Been reading for quite awhile. Decided to skip extract and go right to AG. Built a MT out of a 10gal Rubbermaid cooler and a stainless braid. Decided to do a 2.5 gal batch as basically a throw away as I know there will be a lot of mistakes. I know 2.5 gals is too small a batch for the 10 gal MT. Bought hose clamps that were too big for the braid, so I duct taped it in. Despite all that, hit my mash temp of 153(märzen/Oktoberfest), and sparged without incident. Boil went fine, cooling took quite awhile in my sink. OG way way low, somehow I overshot the water by quite a bit. Added some DME to get post boil gravity up a bit. Pitched a vial of WL Oktoberfest yeast, didn't make a starter. All in all, I think it went well. When I get all the proper equipment, I'm confident I can get it right. I made my own recipe and grain bill and got from point A to point B, it's now fermenting at 55.