Brew Tips #10: Beer Making = Time Management
If you're an experienced home brewer you're either A) not reading this, or B) saying "DUH!".
If you're new to home brewing, this may be less obvious. My first attempt at BIAB wasn't much different than my batch tonight in terms of process. But, where it did differ was in total time. 4.5 hours vs. 2-2.5 hours. Basically cut the time in half without omitting any steps.
So, what did I do differently? I sanitized the primary fermenter (and other things which would touch the cooled wort... while the wort was cooling. Last time I did this before starting. It can take 15-30 minutes depending on how much you're sanitizing. I generally sanitize any bottles emptied since my last round, the primary fermenter, hoses, racking canes, etc.... Keep in mind, most of this stuff just sits in Star San and is shaken off, the bulk of the time is actually just spent racking it out of a 5 gallon vessel. I could dump it quicker, but I like to get the auto-siphon all of the sanitizing possible (it can spend an awful lot of time touching your wort/beer and touches a large volume of it). It also kills enough time to sanitize roughly 30 plastic bottles.
On my last BIAB brew day this just resulted in a half hour tacked on at the beginning. This time around I did it during time I spent waiting last time.
Next was cooling. It's winter, so I assumed putting the brew kettle outdoors would cool it quickly. I was wrong. I spent over an hour last time just getting it down to a temp where I could give up and feel better about leaving it overnight. Using the tried and true bath tub chilling method I got it done in 15-20. Another half hour+ shaved off. (Note: Also only did a partial boil, so was that quick because I dumped in cold water at the end).
The remaining 1+ hour was a death by a million cuts. I spent more time cleaning because I hadn't used hop socks or balls during the boil leaving a VERY messy pot. This time around I bought 5 stainless steel hop balls. Basically just oversized tea eggs. I'll probably pick up more in the future. With these, there was almost no hops on the bottom, just hot and cold break matter.
I also spent more time steeping grains due to an inferior bag for straining (and a larger percentage of grains). Next time I do grains I'll be building a mash tun from a cooler or investing in a better straining device. Won't save time, but it is more of a set it and forget it type thing.
At the end of the day, you can shave a lot of time off of brew day by planning your time better. You can't get rid of all of the time. You still need whatever boil time your recipe calls for, plus the time to heat the water, plus steeping time if applicable and lastly cooling and pitching time. The good news is that there is generally enough "free time" in those steps to deal with other things.
If you're new to home brewing, this may be less obvious. My first attempt at BIAB wasn't much different than my batch tonight in terms of process. But, where it did differ was in total time. 4.5 hours vs. 2-2.5 hours. Basically cut the time in half without omitting any steps.
So, what did I do differently? I sanitized the primary fermenter (and other things which would touch the cooled wort... while the wort was cooling. Last time I did this before starting. It can take 15-30 minutes depending on how much you're sanitizing. I generally sanitize any bottles emptied since my last round, the primary fermenter, hoses, racking canes, etc.... Keep in mind, most of this stuff just sits in Star San and is shaken off, the bulk of the time is actually just spent racking it out of a 5 gallon vessel. I could dump it quicker, but I like to get the auto-siphon all of the sanitizing possible (it can spend an awful lot of time touching your wort/beer and touches a large volume of it). It also kills enough time to sanitize roughly 30 plastic bottles.
On my last BIAB brew day this just resulted in a half hour tacked on at the beginning. This time around I did it during time I spent waiting last time.
Next was cooling. It's winter, so I assumed putting the brew kettle outdoors would cool it quickly. I was wrong. I spent over an hour last time just getting it down to a temp where I could give up and feel better about leaving it overnight. Using the tried and true bath tub chilling method I got it done in 15-20. Another half hour+ shaved off. (Note: Also only did a partial boil, so was that quick because I dumped in cold water at the end).
The remaining 1+ hour was a death by a million cuts. I spent more time cleaning because I hadn't used hop socks or balls during the boil leaving a VERY messy pot. This time around I bought 5 stainless steel hop balls. Basically just oversized tea eggs. I'll probably pick up more in the future. With these, there was almost no hops on the bottom, just hot and cold break matter.
I also spent more time steeping grains due to an inferior bag for straining (and a larger percentage of grains). Next time I do grains I'll be building a mash tun from a cooler or investing in a better straining device. Won't save time, but it is more of a set it and forget it type thing.
At the end of the day, you can shave a lot of time off of brew day by planning your time better. You can't get rid of all of the time. You still need whatever boil time your recipe calls for, plus the time to heat the water, plus steeping time if applicable and lastly cooling and pitching time. The good news is that there is generally enough "free time" in those steps to deal with other things.
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