How long does brew day take you?

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Usually takes me 4-5 hours at most from start to finish. I always build the recipe before brew day so I can keep tinkering with it if needed and I already have grains milled too. My LHBS has a really nice adjustable mill so I've been slacking on getting my own. I have a dedicated area for storing my equipment and miscellaneous items, but I brew on the front porch. My water in Portland is a good foundation to build on so I generally just use hot tap water for strike and sparge so it takes less time to heat up and use less propane. Why waste gas when I have a hot water heater to take advantage of?
 
all grain using electric glass top stove and a wort chiller im at about 7 hours.
 
I spent over 6 hours just to mash, lauter, and sparge. I will boil and hop tomorrow. My major holdup is the lack of a proper mash/lauter/sparge tun. Today, was my first 15 pound grain bill, and my 5 gallon Zapap tun was at capacity to say the least, I was frustrated by how slowly lauter
 
I usually do a 75 to 90 minute boil and a 60/75m mash. my brew day is about 5 hours. but if I add all of the time it takes my to weigh hops/salt,making a starter and collecting water, I would guess it would be around 5.5/6 hours hours.
 
MindenMan said:
I spent over 6 hours just to mash, lauter, and sparge. I will boil and hop tomorrow. My major holdup is the lack of a proper mash/lauter/sparge tun. Today, was my first 15 pound grain bill, and my 5 gallon Zapap tun was at capacity to say the least, I was frustrated by how slowly lauter
Click to expand...

I don't know what a "Zapap tun" is and don't know your setup, but if it's taking 6hours to mash and sparge....you're doing it wrong.
 
My first all grain took about 7 hours and my second took about 6 hours, more or less. It helps that I had a wort chiller available to me. I assume my next one will take roughly around the same time. Eventually, I'd like to see if I can complete a brew day in about 5 hours from start to finish. A wort chiller absolutely helps with time.
 
I'd like to make it faster just so I can do more batches in a day. I saw a post here about I guy that brewed three batches in a day. I have managed to do two in a day, I would like to do three just for bragging rights, but need to setup a gas keggle first, to make this possible. I used to brew before I had to be at work at 4PM. I brewed last week before I had to be at work before 1PM and was there on time so I must be getting quicker. The one thing about brewing before work is it makes me brew sober because showing up to work drunk is highly frowned upon, the "Man" is pretty uptight about that.

I was trying out new things and think I can shave off quite a bit more time. Tricks I use to speed things up.

  1. Cleaned everything the evening before
  2. Milled grains nigh before, mostly because mill is unreliable and didn't want to be fighting in on day of.
  3. Filter water into BK night before and set on timer, wake up to water at sparge temps

It took about 5 hours but see where I can easily shave an hour or more off. I also managed to shower, shave, iron my shirt and do laundry (with cooling water) at the same time. I don't think i am capable of single-tasking.
 
Photopilot said:
I'd like to make it faster just so I can do more batches in a day. I saw a post here about I guy that brewed three batches in a day. I have managed to do two in a day, I would like to do three just for bragging rights, but need to setup a gas keggle first, to make this possible. I used to brew before I had to be at work at 4PM. I brewed last week before I had to be at work before 1PM and was there on time so I must be getting quicker. The one thing about brewing before work is it makes me brew sober because showing up to work drunk is highly frowned upon, the "Man" is pretty uptight about that.



I was trying out new things and think I can shave off quite a bit more time. Tricks I use to speed things up.



  1. Cleaned everything the evening before
  2. Milled grains nigh before, mostly because mill is unreliable and didn't want to be fighting in on day of.
  3. Filter water into BK night before and set on timer, wake up to water at sparge temps



It took about 5 hours but see where I can easily shave an hour or more off. I also managed to shower, shave, iron my shirt and do laundry (with cooling water) at the same time. I don't think i am capable of single-tasking.
Click to expand...


Those are some good tips. I'd like to wake up to sparge water at the right temp!
 
First All grain. Actually first time brewing. It took just about 7 hours on a stove top. But it was a big beer. 18.5 lb grain bill. I understand now why everyone says, "if my wife lets me" when it comes to brewing in the kitchen. I say never again, LOL, especially in the winter! But great time. Now to do a lower gravity beer and pick up a few things to make it easier.

OH and a big thanks to all "YOU GUYS" on HomeBewTalk for letting me pick your brains/posts!
 
Ok you guys all suck.
My system is this:
Gas fired boil keggle, eHerm hlt keg, 10 gallon round Rubbermaid mlt + 2 march pumps and all the camlock quick connects you could ask for.
From the time I hook up hoses and add water to the time I finish running hot pbw through the system, rinse and put everything away Im looking at 10+ hours. 12 if I drink a lot while brewing...
This isnt a complaint mind you, I love my brew days, however if someone would like to come over and show me how to do one of these 4-5 hour brew days that would be great.
Elk Grove California. Saturdays are best...
fml.
 
KevinP said:
Ok you guys all suck.
My system is this:
Gas fired boil keggle, eHerm hlt keg, 10 gallon round Rubbermaid mlt + 2 march pumps and all the camlock quick connects you could ask for.
From the time I hook up hoses and add water to the time I finish running hot pbw through the system, rinse and put everything away Im looking at 10+ hours. 12 if I drink a lot while brewing...
This isnt a complaint mind you, I love my brew days, however if someone would like to come over and show me how to do one of these 4-5 hour brew days that would be great.
Elk Grove California. Saturdays are best...
fml.
Click to expand...

Homebrewing isn't soccer - you know you can use your hands right? :)
 
Takes me longer than 4 hours, and that's with all my ingredients measured out and ready to go. The brew process is quick and easy, its clean up and all the other crap that sucks time away...
 
Just did my second all grain and got the brew time down to 5 hours. I was more relaxed, had more fun and did a lot less gravity readings, peeking, etc. It was a smaller beer too. The first time was a .076 and this one was a blond ale coming is at 1.040. A lot less grain and boil down time. As I get more organized the times will drop. And just as I do when I cook if you clean as you go there isn't much mess to clean when your beer is in the fermenter. Springtime project.... weld a brew stand together!!!
 
Between 4 and 6 hrs depending on the beer and a few other variables. And it seems that as my skills Improve it's actually taking a little longer. More attention to detail, slower vourlauf, etc.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
6 hours, give or take.

Fill/heat HLT, clean the kitchen, get the rest of my gear out - 45 minutes
Mash-in, mash... 100 minutes
Sparge - 60 minutes
Pre-boil and boil time - 80 minutes
Chill - 20 minutes
Move wort to fermenter, pitch, cleanup - 60 minutes
 
KevinP said:
if someone would like to come over and show me how to do one of these 4-5 hour brew days that would be great.
Elk Grove California. Saturdays are best...
fml.
Click to expand...

I live just up the road from you. Might take you up on that offer if you're serious. :)
 
'Between 4 and 6 hrs depending on the beer and a few other variables."

The beer you're making or drinking???
 
My last brew day was over in 3.5 hours and I'm thinking I can get it done in 2 hours. I've found a bunch of corners to cut. BIAB lets me work with grain that is milled very fine, nearly like cornmeal. With that I only need a very short mash, like 10 minutes or less. Then an hour long boil and that might be able to be shortened too. From there just pour the hot wort into a plastic bucket (yes they are safe at boiling temps), drop the lid on and wait for it to chill. Pitch the yeast when the temperature is right, probably the next day.
 
RM-MN said:
My last brew day was over in 3.5 hours and I'm thinking I can get it done in 2 hours. I've found a bunch of corners to cut. BIAB lets me work with grain that is milled very fine, nearly like cornmeal. With that I only need a very short mash, like 10 minutes or less. Then an hour long boil and that might be able to be shortened too. From there just pour the hot wort into a plastic bucket (yes they are safe at boiling temps), drop the lid on and wait for it to chill. Pitch the yeast when the temperature is right, probably the next day.
Click to expand...


Now how do you know you get conversion in 10 minutes or less? Sugar extract is not the only goal of mashing; you also need time for the enzymes to act. I can't believe that can be done in that short of time. Are you testing for conversion with iodine? This seems like an unnecessary corner to be cut in my opinion.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
dlaramie08 said:
Now how do you know you get conversion in 10 minutes or less? Sugar extract is not the only goal of mashing; you also need time for the enzymes to act. I can't believe that can be done in that short of time. Are you testing for conversion with iodine? This seems like an unnecessary corner to be cut in my opinion.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Click to expand...

Iodine test is the first indicator. The second indicator is the OG which tells me the efficiency of extraction. The third indicator is the attenuation I get when I ferment the beer. The last indicator is my palate.

You should give it a try sometimes. Make sure your grains are milled as fine as your setup can handle.
 
I just bottled my sweet stout. I only mashed for 45 minutes this time and I assume I hit my final numbers correctly. The goal from the recipe was an FG of 1.023 and I was at 1.028. I also added maltodextrin ( 8 oz in 5 gallons equivalent amount for the batch size I was making) which wasn't in the original recipe so I'm hoping that was the reason I came in high.
 
Someone above made an interesting comment that I am interested in hearing more about...

When everyone is giving their estimates, are you spending a full 60 minutes boiling? Sometimes I guess that is 90, but I'm more interested in hearing from people who might be doing a shorter boil?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Home Brew mobile app
 
RM-MN said:
Iodine test is the first indicator. The second indicator is the OG which tells me the efficiency of extraction. The third indicator is the attenuation I get when I ferment the beer. The last indicator is my palate.



You should give it a try sometimes. Make sure your grains are milled as fine as your setup can handle.
Click to expand...


Hey I can't argue with results that's for sure. Do you have issues with stuck sparges?


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Jeez, I just did an extremely long brewday. I did a 90 minute mash and a 90 minute boil (Pilsner malt mashed way low), which added an hour to the usual brewday. Then, because it's winter I can't use the hose, so I couldn't clean while the boil was on, etc., so cleanup took extra time. All told, just about 6.5 hours.

Still, 6.5 hours of challenging brewing is better than 6.5 hours working, right?

EDIT: Having trouble with the plussing and the minusing. It was more like 8.5 hours.
 
saxman1036 said:
Someone above made an interesting comment that I am interested in hearing more about...

When everyone is giving their estimates, are you spending a full 60 minutes boiling? Sometimes I guess that is 90, but I'm more interested in hearing from people who might be doing a shorter boil?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Home Brew mobile app
Click to expand...


Well if you want to experiment with hop bursting you can do short boils. I recently made a New Zealand pale ale that I hop burst and only boiled for about 25-30 minutes. The gravity sample I tasted when I bottled was pretty good. However, I always assume it will be less bitter than my software says it will be (beersmith). This technique combined with the above mentioned extremely short mash could make for an all grain brew day that lasts about as long as an extract brew day.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
dlaramie08 said:
Hey I can't argue with results that's for sure. Do you have issues with stuck sparges?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Click to expand...

Since I BIAB, getting a stuck sparge is nearly impossible but with a conventional mash tun you would have to be pretty careful how fine you milled your grain or you would have a stuck sparge.

The closest I've come to having a stuck anything with BIAB involved a roggenbier with about 60% unmalted rye in it. What a sticky mess that was.
 
allentwnguy said:
First All grain. Actually first time brewing. It took just about 7 hours on a stove top. But it was a big beer. 18.5 lb grain bill. I understand now why everyone says, "if my wife lets me" when it comes to brewing in the kitchen. I say never again, LOL, especially in the winter! But great time. Now to do a lower gravity beer and pick up a few things to make it easier.

OH and a big thanks to all "YOU GUYS" on HomeBewTalk for letting me pick your brains/posts!
Click to expand...

When I made the jump to all grain I moved my operation out to the garage. Now I don't have to worry about making a mess and the wife is happy cause the kitchen stays clean.

It takes me about 4 hours to do 1 all grain batch, I could do 2 in 6-7 thanks to having 2 burners.
 
mjdonnelly68 said:
Homebrewing isn't soccer - you know you can use your hands right? :)
Click to expand...

HANDS?!?!? I dont play soccer but my brewery is in my bondage chamber. Fuzzy handcuffs are mandatory...

LovesIPA said:
I live just up the road from you. Might take you up on that offer if you're serious. :)
Click to expand...

Brewing this Saturday. I have extra handcuffs. PM me if your interested. :rockin:
 
RM-MN said:
The second indicator is the OG which tells me the efficiency of extraction.
Click to expand...

Note that hydrometers only measure dissolved solids, not just dissolved sugars. An S.G. measurement might tell you when you've got lots dissolved into your wort, but it provides no indication whatsoever whether you're looking at sugars or as-yet unconverted starches.

The iodine test is the benchmark for determining when full conversion has been achieved.
 
5 mins = Add initial mash water, add campten and start heating.
20 mins = Weigh out grains and heat water.
10 mins = Move water to MLT and mash in.
60 mins = Mash, weight hops and other stuff, heat sparge water.
15 mins = Drain Tun - add half sparge water stir let sit (2 step batch sparge) start heating up first runnings.
15 mins = Drain Tun - add other half of sparge water and let sit.
5 mins = Drain Tun, by now stuff in BK should be boiling or very close.
5 mins = reach boil
60 mins = Boil, clean MLT and other buckets that are used. Mix up san for the fermenter and get chilling water ready.
10 mins = chill
10 mins = transfer
30 mins clean whats left.

245 mins ~ 4hrs totally doable.
 

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