New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association

Brewing => Technique => Topic started by: shazapple on November 12, 2015, 10:04:05 AM

Title: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: shazapple on November 12, 2015, 10:04:05 AM
http://brulosophy.com/2015/11/12/short-shoddy-my-1-hour-all-grain-brew-day/

Interesting. Currently my brew day is about 4-5 hours from start to finish. The small batch size probably helped to keep his time short. I wonder if the 'simpleness' of the beer was due to ingredients or mash/boil time.
Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: Two Wheeler on November 12, 2015, 11:17:49 AM
Love this guy's blog. I find the longest parts of my brew days are waiting for water to heat up. I do BIAB, so for a 5 gal batch I usually mash with 7.5 gal of water. It usually takes 45-60 minutes to get that volume up to strike temp on my Blichman burner. Then it takes another 30-40 minutes to hit boiling.

I've been doing 30 minute mashes lately to speed things up, and have noticed a drop of about 5 points. I don't mind that trade off. I've also shortened to a 45 minute boil before but that uses more hops which I have less stock of than malt.
Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: robcoombs on November 12, 2015, 01:22:18 PM

I've been doing 30 minute mashes lately to speed things up, and have noticed a drop of about 5 points. I don't mind that trade off. I've also shortened to a 45 minute boil before but that uses more hops which I have less stock of than malt.

I started using high AA hops for bittering. Mainly polaris (21%) for 60 minute additions. Using a hop like that would save you, at least a little.
Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: Roger on November 12, 2015, 07:21:52 PM

I've been doing 30 minute mashes lately to speed things up, and have noticed a drop of about 5 points. I don't mind that trade off. I've also shortened to a 45 minute boil before but that uses more hops which I have less stock of than malt.

I started using high AA hops for bittering. Mainly polaris (21%) for 60 minute additions. Using a hop like that would save you, at least a little.
I second the Polaris hops. I've been using them for almost every batch for bittering with great success. I'd like to do an all Polaris batch to get a good idea of it's full character.
As far as shortening my brew day I couldn't care less when I brew I put a full day aside to do it. I actually enjoy the whole process.
Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: blisster on November 13, 2015, 11:06:23 AM
Lately, brewing has become a multi day process for me.

Tweaking/finalizing my recipes (based on the ingredients on hand), measuring/milling grains and getting all the hardware ready is done the evening before.
Mashing, sparging, boiling is the day of, usually with several hours in between each step.
Any leftover cleanup and storing everything away usually goes to the following day.

I can only dream of having a 6 hour window to myself again to brew, lol
Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: robcoombs on November 13, 2015, 11:43:43 AM
Lately, brewing has become a multi day process for me.

Tweaking/finalizing my recipes (based on the ingredients on hand), measuring/milling grains and getting all the hardware ready is done the evening before.
Mashing, sparging, boiling is the day of, usually with several hours in between each step.
Any leftover cleanup and storing everything away usually goes to the following day.

I can only dream of having a 6 hour window to myself again to brew, lol
Same here! Sometimes I even have to mash one day and boil the next.
Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: shazapple on November 13, 2015, 02:10:17 PM
Same here! Sometimes I even have to mash one day and boil the next.

I'd be interested in hearing your process on this.
Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: robcoombs on November 13, 2015, 04:31:53 PM
Same here! Sometimes I even have to mash one day and boil the next.

I'd be interested in hearing your process on this.
It's quite easy. I mash, sparge and collect my wort as you normally would. Then I bring the wort up to 180F to ensure I kill off any potential bugs. I put the lid on and leave it until the next day. I return, boil, chill etc.

I don't always use this method but I have used it a number of times without any issues (yet). It helps on brew days where things come up with the family unexpectedly. It's not ideal but I'll always pick a split brew day over not brewing at all.

Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: shazapple on March 17, 2016, 07:36:10 PM
http://brulosophy.com/2016/03/17/short-shoddy-pt-2-a-5-gallon-batch-in-under-2-hours/

Another short experiment, this time with a more typical 5 gal batch. 2 hours isn't bad, although I think his burners might heat things up a bit faster than my CT special!
Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: robcoombs on March 17, 2016, 07:46:28 PM
http://brulosophy.com/2016/03/17/short-shoddy-pt-2-a-5-gallon-batch-in-under-2-hours/

Another short experiment, this time with a more typical 5 gal batch. 2 hours isn't bad, although I think his burners might heat things up a bit faster than my CT special!
I read this as well. Interesting, though it's unfortunate he said the flavor of the beer was lacking. Also, he didn't get anyone pick up on any dms with pils and a 15 minute boil.
Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: shazapple on March 18, 2016, 09:51:44 AM
I wonder if is wasn't a SMaSH if it would be a little less '1-dimensional'
Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: robcoombs on March 18, 2016, 10:44:17 AM
I wonder if is wasn't a SMaSH if it would be a little less '1-dimensional'
SMaSH beers don't tend to be one dimensional as a rule. Pils alone imparts a number of characteristics, as do different hops. You should try brewing one with a favourite hop, they're great especially for summer styles.
Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: shazapple on March 18, 2016, 01:45:21 PM
Yeah, it's definitely something I need to try out. I'm going to do a maris otter and centennial smash for the mashoccur  :D
Title: Re: Short n' Shoddy xBmt
Post by: shazapple on June 23, 2016, 12:28:01 PM
http://brulosophy.com/2016/06/23/short-shoddy-pt-3-homebrew-conned/

Another short n' shoddy: 20 minute mash, 30 minute boil, 20 degree lager fermentation.

I think the biggest help to shortening my brew day is the summer weather. I started brewing in late fall so in comparison my times to get up to temp have almost cut in half  ;D