Shortening brewday?

[TwoGunz]

Procrastination might help if your wife will tolerate that final bit of cleaning the next day.

If I end up finishing brewing too late (not uncommon), I sometimes just do a quick rinse and clean the kettles or mr cooler the next day.

 

[zeg]

Procrastination might help if your wife will tolerate that final bit of cleaning the next day.

If I end up finishing brewing too late (not uncommon), I sometimes just do a quick rinse and clean the kettles or mr cooler the next day.

Just be sure you clean the hoses out immediately and really do wash everything well the next day.

 

[Onlooker]

FWIW, to those who want to shorten their extract w/specialty grains brewing day (since it was brought up in this thread). You can start the boil while the grains are steeping. Then add that to the boil when it's done. That bit of "wort" doesn't have to boil for the whole time. Heck, you can add that any time before fermentation, for that matter (just make sure it's been pasteurized sufficiently). That can shave 20-30 min off your day right there.

 

[gwdraper4]

??? How does a smaller batch cut 2 hours out of the brew day? You still have to boil for an hour. Are you telling me you accomplish your entire brewday besides the boil in 60 minutes? I'm skeptical. Smaller batches should realistically take every bit of 80-85% the same amount of time as a typical 5 gallon batch.

Here's how I do it in that time frame:
The ingredients are pre-measured. For steeping the grains, bringing about 6 cups of water to the right temp only takes a couple minutes, especially when I can get it out of the tap at 120 deg F. So 5 minutes to get the water right and 30 minutes to steep the grains. While the grains are steeping mix DME and water to get to the right volume and bring that to a boil. On my stove it takes about 15 minutes to get 1.5 gallons of water/dme up to a boil. When the grains are done steeping I am at a boil already and adding the steeping mixture to the pot really doesn't stop the boil at this point for more than a minute or so. Boil for 60 minutes. While the boil is going on I rehydrate my yeast. Add my pot to my sink, fill with a lot of ice, stir to make a whirlpool and let rest for 20 minutes to get to 68 deg F. With only 1.5 gallons of wort, and a big bucket of ice the temp drops really quickly...most of the time it takes 20 min, but occasionally it will take 30 if I don't have my usual amount of ice. Then add 10 minutes of clean-up, since all the gear is small and your done in about 2 hours.

Figuring out this timing took some trial and error, but now it affords me the chance to brew way more often!

 

[billl]

Thanks all for the tips. I think I'm going to give it a go. I guess the worst that will happen is that I don't get enough sleep for a night.

Basic plan outline

Measure and prep everything the night before.
Start strike water when I get home from work.
Mash in at 6:30.
1 hr mash
20 min batch sparge and transfer
Bring to boil/hot break
Boil 1 hr
cool - 15 min
transfer to bucket/aerate
put fermenter in chamber to drop the last few degrees
Final cleanup
pitch

 

[the_bird]

Something that was mentioned on a Basic Brewing Radio podcast I was listening to, which is really tempting to me...

Split the brew day. Mash on Friday night, after the kids are in bed. Collect your wort in the brew kettle, put on a cover and throw on some blankets, and leave it overnight. The wort's going to be ~150°-155°, maybe higher if you mashed out. Very few, if any, bugs in the wort. Start the boil first thing Saturday morning, if I'm boiling at 7:00 I'm done by 9:00.

The wort is going to cool down a little overnight, but still be pretty inhospitable to wild yeast (and everything's going to be boiled in the morning).

I might be temped to sanitize my boil keggle if I do this, but otherwise... what's the flaw in this plan?

 

[tre9er]

I clean as I go, but there is always cleaning at the end. Brewpot, tubing, hop spider, spoons, hydrometer, containers for flameout hops etc.

This is why I plan to only partially chill on my next batch. I plan to chill to about 100 and then rack to fermenter which will then go into fermentation chamber along with yeast, set to 62* or so. Hours later or the next day I'll pitch the yeast.

This way while I would have previously been stirring and waiting for wort to chill another 30-40 degrees, I can take that time to clean the BK and the rest of the final pieces. That should shave off 15-20 minutes, too.

 

[tre9er]

Something that was mentioned on a Basic Brewing Radio podcast I was listening to, which is really tempting to me...

Split the brew day. Mash on Friday night, after the kids are in bed. Collect your wort in the brew kettle, put on a cover and throw on some blankets, and leave it overnight. The wort's going to be ~150°-155°, maybe higher if you mashed out. Very few, if any, bugs in the wort. Start the boil first thing Saturday morning, if I'm boiling at 7:00 I'm done by 9:00.

The wort is going to cool down a little overnight, but still be pretty inhospitable to wild yeast (and everything's going to be boiled in the morning).

I might be temped to sanitize my boil keggle if I do this, but otherwise... what's the flaw in this plan?

I'm thinking of an overnight mash, myself. The cooler is sealed up pretty good and will retain a lot of heat. The next morning I'll start running-off and sparging. Should be 30 minutes to sparge and another 90 to boil and chill/clean. 60-90 minutes on Saturday (heating strike while crushing grain, weighing hops, then doughing-in slowly) and another 2 hours on Sunday.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Thanks all for the tips. I think I'm going to give it a go. I guess the worst that will happen is that I don't get enough sleep for a night.

Basic plan outline

Measure and prep everything the night before.
Start strike water when I get home from work.
Mash in at 6:30.
1 hr mash
20 min batch sparge and transfer
Bring to boil/hot break
Boil 1 hr
cool - 15 min
transfer to bucket/aerate
put fermenter in chamber to drop the last few degrees
Final cleanup
pitch

How's this working out for you the past year or so? Did you end up purchasing new equipment to make things faster?