Is anyone else anal/OCD in their prep like me?

[TravelingLight]

I'm brewing this weekend (my second beer and hopefully last all extract beer!). I doubt I'll do this every time, but I think I was just bored the other night and wanted to make Saturday's brewing go as quickly and smoothly as possible.

I went ahead and measured out all my DME and vacuum sealed it so no measuring on brew day, just open and dump it in. Then I took solo cups and labeled them with a sharpie for my different hop additions so I'll have those ready to dump in.

Sometimes I laugh at myself and my anal practices. That sounds weird reading it after I typed it. But really I was just bored and didn't have anything else to do for brewing since I had already cleaned all my stuff and cleaned out the keg.

 

[khillian]

Prep work makes all the difference, breaking up the tasks will make things appear easier. Besides the things mentioned, I pre fill my kettle with the water filter the night before, and since I brew BIAB on the stove I pre boil the water as well. When I wake in the am the water is around 140F which makes getting the mash ready easy. I also brew around 6am these days, sober on coffee. I tend to finish by 11am, cleaned up before noon and ready for lunch beer.

 

[GHBWNY]

I'm brewing this weekend (my second beer and hopefully last all extract beer!). I doubt I'll do this every time, but I think I was just bored the other night and wanted to make Saturday's brewing go as quickly and smoothly as possible.

I went ahead and measured out all my DME and vacuum sealed it so no measuring on brew day, just open and dump it in. Then I took solo cups and labeled them with a sharpie for my different hop additions so I'll have those ready to dump in.

Sometimes I laugh at myself and my anal practices. That sounds weird reading it after I typed it. But really I was just bored and didn't have anything else to do for brewing since I had already cleaned all my stuff and cleaned out the keg.

Nothing wrong with thoroughness, but you don't have to be that meticulous with ingredients that are going into the boil for an hour (DME, hops, etc.).

 

[bigken462]

I dunno so much about going to the trouble to opening the bag of DME ahead of time, but simply because it causes a mess. But I too am simular to detail. I start the day before by setting up the brewhouse. I'll set up my burners, transfer beer if needed to free up carboys, pre-measure my water and label the buckets and get BrewSmith squared away. For the most part, the only thing I try to have left to do on brew morning is light the fire and run the grains through the mill real fast.

As I type this, I have 11 gallons on Kolsch boiling. Up next is a Bavarian Hefeweizen and later this afternoon going to wrap the day up with a Farmhouse Saison.

Triple brewday kicks my tail, but with a lil prepwork ahead of time, it makes the day go much easier.

Brew on Brother.

Ken

 

[TravelingLight]

I dunno so much about going to the trouble to opening the bag of DME ahead of time, but simply because it causes a mess. But I too am simular to detail. I start the day before by setting up the brewhouse. I'll set up my burners, transfer beer if needed to free up carboys, pre-measure my water and label the buckets and get BrewSmith squared away. For the most part, the only thing I try to have left to do on brew morning is light the fire and run the grains through the mill real fast.

As I type this, I have 11 gallons on Kolsch boiling. Up next is a Bavarian Hefeweizen and later this afternoon going to wrap the day up with a Farmhouse Saison.

Triple brewday kicks my tail, but with a lil prepwork ahead of time, it makes the day go much easier.

Brew on Brother.

Ken

You're not kidding about it making a mess! And man, that stuff gets sticky too! And it's so dry and fine if you dump it too fast into your container on the scale, POOF! Dust goes everywhere. Lesson learned for sure.

 

[paperairplane]

I assemble my mill while water is heating, start grinding grain and make some notes - my recipe is created on the fly in the brew house. Once I've mashed in and started the timer, I'll plug my recipe into brewsmith to see where the numbers are compared to what I think they'll be...

 

[BrunDog]

Yep, I do all my prep in advance too. Lay out a table with hardware/etc. including recipe and water prinouts. I even have a checklist and use that, crossing off every brew step.

 

[mattdee1]

Mise en place! Nothing wrong with that.

 

[oceanic_brew]

The only mistakes I make during brew day are directly related to lack of preparedness.

If I have everything laid out and labeled and visible I never forget anything.

I used to brew on my back deck where I had to have everything with me but in the winter months I brew inside where all my equipment can basically stay in its storage until I need it. I catch myself makin errors way more this way.

 

[Homercidal]

I wish I were more organized. I agree being prepared and organized prior to brewing make a heck of a difference. Usually means a quicker brewday too.

 

[dmtaylor]

I obsess for hours over the recipe, strike and sparge water temperatures, and mash pH estimation before any brew session. I get all that nailed down with every i dotted and t crossed, and print those out. But other than that, I don't gather up the ingredients or crush anything until brew time. I ensure I'll have a good brew day, but don't do any actual ingredient or equipment prep and just take those for granted. However, I do obsess also over maintaining a very complete and detailed inventory of all my brewing ingredients. I almost always 95% of the time have in my possession all the ingredients I have listed on my detailed inventory, and rarely have to make last-minute substitutions. So that helps. But for measuring out hops and grains.... nah, I just do that the day of, immediately before and during the brew session. It's all good. But I can definitely see the advantages to having all that spread out ahead as well. We're all anal to different degrees I guess. A spectrum if you will.

 

[FVillatoro]

I can get OCD with my pre-brew day prepping, but I think my prepping for kegging is equality up there lol.

It usually goes like this:
Open and rinse keg, add hot oxyclean, scrub everything inside, swish around and lock keg, add co2 to keg and push some out the dip tube, let it sit 30 mins, then place upside down, after 15 mins open keg, take off fittings, place fittings in hop bag and drop them in the still warm oxyclean for 15/30 mins.
Rinse everything, add vinegar and water to keg, put fittings back on keg, pressurize keg, swish vinegar in keg and push some out of the dip tube, open keg, and pour vinegar out and take off fittings and soak in vinegar.
Rinse everything again with water till no vinegar smell, soak fittings in star-san then spray all contact surfaces, add star-san to keg, pressurize keg, push some star-san out of dip tube, shake it and let it sit a day.

Man I have issues... if I don't do that I freak out about the kegs not being clean and my beer developing off flavors.

Yeah.... lol

 

[TravelingLight]

I can get OCD with my pre-brew day prepping, but I think my prepping for kegging is equality up there lol.

It usually goes like this:
Open and rinse keg, add hot oxyclean, scrub everything inside, swish around and lock keg, add co2 to keg and push some out the dip tube, let it sit 30 mins, then place upside down, after 15 mins open keg, take off fittings, place fittings in hop bag and drop them in the still warm oxyclean for 15/30 mins.
Rinse everything, add vinegar and water to keg, put fittings back on keg, pressurize keg, swish vinegar in keg and push some out of the dip tube, open keg, and pour vinegar out and take off fittings and soak in vinegar.
Rinse everything again with water till no vinegar smell, soak fittings in star-san then spray all contact surfaces, add star-san to keg, pressurize keg, push some star-san out of dip tube, shake it and let it sit a day.

Man I have issues... if I don't do that I freak out about the kegs not being clean and my beer developing off flavors.

Yeah.... lol

Vinegar? What's the deal with that? I only ask because I haven't used it before or seen others using it. Cheers!

 

[Spartan1979]

I used to grind my grains the night before, but it didn't really save any time. There's plenty of time to mill the grains while the strike water is heating.

 

[atom]

things i do before brew day:

• Create a recipe
• build a water profile
• make sure i have all my ingredients
• make a yeast starter (if needed)
• make sure my drill is charged
• check with the wife to make sure we don't have other plans (that one should probably be first...lol)

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I mill grain while strike water is heating.Keep all little stuff in a bucket of star san(airlocks,turkey baster ETC)and clean and put away things when there done.(mill,scale ETC)The end cleanup is the worst part of the day..Anything to lighten the load helps.

 

[Redlantern]

This is normally used when I brew with friends but….
I have laminated check-sheets for the major operations
1) General brew steps
2) Creating a starter
3) Water prep
4) Mash set-up
5) Sparge
6) Wort chilling

The brew stand is set up, ingredients laid out, and full serviceability check is done the day before
The hoses used for sparge and wort chilling are color coded and labeled
The hoses used for wort chilling are color coded and labeled
My wort chiller and pre-chiller are labeled with “In” and “out”
I have multiple timers for the mash, boil and hop additions
I have small plastic dishes with labels for the hops and what point of the process they go in to the wort.
I have a whiteboard where the recipe is posted and the timers are velcroed to the board for the mash and boil steps. Checklist and water report are posted on the whiteboard as well.
My brew stand is labeled with the place where I put my iodine test and lactic acid during brewing
All this among other things.

As anal as that seems, it sure makes brewing go like clockwork. Fortunately, my brewing friends like the checklists and use them just like I do. It is also a lot easier to have new friends participate and be involved.

 

[TravelingLight]

This is normally used when I brew with friends but….
I have laminated check-sheets for the major operations
1) General brew steps
2) Creating a starter
3) Water prep
4) Mash set-up
5) Sparge
6) Wort chilling

The brew stand is set up, ingredients laid out, and full serviceability check is done the day before
The hoses used for sparge and wort chilling are color coded and labeled
The hoses used for wort chilling are color coded and labeled
My wort chiller and pre-chiller are labeled with “In” and “out”
I have multiple timers for the mash, boil and hop additions
I have small plastic dishes with labels for the hops and what point of the process they go in to the wort.
I have a whiteboard where the recipe is posted and the timers are velcroed to the board for the mash and boil steps. Checklist and water report are posted on the whiteboard as well.
My brew stand is labeled with the place where I put my iodine test and lactic acid during brewing
All this among other things.

As anal as that seems, it sure makes brewing go like clockwork. Fortunately, my brewing friends like the checklists and use them just like I do. It is also a lot easier to have new friends participate and be involved.

I nerded out a little reading that. Seriously. I freaking love hardcore regimented prep like this. I would love to see pictures of your brew day setup. Well done, sir.

 

[FVillatoro]

Vinegar? What's the deal with that? I only ask because I haven't used it before or seen others using it. Cheers!

I use distilled vinegar to get rid of the scale that oxyclean leaves behind because of our really hard/chlorinated water here in Los Angeles.
The vinegar is cheap and really dissolves any white residue. hot oxyclean/rinsing/vinegar/rinsing = impeccably clean surface. :rockin:

 

[TravelingLight]

I use distilled vinegar to get rid of the scale that oxyclean leaves behind because of our really hard/chlorinated water here in Los Angeles.
The vinegar is cheap and really dissolves any white residue. hot oxyclean/rinsing/vinegar/rinsing = impeccably clean surface. :rockin:

Ahhh makes sense. Thanks! Thankfully, my city water is pretty good over here in the deep south where I am. But one of my buddies down the road has gone waaaaayyy down the rabbit hole and is really nerding out on his water profiles. I'm anxious to see how his beers changed. He's really trying to dial in his water profile for his IPAs.

 

[Kee]

Prep work makes all the difference, breaking up the tasks will make things appear easier. Besides the things mentioned, I pre fill my kettle with the water filter the night before, and since I brew BIAB on the stove I pre boil the water as well. When I wake in the am the water is around 140F which makes getting the mash ready easy. I also brew around 6am these days, sober on coffee. I tend to finish by 11am, cleaned up before noon and ready for lunch beer.

I usually have 4 1/2 gallons of strike water in an aluminum pot on the stove top. When I wake up I turn on the stove and the coffee pot. My strike water is ready by the time I finish my coffee. This morning I doughed in at around 6:20 a.m.

 

[Redlantern]

I nerded out a little reading that. Seriously. I freaking love hardcore regimented prep like this. I would love to see pictures of your brew day setup. Well done, sir.

Wish I had one. To put is simply- my wife and her friends just walk off shaking their heads. As they make their way upstairs, the comment starts off the same and I cant ever here them finish it, but it always seems to start like "Good Lord he is really A....."

 

[TravelingLight]

Wish I had one. To put is simply- my wife and her friends just walk off shaking their heads. As they make their way upstairs, the comment starts off the same and I cant ever here them finish it, but it always seems to start like "Good Lord he is really A....."

Ha! Hopefully that statement ends with "...quite meticulous homebrewer!"

 

[dzlater]

x

 

[daveMN]

This is normally used when I brew with friends but….
I have laminated check-sheets for the major operations
1) General brew steps
2)Creating a starter
3)Water prep
4)Mash set-up
5)Sparge
6)Wort chilling

The brew stand is set up, ingredients laid out, and full serviceability check is done the day before
The hoses used for sparge and wort chilling are color coded and labeled
The hoses used for wort chilling are color coded and labeled
My wort chiller and pre-chiller are labeled with “In” and “out”
I have multiple timers for the mash, boil and hop additions
I have small plastic dishes with labels for the hops and what point of the process they go in to the wort.
I have a whiteboard where the recipe is posted and the timers are velcroed to the board for the mash and boil steps. Checklist and water report are posted on the whiteboard as well.
My brew stand is labeled with the place where I put my iodine test and lactic acid during brewing
All this among other things.

I just finished setting up a dedicated brew space, so for today's brew day I laid out everything I'll use in order from left to right as I'll use it. I like the color coding idea. I think I'll steal that one.

 

[Redlantern]

Just for fun, took a snap of page 1 of my mash checklist

 

[Natdavis777]

The only things I really do before brewday is get my RO water ready, and have my ingredients on hand. On brewday, it's a matter of just plugging in the controller and flipping the switch to get the water heating. While it is heating, I will draw up my lactic acid addition, and measure out my mash mineral additions. I leave my hops in the freezer until they are ready for use.

Definitely nothing wrong with prepping the day before though. Better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.

 

[TravelingLight]

Just for fun, took a snap of page 1 of my mash checklist

Thanks for this. As someone who just did their last (hopefully) all extract batch and will be moving to all grain shortly, this list is fantastic. I will be saving this for the future!

 

[jddevinn]

I don't do much (if any) physical prep before hand. However, I have a very detailed checklist with a P&ID for each step. Checklist helps me out and the P&ID helps when I have friends over that are learning or if I have a friend running through a brew for me.

 

[GHBWNY]

Can't say that I blame people for having a thorough checklist in spite of the fact most steps have either become automatic or are simply best doable on brew day. In fact, I do the same thing the day before baking a cake...

1. Pre-scan cupboard for cake pan - check
2. Flour sifted - check
3. De-lump sugar - check
4. Measure out amounts, put in Ziplock bags - check
5. Calibrate measuring cup and spoons - check
6. Pre-inspect eggs for cracks - check
7. Engage vegetable oil spray button, 5.5-inch pattern width - check
8. Tune radio to 88.3 FM - check
9. Pre-heat oven, leave on - check
10. Inspect countertop for presence of cake mix box - check
11. Run timer on stove through complete baking cycle - check
12. Pre-smell milk for freshness - check
13. Test cap on vanilla extract bottle for stickiness - check
14. Set center rack in oven on third notch down - check
15. Turn mixer on/off X 3 for electrical connection - check
16. Turn faucet on/off X 3 for adequate water flow - check
17. Pre-stage doneness-testing toothpick - check

Makes baking day that much less involved.

 

[Kee]

Can't say that I blame people for having a thorough checklist in spite of the fact most steps have either become automatic or are simply best doable on brew day. In fact, I do the same thing the day before baking a cake...

1. Pre-scan cupboard for cake pan - check
2. Flour sifted - check
3. De-lump sugar - check
4. Measure out amounts, put in Ziplock bags - check
5. Calibrate measuring cup and spoons - check
6. Pre-inspect eggs for cracks - check
7. Engage vegetable oil spray button, 5.5-inch pattern width - check
8. Tune radio to 88.3 FM - check
9. Pre-heat oven, leave on - check
10. Inspect countertop for presence of cake mix box - check
11. Run timer on stove through complete baking cycle - check
12. Pre-smell milk for freshness - check
13. Test cap on vanilla extract bottle for stickiness - check
14. Set center rack in oven on third notch down - check
15. Turn mixer on/off X 3 for electrical connection - check
16. Turn faucet on/off X 3 for adequate water flow - check
17. Pre-stage doneness-testing toothpick - check

Makes baking day that much less involved.

Hahaha! The powers that be (several years ago) told our drill crew that a complete written procedure was needed for every task--no steps could be left out. The driller was invited to read a procedure concerning a very simple repetitive five minute job. About twenty minutes in it was decided that there was such a thing as being too detail oriented.

 

[Kee]

There is one area where I am a little obsessive-compulsive: rinsing. I've never figured out exactly how many times I need to rinse after cleaning with PBW. Twice? Three times? What if the water is not very hot?

 

[Singletrack]

Here I thought I was anal; turns out I'm all laid back and stuff. Returning to my nap, I suppose.