When does "brewing" actually start?

[jjasghar]

When do you consider yourself brewing?

EDIT: for you *nix geeks out there sed -e "s/eep/teep/"

for the rest of yall, _steeping_ sorry i cant spell

 

[eriktlupus]

when i start measuring water

 

[GloHoppa]

as soon as you get druck enough to come up with a crazy new recipe

i would say after you set up

 

[Sea]

"I'm not brewing, I'm designing my next recipe." - me to SWMBO.

 

[landhoney]

When I'm heating the water.

 

[sause]

When I open my first beer. First rule of The Steel Comma Ale & Lagery comma no beer before mash in.

 

[rabidgerbil]

Not to be an EAC, but I have noticed in two of your posts that you say "seeping", seeping is what sap does from a tree, the word you are meaning to use is "steeping" which is when you soak your grains for an extract and grains batch.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Not to be an EAC, but I have noticed in two of your posts that you say "seeping", seeping is what sap does from a tree, the word you are meaning to use is "steeping" which is when you soak your grains for an extract and grains batch.

I thought he was taking a "P"...apparently it was a "T"...

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Usually about noon cuz I like to be done by 5:00

 

[jjasghar]

"seeping"... "steeping"

noted, thanks...booze is good ;-).

 

[Jo3sh]

I'm brewing when I start getting the gear out of the brewing shed. Building recipes, buying ingredients, and all that is just prep work. By the time I'm heating water, I've already got the kettles set up, the calculations are all done, etc. Then it's pretty much straight ahead until I'm doughed in - that's when I STOP brewing for a while and sit down, finish my coffee, etc.

 

[jjasghar]

It seems that there is a all grain and "other" separation here.....

Interesting.

 

[mrk305]

I voted for seeping. I usually start heating water a little ahead of time, like when my little guy is in the bathtub getting ready for bed. As soon as the grains hit the hot water and start seeping, then I am brewing.

 

[Orfy]

I think about the recipe, then I put the mash water on, then I formulate the recipe then set up.

 

[Evets]

I usually brew first thing Sat. or Sun. morning. As soon as I wake up I'm thinking about it, so in my mind, I'm brewing before I get out of bed.

 

[Gnome]

Mental brewing and Physical brewing. I voted Steeping, I would say that everything up to the heating of the firsts is preparing to Brew

 

[teu1003]

When I'm heating the water.

Agreed. I usually brew at 6am on saturdays. i drag the turkey fryer to the middle of the garage, fill a pot, and when ignition happens, I'm brewing.

 

[TheJadedDog]

I consider myself brewing once I start heating water for the mash.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

When I make my starter. Or rather, when I begin heating my starter wort.

 

[Brewiz]

Can't be when I think about it , since I think about it all the time. So, it has to be when I fill the HLT and MLT with water to heat.

 

[Bugeaterbrewing]

It is hard to pin down when my "brewing" actually begins. I think about brewing a couple times a week, but obviously don't brew that often.

I run water through my RO filter the night before. Though part of the brewing process I don't consider that the start of "brewing" because it is at least 12 hours before anything else in the process.

It can't be at the purchase of materials, because I buy in bulk. I have some ingredients that have been here for 6 months or longer.

It can't be when I get a starter going because I do that 2 or 3 days before brew day.

Milling my grain is often done done the day before. If I do it the same day it is after I fire up my HLT.

I guess, in general, my "brewing" starts when I start heating water in my HLT. However, I use an electric heat stick in my HLT and sometimes put it on an appliance timer to start heating the water before I even wake up in the morning. Does time spent still asleep count as "brewing"? Did it start the night before when I set it up on the timer?

By some of the choices offered in the poll, the length of my brew day ranges from 4 hours to 3 days or longer. When I bother to time the length of my brew day, I usually measure it from the time I fire up the HLT (or mash in if I did it with a timer) until I finish cleaning up after putting the wort in the fermenter. For a typical 5 gallon all grain batch it averages 4.5-5 hours. I can do it in 4 hours, but then it becomes a chore. If it takes much longer than 5 hours, it means I have been drinking a bunch of beer and I tend to make mistakes.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

 

[GrantLee63]

I started brewing after I read two books on the subject - Palmer's Learn To Brew, and Daniel's Designing Great Beers - long before I had any equipment, let alone heated up any water ! I voted that I start brewing when I start thinking about my next batch .....

- Gl63