Doing my first AG in many years

Did a couple AG with friends that were more knowledgable than I, but this will be the first time I do it on my own. Actually going to try BIAB, and will decide based on the results whether or not I like the method.

The wife and I both love porters, and the Bert Grant Perfect Porter recipe looks awesome. So, I'll be brewing this TOMORROW!

Here's what I'm doing, assuming low efficiency. I've also got some DME in case my efficiency is REALLY low. If for some reason the efficiency ends up higher, then I'll pull some wort out to use for yeast starters in the future, and add water to lower the gravity.

Recipe Specifications
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Batch Size: 5.5 gal
Boil Size: 8.0 gal
Estimated OG: 1.050
Estimated SRM: 38
Estimated IBU: 25
Brewhouse Efficiency: 64%
Boil Time: 90 Minutes
Estimated FG: 1.012
Estimated ABV: 5.1%
Estimated Attenuation: 76%

Ingredients:
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9.00 lb Pale 2 Row
1.31 lb Chocolate Malt
1.19 lb Crystal 40
0.19 lb Black Patent
0.19 lb Peated Malt
0.75 oz Williamette Pellets, 4.8%, 90 min
0.75 oz Williamette Pellets, 4.8%, 15 min
White Labs Dry English Ale WLP007 (70-80% Attenuation)

Mash Schedule:
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20 min Protein Rest @ 120 degrees
60 min Mash @ 155 degrees
10 min Mash Out @ 170 degrees

Everything is going well, just got to the boil stage. After testing the wort, I should be looking at 1.057 OG when it gets to the carboy. So, I got more efficiency that planned, but with the yeast I'm using, I'm okay with that.

Ended at 1.059 OG, so I definitely did better on efficiency than I thought. Took 5.5 hours from beginning to end, including clean up. Not too bad.

I've done 2 extract beers and 2 all grain beers. I have my AG method to 3.5 hours from start to finish for brew day

Batch sparging is so easy, and I usually get 78%-80% effeciency, good luck!

Given that the recipe I was using included 90 minutes each of mash and boil time, there's no way for me to do it in that timeline. Add in the time in the beginning to get all the equipment out and recleaned, get water to temp at various stages, cool down with the immersion chiller, and then clean up, and I can't make it too much less.

I'm doing my first AG today. It's probably gonna be a 5 hour brew day. Lots of kinks to work out. It smells a lot better than extract, so that's a good start!

Oh yeah, the smell of the mash was awesome!

There was some slow bubbling when I checked it first thing this morning, and it's got a 2" thick krausen on it now. Fermenting at 69 degrees F.

Making my first batch of mead now. Two days, two new milestones in my brewing hobby!