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dblee50

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I've read of mashing overnight, but can you mash, sparge into your brewpot, then shut down overnight and begin the next day without affecting the beer? That is, start boil the next morning. Just looking at breaking up brew process, if this is doable.
 
I've never heard of a mashing overnight...The longest I've ever mashed is a little over 60 minutes. Too long of mash time I believe brings out grain tannins you don't want. Also, if you don't start your boil until the next day, your wort temp will drop to levels where it would easily harbor bacteria. Pull an all-nighter and finish everything tonight:cross: or start the whole deal tomorrow. JMO. Good Luck!
 
IF you can keep the wort above 140F, yes. If it drops much below that it will get infected. And even though boiling it will kill everything, it may not get rid of some flavors.

The few times I've split the process, I've mashed in a cooler and added boiling water after an hour (pH5.2 added to prevent tannin leaching) & closed it in a heavily insulated cabinet for the night. It was still 160F in the morning. Highest efficiency I've ever had. Now that I'm retired, I could do two AG batches in one day and still have time to walk the greys.
 
not an overnight mash, but is there any ill effect to letting the mash go for an extra hour or two? i had to do this with my octoberfest yesterday... the temp slowly went from a healthy 155F down to about 143ish before the sparge. i must say, though, it is so far the best smelling and finest looking brew i've done yet (my 6th batch). OG ended up right about 1.070, which is much better efficiency than i've been getting. anything wrong with this? thanks.
 
Too long of mash time I believe brings out grain tannins you don't want.
I'm not an advocate of the over overnight mash but I know a few brewers who will disagree with you.
I have personaly left the wort for several hours after the sparge to attend to a plumbing emergency. The wort fell bright during this period and I racked this off the sediment before boiling with no detrimental effect to the end product.
One of the reasons for boiling straight after the boil is to prevent further conversions of the sugars although this isnt critical if your sparge water is hot enough.
 
not an overnight mash, but is there any ill effect to letting the mash go for an extra hour or two? i had to do this with my octoberfest yesterday... the temp slowly went from a healthy 155F down to about 143ish before the sparge. i must say, though, it is so far the best smelling and finest looking brew i've done yet (my 6th batch). OG ended up right about 1.070, which is much better efficiency than i've been getting. anything wrong with this? thanks.

Nah, not at all. The 'worst' that will happen is you will get a more fermentable mash and better efficiency. Quite often I let my mashes go for two hours or longer.
 
he said and sparge into the brewpot and startup in the morning. YES you can cover your wort cool and start your boil in the morning I have done this without problems.
Cheers
JJ
 
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