All grain mistake

What would the effects of a longer than normal mash be? Say (hypothetically of course) in the event a home brewer were to have fallen asleep and inadvertently mashed for 6 hours instead of 1. Yes, this person is a moron so there's no need to point that out.

If your temp remained close to target, you might end up with some highly fermentable beer. Brew it up and find out.

ecarl said:

What would the effects of a longer than normal mash be? Say (hypothetically of course) in the event a home brewer were to have fallen asleep and inadvertently mashed for 6 hours instead of 1. Yes, this person is a moron so there's no need to point that out.

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drain it, boil it, destroy all evidence it ever happened.

Some people mash for 24 hours. But it really just depends on how the temps held for the first couple hours where the actually mashing would take place.

I've done 3 and couldn't tell any difference at all. But 3's not really that long.
I still think you're good. Go for it!

Beer-lord said:

I've done 3 and couldn't tell any difference at all. But 3's not really that long.
I still think you're good. Go for it!

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Agreed...If you look at the mash times for a Decoction Mash they are many hours.

You proablably will come up with lighter brighter beer...

I guess nobody has to tell you to "Relax...".

Since all the conversion was done in the first hour (or less) I'd say you're good to go.

you might end up with a highly fermentable wort and the resulting beer would seem a little thin and lacking in body. if you haven't boiled yet, i would consider steeping some carapils or other body-building crystals and adding that to the brew.

If temps dropped, got a chance that you will have a sour twang from Lacto, if temps stayed in range, then as mentioned, probably just highly fermentable

You all are very helpful today. So here's another question. Hypothetical once again. The brewer may or may not have forgotten to smack the wyeast packet. Is it OK for the boiled wort to wait, "un-yeasted", for a few hours?

Yes. Keep it covered

One could also skip the "activation" period and just pitch the yeast before they fell asleep again...

Hypothetically did this brewer kill a few kegs waiting for his strike water to get to temp?

ecarl said:

You all are very helpful today. So here's another question. Hypothetical once again. The brewer may or may not have forgotten to smack the wyeast packet. Is it OK for the boiled wort to wait, "un-yeasted", for a few hours?

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It's been done before I'm sure, but the faster you get it in lessens the chances of wild organisms getting to your wort..........

I had a batch of wort get bacteria-infected before boil, as a result of a stupid thing I did (I'd mashed and lautered, then left out the wort overnight before boiling, because stupidity). It had a slight citrus/acid twang, and I thought, uh oh ... but maybe it will go away. Went ahead and boiled it, and the acid taste got stronger. Not like hop-acid, though. Citric acid. In a bad way. Stuck around throughout fermentation. Ended up dumping, because the taste was not enjoyable, and I am all about enjoyment.

Moral of the story: if you detect the acid twang after letting wort sit for a while below bacteria-killing temps (135 F), it's not gonna go away. Decide now whether to dump it or go for it, but what you taste is what you get (plus 5x more).

A local brewery in NJ was working in a test brew right before Sandy came through. They ended up leaving the mash for 10 days or so (no power and couldn't get to the brewery). With no way of knowing what kind of temperature changes it went through, they boiled it anyway and called it Sour Sandy. A one of a kind beer never to be made again. Really sad I didn't get to try it.

A fee black IPAs and Irish Reds might have had something to do with falling asleep. But they were consumed purely to manage inventory.

ecarl said:

You all are very helpful today. So here's another question. Hypothetical once again. The brewer may or may not have forgotten to smack the wyeast packet. Is it OK for the boiled wort to wait, "un-yeasted", for a few hours?

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Put the brew in your fermentor and then seal it up with an airlock. Pitch the yeast when it's ready. Maybe keep both the yeast and the beer in the same room at the same temp. Pitch in a few hours or so after smacking. Set an alarm clock.