Has anyone ever tried delaying the time between wort collection after a mash and the actual boil? If so, what are the issues you’ve run into?
I’m trying to economize the length of time on my brew days and am thinking of splitting the mash/wort collection and actual wort boil between two days; i.e. do my mash/wort collection at night, then let the wort sit in a covered brew pot and start the boil the next morning.
Anyone have any luck with this before? How has this affected your beers?
I have done that many times without problem. Split the brew into two days, Just sanitized the lid and seal and refrigerated. Obviously, you do run an increased risk of infection.
You didn’t notice any tartness from the lactobacillus on the grains that survive the mash? The people I’ve spoken to who tried it thought it was noticeable.
I haven’t personally done this but I know some brewers that do without any adverse effects to the finished beer. This is assuming a two day process window.
Admittedly, my buddies and I are the three stooges of brewing. The last time we got together and brewed we had the first batch go well (extract pils, set-up to clean in 2.5 hours), thought we were going to have a smooth brew day, when things started to go wrong.
A six (6!) hour mash (still didn’t completely convert), a leaky propane connection, two broken thermometers (one in a finished, cool kettle of wort), set the dog on fire - twice, an immersion chiller that wouldn’t cooperate, dramatically dropping temperatures, and an overnight pause before getting the last boil in, and we finally got the remaining three batches complete.
That last bit about the overnight pause - that gives me a side-by-side comparison as I did two of the same batches that day, completing the first, but with all the other ^%&% happening, it got dark and cold, and I had a house full of people to entertain, so I delayed the boil of the second batch after completing the sparge. I just put Saran wrap over the keggle and moved it inside.
I’ll be bottling this weekend, so I’ll taste both and give you an update.
If you are going to wait between mashing the wort and boiling it, be sure to do an effective mashout to stop the conversion process. Personally it’s not something I would want to do.
You should be fine for at least 24 hours. I’ve done a few pre-boil wort stability tests, and haven’t observed any growth or gravity drop on the second or third day. Like brewsumore said, though, without an effective mashout (>15 min at >75°C) you’ll change the fermentability profile of the wort.
I’m sure you meant (>15 min at >75°F) Thanks for the clarification I omitted. I generally skip a mashout since I go straight to the kettle. And it’s interesting that the wort stays stable for a day - good to fall back on in the event of the unforeseen on brew day!
: doh! Sorry, my head is clogged with a bad cold today - well that’s my excuse anyway. I was actually thinking that, conversion isn’t stopped dead in its tracks until +170F, but IIRC, it’s above that temp you start to get too much tannin extraction??
Tannin extraction depends on both temperature and pH. That is, even if you let the temp get too high, tannin extraction won’t be a problem unless the pH is also too high (>6.something, I can’t remember exactly). Most all the time, your mash pH is less than that so accidentally going too hot isn’t a huge concern.
It is pH above 6 you extract excessive phenols and tannins from the mash (Palmer pg. 159).
So I’m thinking that if you are planning to leave your mash runoff for 24 hrs before boiling, maybe you would want to take it to =/+170F, which would prevent further extraction during the following sparge, but would definitely shut off the conversion process. ???
I see, so if you are interested in killing off conversion processes, collect combined mash and sparge runoffs, and heat that to 170F prior to cooling, to protect your fermentability profile.
