National Homebrew Club Ireland

Brewing Discussions => All Grain Brewing => Topic started by: beerboar on September 29, 2014, 11:18:59 AM

Title: split brew day
Post by: beerboar on September 29, 2014, 11:18:59 AM
I am not finding much time to brew at present and was wondering if there is any reason not to split the brew day into two sections. first evening (after toddler goes to bed) mash. then the next day do the boil. ??

i can't think of any reason why i can't ..but i figured i would ask the collective??

cheers in advance.
Title: Re: split brew day
Post by: Boycott on September 29, 2014, 12:12:20 PM
You can as long as you don't leave it on the grain overnight.

The only negative is your losing your worts high temperature of around 70 degrees so you have to heat it up again which takes more time.

Ive started a few brews with the intention of doing two days but have always just said fup it and finished it off.
Title: Re: split brew day
Post by: SB on September 29, 2014, 01:52:07 PM
Hi,

I have done this twice now and it worked it out well on both occasions. 
I mashed in the evening then finished it off the next day.  I left it sitting on the grain and did not experience any issues with it.

The thing you need to be conscious of is that the grain will soak up a lot more water than normal so you will need to adjust that and you will have to use hotter water than calculated to bring it to the correct sparge temperature.

Title: Re: split brew day
Post by: Pat_buttercups on September 29, 2014, 02:13:00 PM
Largely out of curiosity and part out of the need to do demo at some stage, how long to you reckon the time is to start the 2 brew day assuming you popped your wort right in the fridge(or maybe even froze it?), has anybody done this to make starters quick and easily? or dose everybody do it and it only occurred to me XD
Title: Re: split brew day
Post by: Garry on September 29, 2014, 02:24:32 PM
The Aussies have been known to "cube" wort for months before boiling!

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/16415-cubing-wort/

The only real issue with leaving the mash overnight is that the temperature will likely drop below 64-65°C. This will give you a thinner beer and a higher OG than you would have calculated. No big deal for most people. But if you can sparge on night one, it will make your figures more predicable.
Title: Re: split brew day
Post by: beerboar on September 29, 2014, 02:46:31 PM
thanks for this. my plan was to sparge on the first night and just leave the boiling until the next day.

i dont think it will save me time over all but might allow me to do a bit more brewing if the job is spread out.
Title: Re: split brew day
Post by: Sorcerers Apprentice on September 29, 2014, 05:50:19 PM
Be careful of a Butyric infection, your cooled worth will be susceptible and it's one of the more objectionable flavour faults
Title: Re: split brew day
Post by: Gugs44 on September 29, 2014, 08:28:26 PM
I've done this twice before but never left on the grain bed, no probs after

I usually plan on doing it but if it's anyway reasonable time left in the day I just get the boil out of the way while the wort is still hot
Title: Re: split brew day
Post by: Pat_buttercups on September 29, 2014, 09:30:04 PM
that cube idea is interesting, Im thinking now for starters opposed to getting dme and mixing it up what if you did say a 5 gallon batch of wort, divided it into 1-2l portions and froze them. would it screw up the sugar or be a handy way of preserving wort for starters? just pop it out of the freezer warm it up and bam! or is useing grain based wort just a bad idea for starters all around  :o
Title: Re: split brew day
Post by: mcgrath on September 30, 2014, 12:20:55 AM
Quote from: Garry on September 29, 2014, 02:24:32 PM
The Aussies have been known to "cube" wort for months before boiling!

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/16415-cubing-wort/

The only real issue with leaving the mash overnight is that the temperature will likely drop below 64-65°C. This will give you a thinner beer and a higher OG than you would have calculated. No big deal for most people. But if you can sparge on night one, it will make your figures more predicable.
Are they not putting into cube after the boil to let wort cool naturally or until fermentor is ready? Can you do the same from mashtun?