Mash tonight, brew tomorrow? Bad idea?

[BrewN00b]

Well, it's been a long day, and I did not get to start as early as I would like, but I do want to get this AG (my first) batch done before I have to go back to work on Wed.

I was thinking about going ahead and doing my mash, sparge, and than brew tomorrow after the dentist, so about 11am. I know that this would be a hotbed of possible infection, but wouldn't my boil tomorrow kill off anything that may have gotten in there? I was thinking of taking all my liquor and putting it into a sterilized and sealed fermenter, storing it in the refrigerator (about 42F) and than going through the boil, hop, chill, aerate, and yeasting the next day.

Have any of you tried this? If I did it, would it be a good idea to take the liquor and bring it to a quick boil to kill off and enzyme activity?

 

[Killercal]

There have been lots of talk regarding this on here. Just do a search and you'll be able to find the answers. Check here
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/question-regarding-time-mash-boil-177168/

 

[ChshreCat]

Your boil would kill off anything in the wort, but wouldn't counteract any effects it had up to that point like laco sourness.

 

[BrewN00b]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to try to finish it tonight, but if not I will try this bold experiment.

 

[kegtoe]

when you buy liquid dme all that is - is concentrated wort that stuff sits around for months and people still use it. that was my rationilazation for doing the same thing your doing. No issues.

 

[Killercal]

when you buy liquid dme all that is - is concentrated wort that stuff sits around for months and people still use it. that was my rationilazation for doing the same thing your doing. No issues.

wow, never thought of it that way....good point.

 

[andysim]

I collect my wort at night (10 pm) and begin boiling the next morning around 9am with no issues.

 

[redalert]

You could always do what wine guys do and drop a tablet of Campden when finished sparging. That should keep the wort sterile until morning.

 

[fretsforlife]

What I do is, wrap the kettle in blankets and the next day (even after noon time) the temp is at +150 degrees! I doubt anything nasty could live in that.

 

[Killercal]

Frets, do you have a lid for your kettle or do you place a blanket over top of it?

 

[fretsforlife]

Frets, do you have a lid for your kettle or do you place a blanket over top of it?

I do have a lid. Its the 7.5 gallon kettle that comes with a turkey fryer from Home Depot. Even if you didn't have a lid, I'm sure you could place something over it for the night.

 

[mkorpal]

Is there any problem with the beer turning out too dry?

 

[2bluewagons]

when you buy liquid dme all that is - is concentrated wort that stuff sits around for months and people still use it. that was my rationilazation for doing the same thing your doing. No issues.

This is not really true. LME has been boiled, albeit at a lower temperature but still at temps and duration significant to kill off most of the bacteria contributed by the grain. Also, the concentration of sugar in LME is too high for much to be able to grow in it.

That said, I have never tried this, so if others have and not made a sour mash, then seems good to go. But I think if you make this a normal practice, you will eventually get some funkiness in there.

Edit: didn't see that you will be refrigerating the liquor. I would think that would limit growth of nasties over the course of 12-24 hours enough to not be noticeable. Should also shut off enzyme activity, so you shouldn't need to worry about thinning out too much. Although if it takes hours to cool down...hard to say. And again I have no experience, so...let me know how it turns out!

 

[Jethro]

I think you should at least heat the wort up to 170-ish to pasteurize things, and denature the enzymes. Otherwise you are liable to end up with something funky growing in it.

 

[BrewN00b]

Well, I just wanted to let y'all know that I simply just finished the brew that night, and it went well aside from trying to cool my wort in central Texas, and the fact my yeast may be dead. I'll see tonight.

 

[lenbone]

Well I see its to late to add my two cents worth. For the next time you could just hold your mash over night, then sparge and boil as normal. i have done this a few times if no ill effects.

 

[Killercal]

Well I see its to late to add my two cents worth. For the next time you could just hold your mash over night, then sparge and boil as normal. i have done this a few times if no ill effects.

Won't this extract tannins? Ooops, I mean dextrines, unfermentables. This will cause you to create a very sweet beer would it not?

 

[randomsample]

when you buy liquid dme all that is - is concentrated wort that stuff sits around for months and people still use it. that was my rationilazation for doing the same thing your doing. No issues.

The fact that it's concentrated makes it different; sugar in those quantities is a preservative.

 

[kegtoe]

No sir you are wrong. The owners of Briess come right out and say they basically make a concentrated wort. If they added yeast at a point in their process they would be the biggest brewery in Wisconsin!

This is not really true. LME has been boiled, albeit at a lower temperature but still at temps and duration significant to kill off most of the bacteria contributed by the grain. Also, the concentration of sugar in LME is too high for much to be able to grow in it.

That said, I have never tried this, so if others have and not made a sour mash, then seems good to go. But I think if you make this a normal practice, you will eventually get some funkiness in there.

Edit: didn't see that you will be refrigerating the liquor. I would think that would limit growth of nasties over the course of 12-24 hours enough to not be noticeable. Should also shut off enzyme activity, so you shouldn't need to worry about thinning out too much. Although if it takes hours to cool down...hard to say. And again I have no experience, so...let me know how it turns out!

 

[randomsample]

No sir you are wrong. The owners of Briess come right out and say they basically make a concentrated wort. If they added yeast at a point in their process they would be the biggest brewery in Wisconsin!

Yes, it is concentrated wort. It is too concentrated for easy bacteria or wild yeast growth. Try it sometime.

 

[doctorRobert]

Mash tonight, brew tomorrow?

No you have it all wrong! Relish today, Ketchup tomorrow!

 

[kegtoe]

i agree with both your statements. Its basically what ive been saying from the beginning.

Yes, it is concentrated wort. It is too concentrated for easy bacteria or wild yeast growth. Try it sometime.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

I've been doing this technique without any ill-effects for the last 3-4 years. In fact, I have 10 gallons (2x5 gallon batches) going right now that I'll finish up tomorrow after lunch. I've found that I don't need to recirculate much, if any, wort to set the bed because the initial runnings are very clear. If anything, I need to heat the initial sparge water up a few more degrees and let it sit in the mash for about 15 minutes to heat the bed back up. But other than that, I'm gonna keep going with this technique. In winter, I bring the coolers into the house so they don't cool off too much.

 

[bmckee56]

I've been doing this technique without any ill-effects for the last 3-4 years. In fact, I have 10 gallons (2x5 gallon batches) going right now that I'll finish up tomorrow after lunch. I've found that I don't need to recirculate much, if any, wort to set the bed because the initial runnings are very clear. If anything, I need to heat the initial sparge water up a few more degrees and let it sit in the mash for about 15 minutes to heat the bed back up. But other than that, I'm gonna keep going with this technique. In winter, I bring the coolers into the house so they don't cool off too much.

Are you saying you leave your mash tun full overnight? I thought the OP was saying he collects his wort from the MLT and then waits until the next morning to boil. Wouldn't leaving the liguid in the mash tun ovenight affect the overall quality of the wort?

Just trying to get this process clear in my mind. It interests me cause I could end up doing ten gallon batches this way if it works well.

Salute!

 

[chefmike]

I mash in at 10pm or 11pm and start my sparge at 8am frequently. Bump up your mash temp a little, as it will offset the dryness that comes with the long sparge (my opinion). I also get a really high efficiency doing the overnight mash. I mash in and seal it in my ten gallon cooler. I see about 8 to 10 degrees in lost heat.

No tannins, no lacto sour (at 9 to 12 hours), no dextrins (comes from high temps, the longer the mash, the more breakdown you have, hence the dryness I try to offset).

Just high efficiency and a schedule that keeps me brewing as a family man who works long hours.
Now I did get lacto sour in the 36 hour mash on my kentucky common... but that was intentional.

 

[Got Trub?]

I've done this in the past as well with good results. Like chefmike said you may have to tweak your mash temp up a little to get the FG you want in the end as you won't be "setting" your wort sugar profile by mashing out.

GT

 

[avidhomebrewer]

Yes, it is concentrated wort. It is too concentrated for easy bacteria or wild yeast growth. Try it sometime.

I've actually had some mold on some lme once. I got it from the store that way and scraped off the mold and used the lme anyways. Still made a good beer.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

Are you saying you leave your mash tun full overnight? I thought the OP was saying he collects his wort from the MLT and then waits until the next morning to boil. Wouldn't leaving the liguid in the mash tun ovenight affect the overall quality of the wort?

Just trying to get this process clear in my mind. It interests me cause I could end up doing ten gallon batches this way if it works well.

Salute!

That's basically what I'm saying. I'll outline my process.
I get however much water I need for my batches (2x5 gallon batches) heating to about 180. While that is heating, I mill my grains. Once the water is to temp, I put it in my cooler, mix it with the grains to make sure all dead spots are gone, cover it, and wait until morning. This is usually around 9 pm.

Come morning, I'll heat my sparge water to about 180 and carefully disperse about 1.5 gallons right off the bat onto the grain bed, after allowing the initial runnings to drain. Then, I'll let the grain bed warm up (cooled maybe 20 degrees, tops. But the mash is over before it gets too cold). After about 15 minutes with the ball valve closed, I carefully start to collect the wort/sparge water.

Today was the longest I let it wait in between. I mixed all up in the coolers last night around 9:15, collected the initial runnings today around 1:30 pm. This technique saves me about 3 hours of time, easy. It works for me, so I'm going to continue with it.

 

[bmckee56]

That's basically what I'm saying. I'll outline my process.
I get however much water I need for my batches (2x5 gallon batches) heating to about 180. While that is heating, I mill my grains. Once the water is to temp, I put it in my cooler, mix it with the grains to make sure all dead spots are gone, cover it, and wait until morning. This is usually around 9 pm.

Come morning, I'll heat my sparge water to about 180 and carefully disperse about 1.5 gallons right off the bat onto the grain bed, after allowing the initial runnings to drain. Then, I'll let the grain bed warm up (cooled maybe 20 degrees, tops. But the mash is over before it gets too cold). After about 15 minutes with the ball valve closed, I carefully start to collect the wort/sparge water.

Today was the longest I let it wait in between. I mixed all up in the coolers last night around 9:15, collected the initial runnings today around 1:30 pm. This technique saves me about 3 hours of time, easy. It works for me, so I'm going to continue with it.

Appreciate you outlining your process. I need to try this, I typically have everthing like water, grain, pots and utensils cleaned, hops weighed out, and anything else possible prepared the night before. It helps cut down on the brew day, but I really like the idea of mashing the night before.

I am going to give this a go on a brew soon. Thanks.

Salute!