Over night mash..

[Clint]

Hello all
As per title...anyone do an over night mash?
I use an igloo cool box so would have to wrap it up but apart from saving a bit of time on brew day,is it worth it!
Cheers!

 

[MyQul]

I've done a few. When you say "is it worth it" what are you trying to achieve by doing an overnight mash?

 

[MyQul]

I do remember I got a bump in efficiency. I cant remember by how much though. Also if your really pressed for time it effectively cuts the mash time out because you're asleep

 

[Clint]

Cheers M. I'm working in my system efficiency of 70% so any increase is welcome but not critical. I'm thinking of the time really as I could sit here tonight and watch crap telly and have a few beers...but get the mash done at the same time. I
What temp loss could I expect? Would I just sparge as usual or add some hot water to start for a mash out?

 

[MyQul]

I just wrapped my pot in towels as usual. I lost quite a bit of heat. I mashed in right at the top mash temp 70C and it was (iirc) about 50C the next morning.


I just took up as normal the next morning as if I'd just done a one hour mash, so just did a sparge (I never do a mash out. May be I should start as I've read it increases efficiency)

Regarding efficiency I was getting poor efficiency recently but doughing in slowly, mashing thinner at 3L/kg instead of 2.5L/kg, and stirring the mash every 20 mins took care of it

 

[Drunkula]

You might want to mash at the high range as all the stuff I've read and heard on podcasts say it makes really attenuated boozes.

 

[MyQul]

You might want to mash at the high range as all the stuff I've read and heard on podcasts say it makes really attenuated boozes.

Mine didnt. But then I started it off at 70C. From what I've read (iirc), most of the conversion is done in the first 20-30 minutes the rest of the time it's just waiting for you to come back to it and not doing much other than slowly losing heat

 

[user 18729]

I used to do this with my old plastic mash tun. Worked really well

 

[Gerryjo]

I've done it a few times in my mash Tun but at full volume as its 52l and did notice about a 5% bump. Don't bother with a mash out just jug your wort back in a few times as it's heating in your pot..

 

[Gerryjo]

Hello all
As per title...anyone do an over night mash?
I use an igloo cool box so would have to wrap it up but apart from saving a bit of time on brew day,is it worth it!
Cheers!

Meant to say I've mine wrapped in a yoga mat then taped around it and overnight lost about 12° and on a brew day loose about 1°.An old sleeping bag or quilt would be good.

 

[trueblue]

I have only done it twice and both time I got a stuck mash, never happened any other brews. How relevant that is I don't know but put me off trying again.

 

[strange-steve]

I've done it a couple of times with high gravity beers, definitely helps with efficiency. I got 70% BHE with a 1.093 gravity beer last week.

 

[An Ankoù]

I do a lot of overnight mashes. Put a mash on before going to bed, get up and do the boil. It means you don't really have a brew day as such, you just fit the processes around the other stuff you're supposed to be doing.
Best arrangement:
Get up and make the mash (half an hour)
About 4 pm, strain, sparge and put the boil on. (half an hour and then sort out the hops while it's coming to the boil)
Beer comes to boil, turn the gas down and take the dog for a walk.
Put copper finings and late hops in, chill a bit and leave it to cool overnight. (half an hour)
Get up and pour the beer into fermenter and pitch yeast. (half an hour)
Get the dog to lick the kit clean as reward for taking the silly mutt for a walk.

 

[PhilBrew]

Hi Clint

I'm in the "I've done it and liked it " crowd too ... if you're think of giving it a go, it's really important to make sure your mash tun doesn't lose any (or too much) heat for the first hour or so ... see the info there ... Overnight Mashing - BrewBoard

The people who didn't do this, will be the people that Drunkula has read and heard commenting when he says ...

You might want to mash at the high range as all the stuff I've read and heard on podcasts say it makes really attenuated boozes.

... I found one of those thin plastic, silvered "space blankets" (wrapped around the tun, then with other blankets around that) made a BIG difference to how well my mash tun maintained temps

Cheers, PhilB

 

[Clint]

Cheers...I've not done it for today's brew but I am definitely considering it.

 

[Drunkula]

I'm going to give it a go, too, just for the lulz. Anything that's remotely like an experiment is a yes from me. I'm going to have to get some mid-size fermenters as doing 1 gal batches is a bit annoying when you''re basically doing a full brewday.

 

[pilgrimhudd]

I've done it a few times, left it in the klarstein overnight with the temp set, not sure if it's my imagination but the beer seems to have more 'body'. Haven't noticed any increase in efficiency though.

 

[lancon]

I used to do it all the time but due to change in work times too tired to do it in the evening. Sometimes I used to do the mash and most of the sparge, leaving the last runnings in the tun overnight. It meant that I could switch the boiler on first thing in the morning, emptying last runnings at same time. That seemed to knock the efficiency upwards.

 

[Clint]

As I'm a bit busy tomorrow I've decided to try the overnight mash...
Just treating the water (and myself to a few snifters!)..
Doing Dry Stout from the Bible....

 

[MyQul]

As I'm a bit busy tomorrow I've decided to try the overnight mash...
Just treating the water (and myself to a few snifters!)..
Doing Dry Stout from the Bible....

What mash temp are you aiming for?