Mash in the evening, boil in the morning.

[sweatysock]

Fitting a brew round a family is not so bad as I am getting better and less stressed. I also now have 2 elements in my HLT /boiler so that should speed things up. I had thought that I could mash and sparge in the evening, leaving the wort covered overnight and boiling in the morning. This would definitely speed the day up. Would there be anything wrong with this. I normally treat the water the evening before with 1/2 Campden and CRS. How long would i need to leave the Campden in before bringing the water up to strike temperature. Grateful for your thoughts fellow brewers.

[LM600]

I haven't mashed and sparged the night before, but, I have mashed the night before then sparged and boiled the next day without any detrimental effects.

[6470zzy]

You should look into the "nochill" method of brewing over at Aussiehomebrewer. Sounds like it might work a treat for you.

Cheers

[Goulders]

No chill just avoids cooling before pitching. overnight mash is popular but i have mashed and sparged the night before and boiled the next morning no probs. I have a buffalo boiler so just stuck the lid on overnight

[Eric]

How long would i need to leave the Campden in before bringing the water up to strike temperature. Grateful for your thoughts fellow brewers.

Seconds.

[dcq1974]

I have done this before with no problems but usually mash, sparge then heat the wort up to around 80 degrees C to stop any enzymic action.
Then boil as normal the next day.
All in all you use much more energy and the result is a longer overall brew session but it is split over two days so no worries.

[seymour]

I have done this before with no problems but usually mash, sparge then heat the wort up to around 80 degrees C to stop any enzymic action.
Then boil as normal the next day.
All in all you use much more energy and the result is a longer overall brew session but it is split over two days so no worries.

+1 even so, you'll likely get a much higher efficiency than you're used to, thus if you use a highly attenuative yeast strain, be prepared for a very dry, light-bodied final beer.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. I agree it's a convenient way to spread out the work-load and get all your money's worth from the grains.

[sweatysock]

Gentlemen, thanks for all the good advice. I will give it a whirl next brew day.

[Rick_UK]

I also have to fit brewing round a young family.

I have found the following schedule works for me:
6:30pm - Mash on
7:30pm - kids to bed
8:00pm - run off and sparge
8:30pm - boil
10:00pm - run off and leave to cool overnight
Next morning - aerate and pitch yeast

I've read of people just doing the mash and sparge then leaving the wort in the boiler on a timer to come on a couple of hours before getting up. Obviously this only works with electric boilers.

Rick

[Dunk]

I regularly mash and sparge one night and leave it until as long as the next night before boiling up. This way I can fit a brew in during the week and save the whole weekend for the family. No significant negative effects I can detect so far, my beers have been getting better and better.

I think the key is to get above 80deg to sanitise a bit and stop the enzymes. I fit the lid for a few minutes before turning off for the night to give it a blast of heat and kill some bugs.

[jmc]

I've done the overnight mash a few times and brews were fine although I'd choose brews where high attenuation was preferred for this.

When time was short and I wanted a brew with more body I've done the mash + sparge in the evening and boil next day.
I'd suggest you give wort a good stir before heating as particles do settle out over night. I once had problem with element cutting out due to being covered in bits that burnt on. Since stirring the problem has gone.

[ferry george]

I do over night mash regular as I work shifts, and no problems as yet.