LEAN Brewing
06/10/2024
By Sergio Bencivenga
LEAN manufacturing and how it helped reignite my passion for brewing.
As with most homebrewers, I began my homebrew journey with an extract kit. Little did I realize just how simple and straight forward that process was. I could typically wrap up an extract brew day in about 4 hours, including clean up.
Fast forward a couple of years and I began to dabble in all grain brewing. I started with the typical 3 vessel batch sparge system. My brew days stretched to just over 6 hours - no problem. It required a few more steps and a bit more equipment but also allowed me to get more involved with my brew. Somewhere along the way I got lost in both process and excess equipment. Like many of us, I somehow thought more was better. More equipment, more gadgets, more steps. This MUST make for a better homebrew, right? One day, I began my brew session at 9am. Before I knew it 9 hours had passed and I still wasn’t done! Sure, my actual brew was finally complete and in the fermenter, but I was still left with all of the cleanup. What the heck happened?
Furthermore, my brew days were leaving me exhausted. Something had to change. With two little ones at home, there was no way I could continue devoting an entire weekend to one brew session.
Around 2013, I was introduced to LEAN manufacturing while visiting one of our vendors through work. In its simplest form, LEAN looks to reduce wasted movement and excess processes in an effort to maximize production and ultimately, productivity. You strip a process down to its most basic parts and question everything. You then begin to rebuild it with only the processes and equipment that actually matter.
About a year later, our company began our own LEAN journey and now 10 years later the results continue to amaze us. Better ergonomics, faster turnaround times, and less time wasted in general are just a few of the many benefits that we have realized. The best part - it’s not rocket science! You just have to be open to questioning your process and instituting change where necessary.
Over the next couple of years as I continued to grow comfortable with LEAN, I began to ask myself: If LEAN could change the way we do business, what could it do for my own brewing process?
That simple question sent me on a LEAN journey of my own.
Here is a little snapshot of what my brew day was BEFORE I began to LEAN it out (around 2017):
With storage at a premium, all of my equipment had to be transported from my basement to my garage. I spent countless trips going up and down the stairs! Time to transport everything to the garage: 45 minutes
My brew system was a 3-vessel setup with a multi piece structure. It was basically one of those wire shelves that I converted in such a way that multiple tiers would help with gravity feed. This structure had to be assembled and dismantled for EVERY brew session (again, storage is limited). Time to assemble and disassemble structure: 1.5 hours.
OK, now it’s time to start putting all my equipment in place. I had 4 thermometers, 2 hydrometers, a mash paddle, 2 stirring spoons, an extra pot, miscellaneous hooks for hanging, portable water filter, all of my actual brewing equipment (boil kettle, cooler/mash tun, sparge kettle), water hose, hose for chilling, etc. I think you get where I’m going. Time to get all equipment in place so I can actually begin my brew day: 1.25 hours.
So far we are 3.50 hours into my brew day and it’s finally time to start collecting some brewing water!
As I mentioned earlier, I batch sparged and primarily brewed 5 gallon batches. Soup to nuts, this process took me about 4.5 hours broken up as follows (yes, I actually timed everything):
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Collect strike water: 7 minutes
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Warm up strike water: 45 minutes (I grind grain during this time)
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Mash in: 10 minutes
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Mashing time: 60 minutes
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Drain wort into kettle: 5 minutes
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Add sparge water: 3 minutes
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Let rest: 10 minutes
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Drain into kettle: 5 minutes
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Time to boil: 45 minutes
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Actual boil: 60 minutes
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Time to chill: 20 minutes
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Drain to fermenter, pitch yeast, and seal: 5 minutes
Total brew time in an ideal world: 4.55 hours.
This brought my total brew day to just over 8 hours. BUT If I missed my initial preboil gravity, I would sometimes add another sparge step which easily added another hour (between heating water, resting, and draining).
Did I mention I still needed to clean up and put all my equipment away? This was easily an additional 2 hours!
Once I put all these processes and times to paper, I immediately began to see opportunities. Do I really need this brewing structure? And all this equipment? What about my process? Is batch sparging the only way? What about my garage? All my equipment is in my basement, could it live in my garage? Even so, my fermentation and cleaning takes place in my basement so I would still be traveling up and down those stairs. There had to be another way.
So I took a hiatus from brewing to try and get some of these, and other, questions answered.
Around 2018 I stumbled across BIAB (Brew in a Bag), a process requiring not much more than a pot and bag. I was definitely intrigued, so I purchased a brew bag and brewed up a 2.5 gallon test batch, keeping. it super simple and only using the equipment that was necessary for this brew day. I was still using a propane burner but left the majority of my equipment in the basement. I only returned to the basement to retrieve something if I deemed it absolutely necessary. Not only was this process easy but the resulting beer was outstanding. I also discovered 2.5 gallon batches were much more my speed as they resulted in quicker emptied kegs and a reason to brew more frequently. Win-Win!
The journey picked up speed from there. I began piecing together my new brew process and answering so many questions at warp speed.
After much research, I decided an electric AIO (all-in-one) system would be a perfect fit for my new BIAB process. The biggest benefit was that I could move my brew day inside and down to my basement alongside my sink and kegerator. In addition, I could also eliminate the sparge kettle, mash tun, and all the miscellaneous equipment that went along with those items. ALSO! No more lugging ANYTHING up and down stairs!
Midway through 2018, with my new electric AIO in hand, I had my new brew space set up. It was a bit crude to begin with. Here it is:
You can see it’s a pretty dark area and I was just using whatever portable workbench I had at the time. There was also drywall right behind my setup. My biggest issue with that was splashing wort and water was ending up on that drywall, which then lead to staining and/or water damage. There’s also no vent – which for me was a big problem – there was condensation everywhere!
An important part of LEAN is “continuous improvement”. Meaning, you always look for ways to continue to improve and organize your process. The above setup worked ok for a number of months. But little light, plain drywall, and the lack of venting were reoccurring issues for me.
So in 2019, rather than settle, I decided it was time to tackle those issues head on.
The result?
More light, a tiled wall (with leftover floor tile), and most importantly – a vent which led to the outside! You’ll also notice a new Anvil Foundry. 😊 This was a last minute add as my original unit was a little too small for some 2.5 gallon all grain batches.
I was clearly moving in the right direction.
While this setup worked well for a number of years, I eventually decided the area needed another tweak. My biggest complaint: I had very little storage and almost no work surface. So in 2023 I ditched the portable workbench and invested in a stainless steel table! OH…and even more light!
Check it out:
If you compare this to the very first picture, you can see how much more vibrant and organized my brew space is. The new table afforded me more work space AND storage. Plus, it’s easier to clean. I’m also utilizing the wall to hang hoses and other miscellaneous items and I have all of my equipment within a few short steps of my brew station.
Here is the entire brew area:
Again, my sink, kegerator, and brew station are all within a few short steps of each other, essentially eliminating all of the running around.
So how as this impacted my brew day? Most importantly – have I become more efficient?
You bet! Here’s a breakdown of my most recent brew day:
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Fill kettle with water: 5 minutes
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Warm up strike water: 40 minutes (grind grain during this process)
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Mash in: 5 minutes
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Mashing time: 60 minutes
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Lift, press, and drain mash: 10 minutes
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Time to boil: 30 minutes (clean mash equipment during this time)
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Actual boil: 60 minutes
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Time to chill: 10 minutes
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Drain to fermenter, pitch yeast, and seal: 5 minutes
Total brew time: 3.75 hours
Clean up time: 1 hour
TOTAL BREW DAY 4.75 hours from start to finish INCLUDING clean up!
If I take advantage of the Anvil Foundry delay timer to preheat my water before I’m even out of bed, I can get my brew day down to 4 hours! This means I can have breakfast, conduct a full-on brew day, and still have over half the day to spend with friends and family!
Also, because I now have a dedicated brew space, as I clean up from a brew session my equipment is returned to the same spot in preparation for my next brew session which means my cleanup and setup have now been combined! WIN-WIN-WIN!
You may have noticed I didn’t dive deep into the LEAN methodology or lay out all of its steps in detail. That’s because I don’t believe you need to be LEAN certified to simplify your own process. All of my changes began with the questions I mentioned above. Most importantly, these changes took place over a number of years. This isn’t a one and done process – it’s been, and continues to be, a journey. If something doesn’t work, reevaluate and try again. BUT DON’T GIVE UP! I love brewing, but it had become too cumbersome. Had I not taken a step back, it’s possible I may have walked away for good. Reevaluating my process, rebuilding it from scratch, and fitting it to my lifestyle has reignited my passion and will keep me brewing well into the future.
So if you’ve found yourself overwhelmed with the thought of a brew day it may be time for a reboot. While that may sound overwhelming at first, start out with a few simple questions and go from there.
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