Mash the day before
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Bad idea, unfortunately. First, unless you get your beer up to boiling, you'll still have enzyme activity breaking down your long chain dextrins and starches into simple sugars. Second, warm sugar soup is every microorganism's favorite food.
I guess you could bring your mash to boil to pasteurize and then hope it stays sterile until tomorrow, but that doesn't seem to be much of a time-saver.
I guess you could bring your mash to boil to pasteurize and then hope it stays sterile until tomorrow, but that doesn't seem to be much of a time-saver.
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This thread pops up about once a month. The same theory posts pop up about how it won't work and the same experience posts about how it's been done pop up. Heat it up enough to stop enzyme activity and you'll be fine. I wouldn't worry about infection. If you're concerned about hot wort and not pitching, take a look at no chill brewing. Besides, you're going to be boiling the next day anyway.
Ain't theory, mate. I left a mash for 12 hours not long ago thanks to some distractions. Got 90% attenuation. Like I said, he can bring it to boil and probably be fine if that still saves him time.
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No need for a boil. He can do a mashout at 170 and stop enzymatic activity.
nutty_gnome
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The two issues that always appear in these threads are: enzymatic activity may continue and bacteria will grow, prosper, and sour the wort.
If we put aside the enzymatic activity issue, I wonder why we can't just use a campden tablet to bomb the bacteria and retard growth over that 24 hour period? Wouldn't that take care of the issue?
If we put aside the enzymatic activity issue, I wonder why we can't just use a campden tablet to bomb the bacteria and retard growth over that 24 hour period? Wouldn't that take care of the issue?
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I'm not even concerned with the bacteria The no Chill guys have proven that to be not a big deal. I've done two brews where I mashed the night before, collected runnings in buckets and boiled the next day. Beers came out just as planned. Orfy's Mild and a Scottish 60/
nutty_gnome
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I'm a no chiller. But I would hesitate to let freshly mashed wort sit around for a day. Lactobacillus is real and its on the malted grains as well as a lot of other bugs. I can't really guarantee on my system that I've pasteurized the mash and can keep it clean.
While I plan to mash and boil the same day because to do otherwise is a larger PITA for me, I wonder if, in a pinch, chemical additives could be used in the mash.
While I plan to mash and boil the same day because to do otherwise is a larger PITA for me, I wonder if, in a pinch, chemical additives could be used in the mash.
Yep. Not having tried it I hesitate to say definitively, but it sounds solid in theory.
It depends what he is trying to do. If he wants to dump strike water in his mash cooler and walk away until tomorrow (which would be a pretty awesome time savings), it's not going to work. If he wants to do his full mash, drain the wort to his kettle, and bring the temp up to X degrees F, that would probably be fine. I assume the OP wants to do the former just because the latter doesn't seem to be a huge time savings to me, but I shouldn't make that assumption. I doubt he would even really need the campden, but I would probably do it anyway.
Edit: and just to clarify, I'm not a doubter of no-chill. I do think this is a different situation than that, though.
phished880
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This method works for me. In fact I boiled yesterday a mash from Monday night. As some of the other posters said make sure you mash out.
craigd
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If you can do your boil within about 12 hours you'll be fine. After that you might be fine too but you might start to get some lacto souring as you approach the 24 hour mark. I have done a sour mash for 36 hours and got some pucker at that point and didn't have to do any spiking of the grains - just left the mash. Many folks seem to do fine with an overnight so long as you do a mashout.
As for no-chill - I don't think there is much of a comparison because that wort has been boiled and this hasn't. Lacto bugs survive (and thrive) in mash temps but not boil.
As for no-chill - I don't think there is much of a comparison because that wort has been boiled and this hasn't. Lacto bugs survive (and thrive) in mash temps but not boil.
QuadConPana
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With 2 jobs and driving Uber a little on my free time, the extra time to do a mash vs. WG is the difference between brewing and not brewing. So, I'm thinking of filling in with some extract batches.
However, I want to do a Wit with a mini mash. I was hoping I could do the mini mash the day before on the stove. So, if I get the wort to boiling, I should be able to put it away for the next day to add to my extract batch, don't you think?
However, I want to do a Wit with a mini mash. I was hoping I could do the mini mash the day before on the stove. So, if I get the wort to boiling, I should be able to put it away for the next day to add to my extract batch, don't you think?
I would think this would be fine, once your mini mash wort is boiled, it should keep fine for a day in a covered kettle.
I would bring it to a boil, kill the heat and put the lid on the kettle, and not open it until you are ready to proceed the following day.
If it fits in your fridge, you could do that as well.
Once boiled and kept reasonably sealed, I doubt it will spontaneously start fermenting from wild yeast or contaminates within a day, longer if chilled.
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