Most of us are strapped for time. Jobs, family obligations, household chores, and other activities compete for our precious time. Brewing is a hobby, which by definition is "an activity done during one's leisure time for pleasure." Unfortunately, we all don't have the same amount of leisure time and we sometimes need to find ways to speed up our brew day. But that is the great thing about this hobby--it can be tailored exactly to your lifestyle.
I have a lengthy commute and often work long days, so my time at home on a weeknight prior to bedtime is about 4 hours. My normal brew day takes 5-5.5 hours. Simple math = Brett can't brew on a weeknight. So let's see how much time we can save with these techniques.
Below I present five options to help decrease the time it takes you to make beer on brew day. Utilize one or more of these ideas to make your brew day more efficient. It is your hobby--make the most of it!
I can hear the critics already trying to argue this one. Yes, I realize you are spending the same amount of time on another day to accomplish organization, but for some people it's very useful. Some of our time constraints are dependent on trying to carve out one solid block of time for brew day.
a. Setup - Some of us don't yet have a dedicated brew space or sculpture. Brew day can require setting up and tearing down all brewery equipment, which can burn a lot of valuable time.
b. Water - Make sure you have already measured the volume you want for your strike water and have it sitting in your kettle on the burner ready to be lit. Also, if necessary, make sure your brewing salts have already been measured and added to your strike water vessel.
c. Grains - Have your grains weighed and crushed. If you are concerned about freshness you can grind your grains while your strike water is being heated. But make sure the weighed grain is already in the hopper, ready to be milled.
d. Recipe - I am often guilty of adjusting recipe values at the last minute (this is what happens when you keep a steady supply of grain on hand). However, your recipe should be determined prior to brew day. Trust your gut and stick to that recipe. Don't make "game-time" decisions, as this can slow you down. Your recipe should be printed out and on your clipboard, ready for note-taking.
You can probably accomplish all of this in about 30 minutes on a day prior to brew day, and thereby shave 30 minutes off of your brew session.
2. Decrease Mash Time (Time savings: ~15 min)
While not appropriate for all recipes, I have been having great success with doing a 45-minute mash. With today's highly modified malts, starch conversion happens quickly. I am tempted to try a shorter (30-minute) mash for some beers. There is even a thread which talks about mashing for only 10-20 minutes! I haven't noticed any difference in attenuation or OG when mashing for slightly less time, and I am saving another 15-20 minutes in the process.
3. No Sparge (Time savings: ~10 min)
I have always batch sparged. At first I performed two separate batch sparges. Each time I would add the sparge water and stir, wait a few minutes and then vorlauf a quart. If you have the room in your mash tun to just add all of your sparge water after mashing, you can vorlauf once and drain into your boil kettle. This is a smaller time savings, but can still shave off a good ten minutes.
4. No Chill (Time savings: ~15 min)
No chill brewing has been utilized by many brewers in an attempt to save water. In addition to being great for the environment, it can also save some time. It usually takes me about 15 minutes to chill my wort down to pitching temperatures. This time greatly varies with the temperature of the groundwater, so the actual time savings from this method will be dependant on your own climate. Another consideration is that you don't have to worry about cleaning a chiller.
5. Go Small (Time savings: ~15 min)
It takes less time to bring a smaller amount of water up to temperature using the same equipment than it does to bring a larger amount of water to temperature. If you normally brew ten gallons, consider a five gallon batch. If you are a five gallon batch brewer, consider a 2.5 gallon batch. A smaller batch will take less time to heat up and cool down. It also means less grain to weigh and mill, and less water to measure. Cutting your batch size in half could save 15 minutes, if not more.
Another variant of going small is doing a BIAB if you currently use a two or three-vessel system. One vessel means less cleaning.
Adding it All Up
If I were to employ all five of these techniques I should be able to cut an hour and a half off my brew day, which would put me under four-hours total! I will have to give this a try someday on a weeknight to squeeze in a brew!
What are your tricks for making a brew day go faster when you are under a time crunch?
Let us know in the comments below.
I have a lengthy commute and often work long days, so my time at home on a weeknight prior to bedtime is about 4 hours. My normal brew day takes 5-5.5 hours. Simple math = Brett can't brew on a weeknight. So let's see how much time we can save with these techniques.
Below I present five options to help decrease the time it takes you to make beer on brew day. Utilize one or more of these ideas to make your brew day more efficient. It is your hobby--make the most of it!
- Organize Prior to Brew Day
- Decrease Mash Time
- No Sparge
- No Chill
- Go Small
I can hear the critics already trying to argue this one. Yes, I realize you are spending the same amount of time on another day to accomplish organization, but for some people it's very useful. Some of our time constraints are dependent on trying to carve out one solid block of time for brew day.
a. Setup - Some of us don't yet have a dedicated brew space or sculpture. Brew day can require setting up and tearing down all brewery equipment, which can burn a lot of valuable time.
b. Water - Make sure you have already measured the volume you want for your strike water and have it sitting in your kettle on the burner ready to be lit. Also, if necessary, make sure your brewing salts have already been measured and added to your strike water vessel.
c. Grains - Have your grains weighed and crushed. If you are concerned about freshness you can grind your grains while your strike water is being heated. But make sure the weighed grain is already in the hopper, ready to be milled.
d. Recipe - I am often guilty of adjusting recipe values at the last minute (this is what happens when you keep a steady supply of grain on hand). However, your recipe should be determined prior to brew day. Trust your gut and stick to that recipe. Don't make "game-time" decisions, as this can slow you down. Your recipe should be printed out and on your clipboard, ready for note-taking.
You can probably accomplish all of this in about 30 minutes on a day prior to brew day, and thereby shave 30 minutes off of your brew session.
2. Decrease Mash Time (Time savings: ~15 min)
While not appropriate for all recipes, I have been having great success with doing a 45-minute mash. With today's highly modified malts, starch conversion happens quickly. I am tempted to try a shorter (30-minute) mash for some beers. There is even a thread which talks about mashing for only 10-20 minutes! I haven't noticed any difference in attenuation or OG when mashing for slightly less time, and I am saving another 15-20 minutes in the process.
3. No Sparge (Time savings: ~10 min)
I have always batch sparged. At first I performed two separate batch sparges. Each time I would add the sparge water and stir, wait a few minutes and then vorlauf a quart. If you have the room in your mash tun to just add all of your sparge water after mashing, you can vorlauf once and drain into your boil kettle. This is a smaller time savings, but can still shave off a good ten minutes.
4. No Chill (Time savings: ~15 min)
No chill brewing has been utilized by many brewers in an attempt to save water. In addition to being great for the environment, it can also save some time. It usually takes me about 15 minutes to chill my wort down to pitching temperatures. This time greatly varies with the temperature of the groundwater, so the actual time savings from this method will be dependant on your own climate. Another consideration is that you don't have to worry about cleaning a chiller.
5. Go Small (Time savings: ~15 min)
It takes less time to bring a smaller amount of water up to temperature using the same equipment than it does to bring a larger amount of water to temperature. If you normally brew ten gallons, consider a five gallon batch. If you are a five gallon batch brewer, consider a 2.5 gallon batch. A smaller batch will take less time to heat up and cool down. It also means less grain to weigh and mill, and less water to measure. Cutting your batch size in half could save 15 minutes, if not more.
Another variant of going small is doing a BIAB if you currently use a two or three-vessel system. One vessel means less cleaning.
Adding it All Up
If I were to employ all five of these techniques I should be able to cut an hour and a half off my brew day, which would put me under four-hours total! I will have to give this a try someday on a weeknight to squeeze in a brew!
What are your tricks for making a brew day go faster when you are under a time crunch?
Let us know in the comments below.
