1st All Grain Today

I wanted to thank everyone on HBT for all the great posts and answers to some of my questions.

I made a Mirror Pond Pale Ale Clone today and everything turned out well. I purchased a Corona Mill and crushed my grains. Next time, I think I will make the crush a little finer but happy with it. My Coleman 48 Quart Cooler w/ Hot SS Water Heater Braid (copper wire coiled inside too) worked out awesome! No stuck sparge for me.

Collected 6.5 G pre boil at 1042.

Wanted to hit 154 F but ended up w/ 150 F. Need to have my strike water a bit hotter next time. No biggie. I did pre-heat the cooler w/ the strike water before mashing in.

Purchased a 9 G pot, turkey fryer, and wort chiller. All worked without issue.

Per Beersmith, I finished with 67% efficiency and I'm happy with that for my 1st time out.

Thanks again everyone!

Chris

Ps. Here is the recipe:


10.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row)
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 18.1 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 9.0 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (10 min) Hops 6.6 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) Hops 3.6 IBU
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (1 min) Hops 0.8 IBU
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056)

Congrats Chris!

As you begin to mash more and more you will build a process that allows for hitting the mash temp every time. Until then start with a thick mash and aim high you might hit 160 or so, but since it is thicker than you want you have some room to add some cold water to bring the temp down.

It is always easier to cool the mash than to heat it up. Also take into account the time of year you are brewing. My grain is in the garage so if it is cold my grain is cold, if it is summer my grains are warmer. I use a little formula that allows me to plug in the degree the grain is at prior to mashing.

Thanks. As much as Beersmith helped with all the calculations, I think the "feel" and knowledge of what works on your own beer gear is king. I've brewed extract for the last year and totally pumped to see how this turns out.

Thanks again and have a great weekend.

Chris

Nice work! I always like to see people make the jump to AG. Its more rewarding than extract and PM... in my opinion.
As for your mash temperatures, if you have a smart phone, like an iPhone or possibly a Droid, there is an app called Brew Pal that is incredibly helpful. You can build recipes, save them, and it is a HUGE help on brew day. There is fermentation timers, boil timers, etc. Getting to my point, there is a section where you can input the temperature that your grains are stored at, and it will tell you how hot to heat your water to hit the target temperature you want. I tend to over shoot that number by a degree or two, just to be sure and it works great!
Also, try putting a gallon of boiling water in your tun for about 20-30 minutes before you put the grains in, close the lid and let the inside of the tun heat up.
Good work, and keep on brewing!