All grain 1st attempt

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abrew2u

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ABout to attempt my first all grain brew just picked up a turkey fryer and are gonna make a mash tun out of a 10 gal cooler I guess my question is for you guys and girls have any advice for me?
 
Go for it! It is not at all difficult. There are a few more steps than with extract but if you take time in setting up and pay attention the only real difference is that it takes longer.

Advice: Pay attention to your temperatures. Pre-heat your mash tun.

I do batch sparging and use; http://www.brewheads.com/batch.php to get my volumes and temperatures.
 
Do yourself a favor and eschew the braided hose cover and make a manifold. You'll get MUCH better results and fewer headaches.

I replaced my braid with a manifold after having to strain my mash through a mesh bag two brews in a row because the stupid thing kept coming off of the barb. Hard to vorlauf a 1/4" opening...:mad:

The first brew I did with the manifold, the wort was nice and clear and free-flowing.
 
I find wrapping the manfold with a fine nylon straining bag allows full speed run off of very clear liquor - depends if time is of the essence.

always dispose of spent grain immediately. I once left mine in the mash tun for 2 days and it stank to high heaven.
 
Brewed my first all grain yesterday I think it went good,made a milk stout got 1.052 og I guess my ques is how do I measure efficientcy
 
Just my .02 cents but I have never preheated my mashtun and get my temp every time. I just heat the water to 180, dump it in the cooler, wait til it cools to 165 or so, add grains and it gets down to 153-155, then I adjust from there. Works great...
 
abrew2u said:
I guess my question is for you guys and girls have any advice for me?

I have one comment to be taken as advise.
Whatever you end up doing from listening to all the threads and misc. knowledge and experience, just begin brewing. Start the brewing process and repeat. Everything else will fall into place in time.
 
Just my .02 cents but I have never preheated my mashtun and get my temp every time. I just heat the water to 180, dump it in the cooler, wait til it cools to 165 or so, add grains and it gets down to 153-155, then I adjust from there. Works great...

You do realize, of course, that you were preheating your mash tun while you weren't preheating your mash tun... :ban:
 
Brewed my first all grain yesterday I think it went good,made a milk stout got 1.052 og I guess my ques is how do I measure efficientcy

Here is a fast calculator http://www.brewheads.com/efficiency.php
Also think about getting beersmith, It's a great tool and it will figure all that stuff out for you, and I believe there is a free 30 day trial.
 
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