first all grain today!! suggestions?

Alright, its time to do the first all grain ever for me today. Any suggestions for my first all grain recipe? I am looking for a more full bodied, higher ABV beer. Was thinking maybe doing some flavoring like a lemon or mint?

Ideas, advice, theories on life? Plan to get the supplies in a couple of hours!
Daum

My advice is to do something simple that tastes good. My Haus Pale is full flavored, nice body and is about 5 to 6 % abv depending on your efficiency. It's a proven recipe that is inexpensive as well. You will learn a lot just by doing the basics which will help you later as you brew more complex beers.

That's just my half liter. (much better than 2 cents)

As EdWort says above....

Keep it simple. To learn the range of how much more control/input you can have in the brewing process through all-grain brewing, pick a simple recipe that you know you will enjoy, e.g. a standard pale ale.

Do that several times, focusing on your process. Once you achieve consistency, or command of some variables, then get fancy: Belgian, imperial, or whatever.

That's recipe advice. Process-advice: watch your water temps, prepare more water than you think you'll need, pre-heat your MLT (if your using a cooler), have several requiem beers to enjoy (your last extract beers).

Good luck.

I agree with what everyone has said.
In addition, pre heat your tun if you are using a cooler type mash/lauter tun. The most common mistake first time AGrs make is to miss their mash temp. Usually too low. It is difficult to get the temp up once you miss it so it's important to do the following:

Add near boiling water to your tun and let it sit until ready to mash in. The cooler will absorb heat from the water and will better hold temperature during the mash. Dump this water before adding the strike water.

You can also over shoot your mash-in temperature by 3 or 4 degrees and let it cool to your desired strike before adding the grist. This will also pre heat the tun.

I actually do both of these steps and my mashes are always spot on and hold temp quite well.

did my first yesterday. Went with edwort's haus ale. Simple shopping list, great result so far. Your gonna be kicking yourself once you see how easy all grain is.

I dump near-boiling water in my cooler, wait ten minutes and adjust strike temperature. I figure being a little on the thin side is better than undershooting.

david_42 said:

I dump near-boiling water in my cooler, wait ten minutes and adjust strike temperature. I figure being a little on the thin side is better than undershooting.

Click to expand...

Definitely agreed

going pretty well so far, right now going from the MLT to the boiling pot....did have one victim, my hydrometer, was moving it out and it fell and broke, so no gravity reading for htis one....hope i'm somewhat efficient....more to come.
Daum

daum said:

going pretty well so far, right now going from the MLT to the boiling pot....did have one victim, my hydrometer, was moving it out and it fell and broke, so no gravity reading for htis one....hope i'm somewhat efficient....more to come.
Daum

Click to expand...

Welcome to the club, The Broken Hydrometer Club! Been there, done that.

What did you end up brewing?

Ended up doing the Haus Brew basically, except one pound more of the 2 row, and crystal 20 instead of 10. Didn't take enough liquid out of the MLT and only ended up with 5 gallons in the fermenter, not 5.5.

Looks and smelt good, just wish I knew if it was going to be stronger or what. Should be good though. Thanks for the help.

Daum

I'd bet it's going to be over 6% depending on the crush. Did you see a lot of whole grains?

Um possibly=p. Was crushed by the LHBS. Woke up this morning to the beautiful smell of it filling my entire room.
Daum