Help! I have to split up the brewing process with 3 hours. What to do?

Hi all,
I have planned to brew my first Christmas beer this Saturday (brewing on Sunday is this time no option). Preparations are allready made (yeast starter, equipment etc.) Unfortunately I need to be a couple of ours away from home. With other words, I have to split up the brewing process. I see 2 options:
- a break after the final mash step (mashing out) and continuing after 3 hours with sparging
- a break after sparging and continuing after 3 hours with boiling

What would be the best option? Could there be a better option?

Please advice!!!!!!
Regards,
Slurk

If it's possible, I would take off during the mash rest. I've done it enough times before: Mash in, take off for a bit, come back and resume brewing. As long as your mash tun is insulated and will hold a reasonable temperature there's really nothing bad that can happen by extending your mash for that long. MUCH longer, yes, you can get into souring etc. but a three hour mash is fine.

I agree, I've mashed in and taken kids to school,  come back and mashed out. I dont see why you wouldn't be able to take a break after sparging. Just put a lid on boil keggle and light the flame when you get back.  Good luck.

The only tricky part is that a Christmas ale usually is mashed pretty hot (156-158 or so) in order to leave a very full-bodied wort.  If you leave the mash to sit for 3 hours, it could end up kinda thin. 

So, I'd lean towards continuing through mash-out...and, I'd probably overshoot the mashout temp by a few degrees.  Maybe target 175F or so.  That way you ensure that you fully denature the enzymes and "lock-in" your resulting body.  After that, there's no harm in leaving it to sit for a few hours.

You may even find that your extract efficiency is higher by a few points...as the sugars have more time to fully diffuse.

I would think that if you mash in and hit the upper 150s you're going to be good for the duration of the mash. My mash tun only loses a degree or two over the course of an hour and probably less if I were to wrap it in a heavy blanket. Mashing in high and leaving it for a few hours it shouldn't drop much below 150. Even if it does the bulk of conversion was done at higher temps so I would think you would still end up with a fairly reach wort.

The other option of breaking after lautering would be good two. You're pre-boil so there won't be much to worry about there. I've actually stepped out briefly mid-boil and it was fine. I was gone for maybe 20 minutes or so so shut down the stove and restarted when I came back. Didn't take much to get back to a boil.

In the restaurant world the "danger zone" is between 40 and 140 with a four hour limit, and 160 is a magic temp for killing the majority of bad guys.
Either way you'll have heated everything above 160 and not be leaving it over the limit.
So if spoilage was a concern, I wouldn't worry about it.

OK, thanks a lott guys. This calms me down.
Since I am targeting a medium bodied beer this time, I don't want to overdo the mashing too much. If I am short in time tomorrow I will follow Tom's advice and lock in the wort by mashing out at a slightly higher temperature than usual and take the break. If I have more time available I could follow my normal mashing scheme and sparge and take the break and wait for the boil as suggested by PCollins and GoodisBeer. In both cases I will leave the wort behind being heated over 160F and I am back within 3 hours to continue (Maine Homebrewer).
I will give you a short report.
Regards,
Slurk

OK, done the brew with a 2hrs break after sparging. Everything went well and all measurements matched the BS-profile! Have a nice brewing weekend.
Regards,
Slurk

After 4 hrs already fermentation and today heavy "Krausen".
Regards,
Slurk

I was told the best time to take care of other business is any time before the boil. I think all of us have experienced "wife-us interuptis". I've actually become pretty good at multi-tasking during various wait times ... including preparation of dinner.

Fully agree MikeinRH!
This time there was an urgent need for a multi-tasking brewer a couple of miles from home
Regards,
Slurk