Lazy Brewing

[Nicholas Jones]

We all get lazy, lately even finding the time has been a real battle, however I have used a technique last few brews to compensate for some laziness, with no adverse effects. I get pretty sick of standing around waiting for my wort to chill at the end of brewday, kids and wife are generally over my indulgent day in the brewery so I kind of give up at about the 35 deg mark (the last 15 deg takes sometimes another half hour) and transfer to fermenter, pitch the next day. This may be a function of my ridiculously heavy pot holding too much heat so this possibly isnt a problem for others. However, to satisfy any paranoia I might have about an infection taking hold I just pitch in a little bit of yeast (like 10% of total) so Im satisfied that at least the dominant organism will be the one I intended to have in there. Love to hear peoples thoughts. And any other lazy techniques if you have them!

[Nicholas Jones]

Some good hacks there. Mark (Tilt) it doesnt surprise me you have tackled hacking your brewday in such a scientific way, some great tips there. Never tried 'cubing' myself but seems like the consensus is very much for in most cases/beer styles. I too crank the element the second I get wort coming up over it, and have also tried a 15 minute mash and fast sparge, getting down well under a 4 hour brewday, however probably lost around 15-20% efficiency in the process (ive got a pretty decent false bottom too). I gave up on monitoring mash PH as I was never comfortable the meter was giving the right result, but maybe should give it a bit more attention. Have also done the mash/sparge and boil the next day as well. And one particularly difficult day with the kids I just turned the kettle off and threw tinfoil over it until the next day for transfer/pitching. Again, no issues. Great stuff! Keep the hacks coming!