How long do you mash and boil for?

[harvs]

Hi

I've done 8 all grain brews now - all for a 90 min mash and boil - and I'm very pleased with the results.

I enjoy the brew day/evening, but would like to cut some time out of the 6.5 hours if possible and am thinking about reducing the mash and boil times down to an hour instead of the hour and half I currently do.

I'm hoping this won't affect the end result too much (especially if I increase the grain and hops slightly to compensate).

Just wondered what everyone else is doing?
Cheers

[Aleman]

One of the easiest ways to reduce the time it takes is to put the HLT on a Timer with Temp Control . . . Set it to be at temp for when you want to start brewing. . . . . Clean up as you go along . . . I have managed a 4 1/2 hour brew day from start to pitching yeast . . .but that was exceptional .. . it's much more like 6 1/2 or 8 hours now

[harvs]

Thanks for the tip Aleman

I have a combi boiler, so I use water from the hot tap which really reduces the time to heat it up! (Heat setting on combi boiler turned up high too )

[harvs]

OK guys, you've convinced me. 90% go for 90 min mash & boil. No cutting corners. Thanks

[trucker5774]

I voted 60 mins on both ............I actually do whatever happens around other things I am doing at the same time. It is most commonly about 75 mins of each

[Wolfy]

How about an option that says "Depends on what you are brewing, the recipe and ingredients"?

Sometimes a shorter mash is better than a long one, it depends on the wort profile you are trying to achieve, and the ingredients.
Just like for some beer a 90min boil is useful, but for others it may actually have undesirable side-effects.

If you always brew the same (style) beer then I have no problems with generalizations, however one of the things I like about home-brew is that I'm not restricted to doing/brewing the same thing over and over again.

[Capped]

Mash - used to be 90mins religiously. Now it's as long as it takes me to get bored waiting or run out of other things to do.
Boil - that used to be 90mins too,now it's 75mins,with the protofloc chucked in at 60mins. This regime makes bugger-all difference to the long-standing 90/90,I've found.

[Rookie]

I've taken to going 45/45 on my lower grav brews with good results.

[raiderman]

Basically all 90min boiling does is gives full bitterness and I get acceptable results with a 60 min boil, adding late hops for flavour and aroma. Check out http://www.brewsupplies.com/hop_characteristics.htm

[boingy]

If you were only going to reduce one I would say reduce the boil time (and adjust the hop schedule to suit).
Give a mash perfect consistency and uniform temperature and the mash will be complete in well under an hour. However, I like to give it the full 90 mins as insurance against dry spots or places where the temperature is not quite right. In other words, just to make sure.

[harvs]

Thanks for the info guys

I think I'll stick with the 90 mins (mash & boil) for my standard brew day, especially for the bigger beers. But if I'm short on time for the smaller beers, won't worry too much about trimming it down a little.

It's been good to get an idea of what everyone else does. Thanks all for your input .