mash now,,,,, boil later???

[jhubert]

I was wondering if there is any potential issue if I were doing a 5 gallon AG batch and only had time to mash out to my full boil volume and then postpone the boil portion of the brew day for 24 hours? It seems like I would be able to brew more often if I could do it like this, find those smaller portions of free time. Seems like I put off a full brew session sometimes because I don't have the 4-5 hrs to knock it all out in one shot. Any advice if I try doing a split session.
Thanks

 

[BrewKnurd]

That's actually one method for producing intentionally soured beers. So unless that's what you're going for, I wouldn't recommend a long delay between mash and boil. There's lots of bacteria on grain, and mashing temps don't kill them off. You can look up sour mashing if you want more info on what's going on there.

You might be able to mash, bring the resulting wort to a boil just long enough to kill the bacteria, then cover and wait until the next day.... Have no idea what your results on that would be like.

 

[jhubert]

Okay, so even the boil 24 hrs later even though it would kill all that bacteria there would be a potential change to the wort? I am normally brewing IPA or APAs. I was assuming that any nasties that formed in that 24hrs would be killed when I did the boil.

 

[Yooper]

Okay, so even the boil 24 hrs later even though it would kill all that bacteria there would be a potential change to the wort? I am normally brewing IPA or APAs. I was assuming that any nasties that formed in that 24hrs would be killed when I did the boil.

Yes, they will. But since lactobacillus LOVES warm wort, and it wouldn't be killed at mash temps (and grain is loaded with it), the lacto would sour the wort a bit before the boil.

Have you ever left milk out overnight? That's how fast lacto can work. Even boiling it after that wouldn't fix it- it would just keep it from souring more.

If you brought the wort up to a boil briefly, it would probably kill most (all?) of the lactobacillus and not sour the wort before the boil the next day.

If you're pressed for time, I'd try an overnight mash especially if you have a cooler for an MLT and can maintain the temperature pretty well overnight.

 

[samc]

Extract brewing would be your best answer. I won't tell anyone!

If you can't brew in a relaxed manner whats the point?

 

[BrewKnurd]

You will indeed kill the bacteria when you boil 24 hours later. But they will have been eating sugar and producing by-products for that 24 hours. The Lactobacillus that is surely on your grain will produce lactic acid for that 24 hours, and boiling kills the bacteria, but doesn't do anything about the acid.

 

[Seven]

Okay, so even the boil 24 hrs later even though it would kill all that bacteria there would be a potential change to the wort? I am normally brewing IPA or APAs. I was assuming that any nasties that formed in that 24hrs would be killed when I did the boil.

I haven't experienced this personally but I've heard that un-boiled wort can go sour in less than 24-hours. Someone here suggested a while back to at least bring the wort to a quick boil post-mash to kill any baddies. You can then cover it and resume your boil later with less risk of souring. Made sense to me.

 

[Dok]

Extract brewing would be your best answer. I won't tell anyone!

If you can't brew in a relaxed manner whats the point?

+1. Could not have said it better. You can make some damn fine beers with extract.

 

[mdpolakow]

I have done this once, and maybe I was just lucky but it worked fine. I did an Imperial Ale. While the initial 7 gal was boiling we spargerd out another 3 gal. We put it in a clean pale with an air lock and didn't get around to boiling it for 2 days. With a little dry hop it made a nice ale.

Though from what other say i may have just gotten luck.

 

[wardenwheat]

I've thought about this myself in a crunch. What if you put the kettle in the freezer for a day or two then thawed it out and boiled it?

 

[Yooper]

I've thought about this myself in a crunch. What if you put the kettle in the freezer for a day or two then thawed it out and boiled it?

The issue I see is that if you put the wort in the freezer at 150, it would take forever to get cold and the lacto could still work until you hit 50 degrees or so. It would take a LONG time for 150 degree wort to get cold enough to inhibit the lacto.

 

[wardenwheat]

Yeah I have no idea how long it would take to get 150 degree wort to 50 or less in a -10 degree freezer.

 

[lumpher]

as others say, go for the extract when time is limited. i'm cooking a dme dunkleweizen made with wheat dme and some soaked chocolate malt right now, even though i'm almost strictly all-grain. no shame in it

 

[bwomp313]

The issue I see is that if you put the wort in the freezer at 150, it would take forever to get cold and the lacto could still work until you hit 50 degrees or so. It would take a LONG time for 150 degree wort to get cold enough to inhibit the lacto.

and not to mention you'd probably melt everything in your freezer and it'd be difficult for the freezer to bring itself back to the proper temp.