Time Gap Between Mash and Boil

[Rob2010SS]

Having somewhat of a brew/pizza party at a friends house this weekend. He only does extract and he only has enough time to essentially do an extract batch. However, I would like to do an all grain but we won't have time for me to do the entire all grain process at his house.

Here's what I'm thinking. Get up early and perform the mash. Upon completion of the mash, drain the wort into (2) carboy's (2 carboys because there will be 7.5 gallons pre-boil and I only have 6.5 gallon carboys). Seal the carboys with an airlock for transportation. Drive the 1.5 hours to my friends house, transfer to the boil kettle, and perform as usual.

This will be approximately 3 hours of lag time between completing the mash and starting the boil. In my head, there's nothing wrong with this as long as my sanitary practices are up to par, which they are. Am I missing something that would make this a no go or am I ok to do this?

Thanks.

 

[corax]

I wouldn't worry about infection from just a few extra hours, particularly if you do a mash-out step at ~170° F.

Frankly, I'd be more worried about oxidation from the additional transfer steps.

 

[kh54s10]

I would recommend a mash-out to stop the enzymatic action. If you are of the opinion that hot side aeration is a concern, your plan is problematic unless you purge the carboy's with co2 first. I personally don't take great steps to avoid hot side aeration.

My concern would be putting mash temperature wort in the carboys. Thermal shock to the glass, assuming they are glass, then transporting them.

 

[myndflyte]

I wouldn't worry so much about hot side aeration. Brulosophy did an experiment about that with no significant results. And I think that's good advise about the carboys. I would not put them in glass ones. The last thing you want is to have the hot wort crack it, you not notice, and hit a bump on the way there that breaks it. Or even worse, it breaks when someone is lifting it.

 

[andrewmaixner]

Don't worry about any of it. People do "wort rallys" all the time -- a brewery parcels out unboiled wort, and you take it home to finish.

Edit: if wort is hot, use HDPE buckets. HDPE is the only heat-tolerant common homebrewing container.

 

[Rob2010SS]

I'm not too worried about the hot side aeration as I don't take steps to avoid that currently.

However, I do see the concern about the hot wort in the glass carboy. At what temperature would one think it's ok? Usually, by the end of my sparge and lauter steps, the wort is down to ~130*F. That still too hot for the carboy, even if I use hot-ish water to sanitize?

I do not have any HDPE buckets, I only have plastic fermenting buckets and a big mouth bubbler. Better to use those to transfer?

Thanks.

 

[LittleRiver]

...I only have plastic fermenting buckets and a big mouth bubbler. Better to use those to transfer

Your plastic fermenting buckets are made of HDPE. Use them.

Don't use your Big Mouth Bubbler, the heat will destroy it.

 

[kh54s10]

Right, the fermenting buckets are HDPE. Use them. IMO, any temperature in glass is too dangerous. Especially if you move them.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Alright, looks like I'm using buckets! Thanks for the information everyone. Appreciate it.

 

[kevin58]

Look into the Brulosophy "short and shoddy" experiments. They are one hour all grain brews. Mash for 15-20 minutes and boil for 15-20 minutes. Total time is an hour or a little more.

http://brulosophy.com/projects/short-shoddy/