Using my time more effectively...

[Manngold]

Hi all,

For the past 15 months I have struggled to brew due to the arrival of a new family member and an increase in my work load from my employer. Because of all this brewing has become less of a priority in comparison to my other hobbies (marathon running and video games - sacrilege, I know).

So with that in mind I am thinking of ways to cut back on the amount of time a brew day takes, so that I can fully utilise my spare time. Do the following seem ok (sorry if these are recycled questions in anyway).

1. Can I fill my kettle the night before with water, leave it for 24 hours, and then have a timer turn it on when I am on my way home?
2. I have recently installed a new combi boiler, can I fill up directly from the hot water tap to help with reduction of time, is it ok to use this water.

Thanks

Manngold

[shepp]

I would ditch the 'life eater' video games.

[Aaron]

Use a timer on your kettle. Works for me. Also, batch sparging is much quicker and less of a faff.

[alexlark]

And yes you can use the combi. Turn the water temp to max and run the tap a bit slower. Put the water temp back as it was afterwards.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

I fill the kettle the night before, and put it on a timer plug. 90 mins to get it to strike temp. Grain pre weighed and ready to mash in

[f00b4r]

Filling the kettle the night before also lets you do any water treatment then, if you need to, without adding to the time on brew day. Any prep like that (another being putting the grains out) helps a lot I find, either by cutting down brew day length or enabling you to get on with other things during the mash etc.

[Manngold]

Brilliant, thanks guys. For the record, is filling from the outside tap an issue?

thanks

[jaroporter]

since i went BIAB/nochill i've got so much time kicking my heels on brewday i've thought about digging out the PS2..

[Jambo]

Brilliant, thanks guys. For the record, is filling from the outside tap an issue?

thanks

Not unless it's fed from your septic tank or something!

[Fil]

you can get foodsafe blue hose for drinking water (brewing water) from caravan suppliers on ebay

all good solutions just ensure any timers or automatic switches you use are rated to switch on and off the load your heating elements and controller will draw, most segment timers are rated 10a or less.. a cheap(er) diy timer solution is an ebay central heating/water tank segment timer

[aamcle]

one more, try "no chill" into a container it saves time on the hot side day and you can get the fermentation going later when it's convenient.

No Chill - http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/06/06 ... ue-tested/

#ATB. aamcle

[Jocky]

Here's my tips:

1. Get everything you can prepped the night before. Grains weighed and crushed, water treatment measured etc, equipment all laid out in the right place.
2. Either fill from the boiler (as long as it's a combi, tank based systems aren't safe as far as I know) or as you have thought, set it up on a timer.
3. No sparge. Or do a single batch sparge. Basically you can mash with your full volume of water if you have a big enough tun. You'll just need a little more grain to cope with the efficiency loss.
4. 30 minute boil. Yes 60 minute is ideal, but once you have a rolling boil 30 minutes should be fine as long as it's open.
5. A time to lean is a time to clean. If the boil is on you should be cleaning your mash tun out.
6. Get a good chiller. If you have a decent immersion chiller and you stand over the pot jiggling it up and down you'll get down to temperature rapidly (10 minutes or less).
7. Get decent cleaning chemicals. I love PBW. It's expensive but I don't need a lot and it just does the job so well.
8. Keep some old tea towels for drying. It'll help dry your equipment so you can put it away faster.

[Dennis King]

Have you thought about overnight mashing?

[cerbera84]

Have you thought about overnight mashing?

or even mashing and sparging on an evening and boiling in a morning? splits up a brew day nicely, i haven't used the immersion chiller on the last few brews either, just drained into the fermenter and pitched the yeast when the temps are suitable. i'm in the same boat, with a 2 year old toddler- he loves putting the hops in.

[Rookie]

Hi all,
I have recently installed a new combi boiler, can I fill up directly from the hot water tap to help with reduction of time, is it ok to use this water.
Thanks Manngold

Will you be filtering this water? Is it chlorinated?
Same questions about the water from the outside tap.