Just finished my first AG in ten years. You folks are responsible for seducing me away from extract brewing. It went really well, though I had a struggle getting my mash-in water at the right temp. I forgot to account for the cooling effect of the cooler itself... Doh.
Anyway, I now have five gallons of Beerfan's SNPA clone in the fermenter, and I hit all my numbers except for the above and the fact that I boiled off 1/2 gallon more than I expected. No problem, made it up with left over hot water from the batch sparge water. Which, by the way I found much less stressful than fly sparging (from my previous foray into AG brewing).
It took me 7 hours from start up to clean up, and my normal extract plus steeping grains takes me 5 hours. We'll see if the extra time is worth it.
I did notice that throughout the brew day I was less rushed than I get doing an extract brew, for some reason. Anyone else notice this?
Anyway, I now have five gallons of Beerfan's SNPA clone in the fermenter, and I hit all my numbers except for the above and the fact that I boiled off 1/2 gallon more than I expected. No problem, made it up with left over hot water from the batch sparge water. Which, by the way I found much less stressful than fly sparging (from my previous foray into AG brewing).
It took me 7 hours from start up to clean up, and my normal extract plus steeping grains takes me 5 hours. We'll see if the extra time is worth it.
I did notice that throughout the brew day I was less rushed than I get doing an extract brew, for some reason. Anyone else notice this?