How long is BIAB taking you?

[Morrey]

Considering a 5 or 5.5G batch, how long is it taking you, from start to finish, to get a typical beer in the fermenter and be finished?

I usually do a starter and weigh my grains, hops and brewing salts a day before so that's 1/2 hour give or take. My brew process takes around 4 hours which includes setting up the gear, milling, mashing, boiling (both 60 min ea), cooling, aerating...etc. I'm also including to wash out my kettle, brew and hop bags, etc. If I was timing my entire process, I'd say 4.5 hours would do it. I add that I am using a propane burner, not electric heating.

Is your brew day inline with mine or am I being slow?

 

[TexasDroughtBrewery]

4-5 hours is very average.

 

[nDub]

4-5 hours is very average.

I'll second this. Although I tend to do a 90 minute mash and longer boils so pushing 6 hours isn't uncommon for me.

 

[hezagenius]

I'm probably around 6 hours but I could probably shave off a little time here and there.

15 minutes to get water to mash temp
60 minute mash
10-15 minute drain
10 minute sparge
10-15 minute drain
15-20 minutes bringing to boil
60 minute boil
5 minute cool to 180
60 minute whirlpool
15 minute chill to pitching temp
15 minute whirlpool to build a cone
5 minute drain into fermenter
15 minutes for measurements, pitching yeast, getting into into its temp control setup

That's about 5 hours. Add some extra time for just moving slow.

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

I'd say you are going plenty fast. On Tuesday it took me 4 hours 15 minutes from flame-on to everything cleaned up for a Zombie Dust clone. It could be faster if I wasn't recirculating chiller water on a slow pond-pump (no hose hookup outside!!!!!!!!).

 

[HOPME]

5 hours for me. Clean up sucks! haha

 

[mrdauber64]

3.5 - 4 hours for me. I do most of my cleanup and sanitizing during the boil. I also don't pitch my yeast until later in the night or next day. I cool my wort down to 75, then throw it in the fermentation fridge until I hit my fermentation temp(64 for Ales and 52 for Lagers) then I aerate and pitch.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Guess I'm around 3 hours, electric heats quickly, sometimes I shorten mash and boil to 40 minutes and "no chill" in the kettle and pitch 12-24 hours later.

 

[Atlmustang]

My brew day on Sunday was like 5.5 hours. I was waiting for the boil for too long on my stove. Took forever. So, I am thinking about moving back out into my garage and running the propane burner. It is a lot faster that way. Sucks because I love the sterilized nature of my kitchen over the garage and fighting insects. I also did not stir my wort while the chiller was doing it's thing so it took much longer to cool than I wanted. The best I can figure is this schedule on Sunday:

1. 10 minutes - gathering equipment
2. 45 minutes - Adding water and getting water to mash temp
3. 75 minutes - Mash time
4. 45 minutes - Bring to a boil
5. 60 minutes - boil and hop additions, start sanitizing buckets, spoons etc.
6. 60 minutes - cool down
7. 30 minutes - Transfer to bucket, sample for OG, pitch yeast, clean up

 

[whovous]

My brew day almost always takes more time than I have!

 

[Oldskewl]

Been brewing for about a year now. BIAB from day 1. First couple brew days took close to 6 hours. Last couple took 4.5 - 4.75 hours. Always looking for ways to shorten the day. Gonna try a Friday night brew for the first time this week. Gonna fill my kettle with water and mill my grain in the morning before I leave for work. Fire up the propane when I get home from work. We will see how it goes.

 

[laredo7mm]

I don't do BIAB but the biggest time save for me was using a 5500W heating element. It is quite fast for 5 gallon batches. My typical is 6 gallons in the kettle and 5.5 into the fermenter so I am starting with 7 gallons preboil volume. When I first got the 5500W element set up i did a test and to get 7 gallons of 67° to boil was about 30 minutes in an uninsulated 10 gallon kettle.

My time to brew using an igloo cooler mash tun and batch sparging is about 4 hours. I am brewing tonight and last night I took the time to get my strike water and sparge water all set with the necessary salts and acid. So when I walk in the door tonight, all I have to do heat the mash water (15 minutes) and dough in. Hopefully it will be less than 4 hours tonight.

 

[petrolSpice]

Usually 5 hours... 1 of that is boiling, 1 is mashing, and 1 is heating (propane burner). So about 2 hours for setup, cleanup, filling water, etc.

 

[PADave]

I'm usually right around 5 hours. They've been getting shorter though. I've been using the mash and boil times to prep and clean. In the past I did all that before getting started and just sat around enjoying homebrew. Now I do all three things at once.

 

[Morrey]

Seems I am moving along at an acceptable and normal pace. Doing my weighing and prepping the day before kind of breaks things up some.

Just seems when I start at 9am on brew day, then look at the clock when I finish...most of my day has evaporated on me. I enjoy the process, so not complaining at all. Just comparing.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I measure my brew day by time spent actively brewing. It is about 90 minutes.

Water in and elements on, measure and grind grain, dough in...25 minutes
Go do something for an hour
Pull bag and turn on elements...5 minutes
Go do something for 15 minutes
60 minute hop addition and turn off one element...1 minute
Go do something for 45 minutes
15 minute hop addition, prep chiller, whirfloc...5 minutes
Go away for 15 minutes
"Flameout" with hop addition start chiller...5 minutes
Go away for 45 minutes
Start drain to fermenter...5 minutes
Go away for 30 minutes
Transfer fermenter to chamber and pitch if at temp (pitch in the morning if not)...10 minutes
Rinse kettle, dump grain, wipe down equipment/utensils and throw bags in the washer...20 minutes

 

[rhys333]

I'm usually 3.5 - 4 hours. This includes 60 or 90 minute mash and a quick dunk sparge. I save time by mashing on the stove with my 5 gallon pot and getting sparge water ready to go in the BK. I also clean as I go so that the only dirty thing left at the end is the BK. I rinse this and leave it for cleaning for another day.

 

[jamorgan3777]

I would say 4-6 hours is the range. I run an electric induction system so my heating times are maybe a little slower. I can easily go from "Hey, I should brew beer today" to fully cleaned up in 6 hours on my induction system. I could do that in 5 hours with my propane unit. I like to enjoy the process though. That is one of the reasons we do this, no?

 

[Morrey]

I would say 4-6 hours is the range. I run an electric induction system so my heating times are maybe a little slower. I can easily go from "Hey, I should brew beer today" to fully cleaned up in 6 hours on my induction system. I could do that in 5 hours with my propane unit. I like to enjoy the process though. That is one of the reasons we do this, no?

Absolutely.....I enjoy the entire process from planning a recipe to tapping the first pint. The biggest compliment from a friend...."you have got to be pulling my leg, YOU REALLY MADE THIS BEER"? In my opinion, the entire process is worth every minute of time invested.

 

[Peruvian802]

Last weekend I did two batches in less than 6 hours from start to end on two burners in two pots. There is lots of multitasking here (weigh/mill grains while mash water getting to temp, boil starts on batch one while batch two starts to mash, etc.) which makes it pretty efficient.

 

[Morrey]

Last weekend I did two batches in less than 6 hours from start to end on two burners in two pots. There is lots of multitasking here (weigh/mill grains while mash water getting to temp, boil starts on batch one while batch two starts to mash, etc.) which makes it pretty efficient.

Good point you make that you can do two separate batches basically as quickly as one provided you have the equipment. Lots of our brew day is idle time waiting anyway.

 

[jekeane]

The time it takes to watch the dumpster fire called the jacksonville jaguars play... I usually start during pregame and wrap up just as they are wiping up the dump they took on the field.

 

[iijakii]

Guess I'm around 3 hours, electric heats quickly, sometimes I shorten mash and boil to 40 minutes and "no chill" in the kettle and pitch 12-24 hours later.

Same. I am about 3hrs including cleanup. Either 5 or 10gal batches. eBIAB so easy and quick.

 

[soccerdad]

I'm never in a hurry to brew. It's kinda like sex .. you always want it to last since it feels good. Unfortunately, the sex is always over too soon, and the brewing sometimes goes into overtime.

 

[rhys333]

Guess I'm around 3 hours, electric heats quickly, sometimes I shorten mash and boil to 40 minutes and "no chill" in the kettle and pitch 12-24 hours later.

Hmm, I wonder how long the "no chill" method would take to get 5.5 gallons from boiling to pitching temp at -25C (-13F) ambient...

 

[wilserbrewer]

Hmm, I wonder how long the "no chill" method would take to get 5.5 gallons from boiling to pitching temp at -25C (-13F) ambient...

Not long I would imagine, a little wind helps as well. I actually have a little fan that I blow at the kettle while "no chilling".

I always get a laugh when posters talk about their hose freezing up and struggling to get their chiller running. At those temps just go in the house and take a nap.

 

[rhys333]

Not long I would imagine, a little wind helps as well. I actually have a little fan that I blow at the kettle while "no chilling".

I always get a laugh when posters talk about their hose freezing up and struggling to get their chiller running. At those temps just go in the house and take a nap.

I shall have to try. I guess I could monitor temp and stick in some aroma hops below 180F or so.

 

[RM-MN]

Hmm, I wonder how long the "no chill" method would take to get 5.5 gallons from boiling to pitching temp at -25C (-13F) ambient...

If you have a tub big enough to fit the pot into, put in some water and snow if you have it. As long as there is snow in the tub the water will be near freezing and you can have your wort chilled in as little as 20 minutes, depending on how far up the pot the water reaches.

 

[FutureFarm]

I brew 2.5 gals on my stovetop. It takes me 3.5 hrs from starting to heat the mash water to the point where the kitchen is usable. Not all the cleaning is done, but dinner can be cooked without too much hassle.

 

[matzou]

3hours more or less depending on mash time and if o want to pitch straight away or not.

The joy of 1.2gal brewing in a small kitchen...

 

[snowtires]

I just did my first ebiab doughing in at 40c, ramping to a protein rest, then ramping up to the main event. This was also the very first time with the new system so the clean up wasn't efficient. Total time was just under 4 hours from crushing grain to final cleanup. I would imagine i could do this in 3 once i get it down. The electric 5500w heat is like a dream, beating me to dough in temperature and a boil before I'm ready.

 

[Morrey]

I brewed this weekend and shaved 15 min off my brew time since my source cooling water was cool enough that I didn't have to shift to a closed loop ice bath. This was the first time since I got my JaDed IC that I didn't have to shift during the cool down, and it really makes a difference.

 

[rhys333]

I brewed this weekend and shaved 15 min off my brew time since my source cooling water was cool enough that I didn't have to shift to a closed loop ice bath. This was the first time since I got my JaDed IC that I didn't have to shift during the cool down, and it really makes a difference.

It's been unseasonably cold the last few weeks in my area and groud water is very cool. I brewed a 6 gallon Saison yesterday and was surprised to see it had cooled to 160F in about a minute. Overshot my hopstand temp!

 

[Sparge]

On Friday, before brew day, 1/2 hour to crush the grains, set up the water in a big pot and put in the bucket heater on a timer. On Saturday, wort day, a few minutes to raise the temp to mash temp, few minutes to mash in grains and one hour to mash. 15 minutes to pull the bag out after stirring, then one hour boil. Few minutes to sanitize top and pull some wort for a starter. So, Saturday maybe 2.5 - 3 hours. On Sunday, during half time of a football game, move wort to a fermenter and pitch yeast, then clean kettle. Maybe another 30 minutes. So:

Friday: 45 minutes
Saturday: 2.5 - 3 hours
Sunday: 30 Minutes

Total: between 3 hrs 45 minutes to 4 hours 15 minutes, but I rarely time it. By breaking up the work over several days, no one day is completely taken over by brewing. Happy family, happy brewer.

 

[Murphys_Law]

I'm usually around 5 hours but I tend to tinker a little and am rarely in a hurry. I make sure to sit aside brew day as a "me day" and that is how I spend the day - brewing and drinking (I have learned not to do it the other way around!).

 

[Morrey]

I'm usually around 5 hours but I tend to tinker a little and am rarely in a hurry. I make sure to sit aside brew day as a "me day" and that is how I spend the day - brewing and drinking (I have learned not to do it the other way around!).

That's totally cool! It is a day to enjoy for sure, and I know I look forward to my brew days.

 

[Brew_G]

I usually measure and mill my grains in the day or two before brewday, so that shaves off a good 30 minutes or so. I'll also heat my strike water on the kitchen burner so that I can hang with the family/have breakfast while that's happening. But from the time I mash in to have everything cleaned up, it's about 3-4 hours. If I'm adding a hopstand, then it's on the higher side. Anything I can chill quickly is on the lower side. Also, it's much quicker in the cooler months due to speed of chilling with cold ground water.

My most recent beer, a NE IPA, took about 6.5 hours total since I had a big hopstand and I had to get the wort from about 105F (after using my IC) to 65F in an ice bath. I had some errands to run, so I just left it, rather than standing over it and stirring to bring it more quickly. I'll be brewing a brown ale this weekend, and am expecting it'll take about 3.5 hours.

The more quickly I can brew, the less pissed the little lady gets, meaning I get to brew more often without going into the dog house!

 

[Brew_G]

On Friday, before brew day, 1/2 hour to crush the grains, set up the water in a big pot and put in the bucket heater on a timer. On Saturday, wort day, a few minutes to raise the temp to mash temp, few minutes to mash in grains and one hour to mash. 15 minutes to pull the bag out after stirring, then one hour boil. Few minutes to sanitize top and pull some wort for a starter. So, Saturday maybe 2.5 - 3 hours. On Sunday, during half time of a football game, move wort to a fermenter and pitch yeast, then clean kettle. Maybe another 30 minutes. So:

Friday: 45 minutes
Saturday: 2.5 - 3 hours
Sunday: 30 Minutes

Total: between 3 hrs 45 minutes to 4 hours 15 minutes, but I rarely time it. By breaking up the work over several days, no one day is completely taken over by brewing. Happy family, happy brewer.

Bingo!

 

[wilserbrewer]

By breaking up the work over several days, no one day is completely taken over by brewing. Happy family, happy brewer.

I would suggest trying an overnight mash. Perhaps mash a couple / few degrees above target as the longer mash may lead to a bit more atttenuation??? This is a good timesaver as well.

 

[Sparge]

I would suggest trying an overnight mash. Perhaps mash a couple / few degrees above target as the longer mash may lead to a bit more atttenuation??? This is a good timesaver as well.

Haven't tried that yet, though that would shift my schedule somewhat. I just might give that a try to see how it differs from what I'm doing now.

No-chill combined with BIAB is a real work saver. I don't think I'll ever go back to three vessel brewing.