No time for all-grain

[Saxomophone]

The way my schedule is these days I think I'm going to have to resign myself to just brewing with extract. I've had an all grain ingredients waiting for something like 3 months now with no time to do it. I finally just decided to go ahead and make a starter so that I have to do it in the next few days.

Anyone else have this problem or have any ideas for remedying the problem? My problem is that I can never start brewing till around 8pm and the kids are up by around 7:30 am.

Is it possible to do the mash one night and boil the next?

 

[JonM]

Nothing wrong with extract. I do the same thing when I'm short on time or for any number of reasons.

 

[hopsalot]

use the search tool there are some people that have done this and posted

ex:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/an...ing-brewing-different-days-134120/index2.html

 

[weirdboy]

Yeah, as others have stated this is a fairly common problem and there are plenty of threads.

The solution I like most is mashing your grain the first day and just bringing it up to a boil to kill the bugs before racking it off to a container (or maybe just covering it and letting it sit) until you can boil it for real the next day.

 

[Wobbegong]

My problem is that I can never start brewing till around 8pm and the kids are up by around 7:30 am.

Same here. I hit the coffee hard and mash in just before 8pm, and then get the kids to bed. I brew outside with a head lamp.... Sleep is for the weak...

 

[birvine]

Anyone else have this problem or have any ideas for remedying the problem? My problem is that I can never start brewing till around 8pm and the kids are up by around 7:30 am.

Is it possible to do the mash one night and boil the next?

My kids go to bed around the same time. Particularly when my wife is at work, then I am at home preparing supper.

While I'm in the kitchen anyway, I prepare the grains and the strike water and get the mash going from 5 or 5:30 pm for a couple of hours or so. I also get my sparge water going (by the way, I am in the process of changing the method somewhat since my HLT is now electric and I haven't yet tested it for timing yet).

Once the kids are in bed I sparge and get the kettle going. While bringing to the boil I clean anything I won't be needing, sanitize anything I'll need, measure out hops, irish moss, and yeast nutrient onto an infinite number of plates (it seems like that when I'm washing them) with labels and times for additions. I just keep adding things during the boil and taking my notes and basically keep repeating the cleaning/sanitizing until toward the end of the boil. I prepare my hoses and IC then shut of the boil then quickly cool, transfer, shake, add yeast and pop the carboy into the swamp cooler. The last bit of cleaning is done, everything away and before midnight I'm in bed.

All this being said, sometimes my five y.o. son wants to be the helper so a lot more of my attention is going into making sure he is nowhere in harm's way. Though I am usually early to bed, I tend to brew on Fr or Sat evening so I can at least be lazy the next day in many cases.

Brew on, whichever way you decide!

B

 

[JonM]

Are you into cider? You can make that up in 10-20 minutes.

 

[Rev2010]

Reading this thread makes me glad the wife and I decided against having kids. We have two dogs which we look as as our kids and enjoy spending time with but man the commitment that seems involved with kids.

I have to ask though... I would think that having kids I would still be able to brew. I mean, can't the wife handle them for a while? Is the job taking up all your time? If so, well than that is a life factor you have to analyze and consider your options or make the choice to live with it. Even with kids I can't see how I can't get one or two AG brew days in month. I've actually personally found lately that AG doesn't take me all that much more time, probably about 1.5 - 2 hours more, that's with the grain milling, mash, and double batch sparge. Reason being is because I have more cleaning to do with extract. I have to clean the Rubbermaid pitchers I put the extract in to pour, the whisk and a plate for it to cleanly sit on, a bowl to move my steeped grains to, etc. With extract I also always steep some grains, so for me it's not so much quicker than AG.

I only brew on weekends, what is your situation that you can't find brew time?


Rev.

 

[OldWorld]

If your kids can't help you get the mash started they are grounded

 

[eastoak]

Reading this thread makes me glad the wife and I decided against having kids. We have two dogs which we look as as our kids and enjoy spending time with but man the commitment that seems involved with kids.

I have to ask though... I would think that having kids I would still be able to brew. I mean, can't the wife handle them for a while? Is the job taking up all your time? If so, well than that is a life factor you have to analyze and consider your options or make the choice to live with it. Even with kids I can't see how I can't get one or two AG brew days in month. I've actually personally found lately that AG doesn't take me all that much more time, probably about 1.5 - 2 hours more, that's with the grain milling, mash, and double batch sparge. Reason being is because I have more cleaning to do with extract. I have to clean the Rubbermaid pitchers I put the extract in to pour, the whisk and a plate for it to cleanly sit on, a bowl to move my steeped grains to, etc. With extract I also always steep some grains, so for me it's not so much quicker than AG.

I only brew on weekends, what is your situation that you can't find brew time?


Rev.

i have two girls, 3 and 1yrs old. my wife stays at home so my days off are a break for her. when i brew i take the girls outside with me and the 3 yr old "helps" me with measuring out the water and grain, which she eats by the handful. once i start the boil i take them inside with mom because they are drawn to the burner like moths to a, uh, flame.

 

[mikeysab]

When I don't have time to do my usual 2 brew, 15 gallon brewday, I just do 5 gallons AG, BIAB on the stovetop either at once or split. If I split, i'll mash, sparge, collect my wort and clean up. Next morning, boil, cool, pitch and done. Works out well, and I still get to be daddy instead of brewer all day

 

[Tim_Kreitz]

I don't have kids either, but the demands of a busy professional schedule and being on the road s a working musician sometimes dictate the use of extract. I brew 90-percent all grain, but I always keep ELDME around in case I need to brew a good beer quickly. Keep an eye on fermentation temps and adjust accordingly for hop utilization, and extract brews can approach the quality of AG. Have at it, and don't be the least bit ashamed.

DIG IT:
http://hw.libsyn.com/p/8/9/3/893cc6f7f3971ca7/bbv10-10-07amarilloale.mp4

 

[bigbeergeek]

When my time is tight: overnight mash. With blankets piled atop my cooler, I only lose 6 degrees in 8 hrs. I've read that he enzymes are probably denatured after about 4 hrs of mashing anyway. I'll put a 5 gallon pot of sparge water on the kitchen stove over the lowest flame when I go to sleep. When I wake up it's at 180*F. Nothing finer than waking up and starting a fly sparge. I'm done and cleaned up in three hours.

 

[Rev2010]

You put the stove on then go to sleep?? Seriously? How long you sleeping for? If I did that on my stoves lowest setting and slept it would likely all be evaporated by wake up time.


Rev.

 

[Palefire]

I will say, building an electric system (eBIAB, especially) helped a lot with this problem. When I'm going to brew at night, I set everything up before dinner. During dinner, bath, etc., the strike water heats up to my desired temp and stays there until I'm ready to use it. I'll usually dough in right before bedtime routines begin. Those usually take about an hour from start to finish, so by the time the kid goes to bed the mash is done. I just head outside, raise the temps to mashout, then pull the bag and boil. During the boil I sanitize everything, etc. Everything gets finished and put away before my normal bedtime.

I brew outside on my back deck, so cleaning up when it's dark outside can suck a little, but the system works pretty well.

The more things you can automate, the easier it is to fit brewing into other activities.

 

[kh54s10]

Are the kids old enough for sleep overs with friends? I would guess that palming them off on neighbors twice a month might not be well received though.

 

[dummkauf]

What's wrong with extract? I have yet to find anyone who can tell the difference between my extract brews and my AG. Note: this has been since I moved from partial boil extracts to full boil extracts. I almost always use some steeping grains, and my extract brews turn out fantastic. I don't share your time issue, but I generally follow these rules of thumb when deciding to go extract or AG:

- If I'm brewing an IPA or a beer that's all about the hops, more so than the grains, I'll go extract to save some time.
- If I'm brewing a stout, nut brown, etc... where it's about the grain profile more so than the hops, it's an AG brew day.

 

[Saxomophone]

My little ones are 3 and 18 months so I try to keep them away from large volumes of hot water.

My wife works a lot so I'm the one in charge of dinner and clean up so that she can get done what she needs to for work. It is a trade off but that's my choice and I'm proud of the work she does.

I could get my system down like clockwork I could get the mash started over dinner. Honestly I think part of my time issue is not having a system down yet that I can get going with all the distractions of kids.

There was one day that I brewed a Graff over lunch and nap time.

 

[JonM]

One trick I picked up is here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/2nd-batch-adds-1-hour-brewday-279180/

Maybe some day if you can find 5 hours or so to brew, double up.

 

[Ozzfest05]

Do a full boil extract and steep a little grain in there. All grain isn't better by any means, some recipes are better all grain but some are better with extract.

Doing partials , mini mash or steeping and 99.9% of humans won't be able to tell the difference just use quality ingredients with good practices .

 

[bigbeergeek]

You put the stove on then go to sleep?? Seriously? How long you sleeping for? If I did that on my stoves lowest setting and slept it would likely all be evaporated by wake up time.


Rev.

I'm talking about a 5 gallon pot of water for 6-8 hrs, lid on.

 

[pd230soi]

My kids are 6 and 3. Both boys. This means anytime they are home it can be crazy time. However I did just sort out how to do an AG day with them around.

They help me grind the grains the night before. I wake up, get coffee and start heating the mash water. I mash in around 0630 or 0700. They roll out of bed shortly thereafter. I don't worry if the mash goes long.

I sparge and start my boil. While boiling they play outside if the weather is ok (note: I don't brew on really crappy days since my bk is outside).

While they play I guard the flame and add hops. Sometimes I miss my timing, but oh we'll I made beer and my boys think they helped - life is good.

I brewed today and they played fireman, repairman, soldier, and who knows what.

 

[rossi46]

My boys are 20 months and 4. They love being out in the garage. I pull the cars out and they play. I have a small fence that I put around my rig to keep them out of harms way. The fence is from petsmart and is intended for a backyard pen for puppies. it just folds up when not in use.

 

[Saxomophone]

I like the idea of doing two batches at once. I've done that with two extract brews before and it only took about an extra hour at most including prep and clean up time.

I'm going to brew this Sunday and see how it goes. I'm planning on getting the mash going while cooking dinner.

I wish my kids still napped. That would give me a couple hours in the afternoon to get everything ready.