Double brew days

[Mayor of Simpleton]

I am thinking of attempting a double brew day and am interested to get some tips on how to do this without it turning into a logistical nightmare.

I have a 3 vessel system and brew 23 L batches. I don't really have space to add more so I am going to have to use the same HLT, MT and kettle for each brew. I think I can fit 2 FV in my brew fridge.

My brew day currently consists of faffing about to adjust water profile depending on what I am brewing. I mash grains for 90 minutes and batch sparge. Boil is always 60 minutes with steep/whirlpool as necessary. I cool with immersion chiller, transfer to FV an pitch yeast. At the moment my brew day is probably about 8 hours from HLT on to yeast pitch.

Any helpful experiences gratefully received

 

[TheOsprey]

Can you set out your day in more detail to account for the 8 hours?

I have an all in one system, but my brew day is about 5 hours and I'm working on getting it down to 4:

- Prep strike water the night before.
- put elements on before breakfast
- mash for an hour
- sparge 20 mins
- boil an hour (plus heating time)
- chill
- bucket
- clean the damn thing

I reckon if I can sort out my ingredients and kit more effectively the night before I can start at 8 and be finished by 12.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Please find my spreadsheet for a double brew day. Doesn't include cleaning but let me know what you think

 

[Mayor of Simpleton]

Thanks @ The Osprey. So my brewday generally goes like this. First get through family breakfast etc so that I have free run of the kitchen

Time 0-2 hours
Clean HLT and MT and associated items needed to start mash
Set up propane burner on patio
Fill HLT and start heating
Add campden tab and adjust water chemistry for style
Weigh out grains

Time 2-2.25 hours
Mash in and check pH.

Time 2.25-3.75 hours
Mash
Heat sparge water
Clean Kettle/pump/whirlpool etc

Time 3.75-5.75 hours
Batch sparge (takes me 45 mins to 1 hour)
Bring wort to boil
Clean immersion chiller

Time 5.75-6.75 hours
Boil
Weigh and add boil addition hops as per recipe
After 30 mins boil drop in immersion chiller
Ater 45 minutes boil add protofloc
Clean and sanitise FV
Drink a beer

Time 6.75-7.75 hours
Cool to pitching temp
Make any flameout/steep/whirlpool hop additions during cool as appropriate
Transfer cooled wort to FV.
Pitch yeast and transfer FV to brew fridge

7.75-8 hours
Clean up
Drink a beer

 

[Mayor of Simpleton]

Please find my spreadsheet for a double brew day. Doesn't include cleaning but let me know what you think

If I read this right, you are generally kicking off your second brew as soon as you transfer wort for brew 1 to the kettle. The overlap period is from downstream of that point in brew 1 and upstream of starting the boil in brew 2. How chaotic is that period? Have you done all the necessary cleaning in advance?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

If I read this right, you are generally kicking off your second brew as soon as you transfer wort for brew 1 to the kettle. The overlap period is from downstream of that point in brew 1 and upstream of starting the boil in brew 2. How chaotic is that period? Have you done all the necessary cleaning in advance?

Never tried it yet but it was a first stab at it. I think you need to add 15 mins to empty and clean mash tun and a bit less for boiler. But you are not doing the brews in series. If I has MS Project I could plan it better. I will be brewing tomorrow so will test the batch 1 times.

 

[Clint]

I think you'd be more efficient with an all in one programmable electric system. I use three vessel and would have to put 8+ hours aside to attempt a double brew day probably.
With a grainfather I think you can preset it to heat your water before you get up,your sparge would heat quickly in an electric kettle...maybe that could be preset without bother.
Get another and you've cracked it...

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I've got two Burco's and two mash tun so could do a double brew that way, but I'm a retired production/factory/project manager who wants the challenge.

 

[Mayor of Simpleton]

I think you'd be more efficient with an all in one programmable electric system. I use three vessel and would have to put 8+ hours aside to attempt a double brew day probably.
With a grainfather I think you can preset it to heat your water before you get up,your sparge would heat quickly in an electric kettle...maybe that could be preset without bother.
Get another and you've cracked it...

I dare say you are probably right but space is at a premium so I need to see what I can do with my 3 vessel set up. Plus more shiny brew stuff/less money in the bank would get noticed

 

[Clint]

Hmmm...how about gyle (?) Brewing...I think it's when you get two brews from the same mash...the second being lower abv...you'll have to look it up..

 

[MZonard]

We are two mates who double brew with a Grainfather. We had two 90 min boils last Friday. I prep'd water for #1 the night before, up at 7am to get GF and Burco going, mash #1 start 7.45, sparge and boil over by 11.30 by which time my buddy has arrived (!) to cool wort using copper circuit into FV1, wash GF while Burco heats mash water, (lunch 30 mins courtesy of SWMBOs) then transfer hot water to clean GF and refill Burco, mash, sparge and boil over by 5pm, cool and into FV2. Cleanup all done by 6.30. A long day but 40 litres now happily bubbling away. And a good time had by all...

 

[Clint]

With your mate being part time I hope this reflects in beer supped.

 

[MZonard]

He's a plumber and makes stuff so the system is efficient. We even have a tilting frame for the GF so we squeeze out the max from the boil. In fairness you only need one person during the first 3 hours.

 

[Gerryjo]

I've done a few and generally adds about 1.5 hrs to the brew day as your second grains are weighed out while mashing and strike water is also heating for the second as well.
Increase your strike temp for your 2nd as you can transfer it to a fermenter to free up the boiler or transfer wort from first to fermenter allowing you to empty and a quick rinse with a kettle maintaining heat.
I've done this using a mashtun but full volume mash and no sparge as sparging will add time up to 2 hrs if you do it twice.
Also when your boil has finished transfer straight to the fermenter as this will also keep it sanitised and chill overnight.
There are a few things that can be done but you need two vessels as if its only an all in one you will certainly put the hours in.

 

[JockyBrewer]

I used to do it, and if you have nothing else to do with your day it's a very efficient use of time.

I was able to keep the extra time down to about 1.5 hours because my kettle and HLT are identical vessels, and so I could use the HLT as a second kettle. As soon as beer #1 was in the kettle, I'd tip the spent grain out of the MT and be ready to go with the mash for beer #2.

Beer #2 would either be no sparge (with runnings going back into the HLT), or with a single batch sparge (using a bucket to hold first runnings).

Without having a second kettle you're going to be a bit more limited as you have to chill and lauter before you can get brew #2 on the heat. I'd use bagged hops and think about no-chilling if you want to save time.

 

[Wynne]

I use a 3-vessel, gravity system with tea urns for HLT and kettle with an insulated, infusion mash tun and one pump, operating as follows:
1. Prepare ingredients and brewing water the day before
2. Heat strike water for Brew-1 in the kettle on a time-switch.
3. Mash-in Brew-1 then heat the HLT to sparge temperature.
4. Sparge Brew-1, leaving enough water in the HLT to mash-in Brew-2.
5. When Brew-1 is in the kettle,, empty and rinse the mash tun and mash-in Brew-2.
6. After boil, cool Brew-1 during transfer to Fermenter and refill the HLT with hot water from counter-flow chiller.
7. Use recovered water in HLT to sparge Brew-2.
8. Boil Brew-2, cool/transfer to fermenter.
Excluding clean-up, Brew-1 is completed after about 5 hours from mash-in, Brew-2, 7 hours and successive brews could follow at 2 hour intervals.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I tested my spreadsheet yesterday on a single brew and it took 4hrs 45mins, extrapolating the second brew a further two hours, so 6hrs 45mins for both very close to Wynne's numbers.

 

[Mayor of Simpleton]

Thanks for the replies. Certainly a lot of food for thought; in particular the chill of boiled wort in the FV overnight. I think the first thing I need to do is to use Cheshire Cats spreadsheet approach to get a more accurate sense of my timings on a standard brew day. I am also going to try to do as much as possible the night before and see what impact that has. I expect that to free up a lot of time during my brew day to shoehorn in a 2nd brew.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Another idea for a double brew day is splitting a full volume mash and boil into two half batches for fermentation I.e. 23 litres split into two 11 litres batches. So single mash , single boil with or without hops and then add hop tea or dry hop each smaller batch. Same yeast or different, additions like mango or grapefruit added a few days into fermentation. Of course you'll need two FV's.

 

[Wynne]

@cheshirecat’s approach works well for trial brews to identify the effects of different variables. I use high alpha acid bittering hops in the boil (Magnum or Apollo) then a either different flame-out addition or a different yeast for each smaller batch. With Wilko’s drink dispensers (7L volume) or similar as fermenters, you can get 4 smaller batches out of a single 25L boil.