new brewers / reducing the brew day

[douglasbarbin]

I'm all for saving time, don't get me wrong. I would say that, in terms of beer vs. time, the biggest improvements have come from:

1. Brewing 10 gallon batches
2. Not sparging
3. Kegging instead of bottling
4. Bigger burners/heating elements
5. Bigger/more efficient wort chiller
6. Cleaning while waiting for water to heat or wort to boil
7. Shorter mash or doing something else while mash is going on, then coming back to it later
8. Shorter boil
9. Pumping instead of gravity feeding

And it is pretty much in that order, from biggest improvement to smallest. Out of those 9, 5 of them involve spending money on equipment. 2 (not sparging and shorter boil) are usually an increased cost in ingredients, which may or may not be substantial depending on your recipe. The remaining 2 are free.

So, unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot you can do to speed up the process that doesn't cost money. But planning out your brew day for definitely helps to save time.

 

[douglasbarbin]

I actually agreed with the idea of a tutorial for a simple and time-efficient method aimed at new brewers. No negativity. I also do 1 to 2 gallon small batches in about 3 hours. I just thought it was ironic that your method relies on a homemade 2000 watt fire hazard.

2500 watt fire/electrocution hazard, actually.

 

[mattdee1]

I'm all for saving time, don't get me wrong. I would say that, in terms of beer vs. time, the biggest improvements have come from:

1. Brewing 10 gallon batches
2. Not sparging
3. Kegging instead of bottling
4. Bigger burners/heating elements
5. Bigger/more efficient wort chiller
6. Cleaning while waiting for water to heat or wort to boil
7. Shorter mash or doing something else while mash is going on, then coming back to it later
8. Shorter boil
9. Pumping instead of gravity feeding

Good list, and pretty much exactly what I would have written (I haven't gone to kegging yet, though... someday I'm sure).

I really enjoy the process and the "alone" time--so I'm not, in principle, put off by, say, a 10-hour effort--but I'm still always looking for ways to shorten brew day. Not because the process is at all painful, but as a practical matter: the more I can squeeze down the time requirements, the easier it is to find chunks of time that are big enough to accommodate a brew session.

 

[Owly055]

I actually agreed with the idea of a tutorial for a simple and time-efficient method aimed at new brewers. No negativity. I also do 1 to 2 gallon small batches in about 3 hours. I just thought it was ironic that your method relies on a homemade 2000 watt fire hazard.

I don't agree with your description of my home made floating heater as a "fire hazard". Everything is well protected and well insulated and well grounded. I've worked with electricity all my life, frequently with 480. I know what is safe and what is not. This heater is no more of a "fire hazard", and quite likely less, than the popular heat sticks. Likewise the safety........I have no concerns on either count due to the way it is designed. I understand people's fear of "high voltage"..... which is inherently potentially dangerous, but that fear is driven largely by ignorance. Folks use electric stoves and water heaters all the time. Because they have a UL sticker, they are "safe". Worst case scenario....... deteriorated insulation, and failure to monitor the progress toward boil....... which is inexcusable as the time to boil from mash is 8 minutes......... the pot floods over, the floating heater is inundated with wort, and shorts out due to deteriorated insulation. The breaker trips.... because it's sized correctly. The path of least resistance to ground is through the unit itself....... Supposing the breaker did not trip, and you grab the pot..... You still won't get shocked because you are NOT the path of least resistance. I'm reminded of a pair of grounded pliers I made years ago.......... and still use. A ground wire connects these pliers to the chassis of a car you are working on. You reach down and pull plug wires off while it is running.....The spark jumps to the pliers..... Many thousands of volts. You are holding the pliers in your bare hands by the metal handles, and leaning over the fender of the car..........you don't feel a thing. Numerous people have been afraid to use these.... Nobody has ever been shocked. It worked 30 years ago when I made them.... it works today.
That said, I have a lot of respect for electricity..... I've dealt with potentially deadly situations many times..... I know when to be afraid and when not to.


H.W.

 

[Owly055]

I'm all for saving time, don't get me wrong. I would say that, in terms of beer vs. time, the biggest improvements have come from:

1. Brewing 10 gallon batches
2. Not sparging
3. Kegging instead of bottling
4. Bigger burners/heating elements
5. Bigger/more efficient wort chiller
6. Cleaning while waiting for water to heat or wort to boil
7. Shorter mash or doing something else while mash is going on, then coming back to it later
8. Shorter boil
9. Pumping instead of gravity feeding

And it is pretty much in that order, from biggest improvement to smallest. Out of those 9, 5 of them involve spending money on equipment. 2 (not sparging and shorter boil) are usually an increased cost in ingredients, which may or may not be substantial depending on your recipe. The remaining 2 are free.

So, unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot you can do to speed up the process that doesn't cost money. But planning out your brew day for definitely helps to save time.

An excellent list........ I'm looking at low budget. At brewing on a "shoestring". Large brews involve big expensive equipment, and lots of bottling / kegging equipment. Improved heating and chilling, and reduced mash times, shorter boils, no sparge, or simple dunk sparge and of course BIAB, and time management, all apply both to large and small brews. Large burners are cheap, and the cost of building a decent size immersion chiller is relatively cheap. I would say that pumps, and the level of complexity they involve are really not worth considering in a budget simple operation initially.

This is really just about the only post that has really addressed the issue, and done it honestly.


H.W.

 

[m00ps]

The repeated suggestion or implication that someone who wants to cut the brew day down must not like brewing, is just plain absurd. I brewed brew # 105 yesterday.... in about 20 months. 65 brews so far in my second year of brewing. That's more than a brew a week... Can you even remotely imagine I don't like brewing?? Get real!! Everybody who brews once a week please raise your hands..
H.W.

* Raises both hands*
Brewing frequently doesn't make you an expert. Im sure as hell not...

 

[pricelessbrewing]

* Raises both hands*
Brewing frequently doesn't make you an expert. Im sure as hell not...

While true, the more you brew the more potential learning and more experimenting you have available to you. You learn a lot of general knowledge about flavor profiles by doing more variety, but you won't become an expert in a particular style without nailing that style down over the head repeatedly. I am not interested in doing that though, as I like variety in my pipeline.

 

[Owly055]

While true, the more you brew the more potential learning and more experimenting you have available to you. You learn a lot of general knowledge about flavor profiles by doing more variety, but you won't become an expert in a particular style without nailing that style down over the head repeatedly. I am not interested in doing that though, as I like variety in my pipeline.

I Agree pretty much entirely with everything you say here.......Brewing a lot definitely does not make you an expert.......but it does give you a lot of experience....unless you brew the same couple of things again and again. It takes a real expert to make Bud Lite in huge batches again and again and always have it come out the same....... Or any beer for that matter. The ability to duplicate the recipe and process 100% every time is not something to be sneezed at......It's a real skill. I'm one of those guys who really doesn't care all that much. I note down all my brews and the process details........but I don't try to repeat because there are so many variables I want to experiment with. I might try using CR150 instead of CR60 to achieve the same SRM...just to change the flavor profile a bit, or alter the hops to add spice or balance the fruity profile away from citrus, etc. My most recent brew was a chocolate cherry stout brewed with a lager yeast (34/70) and Nelson Sauvin hops, with a fairly large percentage of sugar. I wanted light body and dry (sugar), crisp and clean (34/70), and the wine character of Nelson Sauvin,with reduced roast barley character (used some Midnight Wheat). It's fermenting along like gangbusters at 46F and tastes great....... I won't add the cherry syrup until it settles down into secondary. It'll never win any prizes at a BJCP judged contest, and folks tell me it's not "in style".......But I have enough experience to have a pretty good idea what I will get....... You don't get that kind of experience except by brewing and experimenting a lot.

But the point of this thread really was how to make brewing more manageable for new brewers. I believe brew day reduction is extremely important when it comes to getting people to brew. Some of us I think would like to keep home brewing an exclusive club. I'd like to see it become accessible enough and easy enough that people don't find it any more intimidating than baking bread for example.

H.W.

 

[specharka]

But the point of this thread really was how to make brewing more manageable for new brewers. I believe brew day reduction is extremely important when it comes to getting people to brew. Some of us I think would like to keep home brewing an exclusive club. I'd like to see it become accessible enough and easy enough that people don't find it any more intimidating than baking bread for example.

At the risk of sounding flippant, that's what extract kits are made for. They appeal to novice and infrequent brewers as much as those pressed for time. Homebrewing just isn't an "exclusive club" at all.

If you're trying to dial in your process, maintain quality and brew with consistency, it's probably not a good idea to impose superficial time constraints. There are process upgrades you can make to your brewhouse to expedite your brew day, but if you can't dedicate enough time to brew, your product will invariably suffer in quality. I know some people that brew on the fly, and quite frankly, their beer tastes awful.

If I don't have enough time to brew, I don't brew.

 

[applescrap]

I stand behind my post and i dont want to make extract

View attachment 1447390526525.jpg

 

[ThomasPaine]

So when you dip your spoon in the pot you don't get killed.

 

[ThomasPaine]

Equipment is key. It takes me about 5 hours to do a ten gallon batch because I am not in a hurry and I need to do extra things that someone with more burners and pumps could do quicker. I love to start heating strike water at 6am. Doesn't go any quicker, but feels like it.

 

[juskojj]

i don't think that everyone who says " i don't have time to brew" is a wanna be.... well actually aren't we all wanna be's? i mean i think the only people who aren't wanna be's are those who are actually doing as a living and making money off of it...... plus i'd agree time of brew comes down to your set up and batch size

there are plenty of reasons people don't have time...... kids (especially young ones), work full time jobs with plenty putting in 40+hrs, house work ect....

 

[Homercidal]

Did a split brew last night. Drained the bag and heated the water to denature the enzymes, then picked up my daughter. Came back and boiled and then took the kettle outside to chill overnight.

Not the original plan, but what I had to do when my wife decided to go out to eat with a friend. It's all good. I brought it back inside at lunch and I'll check the temp and pitch yeast when it's the right temp.

Brewing a half batch and having a REALLY windy night helped out I'm sure.