Length of your AG brew session?

[HometownHoosier]

I brewed yesterday and it was 4.5 hours. Probably would have been 4, but my buddy stopped by to help out and I had to explain the process to him. All in all, its a quick 4 hours. I'm constantly moving, but somehow it's relaxing. I don't think I will try to get it much under 4 hours. I'm happy with 4. Any shorter and I think it starts to be a chore not a hobby.

 

[TheDom]

4-5hrs, depending on how on top of things I am.

 

[Anubis]

4 hours on average from heating the water for tun preheat. Usually just throw 190f strike water in and leave it until it settles to strike temp. To wiping down the counters and pouring victory homebrew.

Although my last brew day took about 7 hours. Leaking MLT ball valve, temp problems, stuck sparge, interuptions, pizza eating, spilt wort clean up and one too many beers. Hence "All Day IPA".

 

[kegtoe]

wow, my AG batches are like 7 plus hours. i mash for 1 hour, sparge fro 30 to 40 minutes, then 20 minutes getting to boil and 1 hour to boil. That doesnt include set-up, milling, clean-up etc.

You folks like brewing alone or like brewing with buddies? I find it takes me way too long when freinds are over, i feel bad for not bull****ting while doing all my brew stuff. I always have a ton of explaining to do. I'd rather just brew myself.

 

[boswell]

all ****ing day i tell you, but ****, a nice day.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Wow, you guys are slow! It takes me around 35 minutes start to finish. and that includes clean-up....


Ok, I lied..........5-6 hours-ish. A lot of my stuff is in my basement, and I brew in my garage (detached) so i do a lot of running back and forth. Plus I always leave my wort sit for a half hour after chilling to let a lot of the schmag settle out so it is not in my carboy....

 

[Frodo]

Fly sparging, 5 gal takes about 4.5 hrs, if everythings clicking, and 10 gal takes about 1.5 hrs longer if all goes well. I've never brewed with friends over but I can only imagine those numbers could easily double, and I'd make twice as many mistakes, and have twice as much fun, due to consumption...

 

[bovineblitz]

4.5 hours nowadays doing 5gal AG in my kitchen. I can usually get 2 games of starcraft 2 in during mash and boil which is great

 

[remilard]

5.5 - 7 hours. I do a lot of multiple rest mashes though, which tends to stretch my mashing out to 1.5-2 hours. 7 hours would include something like a 2+ hour boil which I do sometimes. I don't really care because I get a lot of other stuff done during brew day. Brewing back to back adds about 2 hours per batch.

 

[waldoar15]

3.5-4 hours for a 5 gallon batch. A higher BTU burner would probably cut that down some, but I've got nothing but time.

 

[whatsleftofyou]

A 5g batch takes me about 4 hours, start to finish. Normally I do back-to-back batches though, and I can get that done in 6 hours (boiling the first while mashing the second, etc).

 

[mrkeeg]

I've never really timed it, but I'd guess maybe 6 hours for a 10 gallon batch. I'm sure I could shave off an hour or two if I better utilized the time I spend drinking beer and relaxing in my lawn chair, but why in the hell would I want to do something stupid like that?

! Agreed.

 

[Tall_Yotie]

Let me see... 30-40min to get mash temp up, 1 hour mash, 30 min to do all sparging (heating and pouring), 15-30 min to get all up to a boil, 60 min boil, 30 min cooling, 5 min to pour and pitch. So, 3-4 hours. It somehow takes me 6 hours though, so either it takes longer to heat that water up or I am doing something different that I think I am.

 

[Hethen57]

I'm with Tall Yotie, when I budget out the time it should take I come up with about 4 hours, but it usually takes me about 6+ for a single 5 gallon batch. About 1 hr+ to get my cold well water to mash temp, another 30 minutes to get the grains in tun and to the right temp, I usually mash for 60-90 minutes, then 30 minute sparge and get to rolling boil, 60 minute boil, 30 minute chill, 30 minutes messing with yeast and carboys and 30 minutes for final cleanup....now that I add it all up...there is my 6 hours. I could probably do (2) 5 gal batches and be more efficient, and have done (3) assembly line 10 gal batches in a 14 hour day, but it's just for fun...right?

 

[Beavdowg]

for me, it's all just about being ready for the next step and never standing there doing nothing at all during the day.

roughly: 20 minutes to heat up water, 60 minutes to mash, 10 minutes to sparge, 15 minutes to get boiling, one hour of boil, 20 minutes to chill.

That's 3 hours and 5 minutes. half an hour for cleanup at the end, and I'm at roughly 3:30.

I even manage to keg the month old batch while I'm mashing and rack the two week old batch while I'm boiling. I weigh and mill my grain while water is heating at the start. I don't do anything in advance.

Granted, brewing like this isn't super leisurely. I'm a whirlwind of activity for those 3 to 4 hours, but I still enjoy it. If I have friends over while I brew, it ends up taking me a hell of a lot longer because I am standing around bullsh!tting and not cranking through things.

Thanks for the tips. How does it only take you 10 minutes to sparge? The way I understand batch sparging, once your add your sparge water, you're supposed to wait 10 minutes to let the grain bed settle. I just don't see how you can add water, let the bed settle, vorleuf, and sparge , all this twice for a double sparge, in 10 minutes. Please explain.

 

[bja]

Thanks for the tips. How does it only take you 10 minutes to sparge? The way I understand batch sparging, once your add your sparge water, you're supposed to wait 10 minutes to let the grain bed settle. I just don't see how you can add water, let the bed settle, vorleuf, and sparge , all this twice for a double sparge, in 10 minutes. Please explain.

There's no reason to wait after adding sparge water. Just fill and drain.

BTW, it usually takes me 5-6 hours for 10 gallon, but I take my time, have a few beers. I like to enjoy my brew sessions.