How long is too long a mash time?

[alwilson]

Afternoon Guys,

I've been a way for a bit, too busy doing the day job and arguing with her to get a day in the brewery. Sad times!

I was thinking about this the other day, the typcial procedure I've always followed is mash-sparge-boil with very little break between each step. Are there any bad effects to spreading these steps out a bit, say I could mash and sparge at 6am and fill the copper, but didnt get a chance to get the boil on for another 4-5 hours - would that be bad? Would something happen to the wort? (I know it will take longer to get on the boil as a result of 5 hours of cooling, but putting that aside)

Secondly, what If i were to mash for 4-5 hours? is that bad? Say dough in at 6am, and i dont get back to sparge it for another 5 hours?

Ultimately, my brew day could be potnetially split into early morning and early evening work with a big lull in the middle... is that going to be detrimental to the beer?

Cheers guys for the thoughts!

Alex

[mozza]

When I brew lagers and pale ales I quite often mash over night. The enzymes will convert more of the sugars given the extra time so you will get a much lower fg. But no. No problem splitting it up just be prepared to get a dry beer

[alwilson]

Ahh interesting! So if I wanted something more repeatable, I should mash-out and make up the copper first, then boil when im ready - rather than leaving it random amounts of time to mash?

[mozza]

If you are brewing something with body like a mild or a bitter the go for 60min mash and mash out/boil straight away to stop the conversion. But like I said mashing over night where the style of beer doesn't need much body is a real time saver.