Brewing is a process of many steps and sometimes it can take quite some time to finish. When you can’t finish everything from the first take, you must delay some steps for later but the question is how and at what consequences.
Although it’s possible to delay multiple steps in homebrewing, mashing, the rest of laundering and boiling are the most time-consuming, so it makes the most sense to delay boiling after mashing, but can you really do it?
You can delay boiling after mashing wort, but ideally no longer than for 24 hours because the longer you wait, the higher the risk for contamination and drop in quality of the wort. Cover the wort with a lid and store it in a cold, safe place with minimal air circulation to preserve it until boiling time.
Always mash out before the delay
If you plan to make the delay, no matter the brewing method you use, it’s important to mash out by increasing the temperature of the wort to 170°F (75°C) to stop any enzymatic activity, so you lock the profile after mashing. This will ensure that the desired efficiency and fermentable sugars remain constant just as you desired during mashing.
Second important thing is that higher temperatures effectively destroy possible contaminants that could be dropped into the kettle during previous steps. After all, the grains aren’t the cleanest and there might be certain pathogens that live on them that will only be destroyed in later stages when the temperature is raised.
Mashing temperature isn’t enough to successfully destroy possible contaminants but temperatures above 170°F will be sufficient as long as you keep the wort at such temperature for at least 10 minutes.
You can also mash out at higher temperatures which is also more beneficial for destroying microorganisms, but I believe that 170°F is the easy temperature to achieve and it’s quite effective. If you don’t let the wort sit for long and expose it to other pathogens and air, the odds are low that things will go wrong, but you definitely should hurry.
Can you freeze beer wort?
It’s important to preserve the wort by dropping the temperature, due to the fact that you didn’t boil the wort there still might be spores and other pathogens which could cause a mess if you keep it warm for even just 24 hours.
Freezing is the safest option to ensure no significant changes occur in the wort while it waits until it’s time for boiling.
However, simply dropping the temperature in a fridge close to the freezing point will greatly increase the viscosity of the wort and make it more resistant, so in my opinion it’s enough to get it really cold in the fridge for as long as you are boiling the next day.
If you plan to prolong the delay, then freezing is the smartest option as keeping the wort without good preservation from the cold for like a few days or a week would certainly come with unwanted consequences.
How else can you save time on a brew day?
Brew BIAB
If you are brewing in a bag you will likely save time because regular all-grain brewing involves more steps to complete lautering. With BIAB you only focus on mash, then you squeeze and sparge the bag by simply pouring water over the grains in the bag, squeeze one more time and it’s ready to be boiled!
You’ll be hitting excellent efficiency such as 80% just like with the regular all-grain brewing method but with fewer steps involved which will save you time. I’m a BIAB-only homebrewer and I finish the brew within 3 hours compared to the regular all-grain method which takes at least 4 hours and sometimes more.
Delay yeast pitching for the next day
If you are worried about the cooling process after boiling, you can delay the yeast pitching for later without consequences.
Cooling is a hard process, especially for 5-gallon+ batches, and most cooling methods including lots of ice, and cold water in a bathtub will still take hours before the temperature is safe for pitching.
This used to be my biggest nightmare when I started brewing at home because I’d finally complete the brewing and then I’d need to bother will cooling far into the night. Even if I’d started earlier in the day if my schedule allowed me, it would still be a struggle.
So, I knew that I either have to buy a chiller which was back in the day an expensive investment for me, or I should come up with something else.
So, I decided to pour the wort from the brewing kettle straight into a plastic fermenter (steel and plastic are good for this, glass could break), put an airlock on top, and let it cool in the basement.
The wort would cool overnight and in the morning I’d just have to pitch yeast and that’s it.
Due to the fact that the wort is chilled inside the fermenter and there was a seal and an airlock, nothing could get in and contaminate it while the heat could easily leave throughout the airlock.
Buy a chiller
If you opt for cooling straight after boiling, no other method works as effectively as a brewing chiller.
Chillers are a great solution to quickly dropping the temperature inside the wort because they cool the wort from within by circulating cold water through the steel coil.
It’s possible to cool the 5-gallon wort to 60°F (15.5°C) after boiling within 20 minutes. It’s crazily quick at its job and definitely a time saver.
If you can count on cooling the wort so fast on a brew day then you also know you can pitch the yeast in the same period of time and forget about it while it fermenters over the next week.
How long can you prolong the delay safely?
Finishing all steps on a brew day is ideal for homebrewing, but if you have to delay boiling it can certainly be done.
Just bear in mind that you should store the wort properly in a fridge, covered with a lid or aluminum foil to prevent anything from dropping in.
When preserved, you can bring your wort to the boil the next day or even make a longer delay to let’s say 48 hours but the longer you wait the higher the odds of a drop in the quality or contamination. Delaying brew for any longer than 2 days means you should freeze it because contamination can happen at any time.
I never delay my boiling since I discovered better and faster ways to brew and methods to cool the wort for yeast pitching.