How much time to allot for an all-grain brew?

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Schnitzengiggle said:
Yeah, I brewed my first AG (test batch) as a 5 gllon batch, but I purchased my equipment for 10, the way I figure is it should take approx. the same amount of time, maybe slightly longer, because of waiting for the boil to begin, but that time should be negligeable (10-15 minutes at worst).:rockin:

:mug:
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I have even begun setting my PID at about 180F so that is keeps my wort as I am sparging at 180F to eliminate the 12 minute wait to boil.
 
The Pol said:
I have even begun setting my PID at about 180F so that is keeps my wort as I am sparging at 180F to eliminate the 12 minute wait to boil.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I do not yet have a brew rig, I just started AG brewing, and as much as SWMBO doesn't mind me brewing, she minds me spending money on equipment, but your rig looks awesome! I do aspire to have a brew rig someday in the not too distant future.

Did you DIY yours? I really don't understand the PID yet, what does the acronym stand for anyhow?

I do know someone who I could get to weld up a stand for me when the time comes, but as it goes right now, I want to get my process down. However, I definitely see a single tier brew rig in my future :D
 
Schnitzengiggle said:
Unfortunately, I do not yet have a brew rig, I just started AG brewing, and as much as SWMBO doesn't mind me brewing, she minds me spending money on equipment, but your rig looks awesome! I do aspire to have a brew rig someday in the not too distant future.

Did you DIY yours? I really don't understand the PID yet, what does the acronym stand for anyhow?

I do know someone who I could get to weld up a stand for me when the time comes, but as it goes right now, I want to get my process down. However, I definitely see a single tier brew rig in my future :D
Click to expand...

The rig is DIY...

Proportional Integral Derivative control. Basically a smart temp controller. I use it in "smart" mode to achieve and maintain 180F while sparging, then use it in "manual" mode to allow for 70% output from my heating element to allow for a precise boil off.
 
The Pol said:
Shut up, you cant do that...:D
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Pre crushed & pre measured grain, BIAB for easy cleanup, brew outside so no cleaning/sanitation, start with hot tap water to save time, SMASH recipe, no chill, ferment in BK. Very easy cleanup. That'd come in under 4 hours!

-OCD
 
Crushed night before. I am very very fast. Like The Flash fast. I use to race Usain Bolt back in the day. Lets just say I made him look like an idiot in the 200m dash.:rockin:
 
Just my two cents, but I have brewed two batches within the past two nights, both after work. I crush my grain the night before. I started around 6 last night and ended up finishing at around 10:15. Tonight I started at around 6 and finished at 10:30. Tonights ran a little longer due to the 70 min mash. I multi task a lot while brewing (with music cranked). I clean and get all sanitized while the mash is happening, while pre heating sparge water inside on the stove. While the wort is comming to a boil, I clean out MLT and all equipment used during it. I also make sure everything is soaked with sanitizer. After wort is cooled and chiller is taken out, I wirlpool wort and let sit for about 10 min while i clean chiller. Once everything is transfering to fermenter, I re-hydrate my dry yeast (if using). Normally my brewdays will take 4-5 hours. As you do it more, you will set up a routine all your own. My friends think im anal the way I brew. BUT mine dont take 7 hours, and I've never had an infected batch. :ban::mug:
 
Deuce,

I do almost the exact same things as you such as cleaning while waiting for wort to come to boil and after the boil has established and is self sufficient.

My time killers are getting everything setup and messing around with my crappy equipment as I don't yet have established equipment and I'm always using something different. You are right it's all about routine and practice but having established equipment would help me.
 
Schnitzengiggle said:
Yeah, I brewed my first AG (test batch) as a 5 gllon batch, but I purchased my equipment for 10, the way I figure is it should take approx. the same amount of time, maybe slightly longer, because of waiting for the boil to begin, but that time should be negligeable (10-15 minutes at worst).:rockin:

:mug:
Click to expand...

The first running are on heat when I sparge . Really doesn't take any more time to get to a boil , but I do have a kickabanjo burner for the boil and a sq14 for the sparge water. So both are going
 
I dont think anyone is skipping steps in a 4-4.5 hour day.
 
I have friends who are doing, ithink it was tat least 10 batches for an event they are doing for school. That will take forever.
 
The Pol said:
I dont think anyone is skipping steps in a 4-4.5 hour day.
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Hour Mash and Hour Boil and everything going right, you should be able to get in under 4.

90 Minute mash and 90 Minute boil and everything going wrong (like my 25% wheat saison), and you're looking 8.
 
Synovia said:
Hour Mash and Hour Boil and everything going right, you should be able to get in under 4.

90 Minute mash and 90 Minute boil and everything going wrong (like my 25% wheat saison), and you're looking 8.
Click to expand...

My times are always the same:

55-60 minute mash
20 minute mash out
40 minute sparge
90 minute boil (clean the MLT here)
20 minutes to settle and drain the BK to the fermentor
15 minutes to rinse the BK out

4:05

My rig cleans itself during the sparge (all sparge water is routed through all of my plumbing), except for the MLT obviously. The fermentor sits with StarSan in it from the day I empty it, til the day I re-use it. I have ONE hose that needs to be soaked in StarSan before the end of my boil, that is the only thing I have to sanitize on brew day.

I have brewed on my rig a lot, so I know what to expect and how much time I need for any given step. The worst that has happened is a stuck mash while recirculating through the HERMS coil... but that didnt cost any time since I was still mashing. Simply broke up the grain bed, re-primed the pump and restarted the HERMS pump.

If you have a dedicated system that is ALWAYS assembled, you really only add water and grain. If you are working on a cobbled system that is in pieces (like I did for a year) then it takes much longer. The steps are all the same, but the movement from one step to the other will take 5-10 minutes instead of moving one hose with a QD on it.
 
Longest time for me was my first batch, and it took about 7 hours. But I went slow and made sure I got everything done.

My shortest batch was 5.5 hours.

On average it takes me about 6 hours.

I would block out a sunday, and don't start at 5pm... Better to start around 11am so you don't finish when it's dark.
 
The Pol said:
My times are always the same:

55-60 minute mash
20 minute mash out
40 minute sparge
90 minute boil (clean the MLT here)
20 minutes to settle and drain the BK to the fermentor
15 minutes to rinse the BK out

4:05
Click to expand...

You also preheat water the night before, correct? Most of us don't have that option.
 
ALSO, make sure you have so quick and easy grub to chow on. Trust me, if things go to hell in a handbasket you arent going to have time to eat, and getting MAD hungry when the brew day is wearing on you, isnt good.
 
Pol,

Do you do all no chill now? I know you do it a lot I just wasn't sure if you do it all the time now.
 
Doing a no chill would save me about 30-60 minutes (depending on tap water temp) and having my sparge water heated prior would save me about 45 minutes. This would bring my brew day down to 5 hours.

I don't have the option of automatically heating the sparge water but I could always do no chill. I simply have not read enough about it and from what I have read it has seemed inconclusive. Hmmmmmm..... perhaps more research is needed.
 
I usually figure about 6 hours from start to finish. I crush grains while the mash water is heating. But I've done it in about 4 hours, start to finish, clean up included. It just depends on how much messing around you do and that gets better with experience.

I would say my first one or two AG batches took like 8 hours. Lots more prep work going on right before and much less experienced. Now I know that having all ingredients ready and a brewsheet standing by is the key to brewing efficiently. And cleaning as you go (during mash, boil, etc.) I use a CFC to cool my wort in about 10-15 minutes, depending on the season.
 
Scut_Monkey said:
Doing a no chill would save me about 30-60 minutes (depending on tap water temp) and having my sparge water heated prior would save me about 45 minutes. This would bring my brew day down to 5 hours.

I don't have the option of automatically heating the sparge water but I could always do no chill. I simply have not read enough about it and from what I have read it has seemed inconclusive. Hmmmmmm..... perhaps more research is needed.
Click to expand...

You have not read enough then, lots of guys doing it, lots of info here on HBT about the results...:D
 
I am around 7-8 hours start to clean up but that is basically for two reasons. One, I didn't have an efficient way of heating water and boiling the wort yet but I did just buy a 32 qt. turkey fryer last night so I will see if that helps. At least I won't need to have several pots going. And two, I don't have an efficient cooling set up. I still use an ice water bath in the sink and can only do one pot at a time. I know I could cut 2-3 hours off if I had those two issues resolved.
 
First time: 9 hours. You may get it done in 7, but it may take you all day.

It took me 12 hours to do my last 12 gallon roggenbier because of the slow run-off from mash tun and kettle.
 
I usually prepare stuff ahead of time to make it easier on myself. Like tonight, I'm making sure all my equipment is clean, staging the water for the mash and my burners, weighing out ingredients, making a starter, etc.

So when I get home from werk on Friday, I can just turn the burner on and get to brewing!
 
I don't preheat my strike water - that is included in my 4 hours. I am running A 5500w element in my HLT though, so I get about 6 F per minute. So starting from 70 deg water, I have my strike water to temp in about 16 mins. I only do 50min mash and 60min boils.

I use a CFC and march pump with a post-chiller (copper line in ice post-CFC) so chilling take about 10 minutes.

And since I run a 60Amp line to the garage I can run both 5500W (HLT and BK) elements at the same time, so I can heat and mash a second brew while boiling my first... Multiple brew days are easy with this setup.

Before I had the BREWT an AG session would take me 5 - 5.5 hours.
 
I got a jet jet burner that brings it up to mash temp pretty quickly. The I have a plate chiller, that cools at super speeds.
 
To me not counting the prep work just because you did it beforehand doesn't mean you don't count the time spent doing so. I mean, if you leave the kitchen a mess and clean it the next day do you subtract that time too?
 
jgln said:
To me not counting the prep work just because you did it beforehand doesn't mean you don't count the time spent doing so. I mean, if you leave the kitchen a mess and clean it the next day do you subtract that time too?
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Right, this time has to be counted, I would think.
 
The main difference is having a dedicated system and area. If you have those, then you dont have the issue of cleaning a kitchen or anything else. Also, it depends on your equipment... do you have a chiller to clean? Tubing? Siphons? Some people dont, which again cuts mucho time off a brew day. Efficient use of equipment makes a huge difference in setup, tear down and cleaning needs.

Having these CIP systems that some people have, basically reduces your cleaning to making sure you have a sanitized fermentor, which most people do when they empty the darn thing, not on brew day. Your system cleans, while you are brewing.

Admittedly cleaning is a large part of many brew days, but on some systems, most dedicated systems, cleaning is much less of a factor. I mean I seriously have to clean ONE hose while rinsing my BK. What else is there?
 
I have a counter-flow chiller I use with my 10+ gallon batches. If I ran water really fast and had a fast run, it would work quickly. The only time-consuming part would be cleaning it afterward, because I run boiling water and then cleaner & sanitizer through it.

But I find I waste much less water if I do a slow run-off. This allows about a 1:1 ration of water-to-wort...especially if I use my pre-chiller, so it takes me about an extra hour.

Sanitizing is not a problem before-hand, as I do it during my boil.

Tomorrow I will be using my bag-in-a-can all-grain.

I'm setting most of it up tonight...so it should only take me about 4 hours tops tomorrow, including clean-up. Most of the stuff I'm setting up tonight, however, could e done during the mash tomorrow, so it doesn't really save time...just makes things smoother. I'm using my immersion chiller, which works fast.

It's about:

1 hour mash
10 minute sparge
20 minutes to boil (bayou burner for this setup)
60 minute boil
30 minute cooling
30 minute clean-up
beer
:mug:
 
Reaching a boil and chilling also add ample time depending on equipment choices.

I save time because it takes me 7 minutes to reach a boil in my E-Keggle and I save time on the chill, because I dont chill. It used to take me much longer to brew before I built a dedicated system that was designed to save time.
 
The Pol said:
It used to take me much longer to brew before I built a dedicated system that was designed to save time.
Click to expand...

but did you count the time it took to build your new system as a part of your 4 hour brew day :D

Seriously, people - I think you're over analyzing this. Pol has his brew day down to about 4-4.5 hours; many take longer for whatever reason.

Let's not turn this into one of those "I get better efficiency than you" threads :mug:
 
AZ_IPA said:
but did you count the time it took to build your new system as a part of your 4 hour brew day :D

Seriously, people - I think you're over analyzing this. Pol has his brew day down to about 4-4.5 hours; many take longer for whatever reason.

Let's not turn this into one of those "I get better efficiency than you" threads :mug:
Click to expand...

Like I said from the start... Id plan a 6 hour day if I didnt have a dedicated system, and/or experience. Like I have also stated, depending on the equipment you use, how it is configured and how it must be cleaned after use... will make a LARGE difference in how long it takes to brew. Brrman runs the same system that I do basically, and his brew days are the same length, no coincidence.

If you have copious pieces of equipment that are not an integral part of your brew rig, then you will have a ton of cleaning to do. If you dont have a pump to automate the cleaning of your rig, again... more time. Chillers? More time. Siphon? More time. Tubing? More time. Set-up and tear-down? More time.

You need the correct set of circumstances to achieve this. I love to brew, I enjoy my time doing it... but part of that enjoyment, for me, is knowing that I can brew almost any time because I dont need a full day to accomplish it. I actually get to brew MORE now, because I dont have to wait for a full day to do so.
 

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