Fitting in AG brewing around life

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I've been brewing for about 4 years now (mostly with kits), and last year dabbled with All Grain and was pleased with the results. I am in the process of gathering the necessary equipment to up that to 23L, but the only thing I am worried about is how to carve out time. I'm looking for tips on how to fit this around the rest of my life. I generally work from home now and that won't change. I usually finish at 4pm and do nursery pick up at 5pm, bath time at 5.30pm (for the baby, not me) which my wife can do and then she's in bed by 7pm, leaving the rest of the evening. When I do the small batch AG, it usually takes me about 5 hours, and I gather that upping batch size to 23L would not add a huge amount of time to that.
I'm thinking prep equipment/grain and start heating water at 4pm, get the mash on while the wife is bathing the baby, then while mashing I can help get her settled in bed, then the rest of the evening is free for sparging, boiling, cooling, pitching and clearing up etc. Does anyone do their brews like this? Am I deluded in thinking it would be a good idea? I could free a whole day of a weekend every now and then, but it would mean brewing less frequently.

I really do see the main benefit of doing kit brews...

 

[MickDundee]

I work full time, as does the wife, we have 2 kids 5 and 7. We have weekends pretty full between gym classes, dancing classes, seeing family etc.

Pre-COVID I used to brew on a Friday/Saturday night if my wife had a night out. I could put the mash on after tea and by the time kids were in bed it was sparge time etc.

Now I try to take advantage of working from home to get a brew on during the week (usually a Monday because I don’t do a lunchtime trip to the gym on a Monday). I also occasionally use a Sunday afternoon if we’ve got all our weekend plans out of the way and won’t be leaving the house again.

 

[Horners]

I've been brewing for about 4 years now (mostly with kits), and last year dabbled with All Grain and was pleased with the results. I am in the process of gathering the necessary equipment to up that to 23L, but the only thing I am worried about is how to carve out time. I'm looking for tips on how to fit this around the rest of my life. I generally work from home now and that won't change. I usually finish at 4pm and do nursery pick up at 5pm, bath time at 5.30pm (for the baby, not me) which my wife can do and then she's in bed by 7pm, leaving the rest of the evening. When I do the small batch AG, it usually takes me about 5 hours, and I gather that upping batch size to 23L would not add a huge amount of time to that.
I'm thinking prep equipment/grain and start heating water at 4pm, get the mash on while the wife is bathing the baby, then while mashing I can help get her settled in bed, then the rest of the evening is free for sparging, boiling, cooling, pitching and clearing up etc. Does anyone do their brews like this? Am I deluded in thinking it would be a good idea? I could free a whole day of a weekend every now and then, but it would mean brewing less frequently.

I really do see the main benefit of doing kit brews...

Can save a lot of time if you weigh everything out night before, treat water and anything else by way of prep. Then get your strike water on at 6am when you wake up and can be mashed in before everyone else is down for brekkie. You can always leave the clean up for after kids in bed which just leaves time to find for sparge and boil. Sparge can be eliminated by doing full volume mash . Boil can be done on company time if WFH.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I work full time, as does the wife, we have 2 kids 5 and 7. We have weekends pretty full between gym classes, dancing classes, seeing family etc.

Pre-COVID I used to brew on a Friday/Saturday night if my wife had a night out. I could put the mash on after tea and by the time kids were in bed it was sparge time etc.

Now I try to take advantage of working from home to get a brew on during the week (usually a Monday because I don’t do a lunchtime trip to the gym on a Monday). I also occasionally use a Sunday afternoon if we’ve got all our weekend plans out of the way and won’t be leaving the house again.

That sounds good! I did think about utilising lunch time too as I have an hour for lunch and could do the bits that require less intese hands-on throughout the work day.
It's good to hear it's achievable, thanks Mick

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Can save a lot of time if you weigh everything out night before, treat water and anything else by way of prep. Then get your strike water on at 6am when you wake up and can be mashed in before everyone else is down for brekkie. You can always leave the clean up for after kids in bed which just leaves time to find for sparge and boil. Sparge can be eliminated by doing full volume mash . Boil can be done on company time if WFH.

Good ideas there! Yes, I was thinking get the boild going and just be nearby with laptop, especially on days where the meeting schedule is lighter.
Thanks for the ideas there.

 

[An Ankoù]

Mash in before turning in That saves a couple of hours the following morning. Up early, sparge and boil. and start whatever means you have of cooling while you're having breakfast. Put into fermenter at lunchtime or in the evening if you're leaving it to cool naturally, and pitch. Job done.

 

[Gerryjo]

In stages as mentioned above but try for a happy medium and when prepping grains think of the next brew when you have them out if you buy bulk and that will shave time as bulk buying can save a few pennies as well

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Mash in before turning in That saves a couple of hours the following morning. Up early, sparge and boil. and start whatever means you have of cooling while you're having breakfast. Put into fermenter at lunchtime or in the evening if you're leaving it to cool naturally, and pitch. Job done.

Mashing overnight? I hadn't thought of that. Spreading the workload in this way sounds great!

In stages as mentioned above but try for a happy medium and when prepping grains think of the next brew when you have them out if you buy bulk and that will shave time as bulk buying can save a few pennies as well

I imagine I'll buy bulk when I get to 23L brews. Good plan.

 

[NormanHurst]

I tend to get up early on a Sunday. Prep water night before. Turn on the gas at 6.30 and normally done by 11.30am. Rest of the weekend free for family.

 

[phettebs]

I tend to do my brewing on Saturday or Sunday mornings. I can knock a 19L AG brew out in just under 4 hours. As others have said, it's about the prep work you do to be ready. I weigh out and crush my grain the night before. I have all the gear set up and ready to go in the morning. The other thing I try to do is continuously clean and put away gear when I'm done using it instead of waiting until the end. When I'm done mashing and the wort is heating up, I'm cleaning the MT and spoons/paddles etc. Once the wort is chilled and in the FV, I just have the kettle and a siphon/hose to clean and put away. I do 90 minute mashes and 60 minute boils. I could probably drop the 90 to 60 and still have full conversion but I also take the time during that 90 min mash to do things around the house like laundry, lawn mowing, dishes, etc.

 

[Redwulf]

Since I've had an all in one I've done a few brews during the working day. You only need to be hands on for 30 or 40 mins out of the 5 hours so it work quite well with my job especially on Fridays when its quiet due to our natural reluctance to make any system changes before the weekend.

 

[colm89]

No chill would probably shave another hour off. I’ve done a couple and they turned out great.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

I tend to get up early on a Sunday. Prep water night before. Turn on the gas at 6.30 and normally done by 11.30am. Rest of the weekend free for family.

It looks like the common theme is prep! That fits in well as generally after 7pm the evenings are mine to do as I wish.

I tend to do my brewing on Saturday or Sunday mornings. I can knock a 19L AG brew out in just under 4 hours. As others have said, it's about the prep work you do to be ready. I weigh out and crush my grain the night before. I have all the gear set up and ready to go in the morning. The other thing I try to do is continuously clean and put away gear when I'm done using it instead of waiting until the end. When I'm done mashing and the wort is heating up, I'm cleaning the MT and spoons/paddles etc. Once the wort is chilled and in the FV, I just have the kettle and a siphon/hose to clean and put away. I do 90 minute mashes and 60 minute boils. I could probably drop the 90 to 60 and still have full conversion but I also take the time during that 90 min mash to do things around the house like laundry, lawn mowing, dishes, etc.

I'll certainly try the clean up as I go along. I certainly think house chores and/or family activities while mashing is a good thing to try.

Since I've had an all in one I've done a few brews during the working day. You only need to be hands on for 30 or 40 mins out of the 5 hours so it work quite well with my job especially on Fridays when its quiet due to our natural reluctance to make any system changes before the weekend.

I was seriously thinking of going all-in-one. I can see the benefit (e.g pre-setting the water heating to come on early in the morning, for example). I think I would not get away with buying one

No chill would probably shave another hour off. I’ve done a couple and they turned out great.

Do you no-chill in the boiler or transfer it to one of the big plastic jerry can things?

 

[colm89]

I’ve used a hdpe Jerry can, they cost like 5 quid each, but a good friend has just left it in his kettle overnight and it worked well for him too. I’d be more inclined to try the latter now, as it means one less vessel to wash and store.

 

[An Ankoù]

Efficient use of time is sensible, but, more than once, I've had to stop myself and ask is this a hobby or am I making it into a chore? Let's go back to the thread title and change it to "Fitting in Life around AG Brewing"
That's going a bit far, perhaps (or perhaps not) but pleasure time should be sacrosanct no matter how little there may be of it.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I'm another advocate for overnight mashing, I don't want to spend 5 hours brewing on a weekend when with the family at home so mashing overnight takes out couple of hours, wake up early get boil on, can be done and cleaned up by 9-10am.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Efficient use of time is sensible, but, more than once, I've had to stop myself and ask is this a hobby or am I making it into a chore? Let's go back to the thread title and change it to "Fitting in Life around AG Brewing"
That's going a bit far, perhaps (or perhaps not) but pleasure time should be sacrosanct no matter how little there may be of it.

I was just thinking pretty much exactly that !
Mind you, has to be said it makes a huge difference now my kids have all finished school.
An early start was the only way I found to make more time when they were younger.

I brew more now doing all grain than when I did kits simply because I enjoy it more.
Shuffling about in my shed with music on, drink to hand, wind and rain howling outside !

 

[An Ankoù]

Shuffling about in my shed with music on, drink to hand, wind and rain howling outside !

That's my idea of perfection.

 

[cushyno]

Some great ideas being offered up here.

I have done a couple of WFH brews over the last year, one while attending a webinar that I could watch and listen to on my phone with earphones which allowed the occasional visit out to the garage to stir mash and check on boil. Fast cooled to 75 °C in a few minutes then let It sit in Kettle until after work. The other time was a lot more juggling and snatching moments to do brewing things between meetings and deadlines.

It did make me wonder why I bothered (apart from having the urge to brew on a sunny day when I was working), as one of my big enjoyments in brewing is to take my time over a brew day, doing everything gradually and controlled, to relax and enjoy it rather than rushing or being under pressure. It's time to be immersed in it rather than needing to juggle different "jobs". I don't want brewing to be a "job" that needs doing.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Efficient use of time is sensible, but, more than once, I've had to stop myself and ask is this a hobby or am I making it into a chore? Let's go back to the thread title and change it to "Fitting in Life around AG Brewing"
That's going a bit far, perhaps (or perhaps not) but pleasure time should be sacrosanct no matter how little there may be of it.

I get it, although I'm trying to approach it from a "How can I do something I want to do but can't make enough time for" kind of direction. I think I can certainly make time every now and then (e.g when wife and child go to mother-in-laws for the day) but that'll be maybe once every two or three months, and I want to brew more frequently than that.