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OT gone keggin

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  • tjosborne
    tjosborne Posts: 529
    Soon you will go overboard and don't know how you ended up with this.
    middle of nowhere- G.I. NE
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  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200
    nolabrew said:
    Herky said:
    I brewed way more when my kids were little.  I could get the mash going then have an hour or so to play/ watch them.  Then another hour and a half for the boil, then clean up after they went to bed.   I'd be home all day and get a batch in.

    Would have worked even better if I had my current set up with the temp controlled mash back then. 

    now they need to be driven around and pick up multiple times a day so it's a lot harder to find time to brew. 
    Brew on my schedule.

    Start your mash the night before.  Set everything up so you're ready to sparge in the morning.  I set a timer on my sous vide so it heats the sparge water up at 5 am.  Then I get up around 6 and get the sparge going and go back to bed.  Then I wake up around 9 and start the boil. 

    It takes some prep work, but I'm usually done and cleaned up by noon and I barely spent any hand on time. 


    Can you explain that a little more? So you heat up your batch water, toss the grains in and stir, then just cover it and leave it till the next morning? Or do you remove the grains after an hour and then let it cool overnight? I've been reading about the process a little bit in order to break my brew sessions up so I can spend time with my kid.

    Another idea I've had is to do my mash and sparge while he naps (usually 3+ hours if I'm lucky. Then just cover it and do my boil and everything else after he goes to bed. Thoughts on that?

    Just started brewing again and I've got a Blonde Ale and a Red Ale fermenting away in my new fermentation chamber (one reason I got back into it, I hated not being able to control my fermenting temps and now I can) and a pale ale on deck to brew next when I can find the time. maybe this weekend.

    Someday, I'll step up to kegging, but bottling still works out ok for me. I'd really have to clean out the garage to fit a beer fridge in there somewhere.

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings

     

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  • bigalsworth
    bigalsworth Posts: 686
    @tjosborne I would have to be an alcoholic to get to that point, we rarely entertain anymore so that would have to all be drank by me.
    Large BGE
    BBQ Guru DigiQ II

    Martensville, Saskatchewan Canada
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  • The_Stache
    The_Stache Posts: 1,153
    tjosborne said:
    Soon you will go overboard and don't know how you ended up with this.
    Sweet setup!!!
    Kirkland, TN
    2 LBGE, 1 MM


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  • tjosborne
    tjosborne Posts: 529
    bigalsworth said:
    @tjosborne I would have to be an alcoholic to get to that point, we rarely entertain anymore so that would have to all be drank by me.
    Sad thing is I'm am the only one drinking it! But I hated bottling so I kept buying kegs. Only two kegs are really daily drinkers. All the rest are long term stuff that will age nice.
    middle of nowhere- G.I. NE
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  • bigalsworth
    bigalsworth Posts: 686
    tjosborne said:
    bigalsworth said:
    @tjosborne I would have to be an alcoholic to get to that point, we rarely entertain anymore so that would have to all be drank by me.
    Sad thing is I'm am the only one drinking it! But I hated bottling so I kept buying kegs. Only two kegs are really daily drinkers. All the rest are long term stuff that will age nice.
    I definitely get the kegging aspect.  I will have a 5g and 2.5g.  I will have to wait a while to get more if I find I need it, I spent way to much already.
    Large BGE
    BBQ Guru DigiQ II

    Martensville, Saskatchewan Canada
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  • bigalsworth
    bigalsworth Posts: 686
    So glorious, oh so glorious.  I have a new mini fridge the better half bought me for my birthday.  I will eventually turn it into a kegerator but don't want to spend the money on a draught tower yet.

    Large BGE
    BBQ Guru DigiQ II

    Martensville, Saskatchewan Canada
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  • gmac
    gmac Posts: 1,814
    Looking awesome. Keep us posted as you add a tower.
    Mt Elgin Ontario - just a Large.
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  • Space_City_Egger
    Space_City_Egger Posts: 61
    I'll claim those bud lights!
    Large

    Houston,TX
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  • nolabrew
    nolabrew Posts: 246
    FATC1TY said:
    Sounds good but I like more control over my process. 3 hour sparge and overnight mash is good for beers you want to attenuate fully and don't want to step mash or control the enzymes any better. 

    Tons of people do thr over night and indeed saves a boat load for the time crunched 

    Controlling your enzymes is a matter of temperature and pH, both of which I take care of before the long soak with water conditioning additions and step mashing.  I may end up getting a little bit more fermentable sugar from an 8 hour mash vs. a 1 hour mash, but not enough to make any appreciable difference in the final product.  It's really just a way to split up the brew day.  Also, I've recently stopped heating the water for my sparge and damned if I can tell the difference.
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  • nolabrew
    nolabrew Posts: 246
    Griffin said:
    Can you explain that a little more? So you heat up your batch water, toss the grains in and stir, then just cover it and leave it till the next morning? Or do you remove the grains after an hour and then let it cool overnight? I've been reading about the process a little bit in order to break my brew sessions up so I can spend time with my kid.

    Another idea I've had is to do my mash and sparge while he naps (usually 3+ hours if I'm lucky. Then just cover it and do my boil and everything else after he goes to bed. Thoughts on that?

    Just started brewing again and I've got a Blonde Ale and a Red Ale fermenting away in my new fermentation chamber (one reason I got back into it, I hated not being able to control my fermenting temps and now I can) and a pale ale on deck to brew next when I can find the time. maybe this weekend.

    Someday, I'll step up to kegging, but bottling still works out ok for me. I'd really have to clean out the garage to fit a beer fridge in there somewhere.


    Hey brother, I somehow missed this when you posted it.  Here's a breakdown of my mashing and sparging process:

    The night before
    Heat up my strike water and add any water additions.  I use a mixer that I made (it's basically just a drywall mud paddle and a windshield wiper motor) to start mashing in my kettle over low heat.  This allows me to do all of my steps in one place and by simply adjusting the flame instead of messing with calculations for adding more hot water.  When you hit your last step, just dump everything into your mash tun and you're done for the night.  If you just want to go with single infusion (which I prefer for some styles) then just heat your strike water up and dump it in your mash tun with your grains and call it a night.  Overnight the temperature will drop, but that doesn't matter, it will still be warm enough for sparging in the morning. 

    The next morning
    One thing that I like to do, but you may not depending on your schedule, is to wake up a couple of hours earlier than you normally get up and get your sparge going.  A slow sparge is a major key to high brewhouse efficiency, so I've spent a lot of time dialing mine in and I know I can do it in about 2.5 hours.  So if I want to be up around 9, I'll get up at 6 and get it going.  Then when I wake up all I have to do is start the boil.  I usually make breakfast while that's starting and once the boil is going I really start paying attention and sanitizing and cleaning. 

    This all becomes a lot easier after you've figured out how to best make it work for you.  For instance I keep all of the stuff I use for mashing/sparging in the kitchen because that's where I do it, and all of the boiling and fermenting stuff in the garage. 

    If you have any other questions I'll try to be more attentive this time. 
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