How long is your brew day?

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shemp

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As I progress through this awesome hobby and add complexity and quantity, I'm finding the time required to brew is getting excessive. I just brewed a double batch of all grain ipa and it took me about 7 hours including clean up. Im batch sparging and using a double kettle technique. My mlt is a 10g round cooler which is requiring 2 sparges. I'm boiling with natural gas with the bayou bg14.

I'm thinking about going to a rims system if this will help speed things up.
 
Mine have been averaging about 5-6 hours. I use an igloo marine cooler mash tun, a igloo water cooler asa HLT and I batch sparge. A lot of that time is waiting around during the steps, so I usually smoke a cigar, watch some football and clean as I go which shaves off a little time.
 
4.5-6.5 hours depending on mash time boil time, and my own time management. I do all grain using a breweasy style setup.
 
I'm under 4 hrs since going back to a BIAB setup. A good chunk of the time savings is that my cleanup is under 5 mins now. Used to be a good 5hrs.
 
It takes me about 6.5 hours from the time I start setting up to getting everything put back away. I'm doing 5g batches using 10g igloo coolers for the mash tun and HLT, fly sparging, and relying on my stove as a heating source.

With that said, my wife was kind enough to snag me a Blichmann burner for Christmas. Hopefully that will trim a little bit of time off brew days going forward.
 
I'm under 4 hrs since going back to a BIAB setup. A good chunk of the time savings is that my cleanup is under 5 mins now. Used to be a good 5hrs.

My BaiB 9 gallon setup takes me about 5 hours. Of that, maybe 45 minutes is active brewing and the rest is doing something else will waiting for stuff to finish.

I do laundry. Keg the last batch. Go upstairs and clean or watch TV. The only things that require my attention are grinding the grain, last 10 minutes of hitting strike temp followed by dough in, hop additions, adding ice blocks to the chiller every 15 minutes and starting the drain to the fermenters.

I usually clean up the next day but that take about 10 minutes because of some compromises in my design.
 
I just consider a brew day to be a full day. I do 2-3 batches when I brew. I've had a 13 hour brew day before. But I had to go to the lhbs because I wasn't organized. I have also done 2 batches in 6 hours with one burner.
 
1 gal batches. 45 min prep. 40 min mash. 25 min boil. Clean up during boil and chill ~10 min. 10 min to pitch and store.

~ 2.5 hours.
 
Many here i dont think care about time. they either enjoy brewing or do it with friends or its a hobby i can understand all that....i seek 3.5 hours or less.
 
8 hour brew day today I hit a few snafoos. Over shot my expected efficiency tho! Usually about 5 hours for 5 gallons
 
5 Gal in 2 1/2 hours if I hustle, 10 gal 3 1/4 hours.

I just did 5 at a leisurely pace in 2 hours 50 min last Sunday. I think you guys are either walkin the dog or entertaining the neighbor hood one of the two.:rolleyes:
 
It takes me 3.5 hours to brew, plus half an hour for cleanup to get six gallons into the fermenter. I use BIAB. My mash starts with a little over eight gallons.
 
You are fast.
I have done 2 BIABs, 6 gal, - 8 h both. Equipment washed previous day.
 
I'm down to less then 4 now. I recently switched from 3 vessel all grain to BIAB. I don't think I'll ever go back!
 
Depends:

In warm weather when I can use the hose and clean as I go, then it's about 4.5 hours or so. In the winter when I have to lug everything up and down to the stairs to clean in the laundry room, and I have to use a pump to run the chiller, it's closer to 7. Of course, little recipe differences like a 90 minute mash, 90 minute boil, hopstands, etc. add to the total.

Setup - if I'm really moving with a purpose, I can have that done in 15-20 minutes. If I'm listening to music, having a beer or two, and chit-chatting with the neighbors (which is 90% of the time) it's about an hour.
 
I brew 10 gallon batches on a Brutus 10 style system. It takes me 6 hours start to finish on brew day. I always measure and crush my grain the day before brew day too.
 
Mine is about 7 hours. I have a three vessel electric setup and have moved to a 90 minute mash. Then clean up take a couple of hours, though I can start that once the boil is under way. All in all it's a good day, with great results.
 
I just schedule the entire day. It is an enjoyable hobby that I want to savor. Sometimes, I'll go out to lunch with the family and let the mash sit for a couple of hours while we are out - which extends the brew day. While I'm brewing, I'm piddling in the garage, enjoying music having a brew or two and cleaning as I go. I'm willing to suffer through a full day of brewing, drinking good beer and spending time with friends and family around the garage to get ten gallons of good beer. It is tough duty, but someone has to sacrifice.

Sometimes I want to get a jump start and will set a timer and a bucket warmer for preheating so that I wake up with warm water ready to go. Having water near 180 degrees at the start does save some time. Also, I'll set up everything the night before (including crushing the grains). If you are looking to save some time, that is one way of doing it.
 
5 Gal in 2 1/2 hours if I hustle, 10 gal 3 1/4 hours.

I just did 5 at a leisurely pace in 2 hours 50 min last Sunday. I think you guys are either walkin the dog or entertaining the neighbor hood one of the two.:rolleyes:

How? Please share....i would love to know! I am assuming no chill or 30 minute mash or quick boil or something.
 
I feel like sub 3 hours isnt impossible if you batch sparge or no sparge. 1 hour mash 1 hour boil, 10 minute chill, 10 minute lauter and bring to boil. thats 40 minutes for heating strike and cleaning.
 
Extract-1 hour:
10 minutes to set up.
15 minutes to get the water to boil.
15 minutes boil, hops at 15, 10, 5.
15 minutes chill.
5 minutes clean up.
 
1 gal batches. 45 min prep. 40 min mash. 25 min boil. Clean up during boil and chill ~10 min. 10 min to pitch and store.

~ 2.5 hours.

Wheeeewwwww........ I do 1 gallon for experiments and still have myself 4-6 hours brew days depending on how much junk I need to clear out of the kitchen first :p. Curious what kinds of recipes you're doing?
 
Between 4 and 6 hours. 4 hours for a 5 gallon, 60 min mash & boil with no whirlpool/hop stand, 6 hours for a 10 gallon, with pilsner malt (90 min boil), whirlpool/hopstand (+20 minutes), or other factors.

Things that will speed up brew day:


  • Prep all your ingredients and equipment the day/night before. I'm planning on brewing this weekend, and as I type this, my grains are already weighed out (thought not yet milled), my recipe is printed out, my hops are weighed out, vacuum sealed, and labeled with their addition times. My grain mill is already set up over my grain bucket, and the drill is next to it, ready to be connected and started.
  • Start with hot water instead of cold water. I collect hot water from my tap and add it to my HLT to be heated the rest of the way to strike temperature. Starting with water that's already 120° F instead of cold tap water saves a lot of time. I mill my grains while the water heats the last 45° F.
  • Invest in a good chilling solution. I use a Chugger pump and a Duda Diesel plate chiller. I can chill 5 gallons of boiling wort down to 60° F in less than 4 minutes (assuming winter tap water temperatures - can't get below 70° F in the summer months). Keep your glass carboys in the fridge until you're ready to rack the cooled wort to them. It'll buy you a couple extra degrees of cooling.
  • Clean as you go. While I'm boiling, I clean the mash tun and the pump/hoses I used during recirculation.
  • Manage your time. Don't wait until the end of the mash to start heating your sparge water. Don't wait until the wort is in the fermenter, all tucked into the fermentation chamber to start preparing your yeast. Don't wait until your strike water is up to temperature before setting up your mash tun.
  • Other, more drastic measures can split up the brew day into more manageable chunks without actually speeding it up, such as mashing overnight, or employing the no-chill technique.

Hope this helps.
 
Mine runs about 5 1/2 hours. It takes me 35-40 minutes to chill 10 gal. I need a better chiller.
 
I've got a nice Blichmann Therminator. I still can't do 10 gallons in 15 minutes.

My homemade counterflow crashes as fast as I can drain the kettle. A little too much in winter. Different ground water temps make a chilling difference as well though.
 
3-4.5 gallon batches take between 5-6 hours for me. That's the time from initially heating the strike water to the putting away tun and pots etc. Most of the wasted time comes from using my stove top to heat strike water and then boil the wort. I also cool in my tub using a cold water bath instead of a chiller so that usually adds in a good chunk of time as well. I'm cool with it though, my beer comes out great and I get other stuff done during the same time frame.
 
2 gallon batches on the stovetop, BIAB. 3 hours on the button, almost every time.

10 minute setup while the water heats
60 minute mash
70 minute boil
20-30 minute chill
10 minutes cleanup
 
I feel like sub 3 hours isnt impossible if you batch sparge or no sparge. 1 hour mash 1 hour boil, 10 minute chill, 10 minute lauter and bring to boil. thats 40 minutes for heating strike and cleaning.

Im getting closer. 1 hour mash. one hour boil 25 minutes heating time that leaves 35 minutes for chill and mixing in grains and all that. With immersion chiller and clean up no way. Maybe 3:20 best
 
My homemade counterflow crashes as fast as I can drain the kettle. A little too much in winter. Different ground water temps make a chilling difference as well though.


I know what you mean. I usually run upper Midwest tap water through my plate chiller, so it's 60ish even in the summer heat. I pumped ice water through it for the first time a couple weeks ago. Wort temp was 38° F when it was all drained. Whoops.
 
How? Please share....i would love to know! I am assuming no chill or 30 minute mash or quick boil or something.

b-boy said:
I'm assuming extract.

Nope all grain

OK here goes.

1) My brew burner is always set up and ready to go.
2) My grains are always pre-ground and weighed from my LHBS
2) All my gear is in a big tote and pre-cleaned and sanitized from last brew day.

Ready ? OK lets brew a 5.5 gallon batch....using 9 lbs of grain

a) Drag out 16 gal brew kettle set on burner and fill with 8 gallons H20 ( light burner as soon as water hits the bottom of kettle) 5 min tops
b) drag out everything else while water heats including brew step sheet..grains,,hops,,MLT,, hydrometer viles..etc etc.
c) Water is at 204 in < 15 min Dump into HLT ( Cooler #1) Kill flame... Set pot back on burner.
d) Transfer strike water volume called for in recipe with plastic pitcher from HLT to MLT ( cooler #2) and add cold water in short squirts from garden hose at same time to reach target temp and target volume for mash in ( Im more concerned with hitting temp then hitting the volume exact..a quart or two over wont hurt the mash any...I use an infrared gun for all my measurements. very quick and easy. 2 min tops
e) Mash in pre-measured grains ..stir... start clock.. make sure lids are closed on coolers. 2 min tops.. .Go in house and do whatever for 45 min. ( I come out and stir mash once or twice during this time unless I forget )

OK with me so far ...were at 24 min total clock time to mash in.

d) I mash for 50 min

OK mash out now begins with clock at a total run time now at 1:14


C) Mash out with about 2 gal of hot water from HLT ( less or more dosent matter much just hit your temp) with my 1 gal pitcher again as fast as I can, water in HLT is more like 200 by now. This is just a tad lower then I would like it to be in the winter but still works well. I still get about 165 mash out temp with around 2 gallons of water or less. 3to 4 min tops

Let mash out sit for for 5 min

OK total run time till ready to vorluf first running 1 hour 23 min

d) Vorluf till clear straight from MLT valve..when clear slip on hose and let fly into 5 gal boil kettle or bucket on ground under MLT (Vorluf takes 2 quarts usually) 2 min tops
e) While first running are draining fill a hydrometer vile while doing this.. drain MLT completely...close valve..transfer to 16 gal pot on burner and light flame. 5 min tops
f) Check temp of water in HLT ( usually about 195 by now) Add water from water hose to get to 170... Dump all required remaining water from HLT ( Cooler #1) over grain bed in MLT (cooler #2) in one batch sparge. I will be within a couple degrees of 168, usually a tad low so don't have to worry about over temping grains....stir and let settle 3 min min.

OK were now into it 1 hour 33 min at this point.

g) Now same thing as with first running, let grains settle 2 min vorluf first 2 quarts 2 min tops ..then let fly into bucket and also fill a second hydrometer vile when doing this ( second Running's) when grains are drained "or" you have reached your boil volume close valve 3 min tops ..... now transfer this to 16 gal kettle ( first running are almost always boiling already by this time)
h) Now all wort is collected... bring all to boil about 5 min and boil 1 hour

We are now at 1:45 min total run time to start of boil

Boil 1 hour...Add hops per brew schedule after hot break is over.

Clean and Put MLT HLT...stir spoon etc..all away during boil, you should have very few thing to clean after pitching yeast. Hydrate yeast at this time as well and have ready.

Total clock time atl flame now out is 2:45

Slide fermentation bucket under kettle valve and let fly... 208+ degree wort kills anything it touches no need to re-serialize pre_cleaned and steralized. fermentation bucket. ( You could chill in the pot but I prefer to do it in bucket.) 3 min tops to drain all wort. Close valve on boil kettle.

Toss in chiller and agitate in wort vigorously and continuously.you can feel the difference in the inlet and outlet copper tubes as water sucks the heat out ...stop moving the chiller and outlet water gets cold fast..start agitaing it again and it gets very warm....SO keep it moving! that's the key to a fast chill..Our water is 51 degrees or colder in winter so 5 min is all it takes to get to 68 degrees...pull chiller and pitch yeast...snap on lid.. carry bucket in house to fermentation room and install air lock 7 min tops


There you have it 2 hours 55 min on paper.. :mug:

Takes me maybe 5 min to clean the pot and put odd's and ends a way and star san my hose.
Obviously I can do these steps just a litter faster with out any rushing as I was completely cleaned and drinking a beer in 2:50 min last Sunday on a easy not rushed brew day.

Add 35min to 45 min for 10 gal batch

So what the heck are you guys doing anyway??? :D

*** Edit*** 1/1/16..... OK I got called out so I did an actual timed test...it took me 26 min to get to 204 degrees....read about it later in the thread. I still brewed in 2:50 min and rarely much over 3 hours so its a head scratcher....

IMG_1686.JPG
 
5 hours for 2 5 gallon batches. I figure if I'm going to go through the trouble of dragging my equipment out, I'm going to make 2 instead of one. I mash in the second while the 1st is coming to a boil. I probably spend an hour the day prior setting up (milling grains, weighing hops, salts, etc.)
 
What size batch? There is no way I can't get 10 gallons of water to boil or chill in 15 minutes.


5-6 gallon batch. I boil 3 gallons (in Florida). I chill and then add another 3 gallons of tap water to top off.
 
About 4.5-5 hours, depending on how organized I am. My shortest brew day has been about 3.5 hours, but that was when I'm by myself and there's interruptions/distractions.



I need to go to the Stillraining school of brew time management..........
 
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