Brewing over multiple days

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by SaintBenedict, Apr 3, 2012.

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  1. crosamich

    crosamich Initiate (0) Nov 28, 2007 Florida

     
  2. kjyost

    kjyost Initiate (0) May 4, 2008 Canada (MB)

    One of the guys in our club mashes overnight and does a partial boil all-grain (his kettle can only do 17L and he ferments 23L). He says for his system he mashes at about 2-3F higher than what he says a recipe normally suggests and he hits his FGs well (and he has a few awards to show for it, so it isn't just him)
     
  3. dfess1

    dfess1 Initiate (0) May 20, 2003 Pennsylvania

    sat at room temperature in my insulated but unheated garage.
     
  4. Utawana

    Utawana Initiate (0) Nov 7, 2007 New York

    I break up the brew day into two more often than not. I mash and sparge the night before, then boil the next day.

    Since I collect the runnings before going to bed, there is no sour mash to worry about. If you heat the wort up to stop conversion (you can start that right after you collect the first runnings), no worries there either.

    This works well for me - after the kids go to bed, I start the process. The next day I restart at a strategic time and I do not have to devote an entire afternoon effectively isolated from the family.... although that has an appeal... it is unrealistic for me.
     
  5. SaintBenedict

    SaintBenedict Initiate (0) Nov 10, 2009 Pennsylvania

    What does "stop conversion" mean? Sorry, I looked online so I wouldn't have to bother you requesting clarification, but I can't seem to find it googling "brewing terminology".

    Haha. I have been brewing after hours as well. Nice to know it's not a big deal if I want to knock off early and pick up the next day where I left off. Am I correct in assuming that you also cover the wort and allow it to sit at room temperature?
     
  6. kjyost

    kjyost Initiate (0) May 4, 2008 Canada (MB)

    When you run off your runnings, there are still active enzymes in there (unless you mashed out, and even then some may make it through, I am not sure). So you need to denature (break up and stop) the enzymes from being active and being able to chop down the long chains (dextrins) into more fermentable sugars (glucose, etc...). While you need this in a mash to make fermentables, you don't want it to be too fermentable as you will end up with a thin bodied beer (the same effect as mashing really low).

    I may have a few of the pure scientific terms off here, but the basic idea is correct :slight_smile:
     
  7. SaintBenedict

    SaintBenedict Initiate (0) Nov 10, 2009 Pennsylvania

    So, the stop conversion ins essentially accomplished by mashing out at 170° before the sparge?
     
  8. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,043) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    That is indeed the purpose of a mashout.
     
  9. Utawana

    Utawana Initiate (0) Nov 7, 2007 New York

    Looks like someone else covered the conversion thing (heat the liquid you have collected from the mash to ~180) - to reiterate this will "stabilize" the wort, keeping the fermentable and unfermentable sugars in a similar ratio overnight. Heating the wort to this temp also effectively pasteurizes it, but the mash temps pretty much take care of that.
    Yes, I will let the kettle sit there overnight in ambient temps. More often than not I will partially cover it, but sometimes I don't. I like to let steam escape the kettle - probably more voodoo than science, especially at preboil - I feel that there are some volatiles that I don't want recycled back into the wort from condensing on a lid. If the fruit flies are out, I'll partially cover.
     
  10. SaintBenedict

    SaintBenedict Initiate (0) Nov 10, 2009 Pennsylvania

    Thanks for the breakdown, Utawana.
     
  11. mugs1789

    mugs1789 Initiate (0) Dec 6, 2005 Maryland

    I have gotten into the habit of overnight mashes for most of my brews. I mash-in around 10 or 11pm after the kids are in bed and collect my first runnings around 6 or 7 the next morning. I typically lose 5-7 degrees temperature overnight, from 152 to 145ish. I haven't noticed any off flavors, sourness, or signficantly increased efficiency. This method works well for me.

    My only reservation is when using darker grains. I brewed a stout with this method a few years ago and it was excessively astringent. I'm not sure if it was the overnight mash with the black patent malt or just my recipe in general. The next time I use highly roasted malts, I'll brew it all in one session.
     
  12. JimmyTango

    JimmyTango Initiate (0) Aug 1, 2011 California

    Do you find that the drop in temp and lack of mash out makes the wort more fermentable? I would be worried that hours spent in the high 140s with enzimatic activity would make the beer too thin.

    Whacha think?
     
  13. mugs1789

    mugs1789 Initiate (0) Dec 6, 2005 Maryland

    I haven't noticed this.
     
  14. mikehartigan

    mikehartigan Maven (1,397) Apr 9, 2007 Illinois

    I have definitely found this to be the case. I've had beers go from 1.070+ down to 1.002. Fortunately, these were beers I wanted to finish dry, so it was ok. I use the overnight technique frequently, but very selectively.
     
  15. JimmyTango

    JimmyTango Initiate (0) Aug 1, 2011 California

    Good to know.

    Thanks!
     
  16. mnstorm99

    mnstorm99 Initiate (0) May 11, 2007 Minnesota

    Something I was thinking about for you overnight mashers. Does an overnight mash really save any time on the second day? If I take an hour mash and 30 minutes to mash in, as opposed to 45 minutes to get my sparge water up to temp on day two...I am really only saving 45 minutes on day two.

    I still like the mash, sparge, collect and clean the mash equipment (two hours day 1), then boil, cool, pitch and clean boil equipment (two hours day 2). This seems like a much better system to split the process up.
     
  17. mikehartigan

    mikehartigan Maven (1,397) Apr 9, 2007 Illinois

    Not sure I understand your question. If I spend 2 hours on day one, that's roughly 2 hours I save on day 2. But I don't really do it to save time. I do it to get a more fermentable wort. The time 'saved' on day 2 is just a bonus. Now, if day 1 is more free than day 2, this can be the difference between brewing and not on day 2.
     
  18. mnstorm99

    mnstorm99 Initiate (0) May 11, 2007 Minnesota

    Just seems to me, starting with heating up the sparge water there is still about 3 hours left. My typical brewday is four hours.

    Doing it for the reason of fermentation is a different reason to do it...and I may try it for that reason.
     
  19. mugs1789

    mugs1789 Initiate (0) Dec 6, 2005 Maryland

    It saves me about an hour, maybe less. More importantly, it shifts some brewing time from a weekend morning (typically busy family time) to Friday or Saturday night, after the kids are in bed.
     
  20. kjyost

    kjyost Initiate (0) May 4, 2008 Canada (MB)

    Yup, that's why I have started to measure my strike & sparge water out the night before, along with grinding the grains...

    I am sure glad I did that last night otherwise my kids would have learned some new verbiage due to the incredible PITA that grinding my wheat berries turned out to be (flipped the Barley Crusher all over the floor a couple of times, my cordless drill didn't have the torque to grind them, etc...)
     
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