What saves time on brew day?

[wickman6]

I have my wife take care of my 2 year old. I love when he brews with me, but I chase him around as much as I actually take care of brewing duties.

 

[yewtah-brewha]

The cam-locks have gaskets that are new and need to be smashed down with use, make sure to pull both rings at the same time. you'll be doing it one handed in no time.
To save time I found if I need to boil down some volume in the BK, I use a fan over the pot.

I;d like to see a video on how these work!

 

[LandoLincoln]

I;d like to see a video on how these work!

Here you go. .

 

[diodeart]

Here you go. Bobby lays it out for ya.

Bobby switched out the gaskets to silicone and they close real easy. Will be upgrading to these some day.

 

[SpentGrains]

I KNEW there was a reason I shouldn't slurp a drink of water when i'm taking a shower!!!!!! btw: i start with hot water out of the tap also

The reason is it tastes nasty from the mineral build up in the water heater, I can't be only person that has brushed my teeth in the shower to save time.

No way I would brew with my water heater water.

 

[kombat]

The reason is it tastes nasty from the mineral build up in the water heater

I think if it tastes nasty, it's probably because it's hot.

Pour yourself a glass of hot water from the tap, and stick it in the fridge for an hour. Does it still taste nasty? Can you tell the difference between chilled water from the hot water faucet, and water straight from the cold faucet? Have you ever tried?

 

[psubrewer]

Using the week prior to brew day to clean, organize and plan saves me the most time on brew day.

I find when I'm not organized it takes longer and is much less enjoyable.

 

[n240sxguy]

I think if it tastes nasty, it's probably because it's hot.

Pour yourself a glass of hot water from the tap, and stick it in the fridge for an hour. Does it still taste nasty? Can you tell the difference between chilled water from the hot water faucet, and water straight from the cold faucet? Have you ever tried?

Have you ever taken the anode rod out of a water heater? That's what's in your hot water. I would never use the water out of an electric water heater. Tankless or gas may be different.

 

[afr0byte]

Have you ever taken the anode rod out of a water heater? That's what's in your hot water. I would never use the water out of an electric water heater. Tankless or gas may be different.

It's also bad to run hot water through an RO system.

 

[mikescooling]

You guys need another thread to talk about hot water.

 

[afr0byte]

Do you guys need another thread to talk about hot water?

The conversation seems applicable to the thread topic, since kombat says he uses hot water to speed up his brew day.

 

[shoreman]

No sparge or batch sparge-partial boil all grain is where it's at if you want to save time.

Put 2 gallons of spring water in freezer - you only have to chill 3 gallons (5 gallon batch) or 6 gallons (10 gallon batch) down to about 130 degrees - add to plastic fermenters filled with super cold spring water and pitch yeast.

This is how I brew all my house beers - got the idea from randy mosher and have used it ever since.

Rarely go over 3 hours on brew day.

 

[DPB]

Timer set to turn on element 45-50 minutes before I wake up (I have to brew in the very early mornings due to my 3 kids). Water pre-heated and ready to mash.

 

[milldoggy]

Can I get some hot water

Dry oatmeal

 

[kombat]

Have you ever taken the anode rod out of a water heater? That's what's in your hot water.

No, that's what's in your cold water. It's been removed from your hot water - that's why it's on the element.

 

[n240sxguy]

No, that's what's in your cold water. It's been removed from your hot water - that's why it's on the element.

That's an issue on its own. I'm talking more about the aluminum or magnesium that is breaking down in your water heater to keep the tank from rusting through. I'm curious how much of either of those elements is actually absorbed by your water. I don't have a way to test it, and I have a gas tankless heater anyway, but there's no way I would ever use hot water out of an electric tank to brew with. In my even younger years I used to use hot water for cooking. Now I know that probably wasn't the best idea. I've always heard you weren't supposed to use it, but figured it was some old wives tale or something.

 

[Clef051]

not much that hasnt already been said for me. measuring out water, crushing grains the night before clean as you go. I measure my hops out once I get my mash going. generally very little beer during the brewing process. usually not till after I start boiling and then take my time with it. If I don't measure out the water the night before I use my hot water from my top to mash in at.

I have beersmith open on my computer and a printed version out for references.

 

[Terence]

Measuring my grain bill, conditioning and crushing the night before. That has saved me about an hour of pain. Used to do it while the kettle and mash tun were heating up on brew day but kept getting confused.

 

[Larso]

Dough in before bed(BIAB), boil the next morning

 

[yewtah-brewha]

Dough in before bed(BIAB), boil the next morning

How has this worked for you? It sits for 6-8 hours at 152 deg. respectivly, and in the morming you mash out with 170 dreg. and begin boil?

I would think sitting that long would create some off flavors, but thats my assumption and thats why I'm asking! :rockin:

I see I didnt know about biab, just looked it up, but same question, It sits for that long at 152-156 for hours? cool idea if it works. It would save me alot of time.

 

[n240sxguy]

I'm curious about this as well. Maybe one of these years it could be something I could explore. Right now I have to wheel all my sh!t out of the garage to fire it up so any time savings would be wasted by moving it twice. If I had a place to leave it set up all the time I could do it. Does it just look like a bowl of oatmeal your kid left out all day?

 

[peterj]

How has this worked for you? It sits for 6-8 hours at 152 deg. respectivly, and in the morming you mash out with 170 dreg. and begin boil?

I would think sitting that long would create some off flavors, but thats my assumption and thats why I'm asking! :rockin:

I see I didnt know about biab, just looked it up, but same question, It sits for that long at 152-156 for hours? cool idea if it works. It would save me alot of time.

Just search "overnight mashing". As long as you can keep your temps above about 130-140 for the 6-8 hours or so then there shouldn't be any risk of souring or off flavors. Maybe just a more fermentable wort. I've never done it myself but I've been reading about it recently.

 

[yewtah-brewha]

Just search "overnight mashing". As long as you can keep your temps above about 130-140 for the 6-8 hours or so then there shouldn't be any risk of souring or off flavors. Maybe just a more fermentable wort. I've never done it myself but I've been reading about it recently.

didn't realize sour beer was an effect of improper mash temps.

 

[peterj]

didn't realize sour beer was an effect of improper mash temps.

It's not really a direct effect. Pasteuization happens around 140*F so if you keep your mash too far below that for too long you are opening the door to wild bacteria getting in, growing, and producing lactic acid which sours the mash. This is one of the techniques used to produce sour beers.

 

[n240sxguy]

It's not really a direct effect. Pasteuization happens around 140*F so if you keep your mash too far below that for too long you are opening the door to wild bacteria getting in, growing, and producing lactic acid which sours the mash. This is one of the techniques used to produce sour beers.

Is the wild bacteria going to produce enough of a colony to produce enough lactic acid to affect the beer before its boiled in the morning? I've never made a sour beer, or mashed overnight, so this is all new to me. I do make kombucha, and I know it takes most of a day before it starts changing.

 

[peterj]

Is the wild bacteria going to produce enough of a colony to produce enough lactic acid to affect the beer before its boiled in the morning? I've never made a sour beer, or mashed overnight, so this is all new to me. I do make kombucha, and I know it takes most of a day before it starts changing.

Yeah you're right, it probably won't happen in the short time frame that most people do overnight mashing in. That's probably one reason it works for people. I think when people sour mash, they'll leave the mash for a matter of days.

 

[shoreman]

I did this looking for some sour notes on an old porter recipe and got nothing but better efficiency and slightly high gravity.

Most people will leave for days or chuck some fresh cracked grain in there a few hours in to get the bacteria rolling

 

[donovanlambright]

Rather than try to save time, I've begun boosting my homebrew supply by whipping up a no-boil hopped extract kit during my mash. That doubles my brewday output and the beer is pretty good as long as I do a good fermentation and avoid the yeast that comes with the kit. The only downside I see is that no-boil hopped kits are a pretty expensive way to make homebrew. And you have to make sure they are fresh.

 

[Larso]

How has this worked for you? It sits for 6-8 hours at 152 deg. respectivly, and in the morming you mash out with 170 dreg. and begin boil?

I would think sitting that long would create some off flavors, but thats my assumption and thats why I'm asking! :rockin:

I see I didnt know about biab, just looked it up, but same question, It sits for that long at 152-156 for hours? cool idea if it works. It would save me alot of time.

I've been doin this for about 8 brews. Works great with no off flavours but I'm starting to think its leading to lower FG and higher efficiency. Great with some styles but not so good with others. Eg I did an ipa that attenuated to a really low FG ( don't remember numbers!!). It was excellent, like a very hoppy lager. I more recently did a hefe but it lacks body and I think it's the overnight mashing. For more full bodied beers I'm going to continue to dough in on day1 but ill do mash out before I go to bed. For lighter bodied styles ill continue to mash overnight.
I read up a lot about this before I did it and only 1 other guy (on biabrewer.info) reported a similar experience. Others seemed to have no issue with it

 

[n240sxguy]

Rather than try to save time, I've begun boosting my homebrew supply by whipping up a no-boil hopped extract kit during my mash. That doubles my brewday output and the beer is pretty good as long as I do a good fermentation and avoid the yeast that comes with the kit. The only downside I see is that no-boil hopped kits are a pretty expensive way to make homebrew. And you have to make sure they are fresh.

Now that's a pretty slick idea. I could whip up a 5gal extract batch while I'm mashing my 10gal all grain. Why didn't I think I this! I could make 15-20 gallons in the same time I usually spend on 10.