First time with specialty grains

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mpenn35

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I'm in the process of brewing my first beer using specialty grains. It's an extract kit (Northern Brewer ESB) and I've done a few kits in the last month or two, but this is my first with steeping of grains. The grains are currently steeping right now on the stove, and then I'll move outside to my new turkey fryer to do the boil. I'm nervous and excited, but I'm about to just RDWHAHB...

That being said, anything I should know or watch out for?
 
Piece-of-cake...there is very little difference from straight extract, keeping the steeping temp at 160 or below is the key...just think of it as making tea
 
I kept the steeping temp at or below 170, which is what the directions indicated...

Everything went smoothly, it will just take some getting used to on the new turkey fryer. Well that and the fact that it's 30 degrees out and I don't have a garage. The steam from the water made it nearly impossible for me to see when I reached a boil. Every now and again it would clear for a second and I could see it, but I mainly just relied on my thermometer to tell me the temps were at or above boiling.

I didn't account for boil off however, so I ended up with about 4.75 gallons instead of 5, and I of course ended up with a higher OG. I used all my pre-boiled water to top off the primary, but came up just short. My OG was 1.060-1.062. I think the kit said it should be 1.053 or so. Oh well, just a little bit stronger beer in the end I suppose.
 
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