Collecting brewing water early

[dkeller12]

So I am trying to shave some time off my brew day for SWMBO and was thinking about collecting my water a few days before I brew...I filter it slowly through a carbon filter...and was wondering if anyone thought this was a bad idea. It may sit sealed up in an empty fermentor for a few days. Any thoughts?

Also, any other time savings tips people use for maybe speeding things up would be appreciated. I dont want to cut mash time or boil but maybe prep tips to get things moving along faster would help.

 

[raysmithtx]

I use RO water and sometimes put it in my kettle with the lid on a couple of days before brewing and have never had a problem.

 

[flars]

Grains can also be crushed a few days before brew day. Let the crushed grains come to room temperature if you store the grains chilled. Room temperature grains will not require adjusting the temperature of your strike water used for previous brews.

 

[thelastleroy]

Get your strike water going first, then weigh and crush your grain, sanitize stuff etc. Once you've mashed in, get sparge water heating up.

If you have the ability, start your burner as you run off your mash. Bringing up the strike/sparge water to temp and wort to a boil is one of my biggest time killers.

Of course, you might already be doing this...

 

[NeoBrew]

I do RO water for my 6.5 gallon BIAB batches. I often need 9 gallons of water. I start two days before and collect the water in 5 gallon buckets. I put the lid on them and seal them up. It's been working for me. I do it at night which let's me deplete the RO water without upsetting the wife and kids.

I am always amazed at how my 3 1/2 - 4 hour "brew" seems to eat up the whole day. Here are the tips I've tried to make things go faster.

10. Make sure you have your recipe set before brew day. Tinkering seems to suck time.
9. Clean up and put away as you go.
8. Make or buy a carboy and keg washer. (You can clean and sanitize your carboy while you are brewing)
7. Collect water before brew day.
6. Set up the brewery in the garage the night before.
5. Measure my water additions during the week so they are ready to go.
4. Crush the grains the night before.
3. Don't worry too much about kettle trub in the fermenter.
2. Chill the wort down to a reasonable temp with my immersion chiller (+/-80F), then throw it into my ferm chamber to get to pitching temps. I usually oxygenate and pitch just before bed.

And the #1 way to not spend your whole day brewing...
1. Get up before 9 am. lol!

 

[unionrdr]

I either by spring water from Giant eagle (about 7 gallons), or take my sanitized 6 gallon better bottle & a 1 gallon sanitized jug to White House Artisian Springs & get their spring water for 25c per gallon.The lil yeasties seem to love it. Chill a couple gallons in the fridge a day or two before brew day to top off with to recipe volume.

 

[dkeller12]

Thanks for the great advice. Glad to hear collecting the water early is something people are doing. I didn't think it would be too much of an issue due to the boiling and all, but I wanted reassurance. My grains are crushed already as I don't have a mill, YET, so that is taken care of.
I seem to sped a ton of time waiting for water to hit the right temps and that is done was a 100,000 btu burner. I was thinking about starting to heat the wort on the burner as I am running the sparge water through the grains, does anybody currently do this? I usually wait to collect it all then start the boil, but didn't know if heating the wort before it is all collected has any ill effects. I also tend to siphon the cooled wort into the fermenter to leave as much kettle trub behind but may just dump it all in. I am assuming the kettle trub will settle out anyway, I like clear beers and was always afraid of the trub causing cloudiness. Is this the case?

 

[passedpawn]

I keep 25g of RO/DI de-clorinated water behind my house for my fish tank at all times. I use that when I make light beers. It's usually been sitting there for a week, so no problems there.

 

[unionrdr]

No, it settles out, but it leaves less clear beer toward the end. I like to strain the chilled wort into the fermenter, rather than compensating. The fine mesh strainer also aerates the wort while pouring.

 

[Teromous]

Organization will save a lot of time. Homebrewers tend to collect a lot of stuff and use quite a bit of tools when brewing. I keep a bunch of clear tupperware containers full of my stuff so I can see what's inside. I have a smaller one that is portable that I keep my most used items in (thermometer, refractometer, pH meter, small digital scale, allen wrenches, screw driver, multi-tool, long lighter, clamps, dedicated brewing nylon mesh sponge, dedicated brewing nylon scrub brush, etc). Usually I can just grab that small container and get brewing with minimal hunting. It's light weight and clamps shut so if it drops all the stuff doesn't spill out. Trust me...not hunting for stuff will shave off a lot of time.

Additionally I like to make sure I clean up as much as possible at the end of a brew day or racking session. Nothing is worse than starting off a brew day with cleaning...all because you weren't thorough enough the last time.

I also lay out my brewing stuff the night before so I'm not hauling stuff around in the early hours of the morning. This is also a good time to do a quick check on your electronics to make sure that everything works and that you don't have to replace any batteries. I'll usually get a little bit of water in the pump I use to make sure it runs.

 

[ArcLight]

I carry my brewing water home from New York City, 2 gallons at a time. I have 18 gallons in better bottles ready for my next 2 brews.
People look at me carrying 2 ice tea containers of liquid. I tell them I get thirsty
Then I tell them that I'm a home brewer and teh NYC water is way better than the New Jersey water.

Try the water at Newark Airport, it taste like an algae laden swamp, some of the worst water I've had.

 

[Rcbandl]

I have 3 5 gallon water jugs that I use to store water. When I brew I use the water in them and then refill them with a carbon filter and camden tablets. They sit there for 1 to 3 weeks at a time. Only once did I have a problem when I didnt brew for around 4 weeks and I noticed a slight algae smell so i dumped it and made some fresh.

 

[dkeller12]

No, it settles out, but it leaves less clear beer toward the end.

When you say it leaves less clear beer, are you saying from the fermenter to bottling bucket or keg of in the finished product? I don't want to sacrifice clarity. I assume it will settle when sitting in the fridge and be fine but just wanted to check.

 

[dkeller12]

Also, does anybody start heating the wort as they are draining the sparge water or wait until it is all in the kettle? I am thinking that if I get a head start on bring the wort up to a boil it may save some time there. Let me know if this has no I'll effects on the beer.

 

[NeoBrew]

When you say it leaves less clear beer, are you saying from the fermenter to bottling bucket or keg of in the finished product? I don't want to sacrifice clarity. I assume it will settle when sitting in the fridge and be fine but just wanted to check.

This is a matter of some debate. I would take a few minutes to read this.

http://brulosophy.com/2015/03/22/the-impact-of-kettle-trub-part-2-exbeeriment-results/

 

[passedpawn]

Also, does anybody start heating the wort as they are draining the sparge water or wait until it is all in the kettle? I am thinking that if I get a head start on bring the wort up to a boil it may save some time there. Let me know if this has no I'll effects on the beer.

I do. But I have an electrical element in there, so I can't turn it on until it's at about 3g. I do 11g batches.

 

[unionrdr]

When you say it leaves less clear beer, are you saying from the fermenter to bottling bucket or keg of in the finished product? I don't want to sacrifice clarity. I assume it will settle when sitting in the fridge and be fine but just wanted to check.

I mean there's more trub loss with all that trub in there that doesn't compact that tightly.

 

[dkeller12]

This is a matter of some debate. I would take a few minutes to read this.

http://brulosophy.com/2015/03/22/the-impact-of-kettle-trub-part-2-exbeeriment-results/

Wow...interesting results but a mixed bag of good and bad. Maybe I will siphon but not worry too much if I pull in some trub. I usually try to avoid it but having some possible benefits will ease my mind a little. Thanks for the link.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, it's definitely a mixed bag, a matter of preference. I just like less trub by bottling day that gives less trub losses. And less chance of more trub getting into the bottling bucket, trying to get that last couple bottle's worth.

 

[pdxal]

Also, does anybody start heating the wort as they are draining the sparge water or wait until it is all in the kettle? I am thinking that if I get a head start on bring the wort up to a boil it may save some time there. Let me know if this has no I'll effects on the beer.

Yes, many do get a start on boiling the wort while still sparging. If the volume is really low I suppose you could caramelize it, but otherwise nothing to worry about. Some also do first wort hopping with the initial runnings.

 

[dkeller12]

Yes, many do get a start on boiling the wort while still sparging. If the volume is really low I suppose you could caramelize it, but otherwise nothing to worry about. Some also do first wort hopping with the initial runnings.

Great. Think I am going to try heating as I am running off the sparge and see if that helps get things moving along more quickly.

Thanks everyone for the help.