Brewday efficiency

Yesterday I spent the day brewing. Now since I brew all grain it means that brewing is an all day affair. Gone are the days of brewing a kit beer in an hour. When I first switched to all grain it took the expected 8 hours or so from start to finish. I have managed to slowly get my time down.

Yesterday was exceptional though. I decided to start brewing just after noon and had started my mash by about 1:30 in the afternoon. I downed tools just after 6 in the evening (18:06 to be exact). I know my times as I twittered everything I did. Twitter does not give me times but it updates facebook which does so I can tell what time I did each process. I am such a nerd!

So an all grain batch of beer in less than 6 hours, only 4 and a half hours from start of mash to the end of brew process when the fermenter is in the fermenting room (spare bedroom). I even had time during the boiling time to keg and bottle my previous beer (applewheat).

So for those people wo brew beer but are afraid to make the move to all grain for fear of not having a life, I say that once you get in to the swing of things you can actually get it down to a reasonable time. I did extract brews that took longer than yesterday.

I reckon I can get it down quicker if I had a second boiler and a sparge arm for my mash tun because at the moment I do batch sparging which takes time.

You do not even need a mash tun, you can use your boiler and insulate it. The low tech method can be found here but I think a mashtun makes things easier so is worth the extra modest investment.