A Day’s Work
All Grain brewing is fun, it’s rewarding, and it produces great beer. But, let’s face it, there is a lot to do
during a brewing session that can take up the better part of a precious Saturday afternoon.
Once you get a few sessions in, however, you will quickly see ways to maximize your efficiency and get that brew
day done more quickly so you can get that yeast working on your hard-earned beer. Below is a timeline of a fairly
typical brew day using the batch sparge method.
Save Some Time
The timeline above assumes you do everything (except make your yeast starter) during the brewday.
However, we can save some time by having a few things done ahead of time:
- Filter your water (or buy distilled water) the night before the brewday and have it all measured out into
Mash and Sparge volumes. Time Saved : 15 min (at least). - Mill your grain ahead of time – but as close to the brew day as possible for optimum freshness. Store in
airtight containers. Time Saved : 15 min. - If you are using a burner outside, preheat your sparge water on the stove inside or on the side burner of your
grill. Have it ready and put it in an insulated container (i.e., a sparge tank made of a cylindrical cooler).
Time Saved : 15 min.
Be Organized
The timeline presented assumes, of course, that all goes as planned and there is nothing forgotten and no mishaps.
Now, as anyone who has brewed knows, this is rarely the case.
A little organization and pre-planning goes a long way toward making your brewday as efficient as possible.
- Measure out your hop additions ahead of time, place in individual marked bags with the amount, type, and
time to add. Then, when you are ready, it’s as easy as dumping them in. - Make a checklist with each addition in order and its time. Include pH
stabilizer, hops, servomyces, wort chiller, etc. Have a pen and mark
out each addition as it is done.Include pre-made blanks for your various measurements on this sheet so you don’t forget to measure gravities,
volumes, etc.
