Lunch hour brewing

[Sadu]

I have a family and I find it difficult to brew weekends / evenings without annoying everyone in some way. With brewing things need to happen at specific times and the kids always want another story when the wort chiller needs to be added to the boil etc.

Lunch hours are my own though.

At the moment I have done a couple of Coopers kits in between all-grain batches. These are ok, take 20 mins into the fermenter which is a plus. I'm looking at ways to improve on this (ie use that other 40 mins to make the final product better). Since I don't have a LHBS ordering in proper extract kits is prohibitively expensive, so I'm looking for a process that involves Supermarket kits (Coopers, Brewtec) and/or grains.

At the moment the best idea I can come up with is a hopped Coopers kit toucan, using nice yeast, maybe a 15 minute partial boil using some nice hops for flavour / aroma since the kits don't have much of that. That should be possible to boil, cool and pitch within an hour if everything is setup the day before.

Anyone else have a brew process they can run through in an hour? Just looking for ideas, if I can do 50/50 all-grain vs lunchtime brews the family will be a lot happier.

 

[Queequeg]

These articles will help

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/15-minute-brew-process.html
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/bittering-hops-in-15-minutes.html
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/four-tips-making-great-beer-15-minutes.html

 

[Sadu]

cool thanks. definitely some good ideas to work with in there.

 

[Nummey]

Take a look at this video from Basic Brewing. I did a similar brew back in March and cut the specialty grains out (you could leave them, not really a time strain) - so it was basically light DME and hops.
Came out very good, not as good as my all grain batches but a good pipeline filler. The entire process took me about an hour (a little over if you include cleanup).

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gke3aE9WvAk[/ame]

 

[TexasWine]

Have you ever considered breaking up you brew day into smaller, and maybe more manageable, chunks of time? Not sure what type of system you've got, but if you have at least some basic electric equipment, like a bucket heater and one of those outlet timers, you could....

Heat your water to strike temps overnight, while you sleep. Dough in first thing in the morning. Mash until lunch time. Boil for 30 minutes over lunch. No chill straight to the fermenter (plastic bucket). Pitch yeast that evening before bed.

Ignoring your lunch hour, the longest amount of time you'd be away from family is when you're measuring out your water and setting up to heat it. Doing this might allow you do all grain batches and keep the family satisfied.

 

[IslandLizard]

Good ideas to break up the brewing process into time-manageable chunks! ^

Can you brew at night, when everyone's asleep?
Or can spouse watch the little ones when you brew? Taking turns in parenting allows each parent to have a life too.

You don't have a location listed, but buying hopped supermarket kits sounds really bad for beer. NO LHBS? How about online ordering? Or stock up for a few months of brewing, buying larger quantities to get better price breaks and perhaps free shipping?

Although certain styles cannot be (easily) brewed with extracts, there's nothing wrong with extract brewing and it's at least 2 hours shorter than all-grain. Then again, much of those 2 hours include large spans of waiting time.

 

[mongoose33]

I have a family and I find it difficult to brew weekends / evenings without annoying everyone in some way. With brewing things need to happen at specific times and the kids always want another story when the wort chiller needs to be added to the boil etc.

Maybe you could tell them a story about how beer was used to make water potable? Or about the process the yeast use in turning wort into beer?

Maybe the kids need an incentive to allow you to brew--give them a penny for each minute consecutively they're not bugging you during brewing?

Lunch hours are my own though.

At the moment I have done a couple of Coopers kits in between all-grain batches. These are ok, take 20 mins into the fermenter which is a plus. I'm looking at ways to improve on this (ie use that other 40 mins to make the final product better). Since I don't have a LHBS ordering in proper extract kits is prohibitively expensive, so I'm looking for a process that involves Supermarket kits (Coopers, Brewtec) and/or grains.

At the moment the best idea I can come up with is a hopped Coopers kit toucan, using nice yeast, maybe a 15 minute partial boil using some nice hops for flavour / aroma since the kits don't have much of that. That should be possible to boil, cool and pitch within an hour if everything is setup the day before.

Anyone else have a brew process they can run through in an hour? Just looking for ideas, if I can do 50/50 all-grain vs lunchtime brews the family will be a lot happier.

This is said with all the love and respect that you deserve, but why isn't it reasonable that once or twice a month, say, the family grants you some personal time during which you brew some beer? Or, you could enlist them to help in recording notes, taking temp readings of the mash, any number of things that would involve them.

Everybody needs personal time. Even Dads.

 

[Sadu]

Have you ever considered breaking up you brew day into smaller, and maybe more manageable, chunks of time? Not sure what type of system you've got, but if you have at least some basic electric equipment, like a bucket heater and one of those outlet timers, you could....

Heat your water to strike temps overnight, while you sleep. Dough in first thing in the morning. Mash until lunch time. Boil for 30 minutes over lunch. No chill straight to the fermenter (plastic bucket). Pitch yeast that evening before bed.

Ignoring your lunch hour, the longest amount of time you'd be away from family is when you're measuring out your water and setting up to heat it. Doing this might allow you do all grain batches and keep the family satisfied.

Aye, that's good advice. I do BIAB with a separate sparge but I'm pretty flexible with my process, open to ideas like this one for sure.

 

[Sadu]

You don't have a location listed, but buying hopped supermarket kits sounds really bad for beer. NO LHBS? How about online ordering? Or stock up for a few months of brewing, buying larger quantities to get better price breaks and perhaps free shipping?

Although certain styles cannot be (easily) brewed with extracts, there's nothing wrong with extract brewing and it's at least 2 hours shorter than all-grain. Then again, much of those 2 hours include large spans of waiting time.

I get one all grain brew day with a mate per month, which I'm grateful for. It's a blast and the all grain beer has been coming out far better than expectations. I like brewing with a mate because of the social side of things but the downside is half as much beer at the end of it. My process is fairly involved, that is part of the fun, I like all the little things that happen on brewday like making starters and sparging the bag for good efficiency.

The "fill-in" batches I do by myself have been ok. Keeps the pipeline full so the good beer gets a chance to mature a bit. If I can up the quality of those a little bit while keeping that process simple then I'll be pretty happy. I have been on a tight ingredients budget since my spare cash has all gone into equipment, hence the focus on upgrading the supermarket kits.

Thanks for all the ideas, lots to work with here.

 

[IslandLizard]

I get one all grain brew day with a mate per month, which I'm grateful for. It's a blast and the all grain beer has been coming out far better than expectations. I like brewing with a mate because of the social side of things but the downside is half as much beer at the end of it. My process is fairly involved, that is part of the fun, I like all the little things that happen on brewday like making starters and sparging the bag for good efficiency.

The "fill-in" batches I do by myself have been ok. Keeps the pipeline full so the good beer gets a chance to mature a bit. If I can up the quality of those a little bit while keeping that process simple then I'll be pretty happy. I have been on a tight ingredients budget since my spare cash has all gone into equipment, hence the focus on upgrading the supermarket kits.

Thanks for all the ideas, lots to work with here.

Perhaps you can negotiate 2 all-grain days per month?

You could brew 2 or 3 batches back to back in a day, mashing the next while the current one boils. Keep the wort in large buckets until the kettle is free again. This staggered scheme is even easier with a brew mate. That way you don't each end up with half. And cleanup is done only once! I typically brew 2-4 batches back to back, although I'll take a nap after doing 2.

Definitely look into buying larger quantities of better quality ingredients. Buy in bulk. Kits tend to be more expensive and a compromise of convenience and the vendor's bottom line over quality. Packaging and marketing can easily exceed the cost of content.

If you look at the price of bottles or pints of craft beer, homebrewing actually can save you tons of $$. Do not charge yourself for time, though.

 

[JohnSand]

Look at "Beer. Simply Beer" kits from Midwest Supplies. $20 for the kit, shipping is reasonable, especially if you buy a few.

 

[Auger]

I've taken to making time for myself to brew in the morning. I know on Sat or Sun (we are not a churchgoing family), my wife and daughter like to sleep in. I'm generally an early riser, so I get up at 5:30 or so on brew days and get going, and I'm usually cleaning up by the time everyone's rolling out of bed and looking for breakfast/brunch. It helps to get everything staged and laid out the night before, so when I wake up, I fill the HLT, turn on the heat and go make coffee. By the time I've had two cups I'm fully awake and its time to mash in.

I've also been looking at throwing in an extract batch concurrently...I figure if I start a full boil kit at the same time I start heating strike water, that batch should be finished well before I'm done mashing and would be a good way to keep the pipeline stocked as was mentioned.

 

[jerbrew]

I get one all grain brew day with a mate per month, which I'm grateful for. It's a blast and the all grain beer has been coming out far better than expectations. I like brewing with a mate because of the social side of things but the downside is half as much beer at the end of it. My process is fairly involved, that is part of the fun, I like all the little things that happen on brewday like making starters and sparging the bag for good efficiency.



The "fill-in" batches I do by myself have been ok. Keeps the pipeline full so the good beer gets a chance to mature a bit. If I can up the quality of those a little bit while keeping that process simple then I'll be pretty happy. I have been on a tight ingredients budget since my spare cash has all gone into equipment, hence the focus on upgrading the supermarket kits.



Thanks for all the ideas, lots to work with here.

Bigger batches or s double brew day. You chose a recipe your partner chooses a recipe. You both get more beer.

 

[jerbrew]

You can also just buy dme to replace base malt and steep the specialty grain of pretty much any recipe. Dme should be pretty cheap (relative to lme) and there's flat rate shipping people out there.

 

[user 204491]

Just my opinion, but if you are trying to rush your brew day because you want to go faster that's one thing, but if you are trying to rush your brew day because you have to then that is a different thing entirely.

If you're just trying to speed things along for your own satisfaction, and something goes wrong, then it's no big deal, you just carry on and you finish when you finish.

If you're trying to speed things along because your family is annoyed that it takes too long, and something goes wrong, not only are they going to be even more annoyed at you because you said, "this was only going to take an hour," but you are probably also going to stress yourself out because you know you'll have to deal with that and/or end up making a crappy brew.

I have 2 kids and a wife as well, and despite that I'm still able to get 2-3 all grain brew days a month in, plus cider, soda, and kombucha making. They key is really clear communication with your significant other, give and take, and willingness to engage in your hobby sometimes at sub-optimal hours.

For example, I plan brew days out a few months in advance and consult our family calendar while planning. I then discuss with my wife the brew schedule, and we lock things down. On those days I get up pretty early so I can do most of the stuff while the family is sleeping, try to time things so I can make breakfast for the family during the mash, and still finish up around noon, so there's plenty of family time left in the day. I then make sure that my wife gets an equal amount of "me time," to do her thing while I handle the kids, house, pets, and so on. That works very well for us, so I encourage you to talk to your family and see what you can come up with.

 

[Aristotelian]

Look into threads on splitting up the brew day. I also have wife and kids who are terribly overscheduled with activities.

My current process for AG:

Wed: Get yeast starter going
Thurs: Grind the malt
Fri night: Mash and sparge BIAB, put brew pot in fridge.
Sat morning: Boil first thing in the morning. Cool. Rack and pitch some time in the afternoon.

Everything intensive is done in the evening or early morning. The whole weekend is still free for kids baseball games and activities.

 

[kh54s10]

So the 15 minute Amarillo Ale brew took 2 1/2 hours including clean up. I do 5 gallon all grain in about 4 1/2 hours. It does save time but not enough that I could do it in my lunch "hour"

I would opt for the split up the steps method.

 

[JohnSand]

Whatever you decide, I hope you can make it fit your needs and taste. Nothing is more important than family, and a good man will find a way to manage family and brewing.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Brewing beer can be as flexible as you want it to be. IME brewing doesn't really have to be the continuos process as it is typically presented.

You can mash in, and ignore the mash for a good spell without damaging the beer, at least 12 hours, likely 24 before lacto activity begins. Longer mashes may be more fermentable, so consider mashing slightly higher.

The boil can be shortened to 30-45 minutes with minor hop adjustment, then no chill in the kettle with the kettle lid on. Post boil, the kettle and wort are sanitary, stray yeast and bugs will most likely not affect the wort for 24 hours IME.

Package the finished beer on your schedule, an extra week in the fermenter is OK.

 

[YeastMode]

I've taken to making time for myself to brew in the morning. I know on Sat or Sun (we are not a churchgoing family), my wife and daughter like to sleep in. I'm generally an early riser, so I get up at 5:30 or so on brew days and get going, and I'm usually cleaning up by the time everyone's rolling out of bed and looking for breakfast/brunch. It helps to get everything staged and laid out the night before, so when I wake up, I fill the HLT, turn on the heat and go make coffee. By the time I've had two cups I'm fully awake and its time to mash in.

I've also been looking at throwing in an extract batch concurrently...I figure if I start a full boil kit at the same time I start heating strike water, that batch should be finished well before I'm done mashing and would be a good way to keep the pipeline stocked as was mentioned.

This is spot on for how I manage it with two kids and a wife and my honey-do list. It's really now one of my only moments in life where I can just sit and enjoy some uninterrupted silence. I can two 5 gallon batches done back to back in 5 hours. I have even started to use the no chill method (which is almost a requirement during Florida summers) trying to further streamline.

 

[David_Trucks]

I used to have this issue. Over time though, the lady cared less about me brewing and I'm able to brew batches fairly often now. I do all grain, but no chill batches, which helps a lot time wise. Also, now my kids "help" me grind, then play out back with me while I do most of the process. Brewing is a lot of sitting and waiting after all, so it should get easier for you to balance brewing with family time.

 

[Sadu]

I actually like the idea of getting up at 5am and making an early start on a Saturday morning. If I use hot tap water instead of cold spring water then I'm halfway to strike temps from the start. Mash in at 5:30, go have a shower and coffee, start sparging /heating at 6:30, start boiling at 7:00, make some waffle batter for when the kids get up, flameout at 8 when everyone else gets up, chuck in the immersion cooler and start cooking waffles / making the coffee.
Pitch the yeast at 9am and cleanup properly later in the day.

Could possibly look at a 4 gallon instead of 6 gallon batch to make the heating and chilling that much easier / quicker.

 

[YeastMode]

Could possibly look at a 4 gallon instead of 6 gallon batch to make the heating and chilling that much easier / quicker.

I don't think that would make much of a difference honestly. I think you would have a greater time saving by doing no chill and cleaning as you go. I am not known to be an early riser, but I find myself happy to get up at that time because I know that I will have several hours of uninterrupted peace doing something I enjoy.

And make the waffle batter the night before (at least mix the dry ingredients). I have become the master of ~5 minute waffles.

 

[Sadu]

I find myself happy to get up at that time because I know that I will have several hours of uninterrupted peace doing something I enjoy.

This. I like the process of brewing and doing things properly in my own time. I find my enjoyment is diminished somewhat if I'm getting asked repeatedly how much longer the chilling is going to take or if I can go to the post office.

If that means getting up super early, then ok.

 

[Sadu]

I just machined out a 1 hour extract batch without too much stress.

I used a pre-hopped lager kit as the base, figuring that I can add my own flavour/aroma hops to it. I chose to do a lager since it's winter in my part of the world and I have some 2-day-old lager slurry left from the last batch that should amount to a mild overpitch (which I prefer).

Aiming for about 11-12 litres but not going to be fussy. Don't care what the OG comes out at. Aiming for something slightly hoppy, but again not fussy. Primarily interested in getting it done quickly and with good sanitation.

10 mins to bring 5-6 litres of warm water to the boil. Used that time to get everything else ready.

Then added half the LME, the 15 min hop addition and my mini immersion chiller. Started getting the cooling stuff together - I use a small water pump to recirculate iced water throuch a 2m copper immersion chiller.

Another hop addition at 5 mins.

Another hop addition at flameout. Add the rest of the LME and stir. Turn on the pump for the wort cooler.

Once the wort got down to 40c (15 mins) I poured the wort into the fermenter and put the immersion chiller in there as well. Threw in 3x sanitised bottles filled with ice.

Once I got down to 20c I topped up the fermentor to 11 litres with cold pre-boiled water that I had sitting around in bottles. This took me down to 13c. Moved the fermenter into a bucket of cold water and started cleaning up.

15 mins later the fermenter is at 10c, my target temp since this is a lager. Take gravity reading (1.053, should make for a nice pilsner), pitch the yeast slurry and give it a good shake / stir.

Lid on, cleanup all done, go get the kids lunch and play some computer games.

Pretty happy with how that went, assuming it tastes ok at the end. Next time I'll try the get-up-early all-grain option.

 

[JohnSand]

I use extract for quick batches too. I prefer grain brewing, but the stubborn brewer runs out of homebrew.

 

[Sadu]

I use extract for quick batches too. I prefer grain brewing, but the stubborn brewer runs out of homebrew.

Totally agree with all that. Love everything about all grain, including the long drawn out process. Just don't want to go back to store-bought beer again because the pipeline runs dry. The extract kits fill that need nicely, in between all-grain brewdays.

 

[JohnSand]

Particularly with inexpensive kits and sales. I have recently bought complete extract kits for $21-$24 delivered. That is close to the price of grain batches, and Way Cheaper than buying beer.