Mash tonight, brew tomorrow?

[Tony B]

I was supposed to brew today, but life happened. Wondering if it’s ok to mash and leave unboiled wort in the kettle overnight and fire it up in the morning.

 

[pvpeacock]

I have mashed overnight without any issues, but I did not drain the mash tun and sparge until the following morning.

 

[G_robertus]

Overnight mashing is done more often. You'll probably get lower attenuation due to extended enzyme activity. If you've sparged already you can bring the temperature up to kill enzyme activity and pasteurise your wort. Keep it covered just in case.

 

[Tony B]

Overnight mashing is done more often. You'll probably get lower attenuation due to extended enzyme activity. If you've sparged already you can bring the temperature up to kill enzyme activity and pasteurise your wort. Keep it covered just in case.

I am doing BIAB no sparge, just squeezing the bag. Thinking I could get that step done tonight to save some time tomorrow. Would it be advisable to leave the bag in overnight? I was planning to mash at 151. Should I mash higher if I leave it overnight?

 

[Tony B]

I think I’m going to just get everything set up and run through the process tomorrow, but would like more info for future batches.

 

[G_robertus]

This is just one example of how it can be done. You can divide brew days into three or maybe even more days if you want. On very big beers I sometimes do three days. On day one I weigh my grains and salts. If my kettle were fixed in one place I might collect water as well at this time, but I have to drag it to and from storage so that's a no. On day two I collect and heat water and do my double mash and sparge. I bring the wort to 90°C for five minutes or so, put the lid on and walk away. On day three I boil and during the heating of the wort I weigh my hops. Sometimes I FWH on D2 as well. Depending on the length of the boil, ambient temperatures and the ridiculous heat capacity high OG wort has I sometimes pitch yeast on day 4.
You can adapt this to any beer though. Measure out grains, salts and water on day one; mash the whole of day two and boil on day three. You can continuously heat the mash or just get to the right temperature and let it drop naturally.

 

[wetmk]

I am doing BIAB no sparge ... Would it be advisable to leave the bag in overnight? I was planning to mash at 151. Should I mash higher if I leave it overnight?

I also BIAB, no sparge. I overnight mash regularly; never had a problem. No need to mash higher. I mash in a ten gallon stockpot that fits in my oven. After achieving my desired mash temp, I put it in the oven set to 155f. In the morning I drain the bag and start the boil. The mash always loses a handful of degrees overnight.

 

[AzOr]

I mash at night, drain, then set my Anvil at 140f.
Next morning I continue with my boil.
I’ve never noticed any downsides to this method. You will have to compensate for evaporation. Mine is usually a 1/4 gallon or so.
I brew this way more often than not. It allows more time with the family.

 

[Tony B]

I also BIAB, no sparge. I overnight mash regularly; never had a problem. No need to mash higher. I mash in a ten gallon stockpot that fits in my oven. After achieving my desired mash temp, I put it in the oven set to 155f. In the morning I drain the bag and start the boil. The mash always loses a handful of degrees overnight.

I started using a sous vide stick to maintain mash temp. Works reasonably well.

 

[Wuggly Ump]

I mash and sparge the night before boiling all the time. I just wrap the covered kettle of wort in blankets and a sleeping bag and it’s always over 140 F the next morning.

 

[hotbeer]

Any time you aren't going right into the boil, then IMO, you should at least heat to mash out temperature of 170°F (77°C).

I'd probably make certain the lid and whatever you are going to keep it in are as sanitary as possible. Just so things don't get started before their time. If you are keeping it in the boil kettle and mashing in something different, I might just boil some water in the boil kettle with the lid on to let the heat and steam thoroughly sanitize the insides.

But what are or were your options yesterday? Mash and throw it out. Or Mash and try to brew with it today or some future date. I'd opt for the latter.

If something goes awry with it later, let us know. If it turns out to be the best beer you ever made, let us know that too!

 

[Tony B]

Last night I just collected my mash water into the kettle. I went with 5.5 gallons for a 4.5 gallon batch with just over 10lbs of grain. That and getting some equipment out and my additives. Yeast nutrient, whirlflock and campden.
This morning I started heating to my strike temp of 154 as I was cooking breakfast for the family. It was up to temp before breakfast. I mashed in after we ate, Around 10:45am. Did my 60 min mash, holding around 151-152 degrees F. Pulled the bag and set it in a stock pot with a steaming basket. That worked well. I gently squeezed the bag into the steamer and cranked the heat on the kettle. I poured the squeezings into the kettle and had a volume of about 4.75 gallons. I needed about 5.5 preboil, so boiled the .75 in the stock pot and then poured it into the kettle. It took almost an hour to hit 212F.
I added my hops and other additions along the way and using a starter of OYL-071 ( Omega Lutra) dumped it into the FV at about 85F and pitched at about 1:40pm. I had brought the yeast up to temp as well in a warm water bath.
I started seeing airlock activity in just over 2 hours. And now at 5:45ish it’s going to town.
All in all, it went well.

 

[Tony B]

This morning before I left for work, the airlock was hammering away. Now that I’m home, just about 27 hours from pitching , it’s barely moving. I guess that yeast was hungry hungry.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I do this for my 10 gallon batches normally just to save time. I have not encountered any problems other than wort wicking along the straps of the bag. Otherwise, no problems at all. In fact, the wort doesn't cool nearly as much as you think it would leading to a quicker boil.

 

[beren]

I started using a sous vide stick to maintain mash temp. Works reasonably well.

Do you just stick it in and don’t worry about the sugars cooking onto the element?

 

[hotbeer]

The healthier your yeast and the more cells you pitch the faster everything goes. So yeah, you probably are close to FG.

 

[Tony B]

Do you just stick it in and don’t worry about the sugars cooking onto the element?

I actually use the false bottom from my mash tun as a barrier to keep it from sucking up the bag. I haven’t seen any sugars cooking onto the element. I’ve been mashing in the low 150’s. Works pretty well as long as you stir the mash regularly to equalize the temp. I was stirring every 10 minutes or so and it would fluctuate a couple degrees . I found the lightly used sous vide stick on OfferUp for $25. I think it retails for like $125.

 

[odie]

I mash for 10 hours all the time. I mash in in the morning and go to work. pull the bag when I get home. I have electric heat and recirculation. stays at 150' all day long. My conversion rate is basically 100%.

 

[WesBrew]

I almost always split my brew day now. Mill Mash Sparge Lauter into Kettle. turn off for the night, Proceed with boil transfer and cleaning in the morning.