Day off well spent

After a week or so of having everything together to brew I finally got down to it yesterday. I did my first all grain brew and I have to say it went smooth as eggs. :rockin:There was very little down time but I felt like I was more relaxed and it was more satisfying than previous brew days. I was actually surprised. For some reason it seemed kind of intimidating making the jump, but as many people have said, "You can make it as complicated or as easy as you want". I created a Kolsch recipe with the thinking that it wouldn't be too difficult as far as the brewing side, and that if I made mistakes in my process it would be easier to pick up on and correct before I made too many more brews.

I was only one degree high on my temps which I was very pleased with. I took gravity readings from my first and second runnings which were 1.070 and 1.033 respectively and when I combined them I hit my preboil SG spot on. My post boil gravity was 5 points high, but that was because my post boil volume was .5 gals short. I think there was either more grain absorption or there was some water left in the tun. I think it might have been the latter. All in all, it was a great experience and I will now continue to fine tune my system and build on my knowledge. Next one up is an APA! I took lots of pics so I thought I'd share. Please don't hesitate if you have any advice. Thanks

Just pics of successive vorlaufs.

Vorlaufs from my sparge and my spent grains. I collected 1.033 SG wort from the sparge. I was wondering if I could have gotten enough for another smaller volume and gravity beer if I would have hit it with another batch of water.

Looking good!

What is the blue cooler for?

My wort right before it started to boil. There is a cloudy haze over the wort I believe is the hot break. And finally, the prized nectar of the gods! It took 5 hours from putting the infusion water on the burner to pitching the yeast. I feel pretty damn good about my day. My biggest mistake and only regret is I didn't have any home brews chilled to enjoy. That may have been for the best on my first run though. Cheers all!

Initially I was using it to hold my sparge water. Then it just became a holder for my spoon, hoses etc.

Looks great!

I'm jealous, I know mine have never gone that good... Congrats on the switch!

Well there was ~3 inches of krausen when I left for work yesterday and when I got home I came in to this. I've read on here that Kolsch yeast goes crazy. It's still chugging along this morning, but slowing down some. Glad I acted on that info and put on a blow off tube. I've been able to keep it at or just below 65°F i n my ghetto ferm chamber. Can't wait to take a sample.

If you find yourself a little short preboil, I would dump some cold water through the mash to get to the proper volume. The water will come out warm and have additional sugar from the mash.

Thanks for that advice. I just topped up prior to going in the fermentor. I like your idea better. Brew on!