even attempt to get rid of the spent grain if a few days haven't passed. I let the grains drain in a bucket and I try to collect them when they are not too wet. I must recycle them in the humid collection and I cannot just throw "garbage" in it, I dry it as much as possible and "pack" it in compostable shoppers. Only then will I be able to clean the grain basket.

In my last brew I used some PVPP (in tiny amounts) so I cannot save some of it for bread.

Be careful with spent grains. Don't ask me how I know (what a mess!)
 
Be careful with spent grains. Don't ask me how I know (what a mess!)

Yes the more one lets them dry, the more they ferment until there is an acid smell going round the apartment. Putting the grains in the compostable shoppers develops an acrid smell. The thing is sticky too. I use some cardboard boxes to bring the heavy shoppers at the bin, because I am afraid they would disastrously break on the way.

Spent grains management is the most annoying thing of the hobby, and it makes me certain that I will do some E+G kit in the future in any case, just to take an holiday from that mess!
 
Shame it can't be dried and compressed and then used for fuel, now if I had a pellet boiler reckon it would be all up in smoke. That's a capex on the brewing budget I'm not going to.
 
With BIAB the spent grains are already contained in the bag and go back into the big plastic bag they came in, and then into a kitchen garbage bag. The big problem is that you can't just put them out into a garbage can as the animals then make a mess of them. This is why I brew on Tuesdays now, garbage pickup is Wednesday morning. I let them sit one time and the smell became overwhelming.

And yea, walk away time is still elapsed time. My brew day would be 3 hours if I didn't count that. I'm talking from the time you pull out the first equipment to the time it is all cleaned up and put away with the brew in the fermenter.
 
120v 3vessel system, so most of my brew day is heating times, but with those longer times, I don’t have to be present, so it’s negligible to me

An average ipa brew day from the minute I touch my kettles to the minute I put everything away, is about 7ish hours.

-2-2.5hours initial heating of HLT water + Mash Tun depending on time of year and ground water temp
-15 minutes to mash in and set up recirc
-1 hour mash
-15 minute ramp to mashout
-45 minute sparge
-45-60ish minutes to ramp to boil
-1 hour boil
-5 minutes to chill to whirlpool temp
-20-30 minute hopstand/whirlpool
-20 minutes to knock out to fermenter
-another 20 minutes to rinse the boil kettle and drain remaining liquid from system. I clean the MLT while wort is boiling
 
I made a 5 gallon BIAB batch yesterday with my 120v Digiboil. I started at 7:30 and was pretty much finished by the time my 11:00 meeting started (the only thing left to do was rinse off the chiller and a bucket - too bad the meeting didn't start at 11:03). So it was 3 1/2 hours. That's with an hour-long mash and an hour-long boil.

The big caveat is that I measured/milled my grains the night before, and I got the water ready as well. When I woke up, it was at strike temperature so all I had to do was add grains for the mash. If I was starting from scratch, it likely would have taken another hour to pour the water and heat it. I don't consider it part of my brew day because I'm asleep when it's heating, but I can see why someone would feel otherwise.
 
about 24 hours for me...

I'll measure and mill grain the night before and fill my kettle.
In the morning I'll dough in and let it mash all day long while I'm at work.
Come home mash out and brew.
By evening it's in the fermenter.
 
I made a 5 gallon BIAB batch yesterday with my 120v Digiboil. I started at 7:30 and was pretty much finished by the time my 11:00 meeting started (the only thing left to do was rinse off the chiller and a bucket - too bad the meeting didn't start at 11:03). So it was 3 1/2 hours. That's with an hour-long mash and an hour-long boil.

The big caveat is that I measured/milled my grains the night before, and I got the water ready as well. When I woke up, it was at strike temperature so all I had to do was add grains for the mash. If I was starting from scratch, it likely would have taken another hour to pour the water and heat it. I don't consider it part of my brew day because I'm asleep when it's heating, but I can see why someone would feel otherwise.
I guess my point in posting this originally was to see if the actual brew day could be shortened. If heating the water unattended overnight works I would count that as a win. I've at least had the water set up the night before, but I'm using the gas stove so I can't have it ready in advance.

I'm retired so the time doesn't really bother me, but while I was still working it basically took an entire weekend day, even if I started at 6am when I'd normally be getting up for work. By the time I was done I didn't want to do much else even if it isn't a physically difficult activity to brew. And starting that early wasn't an option because it took the kitchen out of service and with 3 kids they always wanted something.
 
5gal BIAB 240V 5500 watt element w overnight mash (sous vide cooker). Total 3.5hrs as follows; 1hr in evening for initial water heating, grain milled, hops set aside in freezer, water adjusted and finally grain in bag into the pot. Sous vide to hold temp over night w sleeping bag. Next morning 2.5hrs; BIAB lift, heat to boil and put out hops. During 60min boil, finish off grain bag & dump grains in compose bin, filter water for next brew (into 5g jugs), keg prior brew in cold crash frig, clean FV for this batch. Towards end of boil drop in wort chiller which uses recycled water from 35g brute trash can with 6-7 gallons of ice in 1/2g milk jugs and sump pump. During chilling clean BIAB/hop bags and any mess. Wort drained into FV at 75-70f with FV placed in chest freezer w temp control. Brew pot cleaned, yeast ready, milk jugs back in freezer and finally drop in yeast.... done. Time for breakfast!
 
I guess my point in posting this originally was to see if the actual brew day could be shortened. If heating the water unattended overnight works I would count that as a win.
The anvil Foundry, and maybe other all I ones, can have a delayed start. You can set your kettle to start heating up at night and when you wake up, you're at mash temp.
 
i cut a little time when going electric not a ton maybe went from 6 hours propane to 5 hours electric. But the big difference is i don't need to be nearly as attentive. I can flip the switch to get the water heating and go take care of some other things brewing related (or not) without worrying about overshooting my temps or burning my house down with an open flame in the garage. So yes saved a bit of time but more importantly brew day is allot more relaxed and easy
 
Agreed a couple of different temps and a mash out very easy and as I normally only max 2/3 fill my guten 70 litre I don't watch over it coming to boil so it's a multi task day, or just a sit down and go back to it when the timer goes off.
 
My homemade eRIMS BIAB with a propane burner brew sessions took about 5-7 hours, front to back with cleaning and all.

My first Brewzilla 65L session took 4 hours, with a 90-minute mash and a 1-hour boil, with cleaning. And, no prep ahead of time. I was astounded how much simpler/easier it made a brew day. Sticking with it and not looking back.
 
I have a all in one 2800W system. from setup, grinding, mashing, boiling, cooling, pitching to cleaning usually takes about 7h. did a reiterated mash with stepped mashing once, that added 2h.
 
I have a 3300 W brauheld pro and use it to make 8-10 gal batches. Normally it takes me around 6 hours to get it into the fermenter. I can't use full power because if anyone else plugs anything like a hairdryer or some machine the power goes out... So I keep it at 3000 maximum to reach a boil with the recirculation pumps on. This is with a 1 hr mash and 1 hr boil + cleaning and sanitizing fermenter and etc...
 
I see many grind their grist a day in advance.
This I understand spreads the brewing time more comfortably, but would you grind your coffee beans one day in advance, or your pepper, or the cheese for your spaghetti, or your nutmeg?

Meditate, people, meditate ;)
 
I see many grind their grist a day in advance.
This I understand spreads the brewing time more comfortably, but would you grind your coffee beans one day in advance, or your pepper, or the cheese for your spaghetti, or your nutmeg?

Meditate, people, meditate ;)
As with coffee, I grind immediately before adding it to water.
 
Four hours with a GF G30, strike water is hot via a delayed timer, grains are from a kit but fresh two days prior. Sometimes cleanup will add another 30, but I try to clean while I wait on something else. I try to brew every week or two for a 4 tap kegerator, but only two of us drinking beer we have plenty. We like to have two IPA’s up at all times.
 
I should try the hot water as it is about 130 in my house. It would kick start the process. I'm always a little shy about using hot water from the tap and the only thing I currently use it for cooking is when I use my sous vide, which never actually touches the food. I have a relatively new hot water heater so maybe the crud buildup hasn't happened yet.
My village near Chicago gets soft water from Lake Michigan. For chlorine I add 1 campden tablet before throwing the grist in..... I noticed an improved taste.
 
I'm running a 240v digimash, and usually hit around 4.5hrs from setting strike temp on the controller to cleanup. I mill my grains and do my water adjustments while it heats, and I have a pump-driven whirlpool which cuts my cooling times significantly.

The biggest benefits are the predictability, and the ability to walk away. You'll never overshoot a strike temp or a mash step with a controller like you can on propane, and electric heating times are incredibly consistent from batch to batch so you can functionally set a timer and come back when the wort is in the low 200s to babysit through the hot break.
 
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Here's a quick "back of the napkin" spreadsheet estimate of the minimum time I can imagine. This assumes you do everything on the brew day (vs adding minerals, measureing/milling grain etc ahead of time). Unless I cut corners, I think this is probably within 30 mins of the minimum:

1617911554742.png
 
No shorter than my normal brew day. If anything, it's longer because like mentioned above, I'm way "less attentive." I set up the night before and then wake up, flip a few switches, and go back to bed. The strike water sits at the correct temperature until I'm ready. Then when the wort is in the kettle, I set the temperature a few degrees below boiling and go do something else. It's been known to sit there for longer than necessary, unlike waiting for the boil and boil over on my stove. And then there is the hop stand. I can take my time, holding the desired temperature.
 
Here's a quick "back of the napkin" spreadsheet estimate of the minimum time I can imagine. This assumes you do everything on the brew day (vs adding minerals, measureing/milling grain etc ahead of time). Unless I cut corners, I think this is probably within 30 mins of the minimum:

View attachment 725053
10 minutes for lauter? This is way too quick.
 
I brewed Friday and planned on timing it but then I dropped a quarter sack of Vienna malt on the floor and I had to spend time cleaning that up and I had to boil for an extra half hour to get the gravity up, so maybe next time!
 
I’m at 5 hours with a 240v system. Probably shaved off 45 minutes because everything is close to brew area inside , quicker ramp times.
brewing is more enjoyable now that I’ve started doing split brew days.
At night I’ll mill, set up hlt water, run the mash and sparge into kettle. Cleanup. Next morning turn on kettle , start boil. Go have breakfast n coffee. Finish boil, whirlpool , chill, fill fermenter. Heat up water in kettle to flush pump , plate chiller n herms coil. Enjoy the rest of the day
 
Roughly 3 hours from start to finish. I scaled down from 5 gallon batches to 2.5 gallons. Easier to manage. Use BIAB in a gigawort electric kettle. 30 minute mash, 30 minute boil. No chill into corny keg until it's hit fermenting temp.

I just purchased the gigawort and will be doing the same - 2.5g BIAB. How's the 30 min mash coming out? I've never done a 30 min mash
 
I've never noticed much issues with shortened mashes. I probably should plan to do them as I get distracted all the time or wait for things to come up to temp and it turns out to be 45 min anyway.

I usually do short boils for "bonus" beers (second runnings and what not) without any noticeable difference. I'm hesitant to do them regularly as it seems not worth the risk. I know some NEIPA lovers who do short boils exclusively.
 
I just purchased the gigawort and will be doing the same - 2.5g BIAB. How's the 30 min mash coming out? I've never done a 30 min mash
Overall it's good, you lose efficiency with a short mash, but I have been focused on brewing session beers so I'm fine with it. I tend to average around 1.038-1.040 pre-boil gravity with 5 lbs of base grain with 14 liters of water at 30 minutes. I don't stir the mash or have the heat on during that time. I also don't do any sparging.
 
I did two batches on a 10.5 Foundry running 240 this past weekend with “planned” 60 minute mash and boil schedules. I set up most stuff the previous night and used the delay to start warming up the water at 4 on Saturday morning with the intent of getting out into the garage at 5. Long story short, I didn’t start mash timer until a little after 6. Had batch in fermenter finishing up rest of chill from 72 down to 68 by 1030.

Decided to just the second batch I was going to do on Sunday since it was still fairly early in the day. Think I finished cleaning and all that before 5 that evening. Was tired and dragging my feet a bit after but was still able to go to a “drive in” movie event later that evening.
 
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