PSA: Check Everything!

I was doing some all-grain brewing in my kitchen today. Here are two problems I ran into. I thought posting them here might help out others.

1. When you are heating up your sparge water, make sure the burner that you turn on is the same one your pot is on. Otherwise, you may spend 20 minutes, like i did, trying to figure out why the water's not getting any warmer.

2. When you are transferring hot liquor from your mash tun into a boil kettle that has a ball valve on it, make sure the valve is closed first. Unless you REALLY like cleaning the stickiest substance known to man off of your tile.

It's been one of those days.

Good advise, lol!

You'd think #1 wouldn't be a problem using an outdoor burner hooked up to house gas, but I've been guilty of sitting there for thirty seconds with a lit barbecue lighter, twiddling the needle valve at the base of the burner, before I remember that I have to open the main valve at the wall before any gas will get to the needle valve.

As for #2 .... you will forget this one again. You'll think you learned your lesson, and a couple brew days will go by without issue, but then you'll get all comfortable, until your friend who's helping you with the brew is all like "is that supposed to be running out onto the floor?"