Two day brewing?

I would like to brew a batch during the week but with work do not have the time on an extract recipie to do it all at one time.  Question is will there be any problems in steeping the grains one night, letting them cool and then boiling the wort the next night?

Once I tried setting up the mash before bed to shorten the brew day.  I awoke to a foamy sour mash that was better suited for bourbon than for beer.

My advice: try it and learn for yourself why you should never do it again.

I was not planning on leaving the mash to set just the finished wort from the steeping of the special grains to be used in the Hefe I am planning on.  The next day I'll do the boil and add the liquid malt and hopps.

I don't advise that.  Letting chilled wort sit is asking for a case of the nasties.  remember, everything likes beer, including all the little critters that can ruin your batch.  You can try it, and you might get away with it but be very careful. 

On a side note, I have a friend that goes through his brew day but never pitches his yeast until the next morning.  However, I've watched him work, what he does is cools the wort as soon as possible, then he aerates the wort in his clean and sanitized glass carboy that he then puts in his cooler (with an airlock on).  I don't think he's ever had any issues but it does seem like he's risking it to me.

So I guess my answer is, maybe?  I don't think this is something that I would feel comfortable with but if you try it, I would suggest steeping the grains and then putting the wort into a clean, sanitized and covered container for the night. 

Thanks for the replies.  I am not worried about nasties because I am going to do an hour boil the next day.  That much heat for an hour will kill any little bugs that might happen to move in.  I think I'll just put what I steep in a sanitized container with a lid and leave it at room temp because I do not want to cool it to much and separate the proteins just yet.  I'll let the hot break and then cold break of the post boil cool down work that for me.  I am not storing the entire wort, just the 3.5 to 4 gallons from the steeping grains.  There will not be many sugars in that anyway.  The next day I'll add the rest of the Liquid malt, in this case a wheat malt and additional water to the boil.  I'll post how this works out for me in the interest of us who would like to brew more but have limited time in one day.

Isn't steeping the specialty grains only an extra "20 minute rest" en route to the boil? Maybe bribe some extra help or an assistant with some homebrew? Maybe I'm not following you or thinking correctly.

Definitely try it. To minimize risk I recommend to separate the "tea" from the grains and follow sanitation closely. As you said, you will boil it later anyway.

I did a search in another forum. It appears many folks have even mashed, sparged and collected wort the day before without any problems with souring. Some guys even left their mash sit overnight before first runnings and it did not sour. I still think lacto-souring can happen and is a risk. But apparently, not a big risk. Try it.

From an extract kit recipe I've made: "Pour crushed grain into supplied mesh bag and tie the open end in a knot. Steep for 20 minutes or until water reaches 170°F. Remove bag and discard."

That's how I did it many times. Worked fine.

You'll spend almost the same amount of time the next day heating the water up on the way to boiling don't you think?

zaklee said:

You'll spend almost the same amount of time the next day heating the water up on the way to boiling don't you think?

Click to expand...

Zaklee, Zaklee (hey, I made a pun )

In food service the area between 40 and 140 degrees F is referred to as the Danger Zone because bacteria thrive in those temperatures. In practice anything kept in that Zone is to be pitched after four hours.
Letting something like that cool overnight is a guaranteed way to put bacteria food in the Danger Zone for more than four hours.
Boiling something that is spoiled will sanitize it, but it won't fix the flavor.

Maine Homebrewer said:

Boiling something that is spoiled will sanitize it, but it won't fix the flavor.

Click to expand...

If you boil dog poop... it's not going to change the taste.

Even though other brewers who do this claim that they have no problems (HBT search). You could always raise to pasteurization temps and seal it up in a sanitized container (canning method) to boil later. That would eliminate the wort being exposed to the danger zone. Sorta like when they make LME.
  This is one of those questions I'll just have to try and see what happens to know for sure. If you love AG brewing and have limited free-time, it is worth finding out if it will work or not. For now, I need to find a job that will accommodate full brewdays. Priorities, priorities. ;D

My understanding is that you can do this.  You should get the temp as cold as you can to minimize bacterial infection and propagation.  Your main risk is developing off flavors from nasties partying in your wort and these carrying over into the final beer.  Some might vaporize or might not.

I would encourage you to wait until you can dedicate the time needed to make the beer and mitigate risks of making a bad beer.